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Posted On: October 29th 2026, 07:56 pm
Staying in Todmorden for today's post: an absolutely stunning LP of kora, clarinet and electronically treated sound from John Haycock (plus a little bit of additional percussion from Domi Chansorn), issued on the Swiss Second Thoughts Records in 2023.
I think the best compliment I can pay Dorian Portrait is that I just can’t stop playing it, and even after a load of spins I’m still struggling to describe it. Nominally we’re in ambient territory, but that just doesn’t feel sufficient to describe this fluid, beautiful piece of work, which nimbly steps across genres and continents to create something that feels incredibly fresh. Luke Una is also a fan, and that gloriously loquacious man supplied the label with one of his inimitable summaries, which I think sums up how hard it is to sum this one up: ‘This album is utterly extraordinary. One of those shooting star moments of astral perfection that I’m gonna struggle to describe. It’s haunting. It’s an interplanetary astral majestic alchemy.’
A big reason I picked this up, along with that gorgeous and I think hand-painted sleeve, was a note from Mr Heightside mentioning that this was a Luke Una pick — I don’t think I’m alone in being an avid listener to Luke’s monthly Worldwide Show, and I love his enthusiasm for the unusual, the oddball, and the idiosyncratic (and, of course, the intermittent bursts of airhorn). A wonderful voice, and a tastemaker in the purest, nicest sense of that word.
And now I’ve got all of John Haycock’s back catalogue to dig into as well, which promises to be a real treat. Happy days.
#johnhaycock #dorianportrait #secondthoughtsrecords #electronicmusic #ambient
I think the best compliment I can pay Dorian Portrait is that I just can’t stop playing it, and even after a load of spins I’m still struggling to describe it. Nominally we’re in ambient territory, but that just doesn’t feel sufficient to describe this fluid, beautiful piece of work, which nimbly steps across genres and continents to create something that feels incredibly fresh. Luke Una is also a fan, and that gloriously loquacious man supplied the label with one of his inimitable summaries, which I think sums up how hard it is to sum this one up: ‘This album is utterly extraordinary. One of those shooting star moments of astral perfection that I’m gonna struggle to describe. It’s haunting. It’s an interplanetary astral majestic alchemy.’
A big reason I picked this up, along with that gorgeous and I think hand-painted sleeve, was a note from Mr Heightside mentioning that this was a Luke Una pick — I don’t think I’m alone in being an avid listener to Luke’s monthly Worldwide Show, and I love his enthusiasm for the unusual, the oddball, and the idiosyncratic (and, of course, the intermittent bursts of airhorn). A wonderful voice, and a tastemaker in the purest, nicest sense of that word.
And now I’ve got all of John Haycock’s back catalogue to dig into as well, which promises to be a real treat. Happy days.
#johnhaycock #dorianportrait #secondthoughtsrecords #electronicmusic #ambient
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