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Sedayne / Plough Myth International
Web site at
http://www.sedayne.co.uk
Musical storytellers of folk myths, land and community
listen ... close ... and it shall be ... told ... told in the telling ...
told in the telling
between the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon
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.....For new Autumn 2005 Release
news read below introduction....
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Introduction
Plough Myth International are a male/female duo of Sean and Rachel, musical storytellers based in County Durham, United
Kingdom. They use a number of artist names for their musical output.
Sedayne is the artist name for Sean working solo as musician,
performer and storyteller with Venereum Aruum being their name where
Sean and Rachel work together. They also collaborate with other
musicians on special projects.
Their music brings together traditional musical forms from
many cultures such as Britain, Europe and the middle east and fuse this with
exotic instrumentation into a unique and somehow distinctively British form
of music (Britain itself being a fusion of many cultures). Over this
music across a variety of releases they tell stories and sing songs that
bring alive the mythical folk stories carried down through the aural
traditions within our past communities. Their north east base helps
bring through the rawness and directness of this music which feels equally
contemporary and ancient, combining in their imagery and setting the
industrial and open spaces of the landscape.
Once heard the music connects the listener to the land,
history, people and imagery of it's origin. They are generous of
spirit and also provide many bonus and companion releases with their main
albums for no charge. We are pleased to work with Sedayne and others
in our shared attempts bring forward music that helps the populace connect
with it's past and landscape. This page will evolve over time to
consider their music, context and stories in the hope of inspiring readers
to explore this singular artist. |
Latest News : Sedayne : Autumn Series
21 September 2005
 Four
full-length crwth based works now available in exquisite all-black Ritek
CDR editions :
i) Hearthcharms (1991)
ii) Temple of the Four Winds (2004)
iii) Autumn in Purgatory (2004-2005)
iv) All Greenness Comes to Withering (2005)
orders for two or more come with seasonal supplementary
disk featuring Harvest Myth 2005 (Part One).
Check
http://www.sedayne.co.uk/autumnseries.html for details.
'The crwth (in essence a five string bowed lyre sounding
like a medieval fiddle) kindles a particular resplendence, solemn &
jubilant by turns, elemental to the cause of both hearth & wildwood,
ceremony & celebration. The esteemed announcers of BBC Radio Three's
Mixing It once dubbed him a 'Medieval Revivalist', but Sedayne doesn't
'revive' so much as he 'reveals', showing us what has always been there -
as primal as it is continuous, written in the mysterious deep wherein all
such wonders dwell.'
(Siamang Gibbons / Asinaria Festa)
For further reviews check:
http://psychedelicfolk.homestead.com/sedayne.html">Psychedelicfolk
http://www.theunbrokencircle.co.uk/special_features-Sedayne.htm
(with audio)
http://www.sedayne.co.uk/scowanreviews.html
Releases
We intend to explore a wide range of releases by Sedayne in this section.
It seems appropriate to start with the seasonal bonus album 'Heavenly
Gates' which is being provided as a free additional release with purchases of
their other albums.
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Venereum Aruum - Heavenly Gates
(May 2005)
 It
began with Sean informing me "I sent you a couple of things today, necessitating
a tramp through the muck & the mire to the post office during which I startled a
heron; no finer sight on such a braw & blustery day... ". We
start with an atmospheric, almost ambient keyboard based piece which has a
delicate circling distant horn motif called "Prelude Mayhorn".
Next is the
title piece 'The Heavenly Gates' off 'Infernal Proteus'; a darkly
ceremonial take on a traditional May Carol which starts with bell chimes and processed
sounds like sheep bleating, this is a swirling digital psychedelia with a
haunting siren call at its heart. Then suddenly a dramatic series of horn
drones come in and a powerful lead melody begins. String instruments chime
in the background but it is difficult to discern individual instruments as the
sound is huge. As flutes whirl, medieval sounding singing enters the
mix, the words impossible to make out but acting as incantation. We
hear a synthisis of ancient and modern, although sounding old music this layered
could not have been made until recently. The music has at it's heart the
drone of traditional music, a surging base that here connects British middle
ages music with native Australian.
'Epiphany' reduces back to bird songs before an electronic beat and accordion
come in playing a plaintive, emotionally charged tune. Trumpet
plays a sublime melody over soft layers of held chordal pads.
The lonesome trumpet connects the music to the working men's brass bands and the
memories of lost collieries, so important still at the heart of the north east.
'Elf dance Sir Olaf a la folia' starts with a primal electronic beat overlaid
with droning wind instruments and violins playing traditional but restrained
motifis. Sedayne's releases mark a continuum, often taking themes and
traditional stories and evolving them over many releases. One such area is
the 'Sir Olaf' songs and this piece continues his theme before opening into an
epic extended song form of twenty two minutes. It's length means that it
evolves almost into a form of trance music, the drone at its heart sounding
equally middle eastern as it does British.
Retelling the Psalms is another recurrent theme for the artist and we next hear
'Psalm 31 verses 3 and 4' which combines layered female singing in a large
reverberating stone room with the trumpet and subtle chimes and bells. It feels
very relaxing, even womb like is unique and quite beautiful. 'Totus
Floreo' has a stringed instrument refrain, shuffling middle eastern percussion
and a clarinet like sound. This reminds me of Arabic music from north
Africa or Palestine on a tense piece, full of unrevealed expectation.
Electronically processed bird song starts 'Bird 2004' which has a brass loop
like Jon Hassel's overtone trumpet at it's core. Sean tells
his bird story as flute whirls lie flying bird and lovely female singing
from Rachel complements in chorus sections. Organ adds drama to the music and it's a
great song that will be accessible to many, bringing together many of their
elements in one piece. The 'bird' pieces are one of the best by this
artist, evolving with each release and this is certainly one of the best to
date. A longer original version of this was found on the 'Green As God'
release.
We end with a coda of the prelude, a mysterious electronic piece that brings us
back to earth from their gates of heaven. This is a cohesive and very
enjoyable release by Venereum Arrum that rounds up many of their / Sedayne's
themes into one useful place and is therefore potentially a good 'entry' point.
The artist is one of the few to genuinely fuse the ancient and modern, the
sacred and the profane into something that always sounds uniquely only like
them. We look forward to covering them further on new and current
releases.
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Listen
Hear the following pieces (one will be added with each release we cover):
"Bird 2004" off Venereum Arrum - The Heavenly Gates. To hear
click here.
For more Sedayne audio
click here
Live
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It's time again, for the next.....
FLYING DONKEYS DERBY'S MONTHLY STORYTELLING EVENT AT THE VOICEBOX,
FORMAN STREET
(opposite Abbey Street car park)
Wednesday 11 May 2005
As we welcome to the city... SEDAYNE
The Incredible Northumbrian Storytelling One Man Band He combines the highly
evolved use of traditional narrative with virtuoso performances on a variety of
traditional and ancient instruments. To quote Flying Donkey Raymond Greenoaken,
Sedayne is …”the best around”. Why not come down for this very special evening
as he performs for us … ..
”The Wax Baby”… stories of rebirth and renewal 7.30pm.... £5/£3 (conc).....includes
free tea, coffee and cakes Hosted by Raymond Greenoaken We'd love to see you
there.
FLYINGDONKEYS ARE FUNDED BY THE ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND AND DERBY CITY COUNCIL,
AND WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL TO BOTH PARTIES.
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Links
To
see the hand-made instruments used by Sedayne
click
here
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Before you laid your tracks or daubed your
houses, or drove the furrow hard across the wold, I danced alone beneath the
spreading branches, and sang away the winter's clinging cold; spelling the sap
to rise & buds to quicken, and lithe green shoots to spring from out the mould.
Wry masons and woodcarvers called me to
them, when spires were raised to match my tallest trees; they set my leaf-masked
leer on arch & lintel, and grinning out from between the pimply knees of dosing
friars on bum-warn misericords to mock the preachers dry solemnities.
But I'll fetch home the summer from the
greenwood; the leaves and flowers unfolding to my song; leaf-canopied, ablaze
with twisting ribbons, I'll call from hearth & plough the merry throng; and on
the winding green, with pipe & tabor, I'll lead you all a fine dance the summer
long. Raymond Greenoaken.
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In winter time I passed beyond
& felt the growing cold
& lighting fires from fallen trees
I warmed my dying soul |
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