Latitudes
Latitude / la-ti-tyood/ n. 1 the distance of a place north or south of the equator. 2 (latitudes) regions with reference to their temperature and distance from the eq uator: southern latitudes. 3 scope for freedom or thought, Origin latitudo 'breadth'.
Oxford Paperback Dictionary (OUP, Ed. Catherine Soanes, 2001)
We came up with the idea of our Latitudes series partly in honour of John Peel and the great work he did championing so many bands with his BBC Radio One sessions, and partly in reverance of the fact that Southern initially started out life as a recording studio in the late 1970's.
Many incredible bands have recorded at Southern - Crass, Sonic Youth, The Fall, PW Long, Fugazi, Therapy, PJ Harvey, Lee Perry, Bauhaus, Big Black, Shellac, Babes In Toyland, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Ministry, My Bloody Valentine... the list is virtually endless. However, in more recent years not so many of the bands we work with have had the chance to record at Southern Studios, albeit remaining a very active studio. With Latitudes we hope to redress this balance; reaffirming the bond between our studio and label.
Latitudes began as a simple concept, to put the bands we work with in touch with our studio and to release the resulting material. Swiftly we agreed it would be a great idea t o offer our favourite bands - many of them passing through London as part ot their tour - the opportunity to spend some time recording something spontaneous, collaborative, fun o r experimental in our studio. Whatever the band wants to achieve in a few days essentially - something truly transient, imaginative and unique. Something we hoped to capture in t he aesthetic of the resulting record - something with boundless creative scope and freedom - specific to a certain time and space - something with latitude.
Another factor behind the Latitudes series was our impetus to create something unique and beautifully packaged, in limited runs, distributed primarily through smaller, indepen dent distributors, mail orders, web shops, and retailers - basically something special for the people who love and support music, in these times of souless mass production. The a rtwork for each one of our Latitude releases will be specifically embellished by the band. Cult designer Stephen O'Malley has provided us with a wonderful template for the series - think smoky wavy cloud scapes and creatures of apocrypha. On top of this visceral odyssey of a cardboard CD casing, we ask our bands to design an artisan sleeve motif and inse rt, bearing the details of the session and a photograph either from the tour or session which best symbolises the spirit in which the session was recorded.
We're very much at the start of our adventure with Latitudes right now, we hope that you will join us for the journey; latitudes by name and latitudes by nature.
Releases
Street date: 2008-06-02
Total Running Time: 10:26 mins. White Magic are champions of repetition, looping and feedback and apocalyptic balladry that’s as threatening and paranoid as it is beautiful and contemplative. Mira Billotte’s voice, accompanied by Doug Shaw’s psyched out guitar work and a drum beat that’s relentless and driving is a ferocious combination.
Street date: 2008-06-02
The (Fallen) Black Deer are Greg Burns (Red Sparowes) and Josh Graham (A Storm Of Light). Requiem is an improvised soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's classic 'The Shining'. With crystalline melodies, ominous drones and confident ringing peals, you have ten tracks of gloriously evocative, cinematic soundscape to enjoy.
Street date: 2008-05-05
Blood And Time are Noah Landis, Scott Kelly and Josh Graham of Neurosis. This recording was made specially for the Latitudes series and is the follow-up to 2004's stunning At The Foot Of The Garden. As usual this Latitudes LP release is in fancy packaging, on 180g vinyl and limited to 1000 only! 700 of these will be on White vinyl. CD also available on Latitudes.
Street date: 2008-03-24
3 tracks 21 minutes. With much inspiration from the occult, they craft complex instrumental works full of twists and turns with the collision of victoriana and prog, incredible.
Street date: 2007-12-03
Circle are Finland's premiere psychoactive export. Working deep in the forests of their homeland they forge a potent mix of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, Krautrock and Finnish experimentalism; no single genre can contain their awesome power! Guitar, bass and keyboards twist and curl like smoke against the pounding rhythmic propulsion of the drums, vocals veering from a hysterical Rob Halford-esque staccato wail to a discombobulated murmur.
Street date: 2007-11-19
This session contains four frantic pieces of primitive expressionism and were recorded live to tape, no overdubs, no re-takes. Three of the songs are deeply instinctive and rattle and holler along the free rock tradition, the fourth is an energetic assault on a three chord punk rawk song, all in all the session was a total success, with the engineer bottling the explosive spirit of the band's phenomenal live performance with skill. Words don't do justice to a band as important as this one and this session is the closest thing you'll hear to actually witnessing their frantic live show.
Street date: 2007-11-19
These songs were recorded in the hallway at Southern Studios in London by the esteemed Harvey Birrell in the month of January in the year 2005. It is an honour and a pleasure to have had William visit our studio and do what he is so damn good at -- just playing a few songs -- simple, unadorned, great stories from the heart. I hope that you all will enjoy the pleasure of William's company in your homes, as much as we have enjoyed all of the time we've had in his company.
Street date: 2007-08-27
Six parts doom, four parts jazz-balladry – Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore return with this ten minute soundtrack to an unmade existential chiller.
Street date: 2007-08-13
Miasma & The Carousel Of Headless Horses were a must-have for the Latitudes series. An essential live band on the London underground scene, Miasma have wowed many an audience over the last year with their virtuoso performances.
Street date: 2007-08-13
It was November 2006, almost a year since Neurosis' last excursion to our Sceptered Isle, but this weekend was going to be even more unique. Not only were we going to be treated to a Neurosis performance of stellar proportions, but Scott Kelly, Noah Landis and Josh Graham were all going to be in town one day longer to play their debut European show as Blood and Time. Needless to say, if we had to drag them kicking and screaming into our studio, we were going to use all our wiliness to get them to record a Latitudes Session whilst they were here. Thankfully, they graciously accepted right away.
Street date: 2007-01-15
Shit and Shine are a band that follow their own formula - the kind of devious experiment at the back of the science lab that blows the room apart: 4 drummers + 2 bassists + 1 toy keyboard = 1 riff x 42 minutes = evil fun!
Street date: 2007-01-15
Fingering the Devil, recorded in London in July of 2005 at Southern Studios, incorporates numerous musical strains in his virtuoso guitar playing. Middle Eastern, Pan-Asian and North African to name a few. The Eastern mysticism of Robbie Basho and the freewheeling gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt can both be heard on Fingering The Devil, but you never lose sight of the man at the centre of this six-string mystical chaos, the one and only Sir Richard Bishop, by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen.
Street date: 2006-11-20
This session contains four frantic pieces of primitive expressionism and were recorded live to tape, no overdubs, no re-takes. Three of the songs are deeply instinctive and rattle and holler along the free rock tradition, the fourth is an energetic assault on a three chord punk rawk song, all in all the session was a total success, with the engineer bottling the explosive spirit of the band's phenomenal live performance with skill. Words don't do justice to a band as important as this one and this session is the closest thing you'll hear to actually witnessing their frantic live show.
Street date: 2006-06-10
Seeing Spots is an amazing sound clash of genres from sensitive guitar balladry to fractured electronic noise pop, all littered with references to Jenny's other musical passions: Gospel, bluegrass, punk and country.
Street date: 2006-02-06
Fingering the Devil, recorded in London in July of 2005 at Southern Studios, incorporates numerous musical strains in his virtuoso guitar playing. Middle Eastern, Pan-Asian and North African to name a few. The Eastern mysticism of Robbie Basho and the freewheeling gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt can both be heard on Fingering The Devil, but you never lose sight of the man at the centre of this six-string mystical chaos, the one and only Sir Richard Bishop, by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen.
Street date: 2006-01-20
Ariel Pink's music seems to be largely about setting up a communication between times, places and people and that's certainly what Latitudes is all about too. So it was on Saturday 10th June (on tour in Europe via the hills of Los Angeles) that Ariel Pink dropped by our studio and laid down their first ever song as a full group. The result of their session coalesced Pedestrian Pop Hits. An epic gelatinous jam of mouthed drums, transcendental keyboards and escapist guitar trails, forever punctuated by Ariel's restless vocal.
Street date: 2005-10-03
The nascent idea for Latitudes occurred at roughly the same time as the Grails UK tour dates were announced and my voice was deafeningly loud in proposing them as the perfect start to the series. Grasping the spirit of the series immediately they recorded these truly stunning cover versions for our enjoyment. To hear one of my favourite contemporary bands playing the all time greatest Jap Psych opus was even more than we could have hoped for. The ultimate 4am 'all-back-to-mine' moment for a post heavy night out session. Exceptional!
Street date: 2005-08-22
Shit and Shine are a band that follow their own formula - the kind of devious experiment at the back of the science lab that blows the room apart: 4 drummers + 2 bassists + 1 toy keyboard = 1 riff x 42 minutes = evil fun!
Street date: 2005-06-27
These songs were recorded in the hallway at Southern Studios in London by the esteemed Harvey Birrell in the month of January in the year 2005. It is an honour and a pleasure to have had William visit our studio and do what he is so damn good at -- just playing a few songs -- simple, unadorned, great stories from the heart. I hope that you all will enjoy the pleasure of William's company in your homes, as much as we have enjoyed all of the time we've had in his company.
Street date: 2005-05-02
4 trks, 43 mins. First installment of our latitudes series! Featuring Stephen O'Malley, Alexander Tucker & Tony Sly on an intense acoustic neo-folk psych-out meditative journey.
