Stuart Moxham - Fabstract

Young Marble Giants' "Colossal Youth" has mystified and beguiled audiences since its 1980 release. Seen by
primary songwriter Stuart Moxham as "a last gasp" at making a record, Stuart insisted the one-off 7" deal offered by Rough Trade be
altered to allow an entire album . . . that paid off when with a big seller which produces cover versions even from bands whose
members were a decade or two away from being born on the album's release. When YMG disbanded, Stuart was at a loss; he'd never
envisioned a follow-up. A series of experimental recordings made with pal Phil Legg (Essential Logic) and supported by other YMG
members, musicians from This Heat and Swell Maps, old Cardiffian pals, and new friends like Vivien Goldman resulted in an album,
"Embrace The Herd", as The Gist. Released just before Rough Trade made bold moves toward pop charts with Scritti Politti, The
Smiths and others, the album was odd for its time, but has since taken on the lustre of genius. Years of silence followed, thereafter
intermittently broken by the odd release from small labels. Stuart delved into family life, though he never stopped writing and recording.
In more recent years, two retrospective compilation of lost recordings by The Gist have been released, as well as a superb
collaboration with French arranger Louis Philippe, "The Devil Laughs". "Fabstract" is the final gathering of Stuart's lost recordings.
Compiling long-lost YMG-era tracks with the recent brilliance of "Crow, Crow" and "Suburban Monochrome", through bits of whimsy
and vastly alternate versions of fan faves, this diverse album shouldn't work . . . but it does, telling a satisfying story of an underrated
talent whose mistake was following his muse, not the charts. This album precedes a new recording, years in the making, produced by
Dave Trumfio, which promises to be Stuart's most complete - and original - work since "Colossal Youth".