Tag Archives: Almost

Almost Anglo Saxon Gets Radio Play!

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Mick Mercer plays a track from Almost Anglo Saxon - The Song of Wayland Smithy!

Mick Mercer plays a track from Almost Anglo Saxon – The Song of Wayland Smithy!

Mick Mercer played a track from Almost Anglo Saxon!
Isn’t radio play a great thing!
At the beginning of March Mick Mercer played a track from Almost Anglo-Saxon much to my delight!

Click here for Mick Mercer’s Radio Show for 8th March 2015

It is so gratifying to be recognized as a contributor to the music scene, as diluted as it is now that huge corporations have just about killed it. Mick Mercer truly enjoys discovering new music and plays a real mix of material. It was a pleasure to be included and be part of something so special.

The track was Wayland Smithy – although he was trying to play Eyes of An Eagle – it didn’t matter to me as I thought Wayland Smithy really stands out as different. My only regret was that the listening audience were not told the title of the song, so the lyrics were not put into any context. However, I believe that the sign of a good song is that it means many things to different people. The subject of Wayland Smithy is about loss and imprisonment (as Wayland the Smith was separated from his wife and kept prisoner by a king – to make fine jewellery. Wayland sought revenge by murdering the kings sons and making their skulls into fine cups for the king). I hope the song still entertains without the listener having to know exactly what the song is about!

Mick Mercer is also an author – usually about the Gothic genre!

Just one of Mick Mercer's publications

Just one of Mick Mercer’s publications

Spring Equinox Blog 2013

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The long winter of 2012 has dug in its heels and is still with us this March 2013.
In the week between Christmas and New Year we produced a one off original Diamond Seeds podcast. Ella Jo as ‘EJ the DJ’ charted the music made in her home town of Luton, a place renowned for terrible architecture but which actually has a pedigree stock of music which flourished in the post punk era. Airspace was provided for an archive of this music and a little history given about the bands and their stories. In years to come we expect this Diamond Seed Podcast No 5 to become a valuable resource regarding the social history and musical legacy of an English town in the early 1980s. Great bands from the present also feature, showing how the music scene has remained an important and innovative aspect of the town, even if the authorities and wider population mostly ignore it!

Since the beginning of Winter, Diamond Seeds has supported Ella Jo’s decision to release some of her writing work in ebook format, due to hefty publishing costs. Thus ‘Journey of A Tarot Reader’ can now be found on Smashwords  as well as a book explaining how a trip to India cast light on an aspect of the origins of Tarot itself.

To create awareness of her work and introduce her books, Ella Jo released a free ebook  about her experiences of reading Tarot. Using autobiographical material and containing suggestions for a Code of Practice in Tarot Reading, she issued the ebook ‘How to Read Tarot with Confidence’ two weeks before Christmas 2012. By the end of March the downloads had reached over one thousand and was being read across the world. All this before the official release by the publishers! (No longer Available)

Staying with the writing bug, Ella Jo began 2013 with a brand new project, branching out into children’s fiction with ideas for a series of friendly bedtime stories about a witch and her adventures (First story due for release in April 2013).

Music-wise, Ella Jo’s new album, Almost Anglo Saxon is progressing slowly as and when time will permit. In March, as the weather took a turn for the worst and the temperature dipped horribly, Fliddling Flick came to stay and laid down some beautiful violin tracks for some songs on this album.

Fiddlin Flick

Laying down the violin tracks for ‘Ethelread The Unready Blues’

Spon has been involved with creating UK Decay’s new website – designed to provide updates for the adventures of the band since it reformed. The old site is still available for memorabilia from the bands early days. The new website is dedicated to providing current information for those supporting this incredible resurrection. UK Decay were in the studio recording new material in 2012 and April 2013 sees the release of their album ‘New Hope For The Dead’ containing brand new UK Decay tracks.
Visit the UK Decay site  for latest feedback and gigs to be announced for UK Decay.
The single Killer and B side, Heavy Metal Jews, is available April 2013 in white vinyl no less!

We have scattered dreams with Diamond Seeds – watch as those seeds live and grow!