Category Archives: Spinning the Compass

Spinning the Compass – 2016 remaster

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Today we released a remixed, remastered, expanded version of my first album, Spinning the Compass.

I think it sounds rather good.

You can get the whole thing (or just the new tracks if you want) at this link.

Here’s what I wrote about it:

Spinning the Compass is my first solo album. Originally released in early 2010, here it is remastered and in places remixed.

I had not planned on going solo in 2009 when I started working on these songs. I was still doing silly things with Comrade Robot, and at the time that was my main musical undertaking. But as part of February Album Writing Month 2009 I had written a few songs that seemed to fit into a steampunk theme, so on and off over that year I put things together.

It just so happened that independently at the same time, my brother Joe was also working on steampunk projects, particularly his ‘Oldroid’ models, so there was a ready made set of photos and ideas to use as artwork.

Spinning the Compass is about body horror, bad dreams and machines that get in the way or substitute for real love. Mechanism talks about love gone wrong, I Still Smile about latex and rubber alternatives to human contact, the title track is about being lost in a contracting world that doesn’t make sense and threatens to disappear.

Nevertheless, it is to me a happy album. It was recorded cheap mics and even cheaper software, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. It received my first bad review in which it was referred to as ‘an experiment too far’ (and a few good reviews too) and I learnt a hell of a lot from making it.

It is also where the Seven Bells John saga started. The Steam engine Murders and the Trail of Seven Bells John, from my fourth album, was written at the same time as Spinning the Compass. Lines Overheard at a Séance is most definitely part of that narrative. Indeed if you’ve heard my most recent EP, Black Water you will have heard the musical echoes of this in ‘Ghosts in my Dreams’.

This version of the album also includes two new tracks ‘The Man Who Learned To Fly’ and ‘Lines in the Dirt’ both of which I wrote at the time but didn’t have time to finish recording before I finally got bored and released the album.

This accidental album kicked off a solo ‘career’ that so far has encompassed 4 albums albums, a few EPs and lots of fun.

Thanks for listening!

Tom Slatter January 2016

Spinning the Compass – is Still 5 Years Old!

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Spinning the Compass is the title track. It’s about feeling as if the world is spinning out of control and has stopped making sense. Like the world you are living in right now. Come on, admit it. Nothing makes sense, everything is batshit crazy and even the laws of physics seem designed to confuse and disorientate you.

You can download the whole album here. For Free.

Home – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Home is about missing the person you love because you’ve spent too long hunting big game from an airship. It is important to write about universal human experiences.

I’m really proud of the chorus on this – nice big singalong stuff in my opinion. Although I am biased, it might be awful.

Here’s a link to download the whole album.

I Still Smile – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

I Still Smile is the 7th track from the album. It’s about a latex and metal substitute friend who will never judge you or leave you or hurt you. Which is what we all want really, isn’t it?

Here’s a link to download the whole album.

Two – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Two is the 6th track from the album. It’s an instrumental duet between guitar and synth and is one of three such pieces I wrote at uni. I really like it. You can hear Three if you join my mailing list and get the password to the fan page. I might record One at some point. Or I might not.

Here’s a link where you can download the album for free.

Bad Dreams – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Bad Dreams is the 5th track from the album. It is about bad dreams! I really like the broken fuzzy loops and weird solos. One of my favourite of my songs.

Here’s a link to download the album for free.

Lines Overheard At A Séance – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Lines Overheard at a Séance is the fourth song from the album. It is about ..er.. what someone overhears at a séance. Who’s overhearing it? The same person who’s POV the song Ironbark is mostly from, and who is the subject of the short stories that came with my last two EPs. Yes, my work can be quite involved. And silly. I like the chords in this.

Here’s a link to download the entire album for free.

Meet Me In Gaslight – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Meet me in Gaslight is the third song from the album. It’s a love song in a standard 32 bar song form. I deliberately covered it in fuzz and static cos I wanted something that sounded like it might have been recorded in a steampunky world.

Here’s a link to download the whole album for free.

Ingenious Devices – Spinning the Compass is 5 years old

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It’s the 5th Anniversary of my first solo album Spinning the Compass, so I am giving it away for free.

Ingenious Devices is the second song from the album. Its about a man who has built a load of machines to keep him alive while the world around him collapses and dies. I know, hack stuff right? I wrote it in a hurry after I decided the album needed another up-tempo number. It includes a load of layering in 9/4 in the middle that I rather like.