*2025 stock. 150 copies limited edition* In 1972, four design students at the now defunct Hornsey College of Art (HCA) in London decided to make a record; neither the result of nascent dreams of stardom nor of fastidiously developed musi-cianship. Bowes Road Band’s sole LP was simply the result of an impulse to create. With only fifty copies originally pressed, the LP’s Berlin flea market discovery revealed a foray into a delicately balanced world of psycho-trip meltdowns, rich jazz improvisations, & tuneful folk stylings. Hear echoes of Mark Fry’s “Dreaming With Alice,” Donovan’s honeyed folk, the Kinks’s blistering blues rock & more on “Back in the HCA.”
“Back in the HCA” stands alone in its singular conception of a genre-bending continuum — it evades definition. That said, the LP can easily be situated in the sonic environment in which it was conceived. By the end of the 60s, England was crawling with blues-based rock outfits that were starting to venture into prog rock territory. You can hear this popular din cast over the folkier side of the LP. But Bowes Road Band was armed with their non-musicianship: they existed completely liberated from the motivating yet ultimately paralyzing lust for stardom. Bowes Road Band was utterly free to make noise. This freedom meant drawn out sax interludes amidst sweetly folk stylings (“Grass is Grass”) and Shaggs-like fuzzed-out freakouts that spiral into a void (“Doctor, Doctor”). This freedom also meant straight-forward tuneful cuts like “Goodbye Rosie” that conspicuously introduce heavily distorted auto-organ accompaniment mid-track amidst poignant lyricism. Bowes Road Band crafts a unified sound and then cracks it open.
The band ended up only pressing 50 copies of the record — 10 for each of them and 10 for the College. The band’s lifespan was to end there, or so they thought. “Back in the HCA” was the accidental fruit of a Berlin flea market dig by Jannis Stürtz, DJ + co-founder of Habibi Funk & Jakarta Records. After finding and sharing the LP with a few colleagues, Stürtz managed to get in touch with the band, get ahold of the master tapes collecting dust in Ted Rockley’s attic, and start the reissuing process in collaboration with the band-members. The record is still adorned with its original cover art designed by Alan Pescod, both reminiscent of bygone school days and yesterday’s Zoom calls — in short, reunion. Its re-discovery was happenstance and ought to be listened to as such. That is, “Back in the HCA” was not made to be listened to on a broad scale, or, at least, was not made with this goal in mind; it is neither in its time nor of its time. Beyond their legible influences, “Back in the HCA” always existed beyond the domain of both traditional musicianship and conventional commodification. Bowes Road Band’s DIY musicality beams through in technicolor across “Back in the HCA.”
“Back in the HCA” stands alone in its singular conception of a genre-bending continuum — it evades definition. That said, the LP can easily be situated in the sonic environment in which it was conceived. By the end of the 60s, England was crawling with blues-based rock outfits that were starting to venture into prog rock territory. You can hear this popular din cast over the folkier side of the LP. But Bowes Road Band was armed with their non-musicianship: they existed completely liberated from the motivating yet ultimately paralyzing lust for stardom. Bowes Road Band was utterly free to make noise. This freedom meant drawn out sax interludes amidst sweetly folk stylings (“Grass is Grass”) and Shaggs-like fuzzed-out freakouts that spiral into a void (“Doctor, Doctor”). This freedom also meant straight-forward tuneful cuts like “Goodbye Rosie” that conspicuously introduce heavily distorted auto-organ accompaniment mid-track amidst poignant lyricism. Bowes Road Band crafts a unified sound and then cracks it open.
The band ended up only pressing 50 copies of the record — 10 for each of them and 10 for the College. The band’s lifespan was to end there, or so they thought. “Back in the HCA” was the accidental fruit of a Berlin flea market dig by Jannis Stürtz, DJ + co-founder of Habibi Funk & Jakarta Records. After finding and sharing the LP with a few colleagues, Stürtz managed to get in touch with the band, get ahold of the master tapes collecting dust in Ted Rockley’s attic, and start the reissuing process in collaboration with the band-members. The record is still adorned with its original cover art designed by Alan Pescod, both reminiscent of bygone school days and yesterday’s Zoom calls — in short, reunion. Its re-discovery was happenstance and ought to be listened to as such. That is, “Back in the HCA” was not made to be listened to on a broad scale, or, at least, was not made with this goal in mind; it is neither in its time nor of its time. Beyond their legible influences, “Back in the HCA” always existed beyond the domain of both traditional musicianship and conventional commodification. Bowes Road Band’s DIY musicality beams through in technicolor across “Back in the HCA.”
Details
Cat. number: JAKARTA185
Year: 2023
Notes:
Edition of 150.
The barcode is on a small sticker, over the larger hype sticker, covering the standard version barcode. Transparent red vinyl. With insert booklet.
Recorded at Waverley House between January and July 1973
