Skeletal Framework – The Cherry Red Recordings 1981-1986

The complete Eyeless In Gaza Cherry Red recordings, compiled and curated by Martyn Bates and Pete Becker.

5CD clamshell box set featuring sleevenotes and extensive song-by-song reminisces by Martyn Bates.

Their entire 1981-1986 output for the label re-worked into five thematic suites by the band, bringing new life and light to familiar and much-loved material.

Includes the classics ‘Invisibility’, ‘Veil Like Calm’, Kodak Ghosts Run Amok’, ‘New Risen’ and many more.

A brilliant introduction for the curious and a fascinating re-visit for long-term fans.
During the first half of the 1980s, few artists cut a path as individual and self-contained as Eyeless In Gaza. Over six albums and several classic singles, the duo followed their muse in multiple different directions at once, unrestrained by any desire to fit in with whatever was going on around them. Bursts of primal electronica sat comfortably alongside reflective ballads and lo-fi recordings and polished productions were equally valued, all of it pulled together by Martyn Bates’ unmistakable vocals and a singular, minimalist approach to songwriting.

Curated by Eyeless In Gaza, and accompanied by Martyn Bates’ song-by-song reflections on their work, ‘Skeletal Framework’ presents the band’s entire Cherry Red output re-cast as five themed suites (or perhaps even playlists), each reflecting one of their many sides. The group’s best-known work sits comfortably alongside deeper album cuts and rarities with interesting results, as the duo guide us back and forth across recordings spanning almost six years of one of Cherry Red’s most distinctive artists.

DISC ONE
VOLUME ONE: LOOKING DAGGERS (ROCK and RHYTHMIC)
1 Looking Daggers
2 Skeletal Framework
3 Half Light
4 September Hills
5 The Feelings Mutual 6 In Your Painting
7 Fixation
8 Continual
9 Scale Amiss
10 Faceless
11 The Decoration
12 Voice From The Tracks
13 Whitewash
14 True Colour
15 Out From The Day-To-Day
16 Plague Of Years
17 Taking Steps (Original Version)
18 A Keepsake
19 From A To B
20 Soul On Thin Ice
21 Seven Years
22 Knives Replace Air

DISC TWO
VOLUME TWO: ROSE PETAL KNOT (POP TUNES etc)
1 Others
2 No Perfect Stranger
3 Twilight
4 One By One
5 Sweet Life Longer
6 Everpresent
7 Two
8 China Blue Vision
9 New Love Here
10 Speech Rapid Fire
11 Changing Stations
12 Sun Bursts In
13 Point You
14 Clear Cut Apparently
15 Veil Like Calm
16 Welcome Now
17 New Risen
18 Pencil Sketch
19 Picture The Day
20 Rose Petal Knot
21 Invisibility
22 Pearl And Pale
23 Keynote Inertia
24 Taking Steps
25 Kodak Ghosts Run Amok

DISC THREE
VOLUME THREE: YOUR RICH SKY (Approximate BALLADS and SIMILAR)
1 Drumming The Beating Heart
2 Lie Still, Sleep Long
3 See Red
4 Bright Play Of Eyes
5 Corner Of Dusk
6 Before You Go
7 At Arms Length
8 Catch Me
9 No Noise
10 Evening Music
11 Every Which Way
12 Stealing Autumn
13 My Last, Lost Melody
14 Far Lands Blue
15 Your Rich Sky
16 Only Whispers
17 Leaves Are Dancing
18 Back From The Rains
19 Between These Dreams
20 Flight Of Swallows
21 Catch Me, Count Me, Catch Fire

DISC FOUR
VOLUME FOUR: STILL AIR (ATMOS-SONGS)
1 Light Sliding
2 Dusky Ruth
3 Ill Wind Blows
4 The Eyes Of Beautiful Losers
5 Inky Blue Sky
6 Throw A Shadow
7 Tall And White Nettles
8 Sixth Sense
9 Lights Of April
10 Scent Of Evening Air
11 Transience Blues
12 Through Eastfields
13 Lilt Of Music
14 To Ellen
15 Tell
16 Still Air
17 She Moves Thru The Fair
18 Blue Distance

DISC FIVE
VOLUME 5: DREAMING AT RAIN (EXPERIMENTS and IMPROV)
1 Big Clipper Ship
2 Dreaming At Rain
3 Pale Saints
4 Lies Of Love
5 To Steven
6 John Of Patmos
7 Avenue With Trees
8 Sun Like Gold
9 Sheer Cliffs
10 Letters To She
11 Jane Dancing
12 Three Kittens
13 To Elizabeth S
14 Falling Leaf/Fading Flower;Goodbye To Summer
15 Warm Breath Soft And Slow
16 You Frighten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY6lzU2RhjE