TTW#29 - Peter Hope-Evans - Cast-Offerings: Visitations, Fetches, Revenants
Cassette only - limited edition of 200 copies
SOLD OUT AT SOURCE
Track listing:
A1: deportment (with apports)
A2: a rag though naked may be…
A3: clipp'd and collaps'd (cupid's wings)
A4: my journey (is a hallucination)
A5: the falling step
A6: ancient flower child singing
A7: a harp a skip a jump (blue angles)
B1: this shadow turn this shadow breath
B2: a man though naked may be in rags
B3: in absentia oder in effigie
B4: i expect no succour from benevolent powers
B5: what charm? what lip? : charmolypi
the creation/recreation/wreck creation/of the precursor – the coasters/donovan/sleepy john estes/blind mamie forehand/the fugs/skip james/peggy lee/lotte lenya/sherrie levine/uncle dave macon/moby grape
Peter Hope-Evans: mouth organs/organs of the mouth/jew's harps/trinklets/reception bell. Collaborator: Mick Mahoney. Guitar: Baby Taylor. Recorded aboard Mick's canal boat “Cornwall”, Grand Union Canal at Cowley Peachey on Tuesday afternoon, 2nd November 2010.
Illustration and calligraphy – SavX
Peter Hope-Evans was a member of Medicine Head, a British 70s blues band championed by John Peel and signed to his legendary Dandelion label.
Biography:
“a ton of worms in an acre, that is a wonderful thought…………”
s. bon qu'a ça
28 september 1947
brecon, wales
a life devoured by
mouth-organs
jews harps
the otherhood of breath
the sussuration of disastarlings
peter hope-evans
this ob(l)iterature
a rendezvous of questions
of notes of interrogation
by what crossroads?
what sphinx?
what mask?
what voice?
Reviews
Aquarius Records (US):
Hard to know what to expect from a new batch of tapes from The Tapeworm, one of our favorite outsider/experimental/whatthefuck cassette labels, sometimes it's drone, sometimes some lost downtempo electronic record, or a mysterious unreleased jazz gem, the soundtrack to an avant garde art installation, or... some harmonica driven blues. Huh? Yeah, even for The Tapeworm, this one is a little out of left field. Or maybe in this case right field. Peter Hope-Evans was a member of seventies blues band Medicine Head, a favorite of John Peel, and here, offers up some skeletal home recorded stripped down blues, just guitar and harmonica, recorded on a boat, floating on a canal, sometime in 2010. The liner notes point to some relevant precursors / inspirations: The Coasters/Donovan/Sleepy John Estes/Blind Mamie Forehand/The Fugs/Skip James/Peggy Lee/Lotte Lenya/Sherrie Levine/Uncle Dave Macon/Moby Grape, and we definitely buy that, but this is essentially some acoustic blues, the guitars minimal, the harmonica soulful, the vocals sung/spoken, the vibe is super intimate, easy to imagine, windows open, the sounds seeping in from all around the canal, candles lit, much alcohol imbibed, and a long night of just jamming in the dark, simpler stripped down old school blues...
Boomkat (UK):
You never know what's coming next from The Tapeworm, and we certainly didn't figure for this. Tape 29 is an intimate session from Peter Hope-Evans, former member of a '70s British Blues band signed to John Peel's Dandelion label called Medicine Head. “Visitations Fetches Revenants” documents Peter and his mates Mick Mahoney and Baby Taylor playing on board Mick's canal boat “Cornwall” on a presumably drizzly afternoon in November 2010 (then again that might be tape drizzle), probably with a big pot of tea on the go and an ashtray full of scrunched roll-ups. They lay out a list of influences on the back, counting Donovan, Peggy Lee, Lotte Lenya, Sherrie Levine, Moby Grape, Uncle Dave Macon, Skip James and loads more, but ultimately this is three guys quietly singing and jamming on harmonica and guitar, and it's bloody lovely. Vibes, man. Vibes.
Brainwashed (US):
Out on The Tapeworm is the utterly bizarre Cast-offerings: Visitations, Fetches, Revenants by Peter Hope-Evans. Cut from the same cloth as Daniel Johnston, these songs feature Hope-Evans alone with a microphone, a guitar and a variety of instrumental miscellanea. Deconstructing classic songs into his own little worlds, his delightfully un-tuneful singing voice is both annoying and a source of strange attraction. I cannot decide whether I like this or not but it certainly sticks out as either a work of genius or a bit of a joke. Or both.
Vital Weekly (NL):
In the seventies he was a member of Medicine Head and as such darlings of the late John Peel, even recording for his Dandelion label, but these days he is stuck on a houseboat with his collection of jew harps, mouth organ, bells and his own voice, plus Baby Taylor occasionally on guitar. The walkman with a recording possibility is set up and Hope-Evans plays his music - I assume blues like, if I was someone who knows these sort of things (if only!) - but even more sparse, to the bare chilling bone. Hope-Evans doesn't have the right sort of voice for it, being a bit unstable but perhaps that is part of the aesthetic of this? A most curious item, one of those where you could think someone is playing a joke on the listener. Just that thought made me smile. (FdW)
