B.C. Williamson - The Official Website

Coming hot off the trails of the announcement of B.C.'s remixed "Lease Of Life" sessions, B.C. Williamson has made a press statement that will undeniably shock the very fundaments of the music business. It is a little known fact that Williamson, in late 1970, after having suffered vitriolic attacks from the American media in regards to his latest album "White Not Blue", retreated proudly into a dark room with his newly purchased Moog Modular Synthesizer, a prototype version of the famous ARP 2500, a considerable volume of medicinal marijuana, and an eight track recorder. He left the machines on constantly, occasionally twisting knobs and pushing levers, to produce almost two hours of revolutionary synthesizer ambience-pop, which he entitled "Sounds From A Dark Room", to be released in the new year as a three-LP set.

Sadly, the album never saw release, with record executives from Columbia, Atlantic, Reprise, Polydor and Capitol turning down the opportunity. B.C. hurriedly recorded a charming acoustic cover of Vera Lynn's dance hall classic "We'll Meet Again", and inserted it at the end of the album, hoping to influence executives with his legendary wit and humility. This failed, and the album was left on the shelf for forty years. Though it was unheard by the general public, many famous musicians in the industry were able to acquire tapes; it is rumoured that Lou Reed was inspired to release his infamous "Metal Machine Music" feedback-rock double album after hearing "Sounds From A Dark Room" for the first time. Other musicians indebted to the album's pioneering audacity range from Sonic Youth to Neil Young, who in 1991 released an album of live guitar noise called "Arc". In fact, some historians even point to "Sounds From A Dark Room" as the first appearance of the New Age genre. Williamson himself disputes this.

After calls from musicians and artists around the world (they wished for their names to be concealed), B.C. has decided to finally release these famous tapes on his own label, Rackermann Records. Release is set for March-May 2010, and the album will be available from the iTunes Store and this website. For those who cannot wait for this exciting release, here is a free sample of the album's centrepiece, First Footsteps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65e177DWJ34