Recorded and produced in 1996 by Trevor ‘Underdog’ Jackson, rejected and ridiculed by the bands original label, the album sat unheard for decades and unreleased in its original intended format anywhere till now.
A gloriously twisted mix of post rock, jazz, dub, no wave, noise & fractured beats played by a five piece consisting of :
DAVE BATEMAN - GUITAR, BASS
IAN GIRDLESTONE - TURNTABLES, TAPES, FX
LUKE HANNAM - BASS, GUITAR,VOCALS
ANDY KNIGHT - BRASS, KEYBOARDS, PERCUSSION, SAMPLES, TAPES VOCALS
LEO TAYLOR - DRUMS
Along with guest vocalist : SUSSAN DEYHIM
The album sounds as strangely relevant today as it was wildly ahead of its time in 96.
In founder member Luke Hannam's own words.
"Just two months before the recording took place at the chapel studios in Lincolnshire ENC went through a major line up change with Leo Taylor recruited on drums and David Bateman added on guitar & additional programming, Ian Girdlestone on decks & tape looping and the two founding members Andy Knight- Sax, electronics, flutes, programming, keys & percussion and Luke Hannam on Bass.
The band had come along way from its earliest days as a three piece in the late 80s based in the northeast . ENC were always an unusual band formed around Andy’s deep musicality and knowledge of free jazz and experimental music and Luke’s love of intense groove and dark post punk. They were an unlikely pairing in someways but they lived closely and supported each other for years.
The 'Surreal Estate' project began as the third album loomed into view. Trevor Jackson who had contributed some fantastic remixes on previous material was hired as producer with Corrine 'The Sea' Pennington as an engineer. The band headed to their Brixton arch and set about making the most adventurous music of their career. The tracks that’s you hear on this album were mostly recorded during extensive sessions at The Chapel residential studios in Lincolnshire followed by various additional session in London and also at Trevor’s home studio. Recording sessions are funny things, stuff works, stuff fails, bands implode, and sometimes great albums get made, stability never makes the best music and this album probably proves both are true.
My memories of these sessions are pretty vivid, we worked through the night creating our own private universe playing music as freely and intensely as we could. Andy provided, as he always did a sense of otherworldly concentration, I always found him like a man in the centre of a storm building circles and cycles, spinning patterns of sound rhythm and melody. Leo was a relative newcomer at the time but as afar as I was concerned produced beats so intense, so perfect, they pulled my bass into line … visceral and exact. David Bateman listened and carefully spun delicious guitar parts finding space where others thought there was none to be found … it was beautiful to watch and when I listen I can see him in the shadows immersed in the music. Ian’s loops and analogue textures found their perfect embrace with Andy’s subsonic samples and electronic depth charging …. The whole thing lurched like an obscure On U sound recording colliding with Sun Ra in Trevor’s hip hop universe".
NB : On completion of the album in 1996 although finished (but not mastered) tracks were left with working track titles, due to be finalised in preparation of it's release that never happened, this release retains those original titles along with its originally planned track listing and running order.
ALBUM DOES NOT COME WITH ANY FULL DIGITAL FILES. THIS IS A VINYL ONLY RELEASE
Recorded at Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire 1996
Produced by Trevor 'Underdog' Jackson.
Except B2 Produced by ENC
Engineered by Corrine 'The Sea' Pennington
Mixed at The Greenhouse, Sept 1996 by Corrine Pennington + Trevor Jackson
Mastered by Noel Summerville
Artwork by Trevor Jackson
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supported by 12 fans who also own “Surreal Estate”
Like so many others, this came like a bolt out of the blue and, even though it's well before payday, I had to have this astonishing album on vinyl to prove it exists. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out. Great grooves and I can see lots of ghosts nodding along to this with big smiles on their faces. At last! Anthony Cottrell
Created in partnership with the Canadian noisemakers, the late legend's final collaborative LP enshrines his ability to lift joint ventures into otherworldly territory. Bandcamp Album of the Day Nov 8, 2021