Kemper Norton - Carn (Exotic Pylon)

England’s countryside is rife with myths and legends concerning strange creatures and magical places. Cornwall’s Kemper Norton perfectly embodies this air of mystery by creating music that is technological, but organic, a kind of noise folk that draws from the heritage of Southern England.

Carn was inspired by two places in particular: the Carn Euny fogue, an ancient man-made underground tunnel in Cornwall, and Chanctonbury Ring, a hill fort in West Sussex. Both sites were built at least 100-500 years BC, lending a magical quality to their cryptic origins. By blending field recordings from these landmarks with electronics, various instruments and occasional vocals, Kemper Norton creates vast soundscapes full of mist and darkness. These tracks are spacial, droning and tribal, expanding as they progress to form three-dimensional depictions of the lands that inspired them. Though the device is electronic, it is the ancients who speak, imparting their knowledge to all who will listen before it’s too late. It may not necessarily be the language we speak, but the message is loud and clear.

The English were tribal people once, and perhaps they still are when it comes to class divisions. To that end, Kemper Norton is very much the same: of the present by way of the past. Let Carn guide the way.