4th Eden on front cover of Gonzo Weekly

For the very first time, 4th Eden not only get an interview in a magazine but by-jingo by-crikey he's on the front page!

So with the help of Steve Rider, we went out to Hartland in North Devon to do the photo-shoot. Firstly, at the folly and then to the standing stone the other side of the valley.

Martin talks the Jon about the new album, 'Pictures On A Soundscape' and what inspired since his 'Organik Refektion' EP.

Jon describes the album as a rare patch of wasteland somewhere between the lush gardens of Brian Eno, and the experimental playground of Cornelius Cardew.

I guess that means he likes it!

4th Eden goes all soundscapy

4th Eden (aka Martin Eve) has finally released his second album called 'Pictures On A Soundscape'. Written over the past three years this collection of nine tracks takes you on a journey through an electronic landscape.

With contributions from Soundcloud chums, Graham Lavallin and Christian Granquist, this album is very different from album no 1, Infinity.

All production, mixing and mastering took place in his home studio in North Devon over the summer in between his 2nd year and 3rd year college course.

It can be purchased at all major download sites and a physical CD is expected by the end of the year.

MIKE AND JON: Live at the Fairy Ball

In the 33 years we have known each other this is only the second gig we have ever played together...

XTUL vs Britannia Potts: Hymn to Pan

It seems appropriate for today

MIKE DAVIS: The Beginning

The story of the emergence of the human species in four minutes and two chords. Only Mike would attempt this, and certainly only Mike would pull it off.

The Making of Organik Reflektion

Here's an insight into Martin's video, 'Organik Reflektion' and some of the video clips used to create the arty abstract video. He clearly needs to practice on the windchimes!

Cattle Rattle is here!

So another offering from 4th Eden!
Here's the video for the Track, Cattle Rattle! It taken from the Organik Reflektion EP.

It features many old Cowboy Western movies some old Disney cartoons and a brief audio clip from Blazing Saddles.

This went down well at the Reflektions gig last month.

JON DOWNES: Live at Reflektions

ORGANIK REFLEKTION ON SPOTIFY

https://open.spotify.com/album/6zMIW2bCJcnVF6Ov8uv8fw

REFLEKTIONS IN THE PAPER

WYRD: Martin and Marianne on the radio

4THEDEN: Organik Reflektion

Title track from the new EP... it features many scenes from my area including a quoit in Cornwall, Hartland Quay, Croyde and Bideford

Organik Reflektion on the radio

Wyrd help with 4th Eden's new release

Those nice people at Wyrd have been working hard on the promotion of Martin's (4th Eden) new EP, Organik Reflektion.

The 6 track EP will be released on April 17th and will have some of the tracks previewed at the Reflektions event to be held at St Annes Chapel in Barnstaple also on the 17th April from 7pm.

Eclipse featuring the music of 4th Eden

4th Eden posts a taster of things to come...

Pleased to announce that one of those nice young men from the Wyrd camp now has a taster of the forthcoming EP.

Martin Eve aka 4th Eden has just posted a link to snippets of the new EP entitled Organik Reflektion on his Organik Reflektion Soundcloud page.

The EP will be launched next month and is part of Martin's music degree project to incorporate found sounds into his compositions.

Follow the link below to hear the samples:

Organik Reflektion EP Taster 

YOU CAN VOTE AGAIN FOR MIKE

Wyrd artist and our good friend Mike Davis is in a song competition sponsored by Indi Beats. Make our day and .....

VOTE FOR HIM BY CLICKING THIS LINK

Even if you have already voted, you can do it again after 12 hours. Let's see if we can bump him up the charts

VOTE FOR MIKE

Wyrd artist and our good friend Mike Davis is in a song competition sponsored by Indi Beats. Make our day and .....

VOTE FOR HIM BY CLICKING THIS LINK

Just a reminder: To keep the competition fair for everyone, Indi reviews every single vote and may invalidate votes that violate the spirit of the competition. In general, all votes should be cast by real people. Individuals shouldn't cast more than one vote per video per day - including from different accounts. Go ahead and ask your friends (and their friends) to vote for you, but don't cast their votes for them. Don't pay for votes. Don't vote for pay. No hitting below the belt. Let's have a good clean fight. You get the idea. Be a star. Find a Star. That's the spirit!

IT IS MIKE DAVIS' BIRTHDAY, AND TO CELEBRATE - A NEW VIDEO

It's Mike's birthday today (tuesday). So not only do we have him looking mildly sinister in my study and wearing a birthday present from his delightful sister Karen, but we have a new song for you all.

This song is particularly poignant; it was the song Mike played at his Dad's funeral. The bits of Día de Muertos video were my idea. Although I have been to Mexico and to Texas many times, I have never been there at the right time to witness this most singular of Latin American festivals...

REFLEKTIONS: An evening of acoustic music in aid of the Small School in Hartland.

After a mildly depressing silence there is news from the wonderful world of Wyrd. Martin "4th Eden" Eve has been engrossed in his new project: Organik Reflektion that is exploring the sonic possibilities in field recordings or founds sounds, and will eventually culminate in an EP. In the meantime, however, this has spawned REFLEKTIONS: An evening of acoustic music in aid of the Small School in Hartland.

The Small School, is a co-educational, independent school for 11-16 year olds, based in Hartland, Devon. We believe education should be based on trust and mutual respect, together with a commitment to the school community. We aim for a flexible and responsive approach to an individual’s interests, needs and abilities, thereby seeking to develop self-motivated learning.

Although over thirty years old, the Small School continues to pioneer a human scale approach to education and there is no other secondary school quite like it in the country. Many new ‘Free Schools’ have been influenced by the ethos of the Small School, but human scale at the Small School means a maximum of 40 students only.

The event will take place on 17th April, at St Anne's Chapel, Barnstaple. It is curated by Martin and compèred by yours truly. There will be sonic installations from the Organik Reflektion, and as well as talking nonsense and introducing the acts I have been prevailed upon to don my guitar and do some of my stuff live for the first time in more years than I care to remember. Acts confirmed so far include Dogleg, Dave Clinch, Tracy Nicholson, Others will be announced imminently.

MIKE DAVIS: Lay Low

This song has been somewhat of a nemesis for Mike and me, but on Saturday night, with help from Martin and Marianne we nailed the bastard

WYRD PEOPLE: Happy Birthday Stargrace

Stargrace's EP Progress

The mastering is now complete for Stargrace's new EP, 'A Place Unholy'.  For a sneak peak at the tracks in this EP go to her Soundcloud page:

https://soundcloud.com/stargrace/stargrace-ep-1-montage

REVERB NATION: Never a truer word was spoken

Your Trending Song: How can I tell you? was played over 20x this week Congrats Mike Davis! You've got a smoking tune. https://www.reverbnation.com/mikedavisfans

GETTING ALL PHILOSOPHICAL LIKE

I do not actually see any great difference between what I do with Gonzo Multimedia, and what I do with The Centre for Fortean Zoology and its attendant projects. Indeed, at the Weird Weekend back in August no less than three of the speakers were actually people who are Gonzo artistes, plus another two who have appeared on a number of occasions in the pages of this magazine. Basically, it is all about encouraging a literate and intelligent interest in things which are challenging to the mainstream, because if we never challenge the mainstream then nothing will ever change and society as a whole will never progress.

This coming year, together with my friend and colleague Martin Eve, who is best known as electron composer 4th Eden, we are launching a new umbrella project called 'Wyrd'.  Wyrd is a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to fate or personal destiny. Their concept of fate, wyrd, was stronger than that of the Classical Pagans as there was no resisting it. The word is ancestral to Modern English weird, which retains its original meaning only dialectically.

Some of you may remember that about ten years ago I was involved in publishing a magazine with this name, and indeed there  may well be a revival of said magazine. But it is more than that. The company I own, CFZ Publications, exists basically to give a voice to authors who would otherwise be unlikely to get published.  It is about taking the profit motive out of publishing; a concept which has sometimes turned around and bitten me in the bum as people who I thought I was helping have turned round and accused me of trying to profit from their genius. However, although some people have totally missed the point and disappeared into a cloud of their own self-importance, other people have grokked it immediately and remain close friends and collaborators to this very day. Wyrd is an attempt to do something similar but in other artistic media, utilising the new technology and the burgeoning social media to play games with form, and subvert any recognisable business practises.

Looking forward to the new EP by Stargrace

Just remember, we are all getting ahead of ourselves here. We don't even launch until April Fool's Day


Over on her website, the lovely Stargrace writes:

I am pleased to announce that the creation of my EP begun today featuring 4 of my favorite but never released stargrace songs. I am pleased to work with Martin Eve (4th Eden) and Jon Downes (Wyrd Records) on the first of hopefully many works. Hope to keep you posted!

And what we can do is give you a little taster:

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF

As I have intimated recently, Martin Eve and I are at the heart of a new venture - Wyrd Music. This is an extension of what I have been doing with music and theatre over the past ten years and is intended as a sister project to the CFZ Publishing Group.

Working on vaguely Fortean and Anarchist, and strictly anti-capitalist lines, in the same way as CFZ Press, Fortean Words and the others put out books strictly because we want to read them, and because we think they should be out there whether they make a profit or not, Wyrd Music aims to do the same for music.

Although it doesn't officially launch until April Fool's Day, a Blog, a website, a Facebook page, and some free music will be up in the webiverse in the next few days and will always be plugged shamelessly on the CFZ and Gonzo blogs. Why? Because I can.

So mote it be.

RAINES EXPLAINS: Wyrd