Off-kilter lo-fi made in Yorkshire
Who he?
Beam Weapons is Doncaster-based Paul Bareham, bringer of broken electronic wonk courtesy of the new and, quite frankly, superb Miracle Pool label. Search for “Beam Weapons” online and, alongside a Bandcamp page where you can download the now sold-out cassette ‘Music To Disperse Crowds’, you will also find a ton of websites about sonic canons that make protesting mobs and besieged diplomats ruin their trousers. Which is always an interesting bonus.
Why Beam Weapons?
Bareham’s music licks and spits with sharp electricity, moving deftly between disordered ambience and the regimented pulse of warm, dusty synths. If you’ve wondered, as I often have, what Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange’s ‘The Dreams’ would sound like if it featured a half-remembered reverie about when someone attempted to hypnotise a faulty pylon, then B-side, ‘Super Heavy Actualisation / Invasion Of The Bee Girls’ has got you more than covered.
Tell us more…
Bareham’s music is compelling, though it’s not always clear exactly why – abrasive edges dance around high voltage snap and crackle, but there’s purpose behind his sounds that demands continued listening. On explaining the reasoning behind his album title and choice of pseudonym, Bareham says that he would in fact disperse crowds “not by asking them nicely, not by telling them sternly, but by simultaneously comforting them and creeping them out”. Move along now people, don’t make us bring out the beam weapons.
‘Music To Disperse Crowds’ is out on Miracle Pond
