Name: Handfuls Of Night
Brand: Penguin Cafe

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

ERATP127LP

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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

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2019-10-04

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Forte

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

3700551782574

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

ERATP127CD

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Card Wallet with Inner Sleeve.

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3700551782567

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Penguin Cafe

Genre GB

Modern Composition

Label GB

Erased Tapes

Albums of the Year - 2019

Erased Tapes Records is a London-based record label established in 2007 by Robert Raths, also known as Ghostworker. With the label code LC 15952, Erased Tapes has become renowned for its diverse roster of *artists* and *performers*. The label's focus lies on releasing avant-garde and experimental music across various genres, including ambient, electronic, and modern classical. Erased Tapes has gained a reputation for nurturing talented musicians and pushing boundaries within the industry. Their commitment to quality and innovation has made them a trusted source for unique and captivating musical experiences.
At Erased Tapes, they believe that music should be an immersive journey that transcends traditional boundaries. They strive to create an environment where artists can freely express their creativity while receiving support from a dedicated team of professionals. By fostering close relationships with their *artists*, Erased Tapes ensures that each release is treated with care and attention to detail.
Over the years, Erased Tapes has built an impressive catalog of critically acclaimed albums that have resonated with listeners worldwide. From the ethereal compositions of Nils Frahm to the mesmerizing soundscapes of A Winged Victory For The Sullen, each release showcases the label's commitment to showcasing groundbreaking talent.

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) was founded by British composer Simon Jeffes (1949 - 1997). Jeffes, born in Sussex, England and raised in Canada and around Europe, began playing the guitar at the age of 13. He studied classical guitar, piano, and music theory at Chiswick Polytechnic before dropping out. 

While living in Japan in 1972, Jeffes developed an interest in ethnic music, particularly African styles. Inspired by this fusion of sounds, he launched the PCO as a platform for his eclectic compositions. The concept of "Penguin Cafe" came to him in a dream during a bout of food poisoning in the south of France that summer. Describing their music as "modern semi-acoustic chamber music," the PCO's unique style blends traditional Western sounds with diverse influences.

Contact Information: 
Penguin Cafe Orchestra 
2 Hippodrome Place 
London W11 4NG 
UK 
Tel: +44 20 7792 3493 
Fax: +44 7792 7855

Back In Stock

Erased Tapes present Handfuls of Night — the highly anticipated follow-up to Penguin Cafe’s much applauded 2017 album The Imperfect Sea — inspired by the Antarctic, Arthur Jeffes’ journey following in Scott’s footsteps and our penguin friends that reside there.

Using gut-stringed violins, viola, cello, bass, percussion, upright and grand pianos, synthesiser, harmonium and more, Arthur Jeffes and his cohorts have crafted a vivid series of panoramic sonic landscapes, that are as rich in cerebral poignancy as they are in emotional depth.

Bookended by the atmospheric ambient piano pieces Winter Sun and Midnight Sun, the album traverses glacial minimalism with ease, combining their signature contemporary classical panoramas, such as the melancholic yet upbeat lead track At the Top of the Hill, They Stood... and the colossal cinematic piece Chapter, with the crystalline folktronica on Pythagorus on the Line Again — a re-visiting and continuation of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s 1993 Union Cafe song on the principles of harmonics.

Handfuls of Night began life after Greenpeace commissioned Jeffes to write four pieces of music corresponding to four breeds of penguins, to help raise awareness for the endangered Antarctic seas. Handfuls of Night’s tones, textures and melodies evoke otherworldly expanses, which at different junctures are either foreboding, awe inspiring or peaceful. There’s subtly morphing rhythmic repetition throughout, somewhere between minimalism, krautrock and the piano-cascades of label peer Lubomyr Melnyk. Jeffes creates a kinetic, circling motion, which drives the album forward in the form of a musical trip that mirrors the physical journey it was inspired by.

Handfuls Of Night

Music GB

Buy Penguin Cafe - Handfuls Of Night (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.