The Shadow Ring

Led by Graham Lambkin, avant-rock minimalists the Shadow Ring constructed a strange, lo-fi sound built on folk, experimental noise (from both guitar and electronics), tape loops, and spoken-word poetry. Formed in Cheriton, Kent, England in 1993, the Shadow Ring initially consisted of guitarist Lambkin and percussionist Daren Harris, with occasional supporting personnel. Forming their own Dry Leaf label, the group made its LP debut with 1993's City Lights, and scored U.S. distribution with the Siltbreeze label for the 1994 follow-up, Put the Music in It's Coffin. It was followed by a 1995 American tour with several Siltbreeze labelmates, including Harry Pussy. Full-time electronics manipulator Tim Goss joined the Shadow Ring for 1996's Wax Work Echoes, on the New Zealand-based Corpus Hermeticum imprint. Lambkin subsequently worked with Harry Pussy drummer/vocalist Adris Hoyos in the noise-rock project Transmission over 1996-97, but remained active with the Shadow Ring, which next issued Hold Onto I.D. on Siltbreeze in 1997. The double LP Lighthouse followed on Swill Radio in 1999, featuring contributions from Karla Borecky and Scott Foust of Idea Fire Company, while also drawing comparisons to Captain Beefheart. Lambkin, Borecky, and Foust also formed the side project Tart, which went on to issue an album called Radio Orange; Lambkin also issued the solo album Poem. The Shadow Ring returned in 2001 with a limited-edition LP on Swill Radio titled Lindus. The group disbanded in 2003.

Written by Steve Huey for www.allmusic.com

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