Pye Corner Audio - Black Mill Tapes Volumes 1-4

Sad to say I was a little disappointed by this 3CD set, although I was prepared to be transported to a promised land of spooky public information films, dark meadows filtered through distorted early 70s video effects, and unnerving haunted magnetic tape experiments. I may need to listen again, but after nearly 3 hours I hadn't heard anything that spoke to me as I'd hoped. I find all the hauntological mythology really engaging, as obviously I lived through all the late 60s/early 70s British children's TV and spookiness that people like Ghost Box and PCA draw on. Maybe the pastiche can't quite live up to the remembered weirdness? It's all very well done though: pulsing electronics with plenty of tape hiss and dark tones, often bringing to mind John Carpenter or Tangerine Dream in moments of rare brevity. I do like it, but I don't love it. Have a listen to this track from Volume 1 and judge for yourself.