Richard Skelton

This article is about the English musician who records as A Broken Consort. For a Baroque musical term, see Broken consort.
Richard Skelton
Also known as A Broken Consort, Carousell, Riftmusic, Clouwbeck, Heidika, Harlassen
Origin Lancashire, UK
Genres Experimental music, drone music, minimalist music
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Multi-instrumentalist
Years active 2005–present
Labels Sustain-Release, Corbel Stone Press
Associated acts *AR, Autumn Grieve

Richard Skelton is a British musician. Following the death of his wife Louise in 2004, he began to make music as a way of coming to terms with the tragedy.[1] His music, which uses a number of instruments – principally guitar and violin, has been compared with that of Arvo Pärt[2] among others. His recordings explicitly reference places of emotional resonance, specifically the West Pennine Moors, and the area around the sparsely populated parish of Anglezarke.[1] His album Landings has been compared with Brian Eno's Ambient 4: On Land in its evocation of place and memory.[1] Skelton even goes so far as to include artefacts, such as twigs and alder catkins, from significant places in the packaging of his releases.[3]

Most of Skelton's releases have been issued by his own Sustain-Release label – under a range of pseudonyms including A Broken Consort, Carousell and Riftmusic, as well as under his own name – in small editions of CDs with hand-crafted packaging, and often including fragments of poetry. However, some of Skelton's work has attained wider commercial and critical success.[4]

In 2011, Skelton archived the material he had released on Sustain-Release. A box set of his complete recordings to date, titled *SKURA and totalling 20 discs of music, followed. Skelton announced that future editions of both his music and writing would be released on the Corbel Stone Press imprint. The first release was Wolf Notes, a collaboration with his new partner, Autumn Richardson, under the name *AR. The album was released on 1 January 2011. To date, a number of print works and another musical collaboration with Richardson, Stray Birds, have been issued. Two more music works are scheduled for release in mid-2012.

Until 2010, Skelton lived in Standish, near Wigan,[5] before relocating to the west coast of Ireland.[6]

Discography

Heidika, There Is No Cure & Other Songs, Sustain-Release CD
Carousell, A Dead Bridges into Dust, Sustain-Release CD
Harlassen, A Way Now, Sustain-Release CD
Carousell, Landings, Sustain-Release CD
A Broken Consort, The Shape Leaves, Sustain-Release CD
Riftmusic, Riftmusic, Sustain-Release CD
A Broken Consort, Box of Birch (1st Edition), Sustain-Release CD
Clouwbeck, A Moraine, Sustain-Release CD
A Broken Consort, Crow Autumn (Part One), Sustain-Release CD
Heidika, Tide of Bells & the Sea, Sustain-Release CD
A Broken Consort, Box of Birch (2nd Edition), Sustain-Release CD
A Broken Consort, Crow Autumn (Part Two), Sustain-Release CD
Carousell, Black Swallow & Other Songs, Sustain-Release CD
Richard Skelton, Landings, Type Records LP/CD
Clouwbeck, From Which the River Rises, Sustain-Release CD
Richard Skelton, Marking Time, Preservation Records CD, Type Records LP
Clouwbeck, Wolfrahm, Sustain-Release CD
A Broken Consort, Crow Autumn, Tompkins Square Records CD
*AR, Wolf Notes, Corbel Stone Press CD
Various Artists, *SKURA, Sustain-Release CD (compilation of Skelton material under different names)
Richard Skelton, Verse of Birds, Corbel Stone Press CD

Collaborations

Agitated Radio Pilot, World Winding Down, Deadslackstring CD (Skelton co-composes and plays on the track Earthfasts)
Machinefabriek, Daas, Cold Spring CD (Skelton contributes to the title track)
Saddleback, Everything's A Love Letter/Everything's Open To Interpretation, Preservation CD (Skelton contributes a version of Saddleback's Gerroa Thursday)
Autumn Grieve, Stray Birds, Corbel Stone Press CD (Skelton accompanies the songs of Autumn Richardson)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Richard Skelton – Landings". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  2. ↑ "Richard Skelton". Allword-news.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  3. ↑ "Frieze Magazine | Archive | Landings". Frieze.com. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  4. ↑ "TLOBF Interview :: Richard Skelton (A Broken Consort)". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  5. ↑ "Adventures in Modern Music: Article". The Wire. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  6. ↑ "Blog Archive " Interview with Richard Skelton". rhythmplex. 31 July 2010. Retrieved 2011-07-10.

External links