Land Observations aka James Brooks will perform at an exhibition of his drawings at Rough Trade East, London on Monday 17 September at 7pm, following the release of Roman Roads IV – XI, the debut album.   A series of dates follow including Manchester Islington Mill on 29 September where James Brooks is exhibiting a sound installation as part of a group show entitled Brittle Crazie Glasse (full details of the performance at http://islingtonmill.com/events.php, exhibition details at: http://bit.ly/Ox7W3y).

Glasgow Platform on 5 October for an Eastern Promise evening alongside Matthew Bourne, Lightships and Adrian Crowley, as special guests of label mates Liars in Berlin on 23 October and at Audioscope Festival in Oxford on 10 November alongside Damo Suzuki, Warm Digits and more (www.audioscope.co.uk).   Land Observations is the solo project of James Brooks, and Brooks’ exhibition at Rough Trade East will feature a series of meticulous pencil drawings looking at ‘roads’ as an abstract symbol.   ‘Road Drawings’ is a continuation of the land observations music and visual art project – addressing instrumental electric guitar compositions in relation to responses to specific geographical features.   Brooks’ previous band, Appliance, released four albums on Mute before disbanding. Since then, Brooks has developed his visual and audio art with various shows across the UK, North America and Europe. Throughout, music has remained a constant, with Brooks now connecting his conceptual approaches to instrumental musical compositions. Attempts to develop a new project alongside the visual art meant that Brooks did a lot of home recording at his flat in Hackney, East London. Land Observations, developed out of an interest in the former Roman roads that lay just a short walk from his front door – roads of communication and conquest that stretch from the old City of London and out across parts of Britain, Europe and beyond.  

DATES

17 SEPTEMBER, LONDON, Rough Trade East – http://bit.ly/MGkN8w Road Drawings exhibition and performance – 7pm

29 SEPTEMBER, MANCHESTER, Islington Mill – http://www.islingtonmill.com

5 OCTOBER, GLASGOW, Platform – http://tinyurl.com/csy8dn4

23 OCTOBER, BERLIN, Festsaal Kreuzberg – with Liars – http://bit.ly/QILf2y

10 NOVEMBER, OXFORD, Audioscope Festival – http://www.audioscope.co.uk

Roman Roads IV – XI is released on Mute on CD, vinyl and download, with packaging featuring original drawings by Brooks. The album was recorded at the Bridge and Tunnel Mobile, Berlin and engineered and mixed by Mark Bihler and James Brooks.