This one was trying to sneak by, but I noticed it as a future release in my Discogs feed and it’s of great interest, so it’s being shared today. Modern musician Andrew Poppy has curated a lovely box of 18 live recordings spanning the last 40 years. All of them previously unreleased and issued with some ex-post-facto “tampering.” Meaning that they are not meant to be documents of a specific performance, but have been suitably molded and grouped into four distinct volumes covering various aspects of the dynamic between composer and format/collaborators. As finally processed by Poppy in the now.
The four quadrants of taxonomy involve the following: traditional orchestra with a soloist; vocal pieces for ensemble or orchestra; music written for independent ensembles; and the contrast between the acoustic and the electric approaches to orchestral work. The package is an extensive digibook [128 pages] with extensive liner notes and essays by Paul Morley, Leah Kardos, Nik Bärtsch and Rose English. Then Mr. Poppy himself contributes extensive essays and archival material relating to every aspect of the music in the package. Offering images, poems, librettos, and recording notes to illuminate the material. Which we may sample below. If you’re not familiar with Poppy’s work, then you are in for a treat as he uses the orchestra in a modern fashion.
- Goodbye Piano Concerto
- Attempt At An Ecstatic Moment
- Chewing The Corner
- Almost The Same Shame
- Weighing The Measure
- The End Of ‘45 Is’
- This Language Buys Ice Cream
- Last Poem
- The Touch Of Your Hand
- Joe The Miner Sings ‘Thank You My Sponsors’
- Three Characters Chorale
- More Matter Less
- Playing The Pulse
- Darwin’s Sin Draw
- Avalanche Thoughts No. 1
- Avalanche Thoughts No. 3
- Avalanche Thoughts No. 6
- Eleven Word Title
The label False Walls will be issuing this collection on January 27, 2023. The price of the package all but demands its purchase as one rarely sees a package this luxe at an affordable price like £30.00. There will be 500 of these dispersing through the world and fans of the beauty that Mr. Poppy brings to the music would do well to invest in a pre-order. It’s available at both the Fall Walls website and the artists’ Bandcamp store at that price. The choice is yours. Hit that button.
FALSE WALLS WEBSITE
ANDREW POPPY BANDCAMP
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Post-Punk Monk 
Dang, this looks great! I’ve ordered mine. I only ever heard a bit of the ZTT stuff, but the sample tracks are magnificent
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Big Mark – Yes they certainly are! I only have a few ZTT releases but would welcome more Andrew Poppy on my racks. It is quite a feat to produce and sell something this well designed and packaged for the price point. Mr. Poppy would be a shoo-in for inclusion in the Big Ears Festival in the US. He would fit right in to the aesthetic that festival aims for.
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Mr Poppy’s work has been a constant presence in my life for decades, especially so in recent years. This set looks and sounds incredible.
“Almost the same shame” is a piece which I have been fortunate to hear performed live on a couple of occasions-just mesmerising. Another favourite of mine is also included here,”Attempt at an ecstatic moment ”
For listeners who are only aware of the ZTT years I do highly recommend exploring further-the last few albums particularly are astonishing in their scope and quality.
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Finally had some funds come in after a couple of grim months with no income,so I have ordered the CD set.
So excited to receive it,looks so good in the photos. I have almost every release by Andrew Poppy in various formats,as I have been an ardent fan since the mid 80s. His live shows are absolutely astonishing and he is a delight to talk to and a huge inspiration to me.
This will have pride of place in my collection no doubt!
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Gavin – I’m happy to hear that you could find some music budget to get this one! Unless I get on the mooted sales project, I don’t see that happening lately for me. There are about 12 things in the last two years that I really would like to have bought and I’m paranoid about these releases becoming unaffordable in a year or so as the typically brief print runs of now cross over into OOP territory rapidly.
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