STM 265 - Alexander Tucker

Alexander Tucker is a musician from Kent, UK, known not only for his brilliant solo material but also for his involvement in the elegant psych-pop duo Grumbling Fur (with Daniel O’Sullivan) and Imbogodom (with Daniel Beban). Alexander’s output dwells on the thin line between the English psychedelic folk tradition, lush ambient pastoralia, UK hauntology, and the legacy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The latter is most explicitly felt in Imbogodom’s BBC Bush House album trilogy, recorded in the legendary former BBC World Service building (now occupied by King’s College London). Fusing sounds obtained from the location with truly immersive and hypnotic songcraft, the duo shaped a unique world evoking the ghosts of the radio and the building’s rich history. Alexander’s solo albums present a wide array of narratives embedded in a delicate fusion of hazy experimental chamber pop, spacious harmonies, sensitive melodicism, and folk psychedelia. His 2011 Dorwytch LP (Thrill Jockey) investigated mundanity and otherworldliness, bringing to mind the gorgeous vastness of the British landscape. With the release of Don’t Look Away (2018), Tucker further polished his songwriting, creating an album bristling with cosmic lyrical narratives, sonic warmth, and a heavy dose of the uncanny.

Secret Thirteen Mix 265 is titled “Origin Synthesis Mix” and showcases the aspects that make the music of Alexander Tucker so magical. It moves between abstract acoustic compositions (the beautiful Fourth World wanderings of Richard Horowitz), blissed-out tunes (the dream pop melancholia of Clear Horizon), and rugged sound textures (a heavyweight piece by The Bug vs. Earth). However, the selection never loses its trippy feel, maintaining a wide range of adventurous sonic techniques—be it organic walls of sound or the minimal analog playfulness of Zomes. The mix travels with wave-like dynamics, where every twist surprises the listener with a distinct pattern, akin to traveling through a mesmeric green maze of sounds or a gorgeous alien landscape. Most of the artists included in this mix operate on genre fringes, shedding light on the underrated (such as the aforementioned Clear Horizon) or the rediscovered (like Richard Horowitz via the Freedom to Spend reissue). Thus, the mix not only provides an interesting array of emotions but serves as a source of genuine discovery.

“I’ve chosen artists who take their music through a process and journey of manipulation, be it analogue or digital. They transform their original source material, decaying and regrowing sound, where ideas and words are moulded into new shapes and forms. I wanted the mix to bring together elements of modern deconstructive and constructive music whilst combining mangled electronics, processed acoustic elements, warped songwriting, and contemporary outsider composition.”