Mount Vernon Arts Lab
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Mount Vernon Arts Lab is a musical project of the Scottish musician Drew Mulholland, who has also recorded as Black Noise and N. Between 1996 and 2001, a string of
EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
, singles, and albums were released. After this he continued to release material as Mount Vernon Astral Temple.


History

Taking inspiration from
Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer and songwriter considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording studio a ...
, and from Daniel Miller's work as
The Normal The Normal is the recording artist name used by English music producer Daniel Miller, a film editor at the time, who is best known as the founder of the record label Mute Records. Background In 1977, Miller had split up with his girlfriend. ...
, Mulholland began creating
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
/
post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
recordings in 1996, and soon found the support of independent labels such as Via Satellite and
Earworm An earworm or brainworm, also described as sticky music or stuck song syndrome, is a Catchiness, catchy or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person's mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about. In ...
, who between them issued a series of vinyl-only releases during 1997 and 1998.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 880 Mulholland used a range of electronic and acoustic instruments including
Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...
s,
theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...
, and a specially-built unit which he calls a "Turbine Generator". Pilkington, Mark (2007)
Mount Vernon Arts Lab: True sounds of the underground
", ''
Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (from 2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (from ...
'', June 2007
The debut mini-album, ''Gummy Twinkle'', was issued in September 1998, featuring guest appearances from
Pete Kember Peter Kember (born 19 November 1965), also known by his stage name Sonic Boom, is an English singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of neo-psychedelic band Spacemen 3, las ...
(aka Sonic Boom) and Norman Blake of
Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (Scottish musician), Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), al ...
. He then signed a deal with Ochre Records, who issued his second mini-set, a collaboration with
Adrian Utley Adrian Francis Utley (born 27 April 1957) is an English musician, record producer, and a member of the band Portishead.Jurek, ThomAdrian Utley Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016 Career Born in Northampton,Mejia, Paula (2015)In Sea ...
of Portishead, featuring a single 23-minute track, "Warminster". A second mini-set followed for Ochre, this time recorded 100 feet below ground in the abandoned nuclear bunker at Troywood. A final album as Mount Vernon Arts Lab was released in 2001 on Via Satellite; '' The Séance at Hobs Lane'' was inspired by "Victorian skullduggery, outlaws, secret societies and subterranean experiences", and featured guest appearances from Blake, Utley,
Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as the Gentle Waves ...
, and Barry 7 (of
Add N to (X) Add N to (X) were an English electronic music band formed in London in 1994. The original members were Andrew Aveling, Barry Smith (aka Barry 7) and Ann Shenton. Steven Claydon replaced Aveling in 1997. After several releases on small labels ...
). It has been described as "a music distilled from the nuclear age".Domke, Graham
Mount Vernon Arts Lab – The Seance At Hobs Lane
", ''MAP'' magazine
Mulholland released further work under the name Mount Vernon Astral Temple, including ''Musick That Destroys Itself'' (2003), ''Bent Sinister By Sound'' (2005). Many of MVAL's tracks are inspired by historical locations, and Mulholland has been described as the "godfather" of psychogeographic rock, and the inspiration for the Ghost Box Music record label. Rogers, Jude (2008)
A sonic postcard from the past: Jude Rogers on the ghost sounds of psychogeographic rock
, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 6 June 2008
Mulholland went on to become the composer-in-residence at
Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
's
geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
department. In 2009, Mulholland and Utley again collaborated, with a performance at the '' Le Weekend'' festival in Stirling.Cooper, Neil (2009)
Le Weekend
, '' The List'', 28 May 2009


Discography


Singles, EPs

*''Nova'' EP (1997), Via Satellite *"Window" (1997),
Earworm An earworm or brainworm, also described as sticky music or stuck song syndrome, is a Catchiness, catchy or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person's mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about. In ...
– split with Omit *''Talvin Stardust'' EP (1997), Via Satellite *''William Green'' EP (1998), Via Satellite *"Imber" (1998), Earworm – one-sided 7-inch single, split with
Electroscope The electroscope is an early scientific instrument used to detect the presence of electric charge on a body. It detects this by the movement of a test charge due to the Coulomb's law, Coulomb electrostatic force on it. The amount of charge on ...


Albums

*''Gummy Twinkle'' (1998), Via Satellite *''Warminster'' (1999), Ochre – with
Adrian Utley Adrian Francis Utley (born 27 April 1957) is an English musician, record producer, and a member of the band Portishead.Jurek, ThomAdrian Utley Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016 Career Born in Northampton,Mejia, Paula (2015)In Sea ...
*''One Minute Blasts Rising to Three and then Diminishing'' (2000), Ochre *'' The Séance at Hobs Lane'' (2001), Via Satelliterereleased in 2008 on Ghost Box Records *''Musick That Destroys Itself'' (2003),
Eskaton Eskaton is a defunct vanity record label created by Coil, exclusively for albums put out by the group and their friends. Its brother labels are Threshold House and Chalice. The record label is often associated with the symbol of the "Chaos Cr ...
as Mount Vernon Astral Temple *''Untitled'' (2003), Eskaton *''Bent Sinister by Sound'' (2005), Further – CDR-only issue, limited to 33 copies ;Compilations: *''E for Experimental'' (1999), Ochre


Compilation appearances, split releases

*''Creeping Bent Singles Club 7"'' (1997), Creeping Bent – "Bad Vibrations" (Mount Vernon Arts Lab deconstructed by Scientific Support Dept.) *''Just Like Jeff'' 7-inch, Boa Records – "Sky Men" (
Electroscope The electroscope is an early scientific instrument used to detect the presence of electric charge on a body. It detects this by the movement of a test charge due to the Coulomb's law, Coulomb electrostatic force on it. The amount of charge on ...
with Mount Vernon Arts Lab) *''After Hours'' (1997), After Hours – "The Mind Field" *''Spooky Sounds of Now'' (1997), Vesuvius – "Scooby Don't" *''Sunday 14 Sept.. '97'' (1997), Enraptured – "Automatic Frequency Control" *''Electronic Lullabies'' (1998), Creeping Bent – "MV 3" *''The Battle of Bosworth'' (1998), Trunk – "Electroluminessence" *''Bentism – The Underground Sounds of Creeping Bent'' (1999), Creeping Bent – "Remix" (remix by Scientific Support Dept.) *''271199'' (2000), Ochre – "Abstracts" *''Infrasonic Waves'' (2001), Ochre – "Broadcasting" *''The Electronic Bible Chapter 1'' (2004), White Label Music – "Hobgoblins" ( Coil remix), "The Hackney Homonculus" (as N) *''Not Alone'' (2006), Durtro/Jnana – "The Postal Workers Night Out"as Black Noise *''Electric Brain Storms Vol.1'' (2008), The Pod Room (podcast by
Future Sound of London The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated FSOL) is a British electronic music duo composed of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. They have been described as a "boundary-pushing" electronic act, covering techno, ambient, house music, trip h ...
) – "Mv3" *''Ritual And Education'' (2008), Ghost Box – "The Black Drop", "The Submariner's Song" *''Infrasonic Waves Volume III'' 7-inch EP, Ochre – "Broadcasting"


Notes


References


External links


Mount Vernon Arts Lab
at Discogs.com {{Authority control Scottish post-rock groups Scottish electronic rock musical groups Ghost Box Music artists