Release Date: Oct 19, 2012
Genre(s): Electronic, Experimental Electronic, Ambient Techno
Record label: Ghost Box
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After releasing three volumes of the intriguing Black Mill Tapes throughout 2010 and 2011 on his own Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services, Martin Jenkins takes the natural step and releases his studio album Sleep Games on Jim Jupp's wonderful Ghost Box label. The darker reaches of the haunted ballroom, the creeping shadows and the ghostly ambience of abandoned warehouses and buildings, and the faded charm of cult '70s children TV shows comprise the similar sound aesthetic that Jenkins and Jupp both encompass. Sleep Games begins with a nod to Jenkins' previous work with the marauding "The Black Mill Video Tape." It instantly recalls the imperious electronics of the finest John Carpenter and Alan Howarth soundtracks.
It was only a matter of time before Ghost Box Records and Pye Corner Audio got into bed together. Both have existed in the same universe for years - creating unsettling, out-of-date electronica - and now thanks to some manouevring by Martin Jenkins and label head Jim Jupp, they’ve come together on Sleep Games. Marrying the ambient weirdness of Pye Corner Audio with Ghost Box’s eerie school video skits, Sleep Games gives both sounds a dark, disco edge, resulting in a hybrid that feels like Johnny Jewel being allowed a seat at a séance.