Inner Roads and Outer Paths/Vic Mars (Clay Pipe Music)
“Inner Roads and Outer Paths” is Vic Mars’ third release
for Clay Pipe Music, following the widely acclaimed “The Land And The Garden”
and “The Soundtrack To the Hospice” – the latter a cassette only release of
Mars’ music to the Robert Aickman short story featured on Gideon Coe’s BBC6Music show.
Clay Pipe Music is often characterised by albums that set a
specific time and place. The label’s debut release – “The Fields Lie Sleeping
Underneath” by The Hardy Tree (aka label supremo and art designer Frances
Castle) embarks back to the North London at the beginning of the 20th
Century. “Tyneham House” regresses to a community frozen in time during World War
Two when the UK military took over a small village for top secret manoeuvres. “Inner
Roads and Outer Paths” journeys to the more recent past of Vic Mars’ childhood
in Herefordshire.
There have been songs that document the changes discovered
when one returns to their old home after many years away – always expecting
their memories to remain valid only for their presumptions to be shattered on
their return. The 60’s ballad – “Tar and Cement” – evokes the sorrow of the
returning habitant to see that all the beloved green fields have subsided to
grey buildings and motorways. Talking Heads’ 1987 track “Nothing but Flowers”
humorously spoofs the subject by applying the same surprise and disillusionment
to the fact that their hallowed modern structures have disappeared and been
ruthlessly replaced with a forest of unwelcome greenery and vegetation. “Inner
Roads and Outer Paths” sets a course somewhere in between these two viewpoints –
on the one hand, playing fields where roads are now forged through the middle,
and conversely, abandoned houses, factories, disused lanes and pathways which
are now lost or overgrown thanks to nature obtaining its revenge.
The blend of recorders and glockenspiels with Roland and
Juno keyboards in “Evacuees At Arrow House” conjures the dynamic notion of
introducing Kraftwerk to Harvest school assembly, and the album’s title track
presents a stateliness to the work as a whole – an aural equivalent of a manager
who commands respect because everyone is aware they have earned it and
continues to do so. Magisterial yet supportive and generous. “A Nest in The
Warehouse Roof” appears plaintive and longing. Even though the album’s titles
along with Frances Castle’s beautifully apposite artwork invites the listener
on the first few plays to travel along with Vic Mars’ inspirations – future plays
allow you the option to depart the story and permit you to instigate your own
scenarios – like a kind of audio Rorschach test.
“Inner Roads and Outer Paths” succeeds in adapting to whatever
your contemplative needs may be. A soothing, perspective-inducing album that
reveals more layers of wonder with each listen.
Available from here
Preview tracks on Soundcloud
The Days Of The Great House
Holloways
Lee McFadden 16/9/19
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