Charles Dexter Ward @ Tusk Festival 2014

It’s rare we get to a gig in Newcastle that Jerome Smith isn’t at, usually in the audience but, if we’re lucky, on stage too. He’s been in a number of combinations over the years and this Lovecraft-monickered solo project has been a slow-burner for some time now. Seeing him live earlier this year, it seemed he’d had some kind of epiphany – fired up on Andrzej Korzynski reissues and a regular diet of Klaus Schulze and Heldon, simple guitar lines were gradually processed, a growing synth embrace emerging, all emphasized by the simplest yet most perfect drum program to drive it all home.

Whatever that piece was that he played that night, it needs to be on record and heard by a ton more people. Sadly he suffered the fate of many an opener and only a handful of us witnessed it. So in an effort to redress that injustice, booking Charles Dexter Ward for TUSK became a necessity, as you’ll understand when you hear his set.