The Stranger - bleaklow (CD and MP3s)

THE STRANGER - bleaklow
VVMTCD26 - CD album + Free MP3 downloads

Audio preview / video preview
Buy this cd album (including MP3s) now for £9 inc p&p

The latest release by V/Vm alter-ego The Stranger is available now for just £9 which includes postage and packing anywhere in the world. It's a dark trip and one you can preview as audio and video. When you make the purchase not only will you get the physical CD but you will also be sent download links for highest quality MP3 files encoded from the master disc.

The inspiration of this disc comes from those dark, grey days full of drizzle and of course the bleak and battered northern moorside.

The Stranger - Bleaklow (expanded)
The Stranger - Bleaklow - release 'Bleaklow' is a dark opus of deeply rich textures and resonating ambience. The Caretaker tracks he's put out recently are all well worth your attention, however sonically he's really pushed himself on this one with immense attention to detail. The palette of sounds used are fairly consistent throughout with widescreen sequences of pulsating noise, smothered distant melodies and harmonics juxtaposed with very occasional sparse beats to create a tantalizing black atmosphere. Again like the Caretaker stuff, this evokes feelings of nostalgia but it is a far more futuristic trip. This strikes me as a very personal and introspective album.
(NORMAN RECORDS)
This new album, however, qualifies as his most absorbing and fully realised yet - an eleven track arrangement of unbelievably layered drones, sound washes and percussive structures that will leave you wondering just what else might be lurking in V/VM's no-doubt substantial archives.
"Bleaklow" is a deep and incredibly satisfying album - perhaps more so than any other releases on this frankly mental label - and once your surprise starts to subside you're left with the unerring impression that James Kirby is one of the most interesting and diverse producers working on the scene today.
(BOOMKAT - album of the week)		 The Stranger - Bleaklow - insert
The Stranger - Bleaklow - in plastic The most bleak and depressing V/Vm alter-ego. The nearest comparison I can make is with the heavier end of the dark-ambient/Isolationist movement that briefly flourished in the mid-90s. It's a bum trip, baby, but the perfect soundtrack to another wet, miserable English Bank Holiday.
(GUTTERBREAKZ)


A word also for bleaklow, the superb new release by V/VM alter-ego The Stranger, especially the queasy wilting synths and staggering punch-drunk beats of "Indefinite Ridge".
(SIMON REYNOLDS)
Another V/VM alter-ego uses analog and digital sources to create vivid impressions of a specific landscape of Northern England. The mood is akin to a wet cold late-winter trek across the harshly beautiful terrain and the rare prettier music captures precious moments when the sun breaks through. The Stranger concentrates on raw, bitter, splendidly egalitarian weather and its simultaneously battering and uplifting effect on humans.Throughout Bleaklow there is an absence of prettiness which should definitely appeal to the perverse enjoyment of those who venture out in all weathers with Ordanance Survey map, mint cake, flask of tea, copy of The Good Pub Guide and the motto: "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing..."
(BRAINWASHED)		 The Stranger - Bleaklow - cover