The Groceries


THE GROCERIES is Alan's predominantly instrumental adventure in which he explores the turquoise area between surmise and conjecture alongside six elves who play various instruments precisely to his instructions in exchange for his belief in their existence.
DISCOGRAPHY: (including any original sleevenotes):
1998 HOPE (C.D.) AUDIO RESEARCH EDITIONS (ARECD 101) a compilation of 68 one-minute tracks on the subject of "hope", includes The Groceries track HOPESPACE (THE OPIUM OF FOOLS): THE OPIUM OF FOOLS was recorded on magnetic tape and was played on D2 pro mini-synth, Moog Rogue, Fender Jaguar, Hohner Cembalet 1, violin, pneumatic drill and Tibetan singing bowls. The piece was inspired by the writings of Zdislav Jiri Valacek: "Hope = Dope, it is the Opium of the fool, just as surely as Sport is the anaesthetic of the dull-witted. That much is irrefutable." As his fellow countryman Franz Kafka said: "There is hope.... but not for us." Other artists appearing on HOPE include Skyray, Keith Rowe, The Land Of Nod, Campbell & Priestman, scanner, Stylus, Longstone, id battery, Wacah Chan, Humming Experiments, Egghatcher and 56 others.
1999 INFRASONIC WAVES VOL. 2 (black vinyl 7" E.P.) OCHRE (OCH 034) includes the Groceries track THE OBLIVION ENVOY, alongside 'Box-Flow' by Magnétophone, 'Dry Flowers' by Salomé and 'Usk' by Our Glassie Azoth: THE OBLIVION ENVOY is an acoustic composition recorded on tape on December 15th and 16th 1998 for Bryndy using acoustic guitar, Tibetan singing bowl, sitar and fireguard.
1999 OCHRE 8 X 8 CLUB No. 5 (clear vinyl 8" E.P.) OCHRE (OCH 037) includes the Groceries track TOO MUCH SKY, alongside 'Solar Flame' by Pulsar and 'Discovering The Stars' by UHR vs Grimble Grumble
1999 TRACE (C.D.) AUDIO RESEARCH EDITIONS (ARECD 102) a compilation of 70 two-minute tracks on the subject "trace". Contains The Groceries track UNTRACED: The template for UNTRACED was generated by tracing around a 1974 track by the long forgotten Dutch progressive rock band TRACE (a favourite of Alan at that time). This was then overlaid with snippets from Alan's recording archives selected at roughly 3-4 year intervals between 1974 and today, obliterating all traces of the original track in the process. These at times partly deteriorated traces of his past condense Alan's 25 year recording history into a handy 2 minutes. Other artists appearing on TRACE include Lee Ranaldo, Henry Priestman, ARPARP, Yoko Ono, Will Sergeant, Stylus, Glyn Williams, Longstone, Max Eastley. Ivan Mitev Dragalov, The Land Of Nod, FON, The Mindwinder and 56 others.
2000 ZERO (C.D.) AUDIO RESEARCH EDITIONS (ARECD 103) a compilation of one-minute tracks on the subject "zero" , includes The Groceries track THE NOUGHTH HARMONIC: An acoustic duet for guitar and Tibetan singing bowl. THE NOUGHTH HARMONIC is achieved by building up melodic phrases until the harmony becomes so complex as to approach zero. At this point, incoherence gives way to radiant clarity, provided by the symbolic circular motion of the singing bowl.
2000 RADIO-D (C.D.) R-BENNIG (R-BENNIG 050) The Groceries track THE NOUGHTEENTH HARMONIC appears on this compilation CD of underground music from Wales released by Internet radio station Radio D in collaboration with R-BENNIG records. The track is an extended "12-inch discomix" of THE NOUGHTH HARMONIC from the ZERO CD. The CD can be downloaded or bought from www.mp3.com/radio-d and also includes a solo track from Ectogram's ANN.
2001 INFRASONIC WAVES (double C.D.) OCHRE (OCH025LCD) The Groceries track THE OBLIVION ENVOY reappears on this CD which compiles all 16 tracks from the four INFRASONIC WAVES 7" EPs onto one CD, along with 17 previously unreleased tracks on the second disc. Alan can also be heard on tracks by PEN LLITHRIG Y WRACH (alongside John Lawrence of Infinity Chimps), PARKING NON-STOP and THE SERPENTS, which also features Maeyc. Full information and track listing can be found on the Ochre Records website at:www.ochre.co.uk, where copies of the CD can also be obtained.