It seems that the original Peter Scion website, Tree Music, has gone down. I wasn't the web master, and I have no idea what happened, perhaps Yahoo pulled it for some reason. Anyway, as it seems, this blog will be the main source for information on my past (but not very likely present) doings. At least until I figure out what happened.
It's a bit sad if it actually is defunct, because all my lyrics were kept there, plus plenty of other written work, and due to a number of reasons, I have no other copies of it... (And before you point it out to me: I know, it's stupid of me not to keep a better backup of my own work.)
Monday, 6 July 2009
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
THE PECULIAR SOUNDS OF PETER SCION: A NEWCOMER'S INTRODUCTION (1989-2005)
With so many albums of mine available here, you might find it hard to decide what to download unless you're already familiar with my music. Therefore I have compiled an album of 2CD's length covering every album I've made, including group efforts from Modryn, Continental Soul Searchers, and Pangolin.
It's always hard to make compilations of your own work, and my opinion is that the artists themselves rarely are the best persons to decide what material is appropriate to include. Had someone else put together a Peter Scion "best of" or "introduction" styled album, it might have looked very different. I have however tried to shed light on as many different styles I thought necessary, why this introduction swings wildly from dark folk to country music to heavy rock to... Well, you get the point. However, this isn't meant to be a cohesive album, just the introduction the title suggests.
For quick download, it's available only in slightly lesser quality mp3's. If you have an irresistable urge to get this music in better quality after messing up your mind with these selections, I humbly advise you to choose the regular albums.
DOWNLOAD DISC 1
DOWNLOAD DISC 2
Thursday, 7 May 2009
DEVACHAN (Peter Scion 1997)
After a few musical miscarriages, "Devachan" came to me as my firstborn album. As my debut, it will always have a special place in my heart. It also seems to me that this is the record of mine that people like the most.
I have to thank my dear friend Christer Bäckhage for setting this weird thing into motion. After hearing some of my earlier recordings, he suggested that I should go all the way and try to make something more psychedelic. That pulled the plug. Or rather, that broke the levee. As soon as I started recording, I couldn't tape enough songs. It took only a week to finish the entire album, but more songs were coming which eventually made up the two albums that followed it.
Whether "Devachan" is psychedelic or not is up to other people to decide, but it was definitely a trip into my own mind at the time. Listening to it is listening to someone slightly lost in and baffled by his own creativity, somewhere between a slightly uncomfortable past and an unknown future. And so "Devachan" is the perfect title for the album. The word is Sanskrit for the place where the soul dwells after death but before rebirth. That's where you found me as an artist in early 1997.
The name "Scion" came from a headline in a British music magazine (and not from the Ian Matthews song that some have believed). I liked the meaning of it although I was a bit uncomfortable with its sound to begin with. But the name stuck, and soon I was as much the Scion persona as I was the ordinary, everyday me. Actually, when I became Peter Scion I became more of my real self, because Peter Scion could say things I couldn't.
Before my friend Lars Holmquist founded the "kitchen table label" Domestica (simply because he thought the album was so good that he wanted it out in some way, even if he had to do it himself), I sent out a tape with a three track selection to various record labels in Europe. I got only one reply, a year or so later. I can't remember now who from, but he had suddenly found the tape behind a shelf, forgetting he had recieved it in the first place. Now he had listened to it, and was interested in releasing "Devachan" on his label. "Sure," I wrote to him. I never heard from him again.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD PART 1
DOWNLOAD PART 2
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
TREE MUSIC (Peter Scion 1997)
I can't remember really how "Tree Music" came about. From what I recall now, it just seemed to happen. After "Devachan", I kept recording, and I suddenly had enough material to fill a 90 minute tape. About half of that material was structured as "The Amethyst Dream". At one point, Lars at Domestica and I talked about releasing "The Amethyst Dream" together with "Devachan" as a box set of sorts including "Tree Music". The idea was scrapped, but suddenly we had another album ready for release. "Tree Music" and "The Amethyst Dream" were released simultaneously.
The odd thing about "Tree Music" is that it seems to have a theme of its own. All the songs deal, in one way or another, with nature. The unintentional concept album! It is also by far the strangest album of mine, with "Willow Moon" being the off-beat centrepiece. (And off tune too for that matter...) There's also a new version of "These Darkened Trees" which is the perfect example of how not to make a record. I had just bought myself a cheap sitar, and with fearlessness bordering on sheer stupidity, I decided to play a very long solo on said sitar. I also turned it up pretty loud in the mix, so that no-one would miss it... Those were the days! Anyway, this arrangement (bar the sitar!) became the foundation for subsequent takes on the song, including the one with Pangolin.
This is indeed one freak of an album, and perhaps that's an appeal of its own. At least one person I know has cited "Tree Music" as his favourite Peter Scion album... Another friend of mine had a good laugh when he heard "The Flower of My Secret Garden" for the first time. "What a freaky song!" he said, probably with equal parts of joy and fear... "Tree Music" seems to generate odd reactions.
The album cover was a shameless tribute to the ESP Disk' aesthetics. I love the homemade feel of their covers; that simple, stark black and white look that seemed to signal an urge to express oneself. I could easily relate to that, and although I no longer make music myself, I still can.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
The odd thing about "Tree Music" is that it seems to have a theme of its own. All the songs deal, in one way or another, with nature. The unintentional concept album! It is also by far the strangest album of mine, with "Willow Moon" being the off-beat centrepiece. (And off tune too for that matter...) There's also a new version of "These Darkened Trees" which is the perfect example of how not to make a record. I had just bought myself a cheap sitar, and with fearlessness bordering on sheer stupidity, I decided to play a very long solo on said sitar. I also turned it up pretty loud in the mix, so that no-one would miss it... Those were the days! Anyway, this arrangement (bar the sitar!) became the foundation for subsequent takes on the song, including the one with Pangolin.
This is indeed one freak of an album, and perhaps that's an appeal of its own. At least one person I know has cited "Tree Music" as his favourite Peter Scion album... Another friend of mine had a good laugh when he heard "The Flower of My Secret Garden" for the first time. "What a freaky song!" he said, probably with equal parts of joy and fear... "Tree Music" seems to generate odd reactions.
The album cover was a shameless tribute to the ESP Disk' aesthetics. I love the homemade feel of their covers; that simple, stark black and white look that seemed to signal an urge to express oneself. I could easily relate to that, and although I no longer make music myself, I still can.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
THE AMETHYST DREAM (Peter Scion 1997)
My third album was my personal favourite for a while, and I still like how it works cyclical, like an eternity sign. The last track "The Garden" (featuring Carita Forslund on flute) spiritually connects with the opening track, the likewise instrumental "Spring Fair Tune". The title track, also instrumental, is placed in the middle: the point where everything meets. When choosing the songs for "The Amethyst Dream", I tried to make it an album that you could listen to at a low volume, almost like an ambient album. However, tracks such as "Death Comes From The Sky" is a far cry from your typical ambient styled music!
The cover shot was taken by my inspirational mentor and close friend Christer Bäckhage. There was a small deserted garden not far from where I lived, and I decided it would be a perfect place for some posing. Luckily, I'm not seen clearly on the cover, more like a shadow emerging from the dark. I actually hate pictures of myself, and it would take a good while until I decided to have a proper portrait of myself on an album cover.
They have now ruined the deserted garden by building an ugly house there. (Sometimes, reality is very harsh.) They left the small stone steps (on which I sit) leading up to the garden though, but the magic of the place is gone.
"The Amethyst Dream" is the final part of what works like a trilogy, preceeded by "Tree Music" and "Devachan". The intention was never to create a cycle of albums, but "The Amethyst Dream" somehow seems to finish what "Devachan" started.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD PART 1
DOWNLOAD PART 2
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
The cover shot was taken by my inspirational mentor and close friend Christer Bäckhage. There was a small deserted garden not far from where I lived, and I decided it would be a perfect place for some posing. Luckily, I'm not seen clearly on the cover, more like a shadow emerging from the dark. I actually hate pictures of myself, and it would take a good while until I decided to have a proper portrait of myself on an album cover.
They have now ruined the deserted garden by building an ugly house there. (Sometimes, reality is very harsh.) They left the small stone steps (on which I sit) leading up to the garden though, but the magic of the place is gone.
"The Amethyst Dream" is the final part of what works like a trilogy, preceeded by "Tree Music" and "Devachan". The intention was never to create a cycle of albums, but "The Amethyst Dream" somehow seems to finish what "Devachan" started.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD PART 1
DOWNLOAD PART 2
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
SWEET SORROW MAN (Peter Scion 1997)
"Sweet Sorrow Man" seemed to surprise many of my listeners. After three albums of folk psych, I suddenly turned to country music! However, it's not a fullblown country album, but the influence is definitely there. Mick Capewell, who interviewed me for UK mag Ptolemaic Terrascope, dubbed it "Country & Northern", and that is quite possibly the best description I've heard of it.
To me, however, the change wasn't that sudden at all. I had listened a fair bit to country music and traditional American songs for some while before I recorded "Sweet Sorrow Man". After all, American traditional music isn't that far removed from the folk songs of the British Isles, which only a slightly closer history examination reveals. And as I, as an artist, worked by the principle "what goes in must come out", it was simply impossible not to react creatively to what I was listening to. "Broken" was even a song that I had wanted to write for a long time, and I was very happy to eventually find myself in the right mind to do it. Oh, and I'm very proud of my rendition of "Kathleen", which I still think is among my Top 3 recordings.
The re-working of "Is It Raining In Seattle?" (originally on "Devachan") was great fun to do. I don't know what really instigated another version of it; perhaps did I sense some country feel in it that would slip in nicely with the rest of the album. It was all first takes to keep the "devil may care" attitude intact in the finished version, as if there were four people getting together for the first time busking a song they roughly knew from a long time ago.
Although there are a couple of tongue-in-cheek moments on "Sweet Sorrow Man", I never meant to poke fun at a musical style I still like very much. It was all very lovingly done, and when listening to the album today, I realize it's my emotionally most diverse album up to that date. Good times rub shoulders with utter desperation, and in that respect, "Sweet Sorrow Man" is a very human album.
As I wrote in my liner notes for the album, "Sweet Sorrow Man" was originally percieved as an EP. But I was still riding high on the creative wave, so soon I had an album's worth of material that seemed to go together pretty well.
Lars Holmquist did the cover for the album without much of my participation. One day when I went to see him, he showed the finished artwork. I immediately accepted it, saying "I'd love to buy an album looking like that!".
I still like this album very much.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
To me, however, the change wasn't that sudden at all. I had listened a fair bit to country music and traditional American songs for some while before I recorded "Sweet Sorrow Man". After all, American traditional music isn't that far removed from the folk songs of the British Isles, which only a slightly closer history examination reveals. And as I, as an artist, worked by the principle "what goes in must come out", it was simply impossible not to react creatively to what I was listening to. "Broken" was even a song that I had wanted to write for a long time, and I was very happy to eventually find myself in the right mind to do it. Oh, and I'm very proud of my rendition of "Kathleen", which I still think is among my Top 3 recordings.
The re-working of "Is It Raining In Seattle?" (originally on "Devachan") was great fun to do. I don't know what really instigated another version of it; perhaps did I sense some country feel in it that would slip in nicely with the rest of the album. It was all first takes to keep the "devil may care" attitude intact in the finished version, as if there were four people getting together for the first time busking a song they roughly knew from a long time ago.
Although there are a couple of tongue-in-cheek moments on "Sweet Sorrow Man", I never meant to poke fun at a musical style I still like very much. It was all very lovingly done, and when listening to the album today, I realize it's my emotionally most diverse album up to that date. Good times rub shoulders with utter desperation, and in that respect, "Sweet Sorrow Man" is a very human album.
As I wrote in my liner notes for the album, "Sweet Sorrow Man" was originally percieved as an EP. But I was still riding high on the creative wave, so soon I had an album's worth of material that seemed to go together pretty well.
Lars Holmquist did the cover for the album without much of my participation. One day when I went to see him, he showed the finished artwork. I immediately accepted it, saying "I'd love to buy an album looking like that!".
I still like this album very much.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
SHROUD SONG (Peter Scion 1998)
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (sort of)
This is a curiousity in every way.
First of all, it was recorded during a week of fasting - voluntary food depravation. The opinions on fasting differ vastly depending on who you ask, and I won't go into the pros and cons of it. I will say though that all your senses sharpen while fasting, and I assume it's a way for the body to say "hey, if I sharpen your hearing and better your sight, will you go out to hunt down some food for me, you lazy bugger!". Listening to music while fasting has often been a fascinating experince to me, but it wasn't until "Shroud Song" that I actually recorded music under the influence of the practice.
The result was "Shroud Song", which is an altogether completely different thing to anything I had ever done before. There are no songs on it; the entire album is instrumental (which should come as a relief to those of you who can't stand my vocals!) and owes a fair bit to the "kosmische musik" seeping from the German kraut rock scene in the 70's.
That might be a reason why I didn't pay much attention to it right after I finished it. It was all done in a couple of days, two, perhaps three. It was all improvised. Compared to my previous albums, even at their spaciest, it's an outsider. When finished, I put the tape among other tapes and didn't think of it a lot until I pulled it out and made a copy for Lars at Domestica. Lars loves German kraut rock, and "Shroud Song" had him firing on all cylinders. We were discussing a potential release, but in the end we dropped it. I can't remember why.
Around this time, a Peter Scion website was set up. The website is basically dead now, with no updates being made after I withdrew from playing. Anyway, through the website, two albums were released in the short-lived "Archive Series". One of them comprised outtakes and rehearsals, whereas the second volume was "Shroud Song". "The Archive Series" was made in an extremely limited edition of 30 copies and given away free to website visitors and members of various music forums on the internet.
The history of "Shroud Song" is indeed obscure, but I'm delighted to present it to you here.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
First of all, it was recorded during a week of fasting - voluntary food depravation. The opinions on fasting differ vastly depending on who you ask, and I won't go into the pros and cons of it. I will say though that all your senses sharpen while fasting, and I assume it's a way for the body to say "hey, if I sharpen your hearing and better your sight, will you go out to hunt down some food for me, you lazy bugger!". Listening to music while fasting has often been a fascinating experince to me, but it wasn't until "Shroud Song" that I actually recorded music under the influence of the practice.
The result was "Shroud Song", which is an altogether completely different thing to anything I had ever done before. There are no songs on it; the entire album is instrumental (which should come as a relief to those of you who can't stand my vocals!) and owes a fair bit to the "kosmische musik" seeping from the German kraut rock scene in the 70's.
That might be a reason why I didn't pay much attention to it right after I finished it. It was all done in a couple of days, two, perhaps three. It was all improvised. Compared to my previous albums, even at their spaciest, it's an outsider. When finished, I put the tape among other tapes and didn't think of it a lot until I pulled it out and made a copy for Lars at Domestica. Lars loves German kraut rock, and "Shroud Song" had him firing on all cylinders. We were discussing a potential release, but in the end we dropped it. I can't remember why.
Around this time, a Peter Scion website was set up. The website is basically dead now, with no updates being made after I withdrew from playing. Anyway, through the website, two albums were released in the short-lived "Archive Series". One of them comprised outtakes and rehearsals, whereas the second volume was "Shroud Song". "The Archive Series" was made in an extremely limited edition of 30 copies and given away free to website visitors and members of various music forums on the internet.
The history of "Shroud Song" is indeed obscure, but I'm delighted to present it to you here.
MP3:
DOWNLOAD
WAV:
DOWNLOAD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
