Uncanny Landscapes

An interview by Justin Hopper with James Canton.

James Canton is a writer and educator; the author of books including Ancient Wonderings, The Oak Papers, and Grounded: A Journey into the Landscapes of our Ancestors.

His website is https://jamescanton.co.uk/

He is also active on Instagram.

The music in this episode is Leaves Rustle and the Wind in my Hair by Pefkin, from the album Observations on Land and Sea, available from Pefkin's bandcamp page.

An interview by Justin Hopper with Cheryl E. Leonard.

Cheryl E. Leonard is a musician, sound artist and composer who lives in Northern California and works there - or in Antarctice, or Scotland, or Scandinavia... Her practice of making compositions 'of' and 'with' place combines field recordings with music made from original instruments built from natural objects.

Her website is https://allwaysnorth.com/ and she's also on Instagram.

Her album Antarctica: Music from the Ice is available from Bandcamp: https://othermindsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/antarctica-music-from-the-ice

A new release just out is Littoral: https://ruralsituationism.bandcamp.com/album/littoral

For this special episode, I walked on the South Downs with Jim Jupp of Belbury Poly and Ghost Box Records, discussing the latest BP album The Path.

Good friend of the podcast Jim Jupp recently released a new album under his Belbury Poly name, and through Ghost Box, the record label he co-founded with artist/designer Julian House.

Rather than a solo piece, however, this one involves a 'band' setting augmenting his synths and obsessions with library-music inspired claustrophobic soundtrack-funk, plus my own contribution as narrator, telling a vague tale of a walker descending into madness on the uncanny paths of England.

We walked and talked at the end of the summer, and here 'tis...

Check out Belbury Poly's The Path through all the normal record-shopping and streaming spots, and Ghost Box Records' own shoppe. The music is, obviously, also from that album. BP did the Uncanny Landscapes title theme, too...

Host Justin Hopper has an Uncanny Landscapes substack - it's free, and includes the podcast + more. JH can be found via LinkTree or on Instagram.

An interview by Justin Hopper with artist Kirsty Badenoch and writer Tom Jeffreys.

Kirsty and Tom have an exhibition 9-12 November at Staffordshire Street Gallery in Peckham, London, UK, featuring new work made in the remaining patches of boreal forest in northern Scotland.

For information on the exhibition, visit Staffordshire St's website. 

Kirsty Badenoch and Tom Jeffreys each have a site, too, which will help you find out more about the artists book that accompanies the exhibition.

The music in this episode is the track Unnamed Unseen from Memory Islands, a highly recommended new album by violinist Ellie Wilson.

Host Justin Hopper has an Uncanny Landscapes substack - it's free, and includes the podcast + more. JH can be found via LinkTree or on Instagram.

An interview by Justin Hopper with Frances Castle of Clay Pipe Music.

Frances Castle is a London-based artist, illustrator and musician who operates Clay Pipe Music, a record label producing beautiful landscape-inspired LPs and CDs of music combining folk, electronica and hauntological themes.

Clay Pipe's website is http://www.claypipemusic.co.uk/

Frances's own site is https://www.francescastle.com/

This episode includes partial and full tracks from a number of Clay Pipe artists including Frances's own The Hardy Tree. They are all available here from Clay Pipe's Greedbag page. In order of appearance:

An interview by Justin Hopper with Lally MacBeth and Matthew Shaw, founders of Stone Club.

Stone Club is an online and in-person affiliation of people in love with ancient landscapes, founded two years ago by artists MacBeth and Shaw. They'll talk about the background on 'why stone club', the importance of mystical landscape and the work influenced and inspired by the places they inhabit.

Stone Club's website is stoneclub.rocks where you can find out about membership, events and ways to join in.

The music in this episode is by Stone Club's Matthew Shaw, who has his own website.

Lally MacBeth also operates the Folk Archive, and other projects, available at this site o'er here.

An interview by Justin Hopper with artist and writer Camilla Nelson.

Camilla Nelson is an artist whose work explores the materiality of language, particularly in regards to the other-than-human.

Her workshop BECOMING begins soon and is an exploration of ways to engage with fungus, birds, animals, plants and more through language and art. She'll discuss this online workshop as well as her own work as an artist, writer, performer and educator.

For more on her work and courses, Camilla's Singing Apple Press has a website.

The music in this episode is by Kyron from the album Dreaming Eden, available on LP or as a Download.

Dan Fox's substack is here.

An interview by Justin Hopper with artist and musician Jem Finer.

Jem Finer is an artist and musician whose work spans the musical gamut from co-founding The Pogues to creating Longplayer, a 1,000-year-long composition that has been performing itself, so far, for 23 years.

On Mayday, Finer and co-conspirator Jimmy Cauty (of the KLF) release the first record as Local Psycho - a hurdy-gurdy led acid-barn-dance band - and will infuse a newly erected standing stone with its sounds.

Jem talks about Local Psycho and Longplayer, as well as other projects of his, archaeo-astronomy and 'psychocosmology', and more.

An interview by Justin Hopper with artist and roboticist Ian Ingram.