Richard Youngs - The Rest Is Scenery (2016)

'Imagine Richard Youngs as the junior member of a cabal of prolific and puritanical English musician-mystics, including The Fall's Mark E Smith, Van der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill, Martin Carthy and The Clangers composer Vernon Elliot, and still his nature will elude you' - Stewart Lee, Sunday Times. iconic figure of the modern UK underground - The Quietus. Richard Youngs has been involved with music for most of his life. He discovered the power of the art form by thumping the family piano as an angry 5 year old. In the intervening 45 years he has attempted to harness the same experimental, naive, playful power in his live performances and in all of his 140 releases. For the uninitiated Richard Youngs is classically trained in piano and guitar, but musically he grew up in the shadow cast by punk rock. Adopting guerrilla recording techniques, the independent D.I.Y. ethic is at his core. He is a solo artist who also works with a diverse range of artists. He has collaborated with Scottish filmmaker Luke Fowler, Arts Foundation of New Zealand Award laureate winner Alastair Galbraith, Portuguese organist David Maranha, and Japanese guitarist Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple) among others. Since 1985 he has performed irregularly with Neil Campbell (A Band; Astral Social Club; Vibracathedral Orchestra). He was the bassist for Jandek's inaugural live performance at Instal 2005, and plays as a duo with Damon Krukowski (Galaxy 500; Magic Hour; Damon and Naomi). He has performed floor spots at Hertfordshire folk clubs, and worked with members of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has recorded a modern pop album (Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits), and a score for the BBC SSO (Past Fragments of Distant Confrontation). He was commissioned to write music for the art film The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott, and his music has appeared in the 2013 feature film Drinking Buddies. He is the drum machinist of the Flexibles, singer of AMOR, among many other things. Whether you're a long time admirer of Young's work or discovering him for the first time, there is much to enjoy in 'The Rest Is Scenery' a perfect introduction to one of Britain's great outsider artists.