"The Momentary Aviary" (Manhand, USA) LP
Documenting two 2007 live shows. Paste on cover with insert.

"…immaculate album, highly recommended" VT

"The Sun Balance/The Open Knot" (QBICO, Italy) LP
Hot Rocket #9! Two side long suites, equal parts live action and home action. Equal parts coloured cover and vinyl too.

"Wisdom Thunderbolt" (VHF, USA) CD
Courtesy of Bill at VHF. Recorded at home and out 2006-2007. Exquisite, hand rendered cover art by {HEXIT} aka michael k (sunburned, unfortune teller). Comes in nice card wallet.

"an anthology of noise & electronic music volume#4" (Sub Rosa, Belgium) comp. CD
Weirdest compilation that we've ever appeared on... Olivier Messiaen, William Burroughs, Steve Reich, Gyorgy Ligeti, Vibracathedral Orchestra...

"Saved by the Bird" CDR
Complete live show from Nottingham 2005. Released in an edition of 50 with individually painted card sleeves by Bridget Hayden.

"VCO @ ATP 2004" (Spirit of Orr, USA ) CDR
Ron and those nice folks at Spirit of Orr released this document of our performance at All Tomorrow's Parties 2004. This is the full show in recycled digipak sleeve with sticker cover art. What an afternoon… Features guest appearances by John Godbert and Matthew Bower. Limited run of 100 copies and sold out at source...

"Ragged + Right" Bootleg LP
Supposedly from France (or somewhere close to the US where french is spoken) but who knows what or who to believe these days. Steal it if you see it!

"Tuning To The Rooster" (Important, USA) CD
Bringing together all the material we recorded in a 24 track studio (which appeared on various pro-elitist limited edition releases) mass produced and made available to all - forget tracking down the 'Great Pop Supplement' single on e-bay, buy this cd and hear all tracks in their un-edited glory!

"Smash! Smash! Smash!" CDR
Brand new collection of complete live performances – three in all – from December 2004, that tunnel ever deeper into instant formless satori on a smoke-thick blanket of wire, muscle, garage punk riffs and peak after peak of blinding white light. First track is live at The Dog & Parrot, Newcastle 3/12 and features the trio of Bridget Hayden, Mick Flower and Neil Campbell. Second track is from The Packhorse in Leeds on 4/12 and features some vocal razzing from Phil Franklin (Sunburned Hand Of The Man and Hototogisu were also on the bill) and the quartet of Adam Davenport, Bridget Hayden, John Godbert and Mick Flower in a real Henry Flynt/Fripp & Eno slow-snaking style. Final track is from The Fenton, Leeds show (same bill as Taurpis Tula, Samara Lubelski and The MV & EE Medicine Show) and features a quartet set from Matthew Bower, Bridget Hayden, Mick Flower and Neil Campbell on electronic/modal skull-jam form. Highly recommended. (From an e-bay listing)

"Live at Audioscope 04" (Audioscope, UK) split 10" vinyl
Split release with The Telescopes documenting performances at the audioscope all-day event on 2 October 2004 in Oxford. The VCO side features fuzz and northern rapping from Neil Campbell!

"The Tone of the Universe" (Pseudo Arcana, New Zealand) compilation CD
Compilation CD loosely based around the idea that the universe vibrates at B flat. Features VCO, Birchville Cat Motel and others.

"øyenstikker utbrudd" CDR
Edition of 50 copies, only available at the Oslo and Bergen gigs, March 2005. Two complete live performances - Leeds, October 2003 and Sheffield, March 2004. This has been seen fetching handsome prices on e-bay. Jeez…

"QBICO U-nite in Bruxelles" (QBICO, Italy) comp. 2 LP
Two sides of live Vibracathedral here, plus the encore with Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty on board, and more jams by Alan Silva and Lauhkeat Lampaat. All tracks recorded live at Qbico Night, Cinema Nova, Brussels on April 8, 2004. Crazy-coloured vinyl and gatefold primate cover, depicting The Orchestra as a huddle of ring-tailed lemurs.

"resonance session" CDR
One hour long roughcut edit of August 2004 session, done at the behest of Resonace FM, although we can't work out whether they've broadcast it or not.

"pontiac lady" triple CDR (VHF, USA)
Limited edition (300 copies) triple CDR release documenting our autumn 2003 US tour - lovingly assembled by VHF in a DVD style box containing the three discs and some nice photos of VCO in full playing mode. Beautiful!

"Live on WFMU" LP (Eclipse, USA)
Two long studio cuts live on the venerable New Jersey radio station WFMU.

"Side one ("Captain Labor") hovers into focus with drum circle rhythms, skittery guitar, and echoed vocals exploring the periphery of No-Neck Blues Band territory. Violins infiltrate to joust with strangled shamanic cries and more wobbly percussive peals from bells, cymbals, flutes, and basically whatever was to hand. Less chaotic than it might sound, the dynamics are expertly controlled as wave over wave of sound lap the shore.
Side two ("Ridin' Free") checks in with shimmering e-bowed guitar gamboling with saxophone and stumbling bells with fragments of smeared voices thrown in for good measure. Then various musical subgroups break off and carry on in parallel. As in the classic Ornette Coleman double quartet sessions, the listener's ear can dart from one locus to the next savoring the vibrations in smaller sections or revel in the larger global swells before the "breakdown" of whistles and drums takes the tune out on a more rhythmic vibe." (fakejazz)

"Double LP" 2 LP
Edition of 250 - 13 tracks spread over 4 sides of vinyl. Hand screened cover. Wild zoned hoedowns from late 2003/early 2004, recorded at the chapel lab and in the barn.

"The dazzlingly eclectic range of techniques and styles captures a band engaged in a vigorous creative period. Sonically, this release continues the visceral experimentation of "Dabbling with Gravity" and "Queen of Guess" but the analog medium gives even tracks like "Thrift" (the harshly overdriven Tony Conrad-esque lead track) a flattering depth and warmth." (fakejazz)

"Misplaced Pets" compilation CD (Misplaced Music, UK)
Compilation CD to benefit two Leeds animal charities - Whitehall Dog Rescue and Leeds Animal Rescue. As well as an unreleased Vibracathedral track, "Sparky's songs", there are cuts from Homeland, Aarktika, James Green, Fairweather Friend, Portal, Havergal, Martin Finke, Lucky Luke, Burd Early, Charlie Parr, Hood, Empress, The Unpleasants, Seaworthy, Remote Viewer, Pedro, Alasdair Roberts, Bill Riccini and Adrian Crowley, Sufjan Stevens and Al Duvall. Save the whale!

"royal park" / "brudenell" 7" (Gold Soundz, Norway)
Two live cuts from divebar residencies in our hometown. First side is a largely acoustic and gets a subtle but heavy crossfade tweak, while the flip is an unresolved fuzzfest - feedback, looped tablas, new romantic synth, thunder cymbals, etc etc. Edition of 420 in nice generic Gold Soundz sleeve.

"hex hostess" CDR
Edition of 60 copies to mark a live performance at the Holy Trinity Church in Leeds, March 2003. Two long live tracks from the end of 2003, with guests including John Godbert, Marc Orleans and Matthew Bower, bridged by a piece Michael Flower constructed from vibracathedral loops.

"Rome wasn't burned in a day" comp. CD (head heritage, UK)
Giveaway CD at Cope's three-day fest in October 2003, and including the full 15 minute version of "Baptism > Bar > Blues", originally much curtailed on the JOMF split LP. Also has long long cuts from Sunburned Hand of the Man, Sunn 0))), Les Rallizes Denude, The Sons of TC Lethbridge and Holy McGrail.

U-Sound Vol. 13 "live in manchester/leeds" CDR (U-Sound, USA)
Released for our 2003 east coast USA tour, two long live tracks from 2002 selected by Josh and Tom of JOMF. Curiously, the first track begins with 12 minutes of us tuning up + plugging in - they must get down to that stuff out in the woods of new england.

"the queen of guess" CD (VHF, USA)
Latest blockbuster VHF release, featuring two 20+ minute pieces along with the usual selection of punchy pop hits and cover art based on a tattoo design we found in the junky alley near where we live.

"an immense visceral slab of rackety action" VHF website.

"I am sailing the Amazon. I am covered in mosquitos. But I'm having the time of my life. As the sun begins to set and we make our way to shore, I can see fires burning in the distance through the trees. I'd read about how dense the jungle was here, but words rarely do a place like this justice. My heart is pounding at a million miles an hour. If I don't calm down, it might explode. I'm excited and nervous. We're staying in a village that is in the murky depths of the jungle, and surrounded by local tribes. While trying to get to sleep in bed, I can hear some kind of tribal ritual being formed. Drums beat rapidly and the voices resonate into a constant drone. It's calming, in a bizarre way, and eases any fears I have as I fall asleep. This is "Our Head Shone Like a Stone," and is a good metaphor for what Vibracathedral Orchestra's latest album is like." (foxy digitalis)

"wings over america" sunroof!/vibracathedral orchestra split tour CD (VHF, USA)
Split CD released by VHF to commemorate and (partially) finance the sunroof!/vibracathedral orchestra east coast USA tour of september 2003. Beautiful 'gatefold' letterpress sleeve. Thirty minutes of music from each act.

"Vibracathedral Orchestra bear the shimmery mantle on this split, trawling the territory we're used to Sunroof! traipsing through, bells and chimes are smeared into a pleasant skree, lazy percussion is scattered haphazardly across sunbaked krautrock, and tribal rhythms and reverbed guitars are woven into warm expanses of barely tethered space rock, primal and pagan, pulsing and perfect." (Aquarius Records)

"hex hostess" CDR
Live in europe March 2002 . Five big big tracks edited down in strict chronological order from each of the five shows we played in belgium, germany and france. Covers quite a bit of ground, and all seamlessly edited for the complete simulated vibracathedral live trip. Whatever you've enjoyed in the band before, it's all here - heavy power surge drones? check. endless metronomic grooves? check. freeform freakout adrenaline rush? check. plaintive comedown glow? check. etc etc etc.

vibracathedral orchestra / phonophani split 7" (safe as milk, norway)
Great wash of electronic/acoustic vibracathedral surge on one side, entitled "rain gutter teasing rusty cat sneezing" by way of tribute to capt van vliet. Alog solo project Phonophani is no slouch either on the flip, "bees they will sting you".

"girls with rocks in their hands" 7" (great pop supplement, UK)
Edition of 111 7", but worth searching out on e-bay if you've money to burn, into our more driving minimal rockband set up and you fancy hearing us dip our toe into dub version on the flip.

"Kicks compilation" CDR
100 copies made for the two nights we organised 16-17 January 2003, featuring exclusive tracks by all the bands involved, Toss, Benjamin Franklin, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Birchville Cat Motel, Sunroof! and Köhn.

"MMICD" CDR
Fifty minute compilation of recordings from 2001, originally discarded due to too many tapes to listen to! Fifteen tracks ranging from 9 seconds to 9 minutes. Some grooves, some ecstatic splurge, some farout experimentation. No wacky track titles this time, just wall-to-wall wall of sound.

vibracathedral orchestra / magic carpathians / 6 organs of admittance "trighplane terraforms vol 1" 3-way split CD (Mental Telemetry, USA)
Real hands-across-the-waves effort, with 20 minutes or so from each band, including five wild and weird vibracathedral cuts from the turn of the millennium. Lovely letterpress sleeve by Nemo at Time-lag records too.

"The UK's Vibracathedral Orchestra are rapidly becoming a great singles group, the shorter format being a perfect vehicle for their urgent blasts of free dancing sound. Here they condense various working strategies into five focused tracks, most of them fading in like bullet trains to the accompaniment of showers of percussion, repetitive electronics and the gull cries of variously bowed instruments." (David Keenan, The Wire)

"Vibracathedral Orchestra contribute five individual pieces. "Jubilee" almost rocks in an extraordinarily droney way - thick guitar embedded with bits and pieces of bells and other percussion. It's quite hypnotic. "Vatican Fog" and "Nightbox" are both somewhat random collections of clatter and clink, complete with semi-ritualistic chanting, flute, and percussion clunks, though "Nightbox" does build up some fiendish momentum. "Fanfare" is all dreamy flow while "Sunset Eye" is a thick soup of drone and wavering tones, clattering percussion and mind-bending trance-out sound that is abruptly cut off in the prime of its life." (dusted magazine)

vibracathedral orchestra / low split 7" (misplaced music, UK)
Another track, "stole some sentimental jewelry", from our studio session (recorded by the venerable Richard Formby), this time a crazed stomp from the steppes, loaded on reindeer piss, and sprayed all over with demented violin/synth/harmonium. Our pals Low turn in a brief exclusive track "david & jude", recorded at dub-narcotic sound system with Calvin Johnson on melodica.

K-raa-k³ festival sampler compilation CD (K-raa-k³, Belgium)
As it says on the tin, a compilation of exclusive tracks from Vibracathedral Orchestra ("the sky is blue and the dead are coming back" = tinny folk/alien noise hoedown), Ekkehard Ehlers and Joseph Suchy, David Grubbs, Main, Oren Ambarchi, Wio, Twine, Benjamin Franklin, It and My Computer, Alog, Toss and Twenty Six. Released for distribution at the K-raa-k³ festival in Hasselt, Belgium in March 2002.

Jackie-O Motherfucker/Vibracathedral Orchestra split LP
(Textile, France)
"Two tracks only appear on the Vibracathedral Orchestra side, but both are superb. The 12-and-a-half minute "Wearing Clothes of Ash" is like a piano-led PARADIESWARTS DUUL-period drone-a-thon with John Cale and Terry Riley guesting on viola and keys. Following this, the sublime "Baptism > Bar > Blues" is proof positive that they can rock the riot house with pure adrenaline rush when the decision is made. Indeed, this 7-minute track is magnificent and should be available to the masses free or in pill form." (Julian Cope)

"dabbling with gravity and who you are" CD (VHF, USA)
"Latest and best yet from the quintet of Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Julian Bradley, Michael Flower, and Adam Davenport. Assembled from recordings of their weekly sessions in Michael's kitchen, the tracks here represent the joyous, celebratory side of the VCO - all forward motion, massed strings, percussion, horns, and little instruments rocketing forward in a swirl of sound. Compared to the more austere sounds of recent CD's like "Lino Hi" and "Versatile Arab Chord Chart," the tracks here take off from where the loose hippy chant and drum action of collectives like Amon Duul intersects with the ploygot instrumental approach of mid-60's Sun Ra (ref "Exotic Forest," "Shadow World," etc). "There is no chord formation that can be planned which creates elation or sadness, or any art which is profound enough to change anything fundamental about a person. There is just a resonance around us which musicians/artists are using or not using" - Bridget Hayden on the VCO" (VHF Catalogue)

"the one you call the ghost train" / "oblong two" 7" 45rpm (tonschacht records, Germany)
Two very different slices of vibracathedral 2000 sound. The first side is a ramshackle folk tune overlaid with sweet electronics, while the flip is full-on free rock replete with trademark vibracathedral reed and percussion storm.

"Freak on!" CDR (VHF, USA) - Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra and Richard Youngs
Tour CD from when the VHF UK "roster" played gigs in 2000 together in Newcastle and Glasgow. It includes a long wild live Vibracathedral track (see NME review of the same gig), along with a new one by Richard Youngs and two recent Sunroof! tracks with a Bower/Flower/Campbell line-up. All tracks unavailable elsewhere.

"Sunroof! starts it off with a shimmering, somehow melodic, throbbing space-drone epic, with ear melting high end and shakers and loose percussion over a relentless pulse, that when you listen really close, almost sounds like a RIFF! Youngs contributes ten minutes of sparse autoharp, gently bowed and plucked, letting space do the rest. The Vibracathedral Orchestra track is a gorgeous 20+ minute piece of warm slithering guitar, gentle feedback, and clatteing percussion, an ur-hippie jam, but only for those hippies that are way, way gone. Recorded live in 2000. And the disc closes with another Sunroof! track, a surprisingly melodic twenty minute dreamscape, with hiccupping major key stutter setting the foundation for tinkling chimes and chiming tinkles, with delicately plucked harmonics. Lush and epic and completely amazing." (Aquarius Records)

Live in Newcastle and Leeds 1999 cassette (Matching Head Tapes, UK)
AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM:
Lee Stokoe, 12 Coanwood Way, Sunniside, Tyne-and-Wear, NE16 5XR, UK.
Two complete live performances from mid-1999 on one handy C90. Who says tape labels are dead? Send Lee £2.50 in UK or $5 elsewhere and that should cover this one.

"Hot Booty!" CDR (VHF, USA)
Five big sturdy live tracks, recorded in Glasgow, Leeds and Newcastle during 1999. Pretty dense in general, and including our most vast gothic sprawl, complete with pipe organ, recorded in a squatted church on Woodhouse Lane, Leeds.

"Dark and slowly building drones, less rumble and more enveloping mist. If you know what I mean. Let's go track by track.
1. Tinkling chimes and buzzing metallic grit pierce a monstrous wall of hum.
2. Seriously intense washes or warbles and roars and thrum, with a simple one-drum rhythm holding the whole thing together. Epileptic percussion and waves of cymbal/gong wash give way to squealing horns and a drum corp gone haywire.
3. An almost-folk song constructed from looped guitars/synths, shakers, bells and cymbals.
4. Spaced out meditative ur-drone. This time complemented by the sonic crush of a church organ. The sound of the apocalypse. Think: Nitsch jammng with Skullflower, or better yet, don't think at all, just sit back and give up....
5. Noisy chaotic out-rock drone. Sounds like a rock band, loosed of any sort of ties to 'the proper way of playing' (which it sort of is) and just letting the instruments do what they want. Thick and relentless, layers upon layers of electrified fury that eventually dissipates into tranquil dreaminess.
Live is definitely where the VCO come into their own, stretching and exploring the sonic possibilities of 'rock and roll', and coming up with some of the most gorgeous and transendentally intense droning free-rock we've heard! So recommended!" (Aquarius Records)

"my gate's open, tremble by my side" LP/CD (Roaratorio, USA / Lexicon Devil, Australia)
First edition of 250 released in 200 by Roaratorio on vinyl, now long-gone, but rereleased with three bonus cuts in 2003 by Lexicon Devil.

"The first full-length vinyl release from Vibracathedral Orchestra features two sides of gloriously ethereal ambient-drone epiphanies that reveal an ensemble remarkably adept at building melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic intensity without ever prompting the listener to think that they are repeating themselves. Layers of insistently strummed acoustic guitars stretch and yawn over the course of side one while tentative bits of electric guitar sparkle in the gorgeous, slowly enveloping mist. Side two is equally mesmerizing. Opening with a blissfully portentous collage of organ tones and distant flutes and woodwinds, the sensuous drift is eventually interrupted by a stark martial cadence which drives the piece to a mystical, eerily beautiful denouement of crystalline bells and percussion which seems at once fragile and awe-inspiring." (one final note magazine)

"their spines crumble for a hug" C90 cassette
Two 40+ minute tracks from January 2000. No edits, just constantly evolving live jamming. Strangely, one of the best, and certainly most "accurate" Vibracathedral documents to date.

"long live the weeds" CDR
Three rough-hewn chunks of 1999/2000 music, all recorded in front of actual members of the public, in notable Leeds drinking establishments. Each track sees the Orchestra augmented by additional members, including Sticky Foster, Matthew Bower, John Godbert, John Clyde-Evans and Ross Parfitt.

"versatile arab chord chart" CD (VHF, USA)
"About an hour after I first put on Versatile Arab Chord Chart, the CD ended. It took me about five minutes to realize this, as I could still hear the ringing overtones that filled the entire disc. The air around my head was still ringing and buzzing, and whenever I moved my head, the sound would wash out like a wah-wah had been placed on it. I'm not sure exactly what instrumentation is used, though guitars and stringed instruments are most evident, both strummed and bowed. There is lots of crazy, active percussion--things clattering and jangling around, and lots of ringing sounds. A violin is definitely in the mix, and possibly an organ. The recording is very much a "room sound," and although it's difficult to distinguish all of the instruments at times, the music really jumps off the tape anyway. The overtones just become so intense that it's really hard to tell what is producing what, but it doesn't really matter." (fakejazz magazine)

"lino hi" CD (Giardia Records, USA)
"This is where the tape noise underground collides with both Theatre of Eternal Music-style minimalism and quasi-Indian modal improvisation, to collapse in a glorious heap. Their modus operandi here is simply to erect a group barrage of sounds - crashing percussion, permanently droning violins, clanging guitars, dropped tambourines, warbling saxophones, and always lots of grindingly heavy bowing - into a wonderfully primitive racket, sustain it for a while, then stop. This collective has stumbled onto something that'll refresh even the most jaded noise palette - I pretty much thought this noise-drone shit had done its dash, but Lino-Hi has turned me around 180Š." (Opprobrium magazine)

"Guitar? Accordion? Saw? Many times the droning instrumentation on Vibracathedral Orchestra's Lino Hi is difficult to distinguish (the liner notes give us no clue). Perhaps that's the secret of their lure though. On a first listen I thought, "This has to be done with loops" but as far as I can tell it's not. VCO's the real deal y'all. It's the subtlety in this music that makes it tres interresant. Sounds just sort of materialize out of the soup. Most of the tracks have a slow Asian sounding uni-chord structure with intermittent clangs and scapes, barring "Chasing a Rabbit" which races like a freight train through dowtown Bangkok. Lino Hi exudes a sense of patience and tact that is uncommon among a group five musicians turned loose to jam. Through all of these 8 minute-plus songs, the playing remains a highly intense and confident presence that's able to zone out mentally and somehow stay physically intact." (Wild Chirp magazine)

"hollin" CDR
CDR Companion piece to the "lino hi" CD, recorded around the same time, and including two live sections. Quite a blast, and one of the best of the early vibracathedral vibrations.

Vibracathedral string band / Vibracathedral drum troupe 7" 45rpm (Freedom From, USA)
Two fragments from the full orchestra step out alone. One side is heavy nervous system string-bow action, while the other is a full-throttle drum/bell/shaker shakedown that aims at sensory derangement. 45rpm, both sides 4'33'' long. Curious.

"And again, neither side of the 7" is marked. Not that it matters, nobody wants to listen to this" (www.tongueoftheeye.com)

"Music for red breath" CDR
Music for a film by NYC filmmaker Justin Allen and up to full quintet complement. 74 minutes of moods, from long, languid rumbles and tiny loops and hums to the band's finest and fullest-on one chord headbanger, with the usual homespun exotica in between.

"The Vibracathedral String Quartet" CDR
37 minutes of live double-cello/acoustic guitar/mandolin take off and landing. Missing J Bradley, but so what? Builds from unamplified foundation to spill out all over the place once those contact mics are edged into the mix.

"It's just like sex" (Dddd)

"Falling free you and me/Filling sacks with coloured scraps" 10" 33rpm
Two side-long trio throbs from 1998 in an edition of 200. One side has a Bradley-Campbell-Flower tribute to Georgio Moroder, while the other sees the Davenport-Flower-Hayden grouping fly out on a one chord ticket to Saturn.

"Percussion clatters, electronics flicker and strings take off after Spaceship #9... certainly shows that Cool Britannia has yet to completely kill the alternative culture on England's green and pleasant blah" (Bruce Russell)

"Copse" CDR
Second release, with same line-up as "Mothing". Chugs toward near-rock in places, and culminates in the ecstatic end blow-out of their first live performance.

"Like all evil has been evaporated away, scraping their tribute to pain by silent music flashed back at us like steel against the sun" (Dddd)

"Mothing" CDR
First issue from the Bradley-Campbell-Flower axis. Includes the full 23 minute version of "falling free you and me" from the 10-inch.

"Overt rhythms and almost-beats and throbs and undulations on the way to the top" (Dddd fanzine)