Artists: Marden Hill
LP Title: Casino Muse
Label: Ramrock Red Records
Catalogue No: RRRLP003
Release date: April 30th, 2021

***RAMROCK RED RECORDS – NEWSFLASH***
25 years on – the ‘lost’ and unheard third album ‘Casino Muse’ from Trip Hop and Acid Jazz instigators Marden Hill is found…

Following the release of their seminal 1995 album ‘Blown Away’, Marden Hill were on a roll. They were “big in Japan”, they were no.1 in the American College Radio charts and Billboard Magazine was hailing them as the next Great British invasion! Before the onslaught of the internet, fax machines spewed out reams of radio play-listings, rave reviews, interview requests and offers of global tours. But…for reasons only known to themselves, (actually not even known by themselves), they turned down all the interviews, they declined offers to join Massive Attack and Beck on their American and Canadian tours and then, in case anyone thought it was just that they couldn’t be bothered to travel, they also blew out a small local gig called Glastonbury!

So, in their Quixotic, anti-trademark style, Marden Hill decided to go straight back into the studio to record another album rather than promote their current release. Whether it was through obstinacy, idiocy or just a case of being way too laid back for their own good, the band left 'Blown Away’ to its own devices. What could have been a serious commercial contender, instead became something of a cult classic – with tracks such as ‘Harlem River Drive’ and ‘Hijack’ popping up on several international feature film and TV soundtracks. The new album was an infectious melting pot of the many music genres they were instrumental in establishing - ‘Acid Jazz’, ‘Trip-Hop’ 'Break Beat' and ‘Big Beat’. Hot off the press, the finished recording fell into the hands of one Dave Stewart, who was eager to sign it to his own label – Anxious Records. He was even banging on about getting his friends Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder involved with the project!!
Sadly though, Anxious had a parent label – RCA – and they were way more than ‘anxious’ about the £6,000,000 (correct, that is £6M) of their money he’d already spent on his enthusiasm for obscure, arty-farty indie bands. He wasn’t getting a penny more. The deal was off. Marden Hill just shrugged, sighed, shelved the whole thing and went their separate ways. No one else ever heard that album.

Band members Mark Daniels and Chris Bemand went on to form other cult bands together (Beamish & Fly and 45Dip) and produced the ‘Welcome to the Acid Lounge’ comic/compilation album series for ‘Hed Kandi’. Matt Lipsey went on to be one of our top BAFTA-winning TV directors - ‘Little Britain’, ‘Psychoville’ and ‘This is Jinsy’ - to name just a few, Pete Moss focused once more on photography with considerable artistic and commercial success and Ian Smith went AWAL.

Fast forward a quarter of a century… Shuffling around in his dusty basement, Mark Daniels unearths a mildewed box, which turns out to be treasure trove. Inside is the master tape of that long lost, almost unheard Marden Hill album. He sent it to Ashley Beedle, Marden Hill’s long-time collaborator, remixer and producer. ‘This is f**king marvellous and has to be released’ said Ashley who handed the whole project over to me, his wife. I said ‘I have just the label for this album’ – and so it is – finally, 25 years after it was recorded, the ‘lost’ third Marden Hill album is about to be heard for the very first time on Ramrock Red Records. It’s called ‘Casino Muse’ – they got there in the end!