Now here's something you should really start screaming over. The first Sferic Experiment release on Expressway. A cassette only release which has not less than twenty tracks under its belt. Seven or eight tracks are from the CD entitled 'Eight Miles' (which was put out by Drunken Fish Records) but possibly even some of those are different versions as the lengths seem vastly different on some.
I actually managed to meet everybody (all seven of them) involved in this project over the years but it was Greg Cairns the drummer who I met first and who turned me on to numerous projects of his from late 80's Dunedin that were simply outrageously cool and which you couldn't help but get overly enthusiastic about.
I prefer this tape to the CD release. It's looser and more anarchic. Perhaps more sombre and melancholic.... and with a larger dose of subterranean violence and hard partying attributes thrown into the soup for added flavour. Violins, Violas, Organs, Flutes, Guitars, French horns and Drums clash in improvised madness, battling to be heard over each other at times but then suddenly lapsing into something apparently rehearsed. From the more straight ahead rock anthem of 'Ultra violet / Gordon is happy' to the unfathomably twisted 'Funeral march' the Sferics' broad stylistic prose is astonishing to newcomers.
I'm sure I've been told the history of this band years ago but memory has faded and I remember.... fuck all to be honest. Just wish I'd seen them perform but alas, never happened. I shall endeavour to extract historical facts and update this page as time goes on. I'm sure some former member will take time out to throw some light on the how's and why's of this ensemble.
Before you start thinking I might have posted something I have no right to post, I did manage to get permission from Bruce Russell, Chris Heazlewood and Greg Cairns. I'm sure the rest of the band won't mind too much (Hi Steve! Wherever you are.....).
Get it here.
