Cat No Q00004CG

This 2CD set by Mike Heron, formerly of The Incredible String Band, presents the complete legendary, long-unavailable ‘Glen Row Tapes’ recordings (plus other rare tracks) cut mainly between 1977 and 1978 at the Glen Row collection of cottages, (south of Edinburgh) which had been the ISB’s home and musical headquarters for many years in the past, until their break-up in 1974. After then Mike had two bands : ‘Mike Heron’s Reputation’ and ‘Heron’, but by 1977 these had gone too. Mike, however, was still at Glen Row where he continued recording with Frank Usher on guitar -- who had also played with Mike on Heron -- and Jon Bavin, the session engineer, on bass and keyboards along with a variety of local drummers.

Here are these recordings : complete for the first time - some tracks never on CD before, including ’Sold On Your Love’ (released on a rare ISB 7” single), 'Lost In Space' (from the Heron live set), ‘Dream With Me Astra’, ‘Isn’t It Amazing’, and ‘Living Daylight’. There is also a re-working of 'Red Hair' from ISB’s ‘Liquid Acrobat’ album; and a new song, ‘Handful Of Dust’ recorded in 2006 by Mike especially for this release, though probably written around the same time as the other material. Voiceprint had released some Glen Row material on a CD (long deleted) in 1993.

These 27 tracks are the fruits of a period when Mike Heron was free from the constraints of having to write songs to fit in with a particular band's repertoire, and so was able to explore and experiment with a variety of genres and approaches. The sheer range of material and styles are reminiscent of Dylan's 'Basement Tapes'. The songs have been lovingly remastered by Quadrant Records from the best available CD, cassette and vinyl sources and provide a unique insight into Mike Heron’s creative process. This desirable set comes in a slim-double jewelcase, with a slipbox-cover and a 36-page booklet with detailed liner notes and rare pictures.