Bleak House began in Leicester in 2001, when Andy Brain stuck up notices around the city’s two universities seeking like-minded musicians, catching the eye of Luke Sample. After a few folk-pop gigs between 2001-4, the Bleak House output settled into soundtrack territory, with patterns folding around each other and subtle mutations. It’s the grainy sepia to Keshco’s saturated technicolor.
Although we’ve recorded a lot, the first official release was “Music From The Middle Room” in 2011, mainly recorded in 2006 on holiday in Devon, and with Bob Follen contributing to the overdubs on most of the tracks. This album came out initially through Moldovan netlabel Silent Flow, and is available through the Free Music Archive and Bandcamp, with a limited edition tape (100 copies) released for Cassette Store Day 2014 in the UK, US and Europe.
Many film-makers have used these tracks as accompaniment for their visuals, something we’re very chuffed by. The tracks are released with Creative Commons licensing, so you can do the same.
The second Bleak House album, “Outwardly”, was released with Chicago netlabel Pan y Rosas Discos in 2019. Find it here: http://www.panyrosasdiscos.net/pyr283-bleak-house-outwardly/
This was followed by a live-ish set, “The Jefferson Sessions”, released in 2021.