Ciclismo: new electronic/ambient album 'Blue & Grey: an incomplete history of British Rail'

[jamesontheroad]

Mark Radcliffe played a track on BBC Radio 6Music this morning from a collection of electronic tracks by the artist 'Ciclismo'. This isn't the first mention on the forum, @lyndhurst25 mentioned it last November on the "now playing" thread. Thought I'd share it again, however, because it's rather lovely.

"Blue & Grey: An Incomplete History of British Rail" by Ciclismo.

Rail themed ambient!

Blue & Grey: An Incomplete History of British Rail, by Ciclismo

8 track album

couriersound.bandcamp.com

Discovered thanks to Steve Barker's (no longer BBC Radio Lancashire) programme "On the Wire".

On the Wire - Radio Lancs

otwradio.blogspot.com

There is a rather nice review on Freq, too:

The latest release from the ever reliable Courier is a real trip down memory lane for people of a certain age. The cover image shows a handle from a slam-door carriage of vintage British Rail rolling stock, which perhaps goes some way to showing how Ciclismo has set out his stall. But with titles like “HST Exeter To Newton Abbot 1990” and “Class 37 Highland Sleeper 1992”, Blue and Grey: An Incomplete History of British Rail clearly is music as memory, a synthesis of historic personal images captured as electronic sound.

There is always rhythmic movement here, but not always as you might expect. Not everything sounds like a train running down a track, and that is a good thing; but you also recognise other elements that make up a train journey, even if it is the sound of bridges passing or the creak of seats. “HST Exeter To Newton Abbot 1990” somehow captures the attractive loneliness of the Devon countryside. It is gentle and relaxed, with just a hint of movement in the background. The keyboard notes hang like clouds seen through the windows with hints of puffy organ joining in.

So it's not a history, as such, but a rather charming EP/album of musical compositions inspired by a bygone railway era. You can find the album on iTunes and Bandcamp. Worth checking out if you like electronic or ambient music.

 

[jh64]

Blue & Grey: An Incomplete History of British Rail by Ciclismo on Apple Music

Album · 2020 · 8 Songs

music.apple.com

Here's the direct link for Apple Music subscribers, will give it a listen tonight!

 

[the sniper]

Glad to see Mark Radcliff/BBC Radio 6Music doing sterling work as usual.

 

[Journeyman]

I've given it a listen - excellent stuff. I'd also strongly recommend the album Adlestrop by Gilroy Mere, inspired by the Beeching Report and featuring ambient sounds recorded at the sites of various abandoned stations.

 

[TheEdge]

https://open.spotify.com/album/7r7S6jb79yDOl3tJRUR5l1?si=CEtto3ryRr6KEsxzVKfLtA

Spotify link as well for those that want it.

 

[kjsway]

I first heard of this release last autumn when Gideon Coe (another Six presenter) played some of it during one of his 'shed-casts'. He sometimes broadcasts from his shed which must be near a railway line (somewhere in London presumably), and curiously he referred to hearing passing freight trains hauled by sheds. Probably meant little to most listeners, but I got it. Six music - who needs any other radio station?

In a similar vein, see Brian Eno's recent works, accompanied by slow motion videos from train Windows.

 

[Ashley Hill]

The audio clip of Liverpool Street sounds excellent. Is the artist an enthusiast as he seems very well informed by the titles of the tracks.
Tangerine Dream tried a similar thing with their Le Parc album where each track supposedly represented the ambiance of various parks around the world. It wasn't their best album.

 

[Furrball]

It is beautiful. Not nornally my "thing" but works so well

For me

Class 50 Waterloo to Exeter 1989 - Leaving London to head south for a summer holiday
Class 87 Coventry to Euston 1986 (Set your watch by it) - has that 1980's Tomorrow's World feel about it - a jump to a new era
Class 37 Highland Sleeper - Waking up and watching the world roll by as you travel across the moors