The Year That Wasn't, by Gary Bamford

The Year That Wasn't

by Gary Bamford

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Comes in single card case with four page booklet.
Artwork by Gary himself.

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Full Digital Discography

24

releases

Get all 24 Gary Bamford releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Sinking, Symbiosis, The Year That Wasn't, HB SB 2019, Cold (extended version), Improvisation - JOG 171016, The Beat Monkeys Demos EP, 21, and 16 more. , and , .

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1.	The Seas' Plea 07:02	info	buy track
2.	If You Hadn't Been Here 05:38	info	buy track
3.	Good Boy, Sam 05:52	info	buy track
4.	Cloud Running 08:14	info	buy track
5.	No.53 02:42	info	buy track
6.	Initial Reaktions 09:11	info	buy track
7.	Meh 04:26	info	buy track
8.	Virtual Lessons 22:27	info	buy track

about

REVIEW by Dave Franklin of Dancing About Architecture (June 3rd 2021)

"I’ve seen him about. I’ve watched play in others bands. I’ve heard music that he has scored for other people’s projects. I’ve even exchanged a few brief words with him here and there, post-gig and on the hoof. But I don’t think you start understanding a musician until you have heard music that they have made for no other reason than they just felt like making it. Listening to such music is like being given a guided tour of the musical section of their brain. It is their imagination rendered into sound. It is sort of like seeing the workings out on the side of their creative page.

And so, in a way, via this new album, I have recently spent some time strolling around Gary Bamford’s brain. I have to say that it is an odd place! But that is a good thing. Odd equates to imaginative, unique, unpredictable, adventurous and exploratory. It is the opposite of tried and tested, of conventional, of mundane.

The Year That Wasn’t is a collection of soundscapes as songs, instrumentals that take all manner of forms, from drifting ambient beauty to upbeat electronic grooves, from futuristic, glitchy pop to more traditional classical grace. There is even room to squeeze in a bit of bombastic electro-rock. Songs such as If You Hadn’t Been Here build tones and textures out of only the most transient of keyboard sounds saying as much in the atmospheres between the notes as from the plaintive playing itself. At the other extreme, the wonderfully named Meh is a blast of retro-futurism scattered with oriental cascades and blistering guitars.

Opener, The Sea’s Plea, is mystical and menacing as it crawls towards the listener, the most unnerving of musical greetings and No 53 feels like modern minimalist composers such as Steve Reich or Philip Glass embracing underground and off-beat dance music.

Some might find this a challenging piece of work but being challenged is what it’s all about, surely? We all have our favourite music to act as a sonic comfort blanket but the creative world in general, and music in particular, moves forward because its boundaries are constantly tested, tweaked and, occasionally, trashed. And if that is true for the listener, it is doubly so for the creator. This is just the sound of an imaginative musician being given a blank canvas and letting his thoughts run wild.

And why not? The results are fantastic!"

credits

released April 19, 2021

Composed, performed and recorded by Gary Bamford.
Mixed by Gary Bamford.
Mastered by Stu Rowe.
Artwork by Gary Bamford.
Produced by Gary Bamford.
Made in Swindon, UK.

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about

Gary Bamford Swindon, UK

Gary Bamford is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from the UK who produces music in a variety of genres. He has worked with numerous artists, including members of XTC, Jethro Tull, Kasabian, ABC, Portishead, Siouxsie Sioux Band, Robert Plant Band, Jacob Collier Band, Radiohead, and jazz artists including Gilad Atzmon, Bobby Wellins, Derek Nash and Paul Dunmall. He prefers animals to humans. ... more

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Probably my favourite Vulfpeck album, but so difficult to choose because everything they do is so damn good. Saw them at Shepherd's Bush Empire last year and they're as much fun as they sound. Gary Bamford
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Beautiful, controlled chaos, and they absolutely nail it live. Really approachable after the Colston Hall gig (we all like our musicians not to be dicks, ideally). Gary Bamford
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Stunning, beguiling, mesmerizing, just gorgeous. Fantastic compositions and choice of covers, with all three players on top of their game. Martin is another approachable, open musician and human. Gary Bamford
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