‘She’s at the Controls’ book published today
29 March 2021

She’s at the Controls Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st CenturyShe’s at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century
by Dr. Helen Reddington
www.equinoxpub.com/home/shes-at-the-controls

“She’s at the Controls gives a socio-historical examination of the roles of women studio professionals in the UK music industry. At the heart of the book are interviews conducted over six years with 30 female studio practitioners at different stages of their careers and working in different genres of popular music including reggae, hip hop and pop. …”

Moths on ‘Miniatures 2020’ released today
15 March 2021

Miniatures 2020 (Various Artists)
2 CDs, 64 page booklet in a DVD DigiPak case

“This is the third in a noble series: the first was Morgan Fisher‘s now legendary 1980 classic, then in 2000 his expanded volume two; now – another twenty years on – Volume three, an even further extended homage to Morgan’s minimal but cornucopian concept, which was simplicity itself: invite a selected body of artists to make a one minute composition and then group them together in through-listening blocks. This, the 40th anniversary edition, features 124 contributors.”

Track 68: Moths by Helen McCookerybook

www.barrylamb.com/store/p56/miniatures2020.html

McCookerybook & Rotifer EP Review in Abus Dangereux Magazine
02 March 2021

From Abus Dangereux the fabulous French magazine- thank you!:

Equal Parts EP

“It’s the treat of the season: the Austro-Anglo pop goldsmith Robert Rotifer, not content to accompany Louis Philippe, joined forces with Helen McCookerybook, figure and historian of female punk who from the 1980s within Helen and the Horns, blithely mingled ska or jazzy brass, western melodies and Broadway echoes. As the title of this mini-album indicates, we of course (the tangy and sometimes cracked timbre of one mingles with the velvety baritone of the other), talents, and even languages (with a few verses in German), for the art of the mixed duo in its most delightfully sixties version, the guitars drawing on folk as well as bossanova to produce pure pop euphoria. And like in the song ‘Balloon’, we laugh at the walls because we take flight. [SC] mccookerybookandrotifer.bandcamp.com

(bit of a Google translate going on there)

Interview with McCookerybook & Rotifer in Penny Black Music – Part 2
21 February 2021

https://pennyblackmusic.co.uk/Home/Details?id=26555

“When we published the first half of our interview with McCookerybook & Rotifer, shortly before Christmas, they were setting about navigating the postal services in a race against the Brexit deadline. It was a close-run thing, and my copy of the vinyl arrived safely before Britain shut its doors on its European neighbours.

In the first part of this interview, we learned about the making of the EP and how Brexit and the hidden political narrative were advancing while we were distracted by the pandemic influenced its lyrical narrative.

This was, however, the first chance Robert Rotifer and Helen McCookerybook had to speak to one another since they’d finished recording over the summer. Although their respective homes in Barnet, North London and Canterbury, Kent wouldn’t normally be too far apart, during the pandemic, the necessary journey around the M25 wasn’t feasible. It wasn’t, therefore, a conventional interview, as they both asked each other questions, reflections on their motivations and discussed what made them want to work together.” … continued