I first heard of The Broken Blackbird Ensemble on Mixing It, just over a year ago. On the 20th May 2005 broadcast to be precise. It must have been on Listen Again, as I know I was on a barge on the Oxford Canal on 20th May, with Jeremy and Alex but without a radio.
I ordered this direct via the web site. The Ensemble are from Sheffield, but I don't remember coming across them when I was living there (though I did hear Matt Howden, who plays on a couple of tracks here, a couple of times, and even had a drink with him). Funny how the music scene in a city suddenly seems to become so much more active and vibrant when you leave.
I still haven't entirely absorbed this album. Actually, that's one of the things I like about it; that it doesn't quite fit. Sometimes there's a bit of a droney Velvet Underground sound, sometimes it's a bit like Main. Sometimes there's a trace of the Sheffield improv scene, like Martin Archer, but then it also has a distinctly folky feel. I need to keep coming back to this.
Mixing It played the most recent release on the Early Winter Recordings label just last week. That was release No.3; this is No.2.
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