Mild-mannered moog man goes nuts
Who He?
The Bristolian custodian of the Moog Sound Lab, which lives at Surrey University. The lab is a monster mountain of Moog modular (built around the 2014 limited edition reissue of the legendary 1960s System 55) and other goodies, which Shakespeare has helped visiting artists like Chris Watson and Gazelle Twin to conquer. Despite his considerable skills and his name cropping up all over the place, he’s been happy to stay in the background. Until now…
Why Finlay Shakespeare?
Well, because he’s just released a tasty seven-inch, ‘Routine’, on the venerable Editions Mego label. The whole thing is absolutely frothing with oscillator rage, it sounds like Shakespeare is just about keeping a lid on a machine that is threatening the break its connection to the mains and come storming after you. And then he starts singing…
Tell Us More…
His ‘Housediet’ series over on Bandcamp, which started in 2017, is very much worth exploring. Shakespeare’s duets with machines are like a high-tech Suicide. For such a mild man in person, something clearly takes him over when he sings. It’s like he’s intravenously taking the same voltage as the modular as he improvises with the impeccably programmed electronics, which sound as alive as he does. It’s great stuff, and the six-minute B-side of the seven-inch, ‘Perris (Inevitable Forthcoming Netflix Docudrama Version)’, a Title Of The Year Award nominee, surely, is a fine example of the Shakespeare mojo as it develops into a emotionally overwrought thriller from dark and tremulous opening. And the whole thing was recorded in two days of punk urgency. That’s the way.
‘Routine’ is released by Editions Mego
