History[]
Navigator formed at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in late 1994, animated by a shared love of American post-hardcore groups such as Codeine and Slint, and a desire to contribute to the wave of British post-rock groups emerging in the wake of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Initially underscored with an introspective melancholy superficially comparable to that of Tindersticks, they moved progressively away from conventional song structure, embracing silence, noise, free improvisation, electronics, and primitive instrument building over the course of their six active years.
Their first single, 'Killtaker' (Noisebox nbx022, green vinyl), appeared in 1996, and blended tense passages of dissonant guitar with caustic bursts of feedback, scarcely-audible baritone vocals and inventive, melodic bass playing. A pressing of 500 sold out in three weeks, supported by airplay on BBC Radio One's John Peel Show, and a second single, 'A Little Astronomy' (Noisebox nbx026, blue vinyl), issued later that year, was similarly successful; it was, however, a significantly more understated affair - a 'tender waltz of dark nursery melodies, with organ layered beneath crisp, interweaving post-slint guitars'.
Shortly thereafter, guitarist Matthew Walsh left the group for a period, necessitating a reconfiguration of the group's sound; the seven-and-a half minute single 'When the Wires Fall' (Noisebox nbx027, red vinyl) was significantly more subdued, rejecting percussion in favour of funereal clarinet, violin and piano. Issued in a pressing of 750 in early 1997, the record constituted a commercial high-point for Navigator, following significant national press coverage. This interest served to catapult the band into the independent artists' 'top-ten' chart and onto Saturday morning telly via ITV's The Chart Show. Navigator completed a short UK tour in support of the single, including shows in London with Low and David Thomas (Pere Ubu), and in Edinburgh and Glasgow arranged by and playing with supportive contemporaries, Mogwai.
Despite being courted by a number of record companies, the band were becoming increasingly committed to moving away from the song-based structures of the early singles, experimenting instead with homemade instrumentation, and exploring free improvisation. Walsh returned for a fourth and final (four-sided) single for Noisebox, 'Assay EP' (nbx028/nbx028cd, clear vinyl), which featured an extended range of instrumentation, studio experimentation with found objects, and, surprisingly, given a growing commitment to improvisation, a more complex and often intricate approach to orchestration. Material from the EP found an extended audience via coverage on Robert Worby's BBC Radio Three new and avant-garde music programme, Hear and Now.
Navigator spent the summer touring, again with Mogwai, recruiting kindred spirit and Mogwai adoptee Brendan O'Hare (Teenage Fanclub; Telstar Ponies; Fiend; Macrocosmica) as percussionist following the hospitalisation of drummer Sam Richards early in the tour. The band played broadly improvised sets, often extremely quiet and marked by long periods of silence. The tour ended with the now-legendary equipment-obliterating show at the Garage, Highbury with Mogwai and Arab Strap.
In August 1997, Melia, Robottom, and Walsh - minus the departed Richards but with the addition of multi instrumentalist Matthew White (Emulsion) - recorded a debut album for Swarf Finger Records. Nostalgie (SF032) was recorded at Purple Studios, Trowse, with Richard Hammerton and Nigel Harris; additional work was undertaken in Bristol by Melia and Matt Elliott (Third Eye Foundation; Movietone). The difficult, bleak but often moving record marked a further departure from previous releases, featuring pieces for unaccompanied guitar ('MyGrolshy') and tape ('Menlo Park'), alongside the weightless drift of 'Beaching', the wordless graveside lament of 'O. Massa', and the incessant, slow death-march of 'Throw another receptor on the fire'. Navigator supported the release with a handful of increasingly radical semi-improvised shows with Mogwai, David Pajo (Slint, Papa M, Tortoise), Labradford, and Stars of the Lid; while the album often showcased the quieter side of the group, the accompanying gigs re-embraced noise and explored extended-duration, featuring live electronics and processed brass and woodwind.
In 1999, Navigator were invited to perform at the Ils Ne Mauron Pas festival in Northern France, alongside a number of bands associated with the Chemikal Underground label, after which they disappeared for seven years.
Navigator reunited very briefly for two shows in 2006, with Melia, Robottom and Walsh augmented by Laura Cannell (violin), Andre Bosman (guitar, electronics), Alex Sanders (piano), Mel Puga (percussion), and Liam Wells (films). They played selections from Nostalgie and the earlier singles, as well as entirely new material.
A CD-R compilation album of Navigator's early singles for the Noisebox Records label was made available via Burning Shed Records in the early 2000s. The disc adds "II (novo)", a remix of 'Assay II' originally issued on a cover-mounted cd compilation accompanying the Sessions magazine, and a Third Eye Foundation remix of the Assay EP, originally issued as a single on the Amberley label (amy 008).
In October 2024, Wrong Speed Records issued Flame Is Slow: singles etc. 1996-97 (WSR 066), a limited edition vinyl compilation that gathered together remastered material from the Noisebox singles and "II (novo)".
Personnel
[]
- Nicholas Melia
- Matthew Walsh
- Jennifer Robottom
- Samuel Richards (1994-1997)
Known additional or occasional musicians:
- Kate Day (violin)
- Lizz Page (cello)
- Matthew White (trumpet)
- Brendan O'Hare (percussion)
- Paul Weston (percussion)
- Laura Cannell (violin)
- Andre Bosman (guitar; electronics)
- Alexander Sanders (piano)
- Mel Puga (percussion)
- Liam Wells (films)
- Helen Ferrier (violin)
Discography
[]
Killtaker//Swing/We Will All Burn Together
nbx022 - 7" green vinyl - Noisebox records (1996)
A Little Astronomy/At the End of the Day
nbx026 - 7" blue vinyl - Noisebox records (1996)
hand-made blue and silver slip sleeve
When the Wires Fall/Impossible Without...
nbx027 - 7" red vinyl - Noisebox records (1997)
hand-made red and silver slip sleeve
Assay EP
Disc 1: Assay I/Assay II
Disc 2: Diving Bell/On all you Hold Sacred
nbx028 - double 7" clear vinyl - Noisebox records (1997)
hand-made green and silver slip sleeve
Assay EP (CD)
Assay I/Diving Bell/On all you Hold Sacred
nbx028cd - CDS - Noisebox records (1997)
Nostalgie
sf032cd - LP - Vinyl - Swarf Finger (1998)
My Grolshy/ Assay/ Horsey/ Dorothy Carter// Menlo Park/ O. Maasa/ Beaching/ Throw Another Receptor on the Fire
Nostalgie (CD)
sf032cd - cdlp - Swarf Finger (1998)
My Grolshy/ Assay/ Horsey/ Dorothy Carter/ Menlo Park/ O. Maasa/ Beaching/ Throw Another Receptor on the Fire
Assay (Third Eye Foundation Remix)/Assay (Fulcrum Overhaul Remix)
amy 008 7" - Amblerley records (1998)
Noisebox Singles (1996 - 1997) (CD-R)
Noisebox records (2001)
Assay I/ Diving Bell/ On all you hold sacred/ Assay II/ When the Wires Fall/ Impossible Without.../A Little Astronomy/ At the End of the Day/ Killtaker/ Swing/ We will all Burn Together/ II (Novo)/ Assay (Third Eye Foundation Remix)
Flame Is Slow: singles etc. 1996-1997
WSR066 - LP and download - Wrong Speed Records (2024)
A Little Astronomy/ Diving Bell/ At the End of the Day/ Impossible Without... //II (Novo)/When the Wires Fall/Assay/On all you hold sacred