23frames

Hello there. We are a group of four, Ian (The Subliminal Kid) Brzozowski, Ben (Studio Wizard) Hooper, Jack (The Knife) Smith & Vienna (bioluminescent) Shilling. We all reside in fairly close proximity in London’s sprawling and beautiful South-East. We meet regularly to infuse one-another with ideas of a musical nature. We sometimes have to clamber over knotted wires, salvaged electrical goods and broken instruments when we visit each other’s pads, being extra-careful not to knock over an empty beer can or cup of tea. We are sometimes joined by the MiniFrames, Jess (cello), Claire (viola), Dawn (Violin) & Xandrija (violin). Sometimes Tarx comes along and plugs in his keyboard. We were thrown out of our old studio (The Polling Station) by 'developers' bent on a faceless concrete take-over of SE8, SE14 & its surrounds. BUT ANYWAY - the big news is that we have, despite these setbacks, and after a couple of years, many late nights, lots of work and a LOT OF LOVE finished our debut album. The Mystery Calculator is finished and available from CDBaby (for beautifully packaged physical CDs), all the major...and probably some minor download sites.

The Mystery Calculator was recorded live over two days at RampART - ostensibly a squat in Whitechapel. We then had the fun, the mystery, the trauma of recording strings & piano, re-recording strings & piano, mixing, mastering; and now we hand it over to you, dear listener, for your dismissal or gradual acceptance........ The nature of the tunes & lyrics is echoed in the bands choice of scarves and other winter clothing. Sometimes the songs are itchy like woolly socks; they rub and make sore the forehead like a thick, rough hat. Some moments it's more like wearing a blue balaclava through salved lips. We can be a satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light, a will o' the wisp, or as a bird of fire. Some songs become worn and have to be darned. Sometimes we use elastic bands to keep our socks up. Sometimes we wear a hat with a feather. Sometimes during rehearsal there is the appearance of ball lightning in the room. It does not look like lightning. Instead, it usually appears as a mysterious glowing sphere, which drifts horizontally through the air. It is typically the size of a grapefruit, but sometimes appears as small as a pea, or as large as a bus. It sometime hovers over us at a few feet or tens of feet altitude, but can also bounce along the ground. It usually lasts only a few seconds, but sometimes persists much longer. Sometimes it changes colours, and sometimes it has internal structures such as glowing layers or moving sparks. We like to strum and thrum with electricity. We do minor repairs. We also like to read, do collage or paint. Although none of us ever weave baskets, paint enamel figures or stuff animals I don't think. We own several cats between us. We endorse the use of four track tape recorders. We endorse not song composition, but song decomposition. Some of our music, when collectively worked on over a period of weeks, is in an advanced state of decomposition. We play these works in live contact with other people. We smile inside when disseminating abroad these. Sometimes we are lugubrious. Sometimes this takes place on a slightly raised platform. It's easier for people to see us there. We don't like mean, nasty venues that pinch the pocket, thumb their nose, and raise the devils bouncer. But their empire is crumbling, and the day is not far off when it shall break apart entirely. On that day, the old stone gods will rise from their long forgotten wreckage and rub from their eyes the dust of a thousand years' sleep.

Alcohol, Coffee, tea, 2 for the price of one offers, Sebadoh, hats, cheese, toys in crackers, sloe gin, house parties, toast, Nirvana, comics,heartbreak, bagels, cats, William Burroughs, bee husbandry, oology, inappropriate laughter, The Cure, clairaudience, Xenoglossy, 4-track tape recorders, Radiohead, airports, breakfast cereals, jokes on lolly-sticks, Country Teasers, house plants, photo-montage, abject misery, British weather, vague nostalgia, abandoned buildings, un-returned phonecalls, nameless dread, unexplainable euphoria, letters never sent.