The Hurdy-Gurdy Song by Local Psycho and the Hurdy-Gurdy Orchestra is a (so far) one-off single by Jimmy Cauty and The Pogues founding-member Jem Finer.
The Hurdy Gurdy Song is a deep drone heard through time.
It is a masterpiece of psycho-cosmology that fuses the ancient music of the British Isles with the frenetic sound of the present.
It is the sound of euphoria and melancholia, locked together in constant battle that neither wants to win.
It is an elemental sound, like a sped up version of this country’s weather.
It is an anthem of disruption, of playful provocation and sonic sedition.
It is relentless and restless, like all good music should be.
It sings down through all eternity, the crying of humanity.
It channels the two greatest forms of folk music this country has produced: that of the peasant’s lyre and drum’n’bass.
Leading up to the release – and to commemorate the 50,000 year return of the Green Comet – the pair stood a two and a half tonne stone in a field in Sussex on the Saturday prior.
Heavenly Recordings released the original single on May 1st, 2023 on various digital platforms, including high-resolution download options from stores such as Beatport and Bandcamp.
The physical 12-inch single was released on August 25, 2023, and includes the original and three additional remixes, two of which were made available for pre-order upfront.
Along with the single, L-13 added various merchandise items to their webshop, including a poster of the single’s artwork (available in two editions), a t-shirt, and a pair of cups.
In addition, Jimmy Cauty designed an exclusive JamJar limited to ten copies only to celebrate the occasion, depicting a group of children joyfully dancing around a policeman tied to the Gurdy Stone.
Tracks & Formats
| Digital Single / 1 May 2023 | ||
| 1 | The Hurdy-Gurdy Song | 2:30 |
HVN67912
| 12″ Single / 25 Aug 2023 | ||
| A1 | The Hurdy-Gurdy Song (Back To The 90’s Mix) | 5:46 |
| A2 | The Hurdy-Gurdy Song (Mothers Of The New Stone Age Remix) | 5:39 |
| A3 | The Hurdy-Gurdy Song | 2:30 |
| B1 | The Hurdy-Gurdy Song (Stone Club Extended Remix) | 23:00 |
Along with the original 12-inch single, L-13 furthermore released The Gurdy Stone Zine, a 62-page documentation of the standing of the stone with photos by Josh Hight, featuring written contributions by various authors. The zine came with a 7″ flexi-disc playing a field recording from the standing.
| 7″ Flexi-Disc / 23 Aug 2023 | ||
| A | Gurdy Stone Field Recording No. 13 | 3:34 |
A fifth mix was released in October 2023 on yet another 12″, though unlike the flexi-disc this one firmly sits on the other end of the wibbly-wobbly scale of things…
Hand carved into solid 50 million year-old 12″ slate discs as a compressed slab of noise, this is about as heavy as a record can get.
Each record is individually made, comes in a screen-printed and labeled card cover that’s housed in a custom ply crate that’s been screen-printed front and back, numbered and signed by Local Psycho.
A free digital download comes with each disc so you don’t have to destroy your turntable to experience and marvel at the Solid Slate Logic Mix.
| 12″ Slate Disc / 13 Oct 2023 | ||
| A | The Hurdy-Gurdy Song (Solid Slate Logic Mix) | 1:34 |
