★Skire
Eye of the Sea
*300 copies limited edition* Recorded in correspondence throughout a calamitous and uncertain 2020, “Eye of the Sea" is a collaborative record made by Tom James Scott of the United Kingdom and Svitlana Nianio of Ukraine. Active since the late 1980s, Nianio has released a treasure trove of diverse and beguiling music under her own name, as a member of the legendary Ukrainian experimental unit Cukor Bila Smerť, and in collaboration with the late musician and instrument maker Oleksandr Yurchenko. F…
Lisova Kolekciya
*2023 repress. 300 copies limited edition.* Svitlana Nianio has been active in the Ukrainian and Polish underground music scenes since the early '90's both as a solo artist and a prominent member of the now disbanded avant-rock outfit Cukor Bila Smert (Sugar White Death). Her music draws on aspects of modern composition and traditional Slavic music, with songs and experiments from that early period culiminating in the 1999 album Kytytsi (Koka Records, Poland). Prior to that in 1995, Nianio recor…
Hilldrop
Following on from the sun-bleached, decayed atmospheres of Scott's previous 2016 release 'The Carousel' (SKR05), 'Hilldrop' brings together four pieces for piano, FM synth, finger cymbals, autoharp, and clock chime. Recorded in different domestic settings between 2011 and 2016, the four tracks vary in structure and intensity, yet remain united by a common sense of stillness and a lightness of touch familiar to much of Scott's solo and collaborative work. Originally planned as a double 7”, 'Hilld…
Well of Sorrows
Well of Sorrows is Ian Middleton's first LP release since 2009's Aural Spaces and Time Building (Swill Radio and Entr'acte respectively). Employing his signature MS10 analogue synthesizer, Middleton's sound takes on a more plaintive tone, weaving quietly lyrical melodic patterns into an ever-shifting stasis. Precise and elemental, Middleton's music reflects years of exploration into the possibilities of his chosen instrument, sidestepping the transience of current trend and carving his own path …
Calluna
Calluna is the second collaborative release from Andrew Chalk & Tom James Scott, and was completed following the duo's first live performance in summer 2014. Recorded over a longer time period than Wild Flowers (2013), Calluna sees the haze of their debut lifted to reveal a clearer, more expansive sound world. Scott's sparse unadorned piano notes occasionally cluster into more elaborate, decorative phrases, delicately underpinned and enhanced by Chalk's slow, carefully placed additions. Edited f…
Wild Flowers
*restocked* Andrew Chalk & Tom James Scott released their first duo recording in 2013 through Scott's own Skire label. Wild Flowers saw the delicate surface of Scott's hushed piano playing occasionally blurred by Chalk's sensitive and unique approach to production, unearthing a depth of feeling usually heard as an undercurrent to the muted, almost half-sounded surface notes. Evoking distant childhood summers, strings swell and vanish like flashes of light across a weather-beaten lens, enveloping…