NEWS

Fact x Importance = News 

December 2023

There has been another year. It is hard to feel creative when there seems to be so much horror and hardship made by humans. We  must build hope.

New release
Almost another year has gone by but there is at last something new. And it's from Bagman (of all people). Three tracks under the title Rage. An undisguised diatribe. What a note to end the year on. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN. Click here to listen.

Social media
We are, for the moment, staying on Twitter as one of a small number of people hoping perhaps we can keep some corner of it as the fun space it can still be @thelearntoswim

We're still on Instagram occasionally posting images of emptiness
@thelearntoswim

December 2022

We almost ended 2022 with no new releases.

Coming in under the wire is a little collection of pieces by The Ira Snowmelt Trio. It's not really jazz. It's not electronica. It's somewhere in the middle. Of something.


In the meantime, please find hope wherever you can and remember that most people are muddling through trying to keep smiling and being generally kind. If only they were in charge.

May 2021

We're still here. 

New release
Wiskin & Semlay have not been seen since 2004. They resume with The Adventures of Midnight Smith for which the cover and the title were ready long before anything had been recorded. It was all a long time ago. More breakbeats and something about crime and ghosts. Might have been an interesting pitch for a TV series around the time they first thought of it (around the time Netflix used to send DVDs through the post). Three tracks. Video at some point too. Play loud and do not be particularly afraid. Click here to listen.

Other releases
We noted last time the release of Hank Play Rave Anthems of the 1990s - which has been quickly followed up with a Maxi-Single of Do You See the Love in My Eyes. This includes THREE remixes by Learn to Swim alumni - two versions of the title track and the mix of The Lights Inside released by Acid Wilhelm back in 2011. But the real joy is a remake of Do You See by Hank spin-off Sir Clement who are still the most kick-ass rock'n'roll thing since Little Richard bought an ice cream. A good choice for the next Bandcamp Friday:
https://hankthepopgroup.bandcamp.com/album/do-you-see-the-love-in-my-eyes-maxi-single

Other things we have been listening to of late
- Out of Time by Giants of Discovery: bandcamp link
- Interim Report, 1979 by Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan bandcamp link

The Instagram 
We are posting daily throughout 2021 with images of things we once saw (which seems to involve quite a lot of rust, mould and fungus) accompanied by some words which occur on the day. @thelearntoswim

Stay safe and well. Be kind. Build hope.

February 2021

We're still here.

New release
For the first time since 2019, we have a premiere on YouTube of a new piece by Polaraíocht. One hour long, intended as an aid to mindfulness, relaxation, meditation or simply so uneventful it lulls you to sleep. This piece was largely improvised while watching webcam footage of the Manatees at Blue Spring State Park.
The accompanying video premieres on YouTube at 11.30PM GMT on Friday 19th Feburary 2021.
Other things 
YouTube contains some of our music accompanied with arcane imagery and sometimes an unlooked-for exclusive such as this anonymous improvised piece 04042020. Click here to visit our YouTube channel.
 
On Instagram we are posting daily throughout 2021 with images the things we once saw accompanied by some words which occur on the day. @thelearntoswim

Oh and there's still the arcanery of pointless Learn to Swim merch on Redbubble. Even we haven't bought any.

Other people's stuff
Hank Play Rave Anthems of the 1990s - Dearly beloved colleagues Hank have finally released this long-rumoured album. It includes The Lights Inside which was previewed a long time ago as an Acid Wilhelm remix (click here to listen) and featured in show 3 of our Slabcake series of podcasts back in 2011 (click here to listen). There may be even further connections before too long... In the meantims, you can finally buy the whole album on Bandcamp here: https://hankthepopgroup.bandcamp.com/album/hank-play-rave-anthems-of-the-1990s

Isolation and Rejection - During 2020, our friends at Front and Follow curated a project to gather sounds rejected from other albums, raising funds for The Brick (a youth charity in Wigan, Lancashire). They completed 5 volumes ranging from bedroom folk and electronica through metal other works which we would not presume to categorise (including an Acid Wilhelm track made from something he had previously rejected) All are available at Front and Follow's Bandcamp store: https://fandf.bandcamp.com/

We love you, that is why we're here.
Stay safe and stay well. But let's do it differently once this is over.

April 2020

New release
A new artist joins Learn to Swim. Andrei with a Candle presents a collection of short piano works. All the pieces were improvised in a single take on various dates between July 2019 and February 2020. Never written down, they can never be reproduced exactly.

Other things
Our YouTube channel is filling up with arcane imagery and the occasional exclusive. Click here to visit our YouTube channel.

Our Instagram account features regular photographs of various things and the occasional video @thelearntoswim

Stay safe and stay well. Stay at home.

February 2020

New release
Over the years the words "strange noises" have been descriptor, mantra and manifesto for Learn to Swim. So, we start the new decade with our longest and least accessible release ever. Nightfish present a 3-part album of abstract sound called Stochastica.

The entire work was realised using the VCV Rack virtual modular synth and includes one track which is a live improvisation. Do not look for tunes, beats or anything remotely human. A series of vaguely disturbing hums, its is the sound of your post-space-age, AI-enabled fridge meeting a VCS3 in a setting designed by Roger Murray-Leach. Click here to listen.

Other things
Our Instagram account now includes a lot of wilfully obscure photography and fragments of video @thelearntoswim

News archive: 2019-2016 - 2015-2011 - 2010-2006 - 2005-2002

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