Okay! Today I should be putting together all Dayflower 7″s pre-orders and will start mailing them tomorrow. I am very excited. That’s why I am so very repetitive perhaps. But yeah, a new 7″ and probably the last 7″ to be released this year!
Las Kasettes: it is no secret that I really like the stuff the Spanish label Spicnic releases. Their latest offering is a digital single by the band Las Kasettes. The song is called “¡Qué duro es veranear!” and I highly recommend everyone to listen to it. Superb female indiepop! Catchy and fun!
Pure Morning: the Culiacán, Mexico, band is back after a long hiatus with a shoegaze sort of cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”. For sure it is an interesting choice, and I think the result is pretty good too!
Moon Loves Honey: just found out about this dreamy band from Denmark. It has been a while since I’ve paid attention to a Danish band. Odd, right? I remember some great bands from not too long ago like Northern Portrait or Champagne Riot. But yeah, this one sounds pretty good. They have now an album out called “Bubbleburst” that comprises of 10 songs. It is only available digitally it seems. Give it a listen.
For Tracy Hyde: I really need to get my hands on the latest record by the Japanese band. I really like them. And they are sounding better than ever. They have just released a new promo video for the song “Girl’s Searchlight” and it is just lovely. One of the best albums this year I think!
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In Hill House and their song “Sanctuary” are names that I remember from the days I used to be all day on Soulseek discovering music. Long long time ago, in the early and mid 2000s. I remember people sharing this track under a folder called “Future Leamington Spa”, a nod to the famous compilation series the German label Firestation Records has put together through the years.
The song is great. But I always wondered how the B side, “Never Again” sounded like. I still haven’t listened to it. Is it as great? As catchy? I wonder. The 7″ was originally released by the band in 1984 under their own label
In Hill House (IHH 001). Yes, the same name as their band name. It also had a little note saying this was the Hermit Club Edition of the record. What does that mean? All I know from the sleeve is that the songs were recorded at Blackwing Studio in London and they were engineered by John Fryer.
The band also had management through Seyscan Ltd and two names are listed for this company, Colin Badger and Nigel Grant. They were based in Oxford.
We don’t get band members names, just last names on the labels. So we know that “Sanctuary” was written by someone with the last name Cutmore while the B side, “Never Again”, is credited to Cutmore, Lunn and Sturton.
It does look like the record caught the attention of EMI. Yeah, the big label. The 7″ was then re-released that same year with the catalog number EMI 5494 and the art looks about the same. Same songs too. But there weren’t more releases after it. Why? Didn’t do well? Who knows?
As I said there were no more releases. But there weren’t any compilation appearances either. That’s odd. There must be more recordings though. maybe demo tapes. I’d love to find out.
I do have a lead, and that is that on EMI, the next year, 1985, a band called Wilderness released a 7″ and 12″ for their song “True Life”. S. Cutmore is credited for the songs. From what I understand it is the same person as in In Hill House. What happened? Were the other In Hill House musicians in Wilderness as well? And how did Wilderness sound like?
I find some curious details on the web, like for example the song “Sanctuary” was played in radio programmes in Peru back in the 80s. How cool. And then finally some interesting details….
Steve Cutmore. Yes, first name was Steve. He had been in many bands. I find out that In Hill House was based in Reading. Other Reading bands he was in were Seychelles and Trash Green. Then he moved to London and formed Occams Razor and Colony. Then he moved to Devon and then back to London where he reformed Trash Green and started Colective, the name he uses for his solo work.
That was quite a find. Sadly I can’t find anything about the other band members. But hopefully soon I’ll be able to have more information. I’ll try getting in touch with Steve Cutmore… maybe there’s luck and he is up for an email interview!
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Listen
In Hill House – Sanctuary
4 Responses to “:: In Hill House”
Re : In Hill House
Yep, Sanctuary is a great track. Steve Cutmore and John Sturton on keyboard…
Great stuff !
Glad you liked it.
Did you ever manage to get in touch? I’ve been trying to hunt this down for years and even tried reaching out to EMI to license the song for a movie. I love it so much and haven’t had any luck at all.
Hi Josh,
I was in touch with Steve Cutmore and sent him interview questions. He only replied to one of my questions… can share it here:
Sanctuary was inspired by the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame combined with how I felt living in eighties UK in the age of greed and the rule of Thatcher. However more importantly as I reflect on it now I can see that it also reflects a spiritual aspect of myself that I was not very consciously aware of at the time. A TV film version of the hunchback story came out in 1982 and I was mesmerised by its content, the ‘she gave me water’ section hit like an arrow in the heart. The film/book explores the notions of ‘the power of compassion’ and ‘what is the true meaning of beauty and love’. These are aspects relating to the Divine Feminine and I think Sanctuary was my interpretation of that, mixed with the very notion of Sanctuary, the idea that there is somewhere safe that is above and beyond the rule of human law where someone can feel safe and nurtured.
I grew up and was living in Reading and I did not connect with the towns prevailing attitudes at all. It was very much suburbia with the emphasis on washing your car every Sunday morning and getting on in the world in a material sense. So I needed an escape from a world that I couldn’t connect with or relate to. My Sanctuary was the little bedsit (one room apartment) that I was living in with my girlfriend (who was with child at the time). I could relax there, it had its own energy and felt separate from ‘outside’. In Hill House was coming together at the time and I think we were auditioning drummers at the same time as developing the song Sanctuary. The song grew out of the piano riff which I came up with sat at an old upright but John the keyboard player added some great string/synth work bless him.
How does my new music compare with In Hill House? Well, it’s similar in many ways and different in others. We are shifting into the Age of Aquarius (I am Aquarian) which basically means that the whole planet including all humans are ascending into a higher vibration and it seems that, as this is happening, my song writing is shifting more and more towards being overtly spiritual rather than just having spiritual overtones. I’ve never been a religious person, but I’ve always believed in a better world and have had this sense that it’s just around the corner, but it requires us to believe that it’s possible in order for it to manifest. This belief has always underpinned many of my songs and is something I have refused to compromise on to this day.
Hi Josh, Roque
Someone gave me a link to this chat – I’m John, the keyboard player from In Hill House and Wilderness, maybe I can help you out with any questions..?