Yes, it really has been five years since Johnny Lynch aka Pictish Trail set up Lost Map Records via his caravan home on the isle of Eigg, Scotland.
In that time the label has blossomed into lovely community of artists whose music covers a wide base but are primarily DIY. They include ICHI, Rozi Plain, Alabaster dePlume, Monoganon, Randolph’s Leap, Victoria Hume, Monoganon, Seamus Fogarty and many more.
That’s cause enough for celebration so today, they have announced the launch of a major new project called VISIT▲TIONS – a series of very special limited-edition releases, written and recorded in residency in a cabin on the label’s home on Eigg which has a population of around 100.
It’s been set up with support from Creative Scotland, the residency programme presents a unique opportunity for exciting label roster acts and guest artists to break away from the connectivity saturated modern world, go off-grid, embrace the inspiring scenery and self-sustaining community spirit of a truly special Hebridean island, and focus solely on one project for a concentrated period.
The resulting EPs will be available on a choice of either 12” vinyl (with download) or download-only package exclusively as part of a subscription service, which can be signed-up to now via the Lost Map website. The first instalment of V I S I T ▲ T I O N S, by Lost Map’s own Monoganon, will be released in early August 2018, with two further instalments in the first set of three releases set to follow before the end of the year (the artists who have made them will be announced closer to the time). Accompanying the launch of V I S I T ▲ T I O N S is the launch of the brand new Lost Map Podcast, episode #1 of which is available to listen to free now.
As Lost Map founder and Director and isle of Eigg resident Pictish Trail, AKA Johnny Lynch, explains, V I S I T ▲ T I O N S was born out of a desire to make Eigg a larger part of the label’s identity. “We’ve got an event called the Howlin’ Fling which is a very intimate music weekender that we put on once every two years,” says Johnny. “Eigg is quite a remote place and a really stunning location, it’s such an important part of our identity as a label and who I am as a musician. I remember when I first visited here I was blown away by the scenery and the friendliness of the community. It’s overwhelming and really inspiring. So many of the acts that have played at Howlin’ Fling have said ‘I’d love to spend a bit of time here doing some writing and recording’, and I understand why.
“So V I S I T ▲ T I O N S is a residency project, in which we invite musicians over to the island to spend a week in isolation in complete solitude in a small cabin. We provide a bunch of instruments and recording equipment. They write and record music during the week and they document their stay with photos and a diary, and we release all of this stuff as part of our subscription programme.”
As the very first artist whose music was released on Lost Map back in 2013, in the shape of his critically-acclaimed album F A M I L Y, it felt only fitting that Monoganon – AKA Malmö, Sweden based Scottish singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and maker of slanted, strange and illogically melodic art-pop songs John B. McKenna – should be the artist to launch V I S I T ▲ T I O N S. His swirling, gurgling, unhurriedly unfurling freeform electronic compositions, created during a week on Eigg in the run up to the 2017 instalment of Howlin’ Fling, and the extensive archive of texts and photography which accompany them, perfectly encapsulate so much of what the project is about. They present not only a compelling single body of work, but also an intriguing insight into the creative process and the way that scenery, landscape and isolation can function as an artistic muse.
V I S I T ▲ T I O N S IS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON SUBSCRIPTION, SIGN UP NOW AT: lostmap.com/visitations
+ EPISODE #1 OF NEW LOST MAP PODCAST AVAILABLE TO STREAM FREE NOW
