Name: Movietone
Brand: Movietone

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

WOE007LP

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

With Printed Inners.

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2024-03-08

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Cargo

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

5024545982114

Total Cap

Black LPx2

Artist

Movietone

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

World of Echo

Movietone is an English post-rock band that formed in Bristol, England in 1994. With their unique blend of experimental sounds and atmospheric melodies, they have established themselves as pioneers in the genre. Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of influences, Movietone's music takes listeners on a captivating sonic journey.

Similar to other notable artists such as Hood, Crescent, and Flying Saucer Attack, Movietone has carved out their own distinct sound within the post-rock scene. Their music evokes a sense of introspection and emotion, creating a powerful connection with their audience.

With albums like "The Blossom Filled Streets" and "Day and Night," Movietone has received critical acclaim for their innovative approach to songwriting and composition. Their ability to seamlessly blend different musical elements sets them apart from their contemporaries.

World of Echo is an independent record label based in London, UK. It is closely connected to a record shop with the same name. With a strong presence in the music industry, World of Echo offers a diverse range of music genres and artists.

The label has established itself as a reputable platform for emerging talent, showcasing unique and innovative sounds. Their commitment to supporting independent artists sets them apart from other labels, providing a space for creativity and artistic expression.

With their extensive knowledge and expertise in the industry, World of Echo curates an impressive collection of vinyl records that cater to all music enthusiasts. Whether you're searching for rare finds or contemporary releases, this label guarantees quality and authenticity.

World Of Echo are proud to announce the long-awaited reissue, of the self-titled debut album by Bristol’s Movietone. Originally released in 1995 by Planet Records and reissued on CD in 2003 by The Pastels’ Geographic Music imprint, this is the first time Movietone has been reissued on vinyl. An expanded double-LP edition, it includes the extra tracks from the 2003 CD (their first two singles, and an unreleased demo of “Chance Is Her Opera”), and adds three more unearthed gems: demos of “Alkaline Eye” and “She Smiled Mandarine Like”, and an early take of “Late July”, recorded in a garden by Dave Pearce (Flying Saucer Attack) in 1993. Taken together, this is the definitive collection of music from the first phase of one of Bristol’s most remarkable groups.

Movietone was the cumulation of a series of events, explorations, and discoveries, starting at secondary school – the group’s core membership of Kate Wright, Rachel Brook, Matt Elliott and Matt Jones met at Cotham School in Bristol. As for many other groups, their early years were all about experimenting, and finding ways to ‘make do’, a DIY sensibility that would inform Movietone through their decade-long lifespan. From formative rehearsals in a shed in the garden of Brook’s family home, to recording early material to four-track in Redland Library, and on into the Whitehouse and Mr Grin’s studio sessions for their debut album, Movietone’s music fell together in a creatively unpredictable, yet conceptually rigorous manner.

By the time they released Movietone, they’d found a home with Bristol’s Planet, run by author Richard King and James Webster, who had both released their first two singles, “She Smiled Mandarine Like” and “Mono Valley”. There was other music happening around them in Bristol, too, from the Jones brothers’ avant-rock outfit Crescent (who were Movietone’s closest conspirators), through Elliott’s jungle/electronica project Third Eye Foundation, and Brook and Elliott’s membership of Flying Saucer Attack. A closely knit community, Movietone are the centre of this nestling architecture of groups.

The vision in the music, mostly, belongs to Wright, but Movietone ran in democratic creative consort. Listening back to Movietone, you can hear this democracy in action through the wildness of the music, which is balanced by the poetics of Wright’s lyrics and melodies. Full of half-captured memories and entangled abstractions, there’s an elliptical, ruminative quality to much of the writing here that shows the deep influence of the Beat Generation writers, along with a twilight environment captured in the songs that’s pure third-album Velvets, Galaxie 500, early Tindersticks, Codeine. Unpredictable interventions – the crashing glass in “Mono Valley”, the sudden explosions of “Orange Zero” – point towards the noise blowouts of My Bloody Valentine, the unpredictability of Sonic Youth; Wright’s understated vocal cadence suggest a deep, embodied understanding of John Cage’s Indeterminacy.

Movietone would go on to make three fantastic albums for Domino – Night and Day (1997), The Blossom Filled Streets (2000) and The Sand and The Stars (2003) – and their Peel Sessions were released in 2022 on Textile. Still held in high regard by artists like Steven R. Smith, and The Pastels, whose Stephen McRobbie once described them as “one of the great unknown English groups,” it’s an absolute thrill to listen to Movietone anew – still inspired, still seductive, still magic, still mysterious.

Music GB