Paul Rooney – ‘Lucy Over Lancashire’
SueMi Records - 12� red vinyl - £4.99 - SueMi 15
4024572299040

Liverpool based Paul Rooney made the critically acclaimed ‘Rooney’ CDs of 1998 to 2000, and a Radio 1FM ‘Peel session’ by the band was broadcast in October 1999. ‘Lucy Over Lancashire’ is Paul’s first solo record release since then, and is not only a worthy successor to those unique albums, but is also conceived as a limited edition artwork for broadcast over Lancashire radio and later release on red vinyl. The 16-minute, single track, ‘B’ side only, red vinyl, 45rpm 12� record was specially made to be broadcast via Steve Barker (the dub guru of The Wire magazine) and his ‘On The Wire’ programme on BBC Radio Lancashire.

The 16-minute track consists of inventive, industrial strength post-punk dub, and is an ambitious extension of the distinctive low-fi melodic experimentalism that characterised the Rooney releases. It's a concoction of a pulsating dub bass line, echoing guitar, low-fi synths, pounding drums, and throughout, the heavy ricocheting snare shots and sonic richness of classic dub delay, with a demonically possessed, but tongue in cheek, single voice Lancastrian monologue over the top of it all.

The voice on the track is that of Lucy, an evil ‘spryte of the air’ who says that she is possessing the grooves of the record itself. She relates a tale about the pivotal role that Lancashire has in the plans of Satan, ranging from the Pendle witches and the Satanic mills of the Industrial Revolution right up to the dark bile of the Red Rose Radio phone in shows of Allan Beswick (who also appears on the record). Lucy explains that the record’s broadcast over Lancashire radio, and it’s release on red vinyl, is the fulfilment of a prophecy orchestrated by Satan himself.

Since 2000 Paul has been making art works for galleries and other places, and has shown his work recently at Tate Britain and at the Shanghai Biennial. His recent projects include a track on a compilation CD that also includes Mark E Smith, Derek Bailey and Jem Finer. ‘Lucy Over Lancashire’ is released in April 2007 through SueMi, Berlin, and distributed through Cargo Germany and Cargo UK.

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