Saturday 20 December 2014

Monday 13 October 2014

LIVE @ the Minack - teaser



...COMING SOON to a THEATRE NEAR YOU...
...a film by Pancho B Gubbins Esq...
...starring the Ascension plan,
with Mimi Goese, the 50 Degrees & Axolotl...
...LIVE @ the MINACK...
...Album & DVD on Magnetic West Records...
...anotherQUATILYproduct...

Friday 3 October 2014

LIVE @ the MINACK - theatrical trailer


...COMING SOON to a THEATRE NEAR YOU...
...Rex Stetson Presents...
...in association with...
...Magnetic West Records...
...the Ascension plan...
...LIVE@theMINACK...
...featuring the 50 Degrees...
...with Very Special Guest Star...
...MIMI GOESE...
...anotherQUATILYproduct...

Wednesday 13 August 2014

Live @ the Minack - credits trailer



...COMING SOON on DVD...

...LIVE @ the MINACK...

...starring the ASCENSION plan...

...with Special Guest Star - Mimi Goese...

...featuring the angelic voices of the 50 Degrees...

...with soundscapes by Axolotl...

...and live projections by Paul Lewin...

Review by Lucy Cooper

THE MINACK'S dramatic setting, open to the elements, with a jaw-dropping backdrop of sea and sky, provided the ideal launch pad for a night of epic and ethereal sounds from Penwith-based band The Ascension Plan and special guests.
On Friday, May 2, hundreds gathered on the cliffs at Porthcurno to witness the four-piece band join forces with New York singer Mimi Goese, of 1980s cult American band Hugo Largo, and Penzance choir the 50 Degrees.
The night marked what the band call, "the completion of a curious circle". The circle began back in the 1990s with Quietly Torn, the band started by The Cure's Porl Thompson when he moved to Zennor.
When Mimi Goese, the band's original singer, left – homeward bound for New York – Thompson recruited St Just guitarist and singer Martin Jackson, then 16 years old. On a May evening in 1998 Martin took to the Minack stage to play a memorable gig with Quietly Torn.
Martin went on to form The Ascension Plan with Quietly Torn drummer Nick McLeod, bassist Mungo Shoddy and former Bates Motel man Paul Adams on electric violin.
In 2012, on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Nick McLeod (who also plays with The Incredible String Band's Clive Palmer) and Mimi Goese began to hatch a plan.
This resulted in Mimi's collaboration with the band on a number of tracks, including Ascending, from their All Ways EP, and forthcoming singles Buoy and Life (You Are).
Ultimately, it led back to the Minack and the wild Cornish cliffs on a May evening in 2014, bringing Mimi and Martin together to share the stage for the first time.
The result was an evening that managed to pull off the feat of being both intimate and epic.
Axolotl set the tone with an introductory soundscape that melded with the waves and the wind. Building from womb-like gongs and elemental murmuring, The Ascension Plan's sound swelled into celestial flights of liquid violin melting into out of this world vocals, transporting the listener to realms at once familiar, strange and beguiling.
With years of collective musical experience under their belts, the band moved together effortlessly through the haunting waltzing chorus of Old Wings, via the alternating swing and raw power of Disengage (and Remain The Same), the ethereal Ascending and meditative All Ways. Mimi Goese brought her extraordinary and formidable vocals into the equation – which can also be heard on Moby's Into The Blue and When It's Cold I'd Like To Die – bringing theatrical flair and sparkle to the stage along with her trademark vocal acrobatics.
Adding the vocal harmonies of the 50 Degrees choir into the mix, under the skilled direction of Vicky Abbott, sent beautiful, fluid, yet precisely aligned harmonies rushing across the Cornish skies.
"The sky and sea stitched seamlessly," Mimi sings on the forthcoming single Life, (You Are). As the daylight faded, sea and sky vanished into one another and the stage was bathed in a dance of colours, courtesy of projections by renowned local artist Paul Lewin.
Sky, sea, music and light stitched seamlessly into a mesmerising fabric, entrancing the senses. The resulting frisson carried echoes of Sigur Ros at the Eden Sessions.
Maybe it's the tuning, the band tune their instruments to a pitch of 432HZ – said to be the natural universal frequency – rather than the standard concert pitch of 440HZ. Maybe it's the combined power of more than 50 voices. Or maybe it's just that special something that ignites when a plan comes together beautifully.
Whatever the secret, this will be remembered as a night when magic was made, when The Ascension Plan unfolded their wings and took flight with Mimi Goese and the 50 Degrees.

Nicholas Pegg – author of the acclaimed Complete David Bowie series of books as well as a regular Dalek operator on Dr Who – was on holiday in the area and attended the concert. He tweeted: "One of the best gigs I've ever seen."

...this trailer features the credits for the show along with the studio version of Disengage (and remain the same), which is on the band's EP, available here - https://theascensionplan1.bandcamp.com/

Monday 7 July 2014

Live @ the Minack - This is The Place (50 Degrees trailer)



...COMING SOON...
...LIVE @ the MINACK...
...the ASCENSION plan...
...with Special Guest Star - Mimi Goese...
...featuring the angelic voices of the 50 Degrees...
...with soundscapes by Axolotl...
...and live projections by Paul Lewin...

...Completing the Curious Circle...
The Ascension Plan
All began
In a wind tormented caravan
The band was started by guitarist and singer, Martin Jackson and drummer Nick McLeod,
as they jammed the night away in Martins caravan, on the cliffs of Cape Cornwall.
Spurred on by the storm...they rekindled a flame that was lit 10 years before,
while playing together in Porl Thompsons solo project, Quietly Torn.
Paul Adams AKA 'the Waft', was recruited next, his heart-soaring violin stylings and
effect-sodden sounds captivated Nick's ears whilst they both backed Clive Palmer
(legendary co-founder of Incredible String Band) in his occasional live forays,
his swoops and flights of fancy perfectly complimenting Martin's melodies.
Finally finding a bassist conducting cymatic experiments deep in the woods,
the mysterious and mercurial mungo shoddy was tempted into town
to play on just 'a couple' of songs in a set.

The band have been described as warm and unusual,
epic and ethereal, atmospheric and ambitious
...bringing audiences to euphoric heights of clapping joy...
...with melodies that can take you far from the pain of the day
to an isle where everything is ok...

...this trailer features the 50 Degrees performing "This is The Place"...

Monday 23 June 2014

Live @ the Minack - AXOLOTL (moonbird trailer)



...COMING SOON...
...starring the Ascension plan, Mimi Goese, and the 50 Degrees, with Soundscapes by Axolotl and Projections by Paul Lewin...
...anotherQUATILYproduct...

...this trailer features the beautiful Moonbird by Axolotl, available here - http://axolotl-music.bandcamp.com/track/moonbird

Friday 13 June 2014

Life, You Are (demo)



...the inimitable Mimi Goese joins Cornish band the Ascension plan for international collaboration - Life, You Are, in 432hz...

Head of a pin, a pin in the map of where you are and where you will be



The mountain is salty

The sea is moss green

Ferocious bloom of the racing sun falls

To slate sky then wolf moon

Airplane trails sew a fabric of your day to my night with color



Woven tug of war

Locked in a woven tug of war



In you eye lives a cluster star nebula

Where I dive leagues under your skin

Molecules hair breath and muscles fused

Loose stone soft earth voice with color



Collide Collide

There are mysteries out here

Collide Collide Collide

The sea and sky stitched seamlessly

Collide

The sea and sky collide

There are mysteries out here

Collide

The sea and sky woven in a tug of war

Molecules hair breath and muscles fused

Collide

The sea and sky

Loose stone soft earth

Molecules hair breath and muscles fused

The sea and sky

Life you are a delicate spec

You are a delicate spectacular

Tuesday 13 May 2014

the Minack - a Review

Review by Lucy Cooper
THE MINACK'S dramatic setting, open to the elements, with a jaw-dropping backdrop of sea and sky, provided the ideal launch pad for a night of epic and ethereal sounds from Penwith-based band The Ascension Plan and special guests.
On Friday, May 2, hundreds gathered on the cliffs at Porthcurno to witness the four-piece band join forces with New York singer Mimi Goese, of 1980s cult American band Hugo Largo, and Penzance choir the 50 Degrees.
The night marked what the band call, "the completion of a curious circle". The circle began back in the 1990s with Quietly Torn, the band started by The Cure's Porl Thompson when he moved to Zennor.
When Mimi Goese, the band's original singer, left – homeward bound for New York – Thompson recruited St Just guitarist and singer Martin Jackson, then 16 years old. On a May evening in 1998 Martin took to the Minack stage to play a memorable gig with Quietly Torn.
Martin went on to form The Ascension Plan with Quietly Torn drummer Nick McLeod, bassist Mungo Shoddy and former Bates Motel man Paul Adams on electric violin.
In 2012, on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Nick McLeod (who also plays with The Incredible String Band's Clive Palmer) and Mimi Goese began to hatch a plan.
This resulted in Mimi's collaboration with the band on a number of tracks, including Ascending, from their All Ways EP, and forthcoming singles Buoy and Life (You Are).
Ultimately, it led back to the Minack and the wild Cornish cliffs on a May evening in 2014, bringing Mimi and Martin together to share the stage for the first time.
The result was an evening that managed to pull off the feat of being both intimate and epic.
Axolotl set the tone with an introductory soundscape that melded with the waves and the wind. Building from womb-like gongs and elemental murmuring, The Ascension Plan's sound swelled into celestial flights of liquid violin melting into out of this world vocals, transporting the listener to realms at once familiar, strange and beguiling.
With years of collective musical experience under their belts, the band moved together effortlessly through the haunting waltzing chorus of Old Wings, via the alternating swing and raw power of Disengage (and Remain The Same), the ethereal Ascending and meditative All Ways. Mimi Goese brought her extraordinary and formidable vocals into the equation – which can also be heard on Moby's Into The Blue and When It's Cold I'd Like To Die – bringing theatrical flair and sparkle to the stage along with her trademark vocal acrobatics.
Adding the vocal harmonies of the 50 Degrees choir into the mix, under the skilled direction of Vicky Abbott, sent beautiful, fluid, yet precisely aligned harmonies rushing across the Cornish skies.
"The sky and sea stitched seamlessly," Mimi sings on the forthcoming single Life, (You Are). As the daylight faded, sea and sky vanished into one another and the stage was bathed in a dance of colours, courtesy of projections by renowned local artist Paul Lewin.
Sky, sea, music and light stitched seamlessly into a mesmerising fabric, entrancing the senses. The resulting frisson carried echoes of Sigur Ros at the Eden Sessions.
Maybe it's the tuning, the band tune their instruments to a pitch of 432HZ – said to be the natural universal frequency – rather than the standard concert pitch of 440HZ. Maybe it's the combined power of more than 50 voices. Or maybe it's just that special something that ignites when a plan comes together beautifully.
Whatever the secret, this will be remembered as a night when magic was made, when The Ascension Plan unfolded their wings and took flight with Mimi Goese and the 50 Degrees.
You can obtain the band's All Ways EP at theascensionplan1.bandcamp.com/album/all-ways-ep
Nicholas Pegg – author of the acclaimed Complete David Bowie series of books as well as a regular Dalek operator on Dr Who – was on holiday in the area and attended the concert. He tweeted: "One of the best gigs I've ever seen."

Thursday 10 April 2014

REVIEW - All Ways EP

Intimate music for The Ascension Plan, a young band from Penzance, United Kingdom. Their sound could be collocated in a place between Calla, Codeine and Spain, but with modern overtures. Soft electric guitar arpeggios(Martin Jackson), a romantic violin(Paul Adams) , sparkling melodies. What is unforgettable for me it's when it comes the voice of Mimi Goese (Hugo Largo), a melody that can take you far from the pain of the day, to an isle where everything it's ok, like a siren lost in a shiny sea. They will grow well and i hope they will have success also over 'underground' territories. The songwriting is promising.
(NICOLA NOVELLI)

Tuesday 1 April 2014

...it ISN'T a Dream! it's ALL REAL!

...hey there ascendants, 
just woke up from a dream 
where we were playing one of the most spectacular theatres in the WORLD, 
supported by a heavenly CHOIR, 
with MIMI GOESE SINGING
then found this on Wikipedia, now i KNOW it's REAL, WIKI told me...

Mimi Goese

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mimi Goese (last name rhymes with hazy) is the former vocalist for dream pop band Hugo Largo.[1] She also appeared in the 1996 short film Black Kites, directed by Jo Andres.
Two collaborations with Moby, tracks "Into the Blue" and "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die",[2] appear on the Moby's album Everything Is Wrong. The latter song was heard during the closing credits of The Sopranos episode "Join the Club".)
Under the name Mimi (no last name) she has released one solo album, Soak, on the Luaka Bop label, with contributions from French record producer Hector Zazou.[3] She also released a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" as a single. .
In 2006, Goese collaborated and performed onstage with the "mutantrumpeter" Ben Neill on a project called XIX. In 2010, the duo collaborated on a musical theater piece titled "Persephone", which was premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 2010 Next Wave Festival. Goese and Neill were commissioned by BAM to create the staged work (co-starring actress Julia Stiles) with multimedia company Ridge Theater. "Persephone" With a book by Tony Award-winning playwright Warren Leight, it grew out of the 19th-century musical themes that Goese and Neill were exploring. An album featuring music from the project, Songs for Persephone, was released by Ramseur Records in August 2011.
Goese continues to occasionally perform and also teaches classes in performing arts.
Mimi is currently collaborating with Cornish band The Ascension Plan on two tracks, Buoy, and [[4] Life (You Are)], and in [[5] one-off gig] at the spectacular Minack Theatre in Porthcurno.
"Mimi’s voice conjures up a long plummet through white light and space. It’s like a parachutist still in free fall, who seems briefly weightless and adrift in an ocean of air." -Melody Maker

References

  1. Robbins and Stenger. "Hugo Largo". trouserpress.com. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  2. Cairns, Dan (2006-10-29). "Down time: Moby". The Times (London). Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  3. Ann Powers (1998-06-17). "Carving a Path Of Innovations". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  4. https://vimeo.com/album/1924641/video/89136849
  5. http://theminackplan.blogspot.co.uk/

External links

ascending


...a song about life and death, fresh from the All Ways EP sessions (NOW available HERE - theascensionplan1.bandcamp.com/album/all-ways-ep), backing vocals by the inimitable Mimi Goese. Escher-inspired video featuring stunning animations of Ascending/Descending by SirGagarin and Relativity by Keltoi...
Lay down
To breathe
A long time
To sigh
Open the roof
I want to see
Chasing the sound
Taken in
Ascending
Pull me up
Make it so
You don't move
Hold still
Open the roof
I want to see
Chasing the sound
Taken in
Ascending...
Scream for life
Ache for the light...

Tuesday 25 March 2014

All Ways EP


Thursday 13 March 2014

...PRESS RELEASE!!!

...the epic and ethereal Cornish band the Ascension plan will be completing a curious circle at the Minack Theatre, Porthcurno on the 2nd of May.
Joined by Mimi Goese, of seminal art band Hugo Largo, the plan will be performing their collaborative singles "Buoy", and "Life, You Are", borne of a connection going back to the 90's, when singer/guitarist Martin Jackson was seconded onto this very stage to replace the homeward (New York) bound Mimi in the band Quietly Torn, Porl Thompson's post-Cure dream pop dream ticket supergroup, which also featured drummer Nick Mcleod. The plan's lineup is completed by Paul Adams' electric violin and the mercurial mungo shoddy on Bass. 
Providing harmonious support will be the massed voices of the 50 Degrees and introductory soundscapes will be performed by Axolotl.
Show starts at 8pm and the tickets are generously priced between £5 and £11.50...
http://theminackplan.blogspot.co.uk/

Sunday 2 March 2014

Old Wings



Old Wings - the Ascension plan from mungo shoddy on Vimeo.
...this final track from the immanent Ascending EP, takes a waltz through Metropolis with Busby and Cab...

Saturday 8 February 2014

Disengage



the Ascension plan - Disengage (and remain the same) from mungo shoddy on Vimeo.
...from the forthcoming, eagerly anticipated, Ascending EP, a swinging 5 beat, in 432hz...

must i chase
all the lines from my face
there's a price
on the one who waits

break the time
into fragments of mind
disengage and remain the same

all i see is the sun
i could be on fire...

frame by frame
i will crawl through the rain
i'll become
what i said i saw

hurts the brain
we're the fracturing of thought
disengage and remain in awe

all i see is the sun
i could be on fire...

Sunday 26 January 2014

All Ways



All Ways from mungo shoddy on Vimeo.
...from the forthcoming EP, a meditation in 9...

It's time to change all the colours
It's time to check all directions
Without somewhere to go
There's no reason to stay here

I will walk to you from all ways
All ways...