Knights Of The Occasional Table

"John Barleycorn 2000" Is The Fourth L.P From Knights Of The Occasional Table Since They Came Into Being In Late 1992 And Contains Their Most Exciting And Accomplished Material To Date. The Knights Always Eager To Bring Together The Many Influences They Have Have Invented "Cyberfolk" Which Is More Than Just Folk Tunes Played On Sequencers But Rather A Development Of Elements That Their Music Possessed From The Outset. Knights Music Has A Keen Sense Of Melody And Nowhere Is This More Apparent Than On J.B 2000. There Are Also Some Keen Dance Tunes On The Album. The Knights Believe That There Is A Common Link Between All Dance-Music Whether It Be A Sixteenth Century French Bouree Or A 90's Techno Anthem And That Is A Celebration Of Life. Dance Music Is One Of The Most Effective Expressions Of That! John Barleycorn 2000 Has Haunting Melodies And Uplifting Dance Tunes A'plenty And Moves From One To The Other With Ease. Guest Vocalists Include Zion Trains' Molara And Country-Swing Supremo Peter Riley From The Winchesters But Most Of The Vocal Duties Are Down To The Knights Own Nygel Packett. This Album Is Very Much A Return To Songs With Only Three Of The Ten Tunes Being Entirely Instrumental. This Will Draw Comparisons With "Knees Up Mother Earth" 1993 The Bands First Album. Knees Up Mother Earth Was Released To Widespread Critical Acclaim. It Was An Album Of The Month In The N.M.E And Had Extensive Radio-Play Largely Thanks To Andy Kershaw Annie Nightingale And John Peel. The Title Track Was A Collaboration With Digi-Dub Gurus Zion Train. The Album Also Included The Tunes "Breathe' And "Choose" Which Were Written And Produced At Zion Trains' Wibbly Wobbly World Studio And Effectively Gave The Knights The Opportunity To Get The Ball Rolling. "Knees Up Mother Earth" Impressed John Peel Enough To Offer The Knights A Session At The Wonderful Maida Vale Studios. The Session Broadcast In The Early Evening On A Saturday Introduced Many People To The Knights Music. Attention Came From Matt Black Of Coldcut/Hex Who Asked The Knights To Contribute To 'Digital Love" An Interactive CD Of Music And Visual Material. Also At This Time The Tune "Rain" Which Had Recently Been Released On Planet Dogs Very First "Feed Your Head" Compilation Album Alongside Astralasia The Drum Club And The Like Had Been Reaching Inquisitive Ears In Chill-Out Rooms In The UK And All Over The Rest Of Europe. These People Began Writing To The Knights At Their PO Box Eager To Hear More. In 1995 Their Eagerness Was Rewarded With A Second Album "The Planet Sweet" Which Received Even More Positive Attention Than The First. Two E.Ps Emerged From The Album The First "Eden" Featured Two Remixes By Zion Train And Two Remixes By The Knights Themselves Along With The Original Album Version It Was Also A Single Of The Week On Steve Lamacqs' Radio One F.M Evening Show Lamacq Had Reviewed Knees Up Mother Earth For The N.M.E Two Years Before . The Second E.P "At One With Nature" Featured The Rich Vocal Of Molara From Zion Train And A Radical Reworking Of "Um Baby" From "Knees Up" By Occasional Knights Collaborator Mat Moose. The Knights Also Went On The Road At This Time There Were Gigs With Black Star Liner Zion Train And In Holland With Sounds From The Ground. Several Projects In The Interim Between "Knees Up Mother Earth" And "The Planet Sweet" Produced Some Highly Individual Work A Remix Of Hawkwinds' "Sonic Attack" For Malcolm Stanners Of Salt Tank Who Was Co- Ordinating An Album Project Of Hawkwind Remixes By Various Artists Such As Astralasia Luke Slater & Utah Saints Also A Tune For A Four Track EP On H.O.S Records Which Also Featured Another Green World. There Was Also Another Project Which Saw The Knights On The Same Release As Zion Train This Time The Task Was To Remix A Tune Each By The Band AOS3. The Knights Came Up With Their Most Beat Driven Tune They Had Done Up To That Point. By The Time "Les Elephants Du Paradis" 1996 Was Released The Knights Had Gathered A Steady Following And Where Playing Events Organised By The Big Chill And Return To The Source Where Guaranteed Enthusiastic Crowds Meant That More People Were Becoming Aware Of Knights Music. When The Big Chill Gala Norfolk August 96 Lost Out To Freak Weather Conditions And The Draconian Local Council The Knights Donated A Track To "Vibes" A Benefit Album To Help Restore Funds. The Knights Had Already Started To Diversify By This Stage Material Was Being Written That Needed Separate Identities. As A Result Of This Mr Night & Mr Day And Uncle One Eye Were Born. The Former Is For The Most Part Mellow/housey/global And The Latter Completely Off The Wall High Speed Techno And Cartoon Drum & Bass. Other Musicians Were Adding To The Knights Soundscape Namely Phil Martin Hurdy-Gurdy And Mee Violin And This Meant That Knights Music Would Never Sound Quite The Same Again.... John Barleycorn 2000 Was Gradually Taking Shape. The Knights Where By Now Accomplished Producers And Andrew Cowen From The Band Fulfilled That Role With Style And Imagination When Asked To Produce Mee’s First Solo Album Cat. Mee 001 On Which She Plays An Assortment Of Instruments Including Violin And Also Sings And Uses Field Recordings From India And Nepal. The Knights Had Been Regular Performers At Megatripolis The Festival In A Club Which Had Worked Its Way Up From Small Venues And Had Earned A Regular Thursday Night Slot At Heaven In Central London. A Three CD Box Set Was Compiled A Dance CD An Ambient CD And A "Shamanarchy Experiment" CD Which Was More A Series Of Sound Collages To Put The Listener Into An Open Or Altered State Of Mind With Passages Of Allen Ginsberg And Baba Ram Dass Who Also Gave Lectures And Guided Meditations At The Club. The Knights Contributed A 25 Minute Piece To The CD A Musical Meditation With Ram Dass. The CD Was Mixed By Steve Radford Of The Knights Into A Continuous Shamanic Musical Journey. The Knights Played Several Gigs Around This Time Joined By Phil Martin Hurdy-Gurdy Mee Violin Nikhil Kapoor Tabla And Moose Bass The Highest In Profile Being The 1997 Phoenix Festival And The Big Chill At The Spitz In East London Which Was Full To Capacity Following A Piece In Time Out The Previous Week. As Well As The Release Of John Barleycorn 2000 In Early 1999 The Knights Have Mr Night & Mr Day And Uncle One Eye Albums Ready And Waiting To Go. Steve Radford From The Band Is Currently Working On Solo Material In The Middle Of The Beautiful Hampshire Countryside. They Have Also Completed A Number Of Remixes Namely For The Mekons Tarantism And Living Folk Legend Martin Carthy. The Tarantism Remix Is Part Of An Album Project Co-Ordinated By Chris Meikan Who Aims To Bring Together Acoustic And Digital Music The Common Thread Between The Two Being That They Both Make People Dance. Tarantism Take The "true Spirit Of Folk" And Mix It With The World Of Dub And Dance Producing Acoustic Music With The Same Intensity Of Techno. Other Remixes On The Album Include Afro Celt Soundsystem Vs Headmix Collective And Mandragora Vs The Baghdaddies. Chris Meikans’ Organisation Continental Drifts Is Dedicated To Live Music From Beyond The Mainstream And Acts As An Agency For At Least 17 Bands And 140 Alternative Circus And Cabaret Performers. To Work On Martin Carthy Material Was Like A Dream Come True For The Knights Who Had Been Going To See Him Play For Years. Carthy Has The Spark And Keenness Of A Man Half His Years And Was Very Eager To Let The Knights Loose On His Tunes. The Result Is An Epic Which Begins With A Looped Guitar Passage Which Is Really Chilled And Builds To A Breakbeat Folkno Crescendo Before Returning To The Looped Guitar You Heard At The Begining. Carthy's Vocal Sounds Excellent Amongst All The Loops And The Powerful Dubstyle Bassline That Propels The Tune Along Like A Greyhound Chasing A Rabbit. The Mekons Remix Came About After Meeting Tom Greenhaugh A Mekon Of Long Standing At The Big Chills' Enchanted Garden Weekend In The In The Summer Of 98. The Knights And Tom Soon Found That They Had Much In Common And After The Festival Decided That They Would Set To Work. Skint Records Artist Sparky Lightbourne Has Also Recently Completed A Remix. This Project Seems Likely To Grow Adding More Remixers To The List. Future Projects Include "Magic Bubble" In Which The Knights Will Work Closely With Martin "Scooby" Wood A Visionary From The Megatripolis Days On A Chill-Out Album For Kids. Andrew From The Knights Who Became A Father Just Over A Year Ago Having A Vested Interest. Knights Music Will Also Be Available Over The Internet In The Not Too Distant Future.... Watch This Space! LEGEND The Knights First Recorded Offering Was The Track 'Breathe' On The 'Shamanarchy In The UK' LP Released In The Summer Of '92. Since Then 'Knees Up Mother Earth' The Band's Self- Produced/self Financed LP Released In June '93 Managed To Win The Hearts Of Many People Throughout The Country And Certain Parts Of Europe. The Album Was Well Received By Both The NME And Melody Maker And Also Earned Them A John Peel Sesion In January '94. Peel Described 'Knees Up...' As A 'lovely Record'! Other Work By The Knights Includes A Track On Planet Dog's 'Feed Your Head' Compilation One Side Of An E.P. With Zion Train As Part Of Their 'Universal Egg' Series Which Incidently Sold Out Within A Week Of Being Released! And A Track On The H.O.S. 'Club Crusty Vol.1' Which Also Features Space And Another Green World. The Knights Have Also Worked With Hex/Coldcut On Their CD-I 'Digital Love'. There Now Follows The Single 'Eden' Which Features Two Remixes By ZION TRAIN And In Turn The Second Album 'The Planet Sweet' Due Out On Middle Earth Records In The New Year. This Album Marks A Departure For The Knights The Tracks Are All Instrumental Bar Three And There Is A More "ambient Dub" Feel Than On 'Knees Up...'. Many Things Form The Knights Sound Particularly The World's "folk" Musics These Influences Are Apparent In Many Of The Melodies And The Beats. There Is A Definite Timeless Quality Which The Knights Believe Is That Magic Ingredient That Makes Music Special. 'EDEN' Middl 1T /1CD UK Distribution SRD
DISCOGRAPHY Albums ‘Knees Up Mother Earth’ FUCD1 Fairy Cake Universe 1993
‘The Planet Sweet’ MIDDLE 2CD Middle Earth 1995
‘Les Elephants Du Paradis’ MIDDLE 5CD Middle Earth 1996
‘John Barleycorn 2000’ MIDDLE 10CD Middle Earth 1999 Singles ‘Synapse - Club Crusty Vol. 1’ H.O.S. 1995
‘Eden’ MIDDLE 1T/CD Middle Earth 1996
‘At One With Nature’ MIDDLE 3T/CD Middle Earth 1996 Remixes Martin Carthy 1999
The Mekons 1998
Hawkwind - ‘Sonic Attack’ Future Reconstructions CD 4 Real 1996
Tarantism - ‘Sounds From The Acoustic Ground’ Continental Drifts 1999
A0S3 - DS4A 12" 1995
Zion Train - Universal Egg 12" 1993 Collaborators Zion Train On ‘Knees Up ‘Eden’ 12" ‘At One With Nature’ 12"
Baba Ram Dass ‘Peace’ On Megatripolis ‘Shamanarchy Experiment’ CD Live Appearances The Big Chill Regular Megatripolis Regular Phoenix Festival ’97
Holland Plus Various Others Etc Etc Compilations Planet Dog’s ‘Feed Your Head’ - ‘Rain’ 1993
Coldcut’s ‘Digital Love’ - ‘Om Nava Shiva’
The Big Chill Benefit Album ‘Globalheadz’ - ‘Jazzkirk’ 1997
‘Megatripolis’ Boxed Set ‘Have A Good Belly-Laugh’ & ‘Peace’ 1996
‘Dubnology’ Middle Earth - ‘Um Baby’ 1995
‘Dubnology 2’ Middle Earth - ‘Bowl’ 1996
‘Shamanarchy In The UK’ Evolution - ‘Breathe’ 1992
‘Organic Tecnologic’ Bottchitt & Scarper - ‘John Barleycorn 2000’ 1998 read less