To celebrate the release of Richard Norris’ new self-titled album as The Time & Space Machine, we have a nifty mix from him for you to check out.
Speaking about the album, essentially his first solo release, Richards says “This is the first time I’ve made an album pretty much on my own. Apart from two days laying down drums with ace beatnik drum-lord Wildcat Will and a couple of vocal sessions, this record was pieced together solo over many months in a room beneath a castle in Lewes, Sussex, England. It’s a different dynamic making a record on your own, and allowed the record to grow in it’s own particular way.”
Exploring his new creative freedom, he set about capturing his influences saying, “After years collecting, releasing, writing and thinking about psychedelic music, I’ve finally put my formative influences onto a set of tunes. I’ve been in love with psychedelia and freakbeat ever since I worked at the UK psych label Bam Caruso as a teenager, and I’ve really tried to mesh that influence with modern techniques to create something new.”
Enjoy the mix above and read Richard’s notes on each of the album’s tracks below.
1. Time and Space “I wanted an opener that went from an atmospheric place to a real lift off into space.”
2. Path Through The Cathedral “My favorite track at the moment, with ringing Cathedral organ, tremelo-ed fuzz tone and backwards guitars.”
3. Set Phazer To Stun “The first hint of a Krautrock influence here, alongside some dirt cheap Farfisa organ and Will’s freakbeat drumming. And some Phazer.”
4. You Are The One “Layed vocals singing in the round, with more fine beat freak moments from Will.”
5. Children Of The Sun “Apparently, according to some blogs, this is ‘Chillwave’… maybe so, although I had no idea what Chillwave was when I made it. I just wanted to write a breezy, hazy, uplifting summer record with a hint of liquid sunshine.”
6. Zeitghost “More motorik freakbeat, the kind of track I like djing with as it’s a right chugger.”
7. Infinite “A twitchy guitar manta”
8. More Cowbell “Probably the most obviously dancefloor track on the album, with fuzzed out bass and the sound of a cowbell that sounds like it’s still attached to the cow on some hill in Switzerland. Influenced by the famous Saturday Night Live ‘More Cowbell’ sketch with Christopher Walken.”
9. Midsummer Night “The words came to me on midsummer night, the day before my birthday, at four in the morning looking into a glowing campfire in a field in the Sussex downs.”
10. Mushroom Family “A more Balearic influence here with a hint of sitar and flute, plus Rachael Davies’ soaring harmonies.”
11. After The Gold Rush “This Neil Young cover features Raissa from The Mummers on vocals, some Memphis Horns and a hint of balearia once again. “
