Stylus

Stylus is the pseudonym of reclusive Welsh experimentalist Dafydd Morgan, who began using the name in April 1997. After several split releases (including "Kinski," his tribute to actor Klaus Kinski) and various compilation tracks appeared on various formats (mostly vinyl), the first Stylus full-length album was 1999's The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut at Freshwater West. Morgan had found the very last seaweed collecting hut, on a bluff called Little Furzenip in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It was still being used by local families to dry out seaweed they later used to make into bread; all of the others had been destroyed by time, tide, and strong Atlantic winds. Morgan reportedly sat at a table inside the hut with battery-operated Roland and Casiotone keyboards and made spontaneous recordings inspired by the windswept location. The release also features guest narration from Christine Vidoudez. In 1998, Morgan joined the Serpents, a collaboration of artists on the Ochre roster. 2000's Skomargraph also featured a track recorded live inside in the seaweed hut. Morgan also drew upon his trips to Skomer Island, off the West Wales coast and its surrounding area, for inspiration. Stylus' Mynydd Preseli CD -- released in 2002 on Mar/ino -- was named for the Preseli Mountains of Wales, presumed to be the origin of the 80 Bluestones that were transported to Stonehenge in England. The concept album was the final chapter of Stylus' Pembrokeshire-themed trilogy and musically evoked the desolation of the mountainscapes and their importance to arcane druid mythology. Stylus' Archif:01 CD, released in late 2001, was the first volume inOchre's Archive Series collecting non-album Stylus recordings on various labels, since they debuted through their "Pluen Eira" (an Ochre Christmas 7") in December 2000. The album includes a remix by labelmates Longstone. ~ Bryan Thomas