Alison Cotton - All Is Quiet at the Ancient Theatre

Format: Yellow Vinyl
Catalogue No.: FRLPR002
Barcode: 5051083170239
Release Date: 3 Nov 2021
Genre: Folk/Americana

Sounds like: John Cale & Nico, Tony Conrad, Laura Cannell, Linda Perhacs
'All Is Quiet...' begins in cold droned echoes of Nico's 'Frozen Warnings' but Cotton laments vanishing English customs, performance & countryside. Viola, harmonium & recorders bring lost sounds – the deathly percussive march of 'A Tragedy In The Tithe Barn', ballad themes of departure in 'The Bells of St. Agnes'. Cotton's music searches a past of stillness & desolation but where Nico's is an icy tundra, Cotton's viola and choral layers hold earthy, distinctly English experimental resonances with early music modalities. It's mournful, yes, but with contemplative spaces of light & renewal.
Original cassette release on Bloxham Tapes and limited vinyl by Cardinal Fuzz sold out instantly with little press. This may be the last window on Cotton's wonderful solo debut. Coloured vinyl & altered artwork by Luke Drozd
Radio -Late Junction, Elizabeth Alker's Unclassified & Gideon Coe

Online -Number 11 - The Quietus Top 100 Albums of 2020 – voted unanimously by every writer.
Number 1- The Quietus New Weird Britain End of Year List Stewart Lee’s Cultural Year 2020 – 4****5***** (Record Collector)

Tracklisting
All Is Quiet At The Ancient Theatre
The Last Sense To Leave Us
36 Dramatic Situations
The Bells of St Agnes
A Tragedy in the Tithe Barn