Irma Vep – in session for Marc Riley – March 10, 2020 – BBC 6 Music –
Irma Vep in session for Marc Riley at BBC 6 Music – recorded on March 10, 2020 – days before the UK and the rest of the world went into lockdown for the rest of 2020 and into 2021. Somehow, this session contains the glimmer of hope that, despite insanity of the worldly sort – the insanity of the creative spirit is a whole lot better to dive into – it certainly made being in quarantine a lot more interesting, not to mention bearable.
Marcy Donelson of AllMusic pretty much nails it with her bio of Edwin Stevens (aka:Irma Vep):
Irma Vep is an outlet for the unvarnished neo-psychedelia of Welsh guitarist/songwriter Edwin Stevens. A fixture of the Manchester D.I.Y. scene before moving to Glasgow, he also founded the cassette label Very Bon, and his live backing band has included the likes of Dylan Hughes, Kiran Leonard, and Dave Rowe. His Irma Vep debut, Haha, saw release in 2012. Gradually improving production quality without compromising his garage-inspired style, he issued Irma Vep’s sixth studio album, Embarrassed Landscape, in 2020.
Also known for his contributions to Manchester bands such as Sex Hands, Desmadrados Soldados de Ventura, and Yerba Mansa, Stevens made his recording debut as Irma Vep with the entirely self-made Haha in 2012. He returned with two more albums of hazy, lo-fi psych-folk in 2013 (Deep Sea Fish, No & Awkward Positions). The EP Disappointment followed in May 2015 and featured more structured songs and higher production quality, while that December’s Live at the Quiet Music Festival of Portland captured a June solo performance in Oregon. A joint release between Manchester’s Comfortable on a Tightrope and Brighton’s Faux Discx, No Handshake Blues arrived in early 2017 with all instruments covered by Stevens and frequent collaborator dbh (Daniel Bridgwood-Hill). He returned with Embarrassed Landscape on Gringo Records in 2020. It was recorded with prior collaborators Ruari Maclean and Andrew Cheetham following a relocation to Glasgow.
Leave any preconceived notions and expectations outside the entrance. Dive in and crank this one up.
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