Dropouts by T Goldsmith

The work of the musician and producer Tom Goldsmith has been spread thinly, like Marmite, over more than two decades. A former member of medieval psychedelic folk rock band Circulus, he has also been a part of numerous amazing bands that nobody has heard of, including but not limited to The Little Princess Orchestra and There’s More of Us Than There are of You. An expert knob twiddler, he has also recorded lots of material for other people, some of which was done in his all-analogue studio at the legendary Speaker Palace in Hackney. He has been making electronic music since the late 90s, but has never been brilliant at finishing stuff.

The Dropouts EP was inspired by the purchase of an obsolete laptop at a car boot sale. The machine was so old that its broken clock was still stuck in the last century. The second major fault of the laptop was a dead audio output (which some might think would limit its usefulness as a music production device). Undeterred, Goldsmith instead installed an ancient MIDI sequencing program from a long forgotten pirated CDR and set to work. He thinks it’s “better than an Atari.”

The tracks on this ep were assembled “the old way” using a scruffy collection of undesirable 90s synth modules, 12 bit samplers, cranky FX units and a Mackie mixer rescued from a rubbish pile. The resulting sounds were mixed to cassette. Production of the six tracks on the EP spanned a period of time which included a move from London (Tottenham) to Devon (Teignmouth). The music expresses that experience, the loneliness of life in a new town during lockdown, the beauty of the countryside and the sea, and nostalgia for the noise of the city, particularly the soundtrack of 90s pirate radio blaring out of a car stereo.

P + C DRUT Recordings 2023. Artwork by Simon Gill

The work of the musician and producer Tom Goldsmith has been spread thinly, like Marmite, over more than two decades. A former member of medieval psychedelic folk rock band Circulus, he has also been a part of numerous amazing bands that nobody has heard of.