Spitsbergen

 

10" Polar White Vinyl- OCHRE (Ocho 19)
Jan 1998


  Cover Pic  
 

  1. 1.Spitsbergen (Part 1) - 11.47
    2.Spitsbergen (Part 2) - 7.39
  2. 1.Spitsbergen (Part 3)- 10.59

 
  ...featuring parts 1-3 of "SPITSBERGEN" (two studio recordings and one recorded live in Holland), an extended meditative dronescape that whisks the listener far across the icy Arctic Ocean to a beautiful tranquil landscape populated by the diminutive Svalbard reindeer and two inch high oak trees, the cunning Arctic fox and big white bears, where the permafrost reaches 1600 feet down and the seas are rich in plankton, capelin and cod.


 
 


The press said...
 
 
Ectogram: Spitsbergen. (Ochre OCHO9 10")
From Wales, Ectogram have released a handful of singles and a double LP I "Can't Believe it's not Reggae!" to a resolutely unmoved public. Once again it's the public's loss, as Ectogram chase a paricularly pure and intangible sound, equal parts Canterbury sundown jamming, communal Amon Duul clatter and slightly spaced folk rock.
"Spitsbergen" is a monster, an eternally repeating, lazily locked groove with inaudible mumbled vocals and the occasional piano chord going nowhere slowly.
(The Wire, May 1998)
Ectogram: Spitsbergen 10 Inch
Small spacecraft warning: Permanent white-out conditions ahead. Ectogram touches its magic wand to the North Pole and, in a Faustian feat of divine disruption, stirs up a blizzard forceful enough to knock us a few degrees out of orbit. Cyclonic winds whip downy, pure snow into a heavy blanket and wrap it snugly from the Arctic Circle to New Schwabenland. Icicles form on coconut palms in the Seychelles; giraffes on the Serengeti Plains bend under the weight of their icy manes; Pacific salmon are frozen in upstream arcs; the polar ice cap sports an ice cap of its own; swaeter and hot cocoa sales go through the roof. Celebrate the new Ice Age.
(Gil Gershman, Magnet, Jul/Aug 1998)

Ectogram: Spitsbergen
Ectogram named their single "Spitsbergen" in the hope of being sent on a promotional trip to the Arctic and this ten inch single is even pressed on polar white vinyl! It's not hard to imagine you're in the middle of nowhere when you listen to the soothing dronescape conjoured up by this impressive Welsh group on "Spitsbergen" parts 1 to 3. The vibe is calming and hypnotic but far from aimless. Even in the quiet moments you can feel a sense of urgency in Ectogram's music, especially on the eleven minutes plus part 3 which keeps threatening to rock out but never quite does.
(Vendetta, May 1998. USA)