The Seaman and The Tattered Sail - Standing On The Precipice Of Tears

As 2021 draws to a close, we are super excited to welcome back The Seaman and The Tattered Sail (Bill Seaman & Craig Tattersall) to the record label. The new album 'Standing On The Precipice Of Tears' arrives in the beautiful 'Book Editions' series: vintage books dissected, re-assembled and re-structured into book-bound CD covers. The packaging includes 2 x glass mastered full size CDs, old 35mm reel to reel cuttings of a vintage Elvis documentary, A3 poster from Seaman's family photo of his uncle 'Twink', a stunt double for Elvis Presley, A6 prints designed by Craig Tattersall printed on luxury 250grm stock, library cards, old photos, 5x4" vintage celluloid negatives, etc. Truly limited edition... each copy hand numbered / stamped; completely unique. The whole album coming in at just under three hours of sonic experimental frequencies. Definitely one for the collectors!

After the expansive work that was ‘Light Folds’ (2013) The Seaman and The Tattered Sail brought forth the idea of a pop album. What could be more simple than an album of pop songs. The idea quickly changed from pop songs to an album of cover versions. Pop songs, in a broad sense of the word, that had meant much to both Seaman and Tattersall through the years would be tackled.

But nothing is quite so simple for the duo. They passed files, ideas and lists of suggested songs back and forth. Eventually they had a list of covers. Pressure was now felt at tackling songs that meant so much, how would they compare with the original and the many previous versions before them.

Work started, sounds developed, cover versions slowly emerged, instruments played and vocals included, but of course in their own inimitable way these songs weren’t going to be ‘straight’ covers.

Seaman and Tattersall cannot sit still on simple plans, they are always pushing each other and the process, making many versions and trying new ideas. This led to them to cover their own covers, winding their way down a path they know well, a path of abstracting abstractions. Creating what Bill named ‘uncovers’.

There are hints of originals, melodies and motifs, somehow morphed into new musical forms, additions stitched seamlessly into the mixes. The results are these long form songs spanning this double CD album,

Included with the release is a download of the music, artwork and some special additional surprises. The artwork was developed around Seaman's family photo of his uncle 'Twink', a stunt double for Elvis Presley.

CD1: 51 minutes

Whilst Watching The Road
Come, A Dearest
Down Wind day Delight
Total
One Perfect Solar Wild
Because Of Julie

CD2: 47 minutes

Minds Belated Getting
Near Suspicious
An Evening Kiss
Suspended Someplace

Uncovers: 70 minutes

Julie With...
Wild is the Wind
Come Down in Time
Perfect Day
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I want
One for My Baby (One for the road)
The Kiss
It’s getting Late in the Evening
Suspicious Minds
Wichita lineman
Somewhere
You Keep Me Hanging On
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Made by hand,

1 x Vintage (circa:1875-1954) hardback clothbound book (re-assembled into CD covers
2 x Glass mastered CD (not CDR)
10 Pages of writing / images
12 x A6 prints on luxury paper 250grms (designed by Craig Tattersall)
1 x A3 poster printed on uncoated paper stock
1 x Stamped library card
1 x Vintage photograph (circa; 1902-1951)
1 x Vintage book-mark
1 x Vintage numbered celluloid negative (5x4") in original glassine bag
1 x 35mm reel to reel film strip (Elvis documentary)
Stamped / hand numbered
All of the above rests inside wrap around A3 poster
Download code (includes audio, 15 PDF prints, library card, secret link to 'Uncovers' album)
Limited to 200 copies

Made with love...

...

Credits:

Tattersall played Guitar, piano, dusted loops, analogue loops, digital loops, drum machine, analogue synth, synth bass, field recordings, abstractions, fragment constructions and reconstructions, abstractions of Seaman (etc.), analogue spatial recordings, artificial wind, crackles (record surface noise), tape noise.

Seaman was working primarily with Ableton Live and contributed vocal, Piano, time abstractions, violin and viola samples, trumpet samples, clarinet samples, drum machine abstractions, drum machine constructions (samples), digital distortions, bit reductions, synth abstractions, abstractions of Tattersall (etc.), digital loops, radical pitch shifts, noise enhancements, historical samples, crackles – record surface noise (from Tattersall), artificial crackles.

Solo Viola – Emmanuel Witzthum
Solo Violin – Wei Ping Lin (on Uncovered)
Additional Voice - Emmanuel Wizthum
Trumpet (sample recordings) – Robert Ellis-Geiger
Vocal recorded in The Emergence Lab by Seaman using a Roland Edirol R-09HR Ver.3.0

Mastering: Miles Whittaker