Member Since: 2/2/2005
Band Website: This is it, for now.
Band Members: Any combinaton of...
David Bell
Patrick Farmer
Graham Jones
Michael Jones
Stuart Sutherland
Past members (and we may well see them again): Alex Plim, James Lloyd & Andrew Meeson.
Instruments utilised: guitar, chord organ, jew's harp, bass, violin, percussion, zither, synth, melodica, mandolin, glockenspiel, banjo, trumpet, wok, amplified objects, voice & computer.
In addition to The Exploits of Elaine, members have (or may still) play/record as...
...for those that shall not speak (Stuart)
Monorails for Codsall (David)
The Good Anna (Graham & Patrick)
Ebenezer & The Scrooges (Graham & David)
Love As Light (Stuart)
The Calatalee Sisters (David)
Jones of Colorado (David)
Designer Babies, Last of the Real Hardmen, Strap the Button, Cars, The Family Elan, The Birmingham Improvisers' Orchestra & God Knows Who Else...(Patch)
Influences: "Nor must mention be omitted of old Isaac Sly, a half-witted labouring
fellow with a squint in one eye and blind of the other, who at first
sight might appear a bad man to meet on a dark night, but is harmless
enough when you know him; he haunts the lanes at certain seasons of the
year, carrying an enormous flag, and invariably greets you with the
intelligence that he will bring the flag up next Christmas the same as
usual, according to time-honoured custom. He is the last vestige of the
old wandering minstrels of bygone days, playing his inharmonious
concertina in the hall of the manor house regularly at Christmas and at
other festivals."
'A Costwald Village'- J.Arthur Gibbs
Sounds Like: Tour '07 CD-R
Five tracks of clatter and hope. Zither, banjo, guitars, violin, wok and more. Occasionally cathartic and with a mysticism all of its own.
Railway Spine
Three tracks of improvised music inspired by those who've worked on Britain's railways. For a large part the music is onomatopoeic: clanging, clunking, relentless chugging, but through a layer of hum and fuzz-sweaty ghosts echoing through to us after all these years. 30 CD-R copies made attached to a 1970s Railway Magazine, now available for free download from myformicatable.blogspot.com
Record Label: Good Name for a Racehorse/Loom/My Formica Table
Type of Label: Major