The Langham Research Centre - Tape Works Vol. 1 [Nonclassical - 2017]The Langham Research Centre sre a British four-piece that create moody, playful, cryptic & often concise modern musique concrete & modular work. Tape Works Vol. 1 is the projects first sonic statement, coming as either a 12 inch vinyl release, CD, or tape- I’m reviewing a CDR promo version of the release. The Langham Research Centre brings together Felix Carey, Iain Chambers, Philip Tagney & Robert Worby. The project started in 2003 with the sole purpose of using a studio as their instrument- but an older more 'classic' studio with microphones, tape machines & various vintage analog devices. Tape Works Vol 1 brings together eleven tracks and forty-one minutes of play time, and it really is a varied & often surprising ride- going from atmospheric radiophonic workouts, onto playful & at times fairly cryptic tape scaping, through lo-fi avant-electro adventures, and pared-back piano & field recording blends. All but one track nudges over the ten-minute mark, so the four-piece never get indulgent or overstretch ideas.
The album opens with “Perpetual Motion”- this is four minutes worth of accelerating & choppy retro electro atmosphere- that comes off like the soundtrack to some surreal & intense moment in a 1970’s/ early 80’s sci-fi series. Track four is entitled “Doors”- as its title suggests, this just over the two-minute track is based around the sound of door creaks- and to begin with it's moodily eerily & cryptic, before coming quite musical & playful. “Sink Speeds”- brings together four minutes of rapidly chopped-up retro radio ads, what sounds like airliner pilot chatter, electro whizzes, bent & wavering operatic voices, bird songs, & weird saws etc.
At times the album reminds me of either NWW or P16.D4, when the projects where more vitalize & concise. At others like some bizarre & rouge recording made late night by the radiophonic workshops. And at others kinetic & jittering modern composition, played with analog equipment. The album nods to past, yet also feels like it ’s in added some new & knowingly modern to the mix- as the mood, at times rapidly, shifts from sinister, to playful, onto cryptic & puzzling.
From the very first playthrough, Tape Works Vol. 1 grabbed my attention and pulled me in. And since I’ve revisited the release again & again- still finding new surprises, sly detail, and fresh sonic puzzles with-in the work. Let's hope they be a Vol 2 along fairly soon.    Roger Batty
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