Today, my friend Pete Barnes aka Thistle Sifter has released an album of remixes of his album “Circles” and he invited me to be a part of the project, remixing the song “In Abundance” :
Thistle Sifter is an ambient instrumental post-rock project by English musician Pete Barnes (now living in Utrecht, NL). Second album Circles was released in January 2024 and is the follow-up to 2022’s debut A Spectral Moon, based on a serious cycling accident that literally catapulted Barnes into disarray in November 2020.
Written during an extended recovery period and far from family and friends in England, Circles is inspired by personal struggles with health, acceptance and letting go of the past. Post concussion syndrome symptoms forced Barnes to live a secluded life out of necessity, and during this time music became the ideal therapy. The result is a powerful ambient instrumental record inspired by the difficult, ongoing path to Barnes’ recovery.
The feeling of literally going around in circles is a recurring theme on the album; injuries arising from this accident forced him to put his life on hold and reassess, resulting in a somewhat dysfunctional existence, as well as a growing sense of dislocation from many aspects of his life which had previously been taken for granted. A primal pull to be in the UK furthered this sense of dislocation and isolation. Barnes was restricted by his physical inability to travel, a situation which was made even more untenable by a worldwide pandemic as well as Brexit.
Following the release of second album Circles in January 2024, Barnes was approached by a couple of friends offering to create new versions of tracks from the album. This led to the idea of collaborating with other musicians. The result is a collection of seven songs, titled Circles (Remixes), and includes remixes by Thought Forms, Dotlights, Dawn of a New World, BRDN, The Glass Pavilion & Nick Rees.
Circles (Remixes) is dedicated to Ashley Owens from The Glass Pavilion, who sadly passed away shortly after completing his remix of Old Man’s Beard.
I first met Pete in late 2005 after Thought Forms played a gig at the Porter Cellar Bar in Bath.
Like it's neighbour Moles Club, it's gone now, but it was a regular hangout for us for years and they held open mic nights and gigs downstairs. Pete was there that night with his bandmate Matt and they later got in touch with Emily (our drummer at the time) asking her to play in their band - A Neat Science.
That never transpired, but we all became friends and I ended up putting ANS on at some of the first gigs I ever promoted under the name Sonic Sanctuary with my friend Dave Alderslade.
We spent a lot of time together and when A Neat Science’s bassist moved away, they asked me to fill in temporarily until they found someone. I didn’t even have a bass - Thought Forms was and always had been two guitars and drums, in spite of a lot of people imagining that there was a bass (and assuming that I was the one playing it on account of my vagina, which used to really piss me off). Anyway, I went down to Mark’s Music in Melksham, bought the cheapest bass I could find and started learning.
Pete took the time to go through everything with me until I had it down, the two of us crammed into the box room of his shared house with little practice amps turned down low. He provided his encouragement with lots of cups of tea and pasties filled with broccoli that I watched him make from scratch. He got me out of the habit of having sugar in tea because he never had any and I needed the caffeine for our long sessions that started after work and went on late into the night.
I loved my time playing in A Neat Science. I love learning other peoples songs. I loved the challenge, because their bass player who wrote all the parts was really fucking good. I loved the freedom of playing live in someone else’s band. A completely different style of music to what I was doing. They introduced me to the music they were into that I hadn’t heard of.
Life moves forward, people move away, we may come in and out of each other’s lives only every few years so I’m very happy that Pete asked me to make a remix for him, making me realise with surprise just how many years of friendship there have been.
Hearing about what he has been through with his health and recovery following his accident and having experienced my own struggles with chronic illness, I know that’s not something to take for granted and I am really inspired by his determination to keep creating through it all.
…Tonight, I’m back in Bath playing a gig with Thought Forms. Life moves forwards but some things stay the same. It’s the 20th Anniversary of Sheer Music, we’re playing with Part Chimp. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Until next time!
Charlie
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