December 2022:
The film-clip for a new track, "Katie King," is up now on Culture As A Dare's Youtube page, as part of their online Winter Festival:
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November:
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A remastered filmclip of my track "Saint John's Eve" is up now on Vimeo
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October:
The latest What Colour is Sound compilation - Volume VI - is up now on Bandcamp. It features tracks from such artists as Widow's Weeds, Katje Janisch, The Northern Lighthouse Board, Andrew McCubbin, brazil banks, BBQ Haque, LIGHENINGS and myself. It's pay-what-you-feel and all proceeds will go to 2nd Chance Cat Rescue.
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September:
An in-depth interview I did with the wonderful "Wyrd Daze" site is up now:
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August:
A guest "Ghosts of Electricity" mix I put together for Foxy Digitalis is up now on their website and Mixcloud:
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July:
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A new Ghosts of Electricity compilation "Field Recordings 2017-2021" is out now on limited edition cassette and digital formats via the Cornwall label Dub Cthonic:
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A new article about my Australian tour is up now on I-94 here
A rough and ready live-to-air recording of "The Alchemist" from Roots and Branches on 3D Radio, Adelaide, is up now on the Roots webpage, alongside tracks from Adam Geoffrey Cole and Tim Hudspith here
April:
'An Alchemical Gathering,' my new split release with Enclosed & Silent Order, is out now on limited edition cassette (50 copies) and digital formats through Hypostatic Union. It is available for purchase and streaming via my and Hypostatic Union's Bandcamp pages:
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March:
A filmclip for a new track "The Alchemist" is out now on Youtube. The filmclip was directed by Amy McKenny and stars myself (Black Crow) and Stafford Glover (Tweed Crow). Masks courtesy of Crooked Crow Masks. It was recorded with John Hannon and Stafford early last year and is dedicated to the memory of John, a true alchemist.
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September 2021:
The latest album from my Northern Lighthouse Board project, "A Plague of Shadows," is out now on the excellent cult label Reverb Worship. The album can be purchased via Reverb Worship or our Bandcamp site. Details below:
The Northern Lighthouse Board
A Plague Of Shadows
(RW 456)
50 Copies
"The Northern Lighthouse Board seem to have created a genre all of their very own. This continues again on their superb new album entitled “A Plague Of Shadows". This cd contains fourteen tracks of creepy, cinematic atmospheric soundscapes. This is a handmade individually numbered edition of 50 copies in rustic rustically made white card sleeves with paste on artwork." (Roger Linney)
Cost as follows :
UK = £8.50
European, USA & ROW orders please use the following link :
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265286940074
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https://thenorthernlighthouseboard.bandcamp.com/album/a-plague-of-shadows
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Reviews:
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August:
A new Ghosts of Electricity release, "Teratology," is out now. It consists of 3 tracks that were recorded for our "Guildford Tree" albums but ultimately left off, probably due to time constraints. I think they work well grouped together as this unholy trio. It's available via Bandcamp
June:
A film-clip for a new track, "Burning Windmills," is up now on Youtube
February:
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I recently contributed an article, discussing the What Colour is Sound label, to the U.S magazine Second Scene. Copies can be purchased via their facebook page
The latest What Colour is Sound compilation - volume IV - is up now on Bandcamp
Jan:
A film-clip for my single "Gathering Feathers" is up now on Culture As a Dare's Youtube page here
November 2020:
How the End Always Is - A Tribute to the Cure, featuring my interpretation of "Subway Song," alongside 16 other great acts, is out now on double cassette and digital formats via Hypostatic Union
September:
My new single "Gathering Feathers" is out now on Hypostatic Union:
August:
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The latest What Colour Is Sound compilation is out now on Bandcamp. It's pay-what-you-like and all proceeds go to the Donkey Sanctuary in Devon. Here's the track-listing:
1. Astralingua - Seattle Rain (Sierra Mix)
2. David CW Briggs - Time Has Not Been Kind
3. Sand Snowman - Just Like Home
4. Light Magnetic - Weeping Willow
5. Velatine - Very Sad Very Alone
6. Michael Plater - Saint John's Eve
7. (episodes from) The Field Bazaar - The Bane Tree
8. House of Light - More Than This
9. Andrew McCubbin - Animal Song
10. Penny Ikinger - Tokyo City
11. Mark's Paranormal Dysneyland - Too Much Confusion
12. Ill-Gotten Booty - Pale Moon
13. Rosie Haden and Greg Hoepner - The Indian to His Lover
14. Tony Millman & Jane Cameron - Thousand Years Ago
15. Maßimiliano Gallo - Before the Void
“Simmering acoustic laments both macabre and reassuring…creating an intimate musical world of buried treasures and wistful emotion,” (The Press)
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June:
A lovely review of "Saint John's Eve" from Robert Brokenmouth is up on the i94bar website
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A track by The Exit Keys, "I'll Wear That Crown," is featured on a new compilation, "Tomorrow Now," from U.K label Aldora Britain Records. Available now on Bandcamp
I've put together a various artists' compilation on Bandcamp called What Colour Is Sound?
whatcolourissound.bandcamp.com/releases
It's pay-what-you-like and all proceeds go to Black Minds Matter U.K. The album features contributions from an international line-up of acts including:
1. Jo Meares - The Dream Hotel
2. Datson Hughes - Whole Angel
3. Katje Janisch - Elban Isle
4. Emily Loves Snow - Lonely Is My Name
5. Remarkable Shipwrecks - If Anybody Asks (live at Rockhaus)
6. Belle Phoenix and the Subterranean Sea - The Devil's Son
7. Michael Plater - Sleep Under Yew
8. Mark's Paranormal Dysneyland - Committee Girl
9. Opium Dream Estate - Through the Wire
10. Marsden Williams and 245T - (You Said It) Messed Your Head
11. Sam Shinazzi - Out of the Question (live at the Hopetoun Hotel)
12. Jo Beth Young - Cry Back Moon (live at St Mary's)
13. Malcolm Carlo - Chasing the Blues Away
14. Dave Renegade - My Bitter Tears (Demo)
15. Dean Richards, Michael Plater and Phil Richards - Girl from the North Country (live at Sound Recordings)
16. Cold Irons Bound - Finelines
May:
U.K ambient label Hibernate Recordings has put out a special edition of "The Guildford Tree Vol.2,"
my latest "Ghosts of Electricity" collaboration with Dean Richards and Massimiliano Gallo. All proceeds for this edition go to U.K homelessness charity Centrepoint. The album is also available on our various Bandcamp pages.
Ghosts of Electricity Bandcamp
March:
New single, "Saint John's Eve," is out now on Hypostatic Union. The track is a collaboration between Stafford Glover, John Hannon and myself, recorded at No Recording Studio, late 2019. Available on:
A film clip for a new Ghost of Electricity track, "Marsh Lights," taken from our forthcoming album "The Guildford Tree Vol. 2," up now on Youtube
Single available as a free/pay-what-you like download at Bandcamp
February:
The Northern Lighthouse Board's new album, "The Spirit Cabinet," is out now on Reverb Worship. Limited edition CD pressing available via Reverb Worship and digital available via our Bandcamp page. Links:
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January:
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The latest Ghosts of Electricity release, "The Guildford Tree Vol. 1" is available now on Bandcamp
November 2019:
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A live clip of a new solo song, "Gathering Feathers," recorded at the Dartmouth Inn, Totnes in October, up now on
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A clip for Cornish Wreckers' "Jack the Ripper," filmed on Dartington Estate, Totnes, up now on the CW
October:
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A French review from Rock'in'Shake of the More Than Folk Festival that I recently played at in Paris, with images
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July:
Cornish Wreckers' debut album "Lurid Tales of Wrecking and Repose" is out now on Bandcamp.
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Sing the Nation Electric Review
I-94 review
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June:
The Northern Lighthouse Board's debut album is out now on Reverb Worship.
Some lovely reviews of the project:
May:
The debut release from "GhostShips," my collaboration with Mark Kluzek and Stafford Glover of U.K doom folk ensemble "The Doomed Bird of Providence," is out now via Bandcamp.
The release includes two tracks, "Descending Through Dark," and "The Alchemist," and also features contributions from Tony Millman (percussion) and Angela Chan (strings). It was mastered by Mark Beazley at Trace Recordings and is released via U.K label Laily Recordings.
"Timeless wonder-filled folk," (Droning Earth, Finland)
"A stunner," (Culture As A Dare, U.K)
March:
I've got a new instrumental/soundscapes e.p, "The Dreams in the Witch House," up now on Bandcamp
February:
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"Live at Betsey Trotwood, London 2018," a 7 track live e.p recorded at the Betsey Trotwood on Friday September 28th during my last U.K tour, is now available as a pay-what-you-like deal on Bandcamp.
A video of Cornish Wreckers' "Black Phillip" is now up on Youtube
January:
My track "We Lit the Lamps" appears on a new compilation, "Not Necessarily Folk But Beautiful," from excellent French label More Than Folk Records. The album is available now at Bandcamp
November 2018:
Thanks to U.K. psych/folk publication Terrascope for their review of the Reverb Worship edition of my album "Mythologies" in their "November Rumbles" column. Link.
"Cornish Wreckers," my collaboration with Tony Millman, have a track, "Black Phillip," on Snowflakes VI, a dark folk/gothic/Americana compilation on Germany's At Sea Compilations label. The album is available now at Bandcamp
October:
Some great reviews of the Woodford Halse compilation "Undulating Waters," featuring my track "The Spirit Medium":
September:
Delighted to have contributed a track, "The Spirit Medium" to Undulating Waters, a compilation "inspired by the landscape, myth, memory and the nostalgia of hauntology," out Sept 1 on new U.K cassette label Woodford Halse.
The first two volumes are now available for streaming and purchase on Bandcamp, and feature contributions from such great acts as the Heartwood Institute, Oliver Kersbergen and Katje Janisch, Floodlights, Polypores, Field Lines Cartographer and more. Each cassette comes in a multi-layered screen printed jacket with "cigarette card" insert.
My track features crucial contributions from Massimiliano Gallo (violin), Henry Hugo (organ, piano) and Pete Azzopardi (mastering).
August:
An interview I did with Sydney's I-94
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"Ghosts of Electricity," a collaborative soundscape/hauntological/drone instrumental album with Dean Richards (Whirlywirld, Equal Local, Disturbed Earth) is now available. Purchase links:
Ghosts of Electricity bandcamp
Gezeitenstrom magazine review: link.
June:
Thanks to the U.K's Bliss Aquamarine for their review of the U.K Reverb Worship edition of Mythologies. You can read the review here
March:
Delighted to announce that the U.K edition of my album "Mythologies" on the cult limited edition "Reverb Worship" label is now available. This edition of the album features new artwork by Peter Aldrich and 2 new bonus tracks - The Drunkard's Prayer & The Dreamers' Dream. Huge thanks to Roger Linney and everyone involved in the making of the album.
You can listen to one of the new tracks, "The Drunkard's Prayer," here:
https://soundcloud.com/…/michael-plater-the-drunkards-prayer
January 2018:
Lovely review of "Mythologies" from French site Mithra Templezine
November:
A live recording of new track "Our Bastard Child," with Dean Richards on guitar is up now on Youtube
October:
A new track, "Those City Lights," is now available on Snowflakes V, a 30 track dark folk/gothic Americana compilation from German label At Sea Compilations. Album streaming and download here.
June:
A new interview in Adelaide music paper B-Side Magazine
March:
My track "The Officer's Mess" features on Greek label Do What Thou Wilt Records' new compilation album
"Within a Dream." The album is a collection of tracks inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe, listen and
download here
A film-clip about the album is available on Youtube here
January 2017:
New track "The Devil's Bridge" up now on Bandcamp.
This track is a musical improvisation, written and recorded in one take. It was written to accompany a reading of "101 Nights" by the writer Robert Brokenmouth.
A review of the recent Adelaide shows by Robert Brokenmouth up now on I-94 Bar
Huge thanks to Drivel Drive, 3D Radio, for including my album "Mythologies" in their top 21 of the year
Big thanks to Hong Kong based label Metal Postcard Records for including my song "We're All Drunk Again" in their top 40 tracks of the year list
Thanks to Robert Brokenmouth at I-94bar for including me in his top ten of the year. Link.
November:
A live clip of We're All Drunk Again, recorded at the Good Ship, London, by Mark Kluzek (the Doomed Bird
of Providence) is up now on Youtube
October:
Thanks to Bang Bang Radio, Budapest, for having me on their Oct 10th show alongside Mark Steiner, Henry
Hugo, and Pavel Cingl. A stream/download of the episode is available at the Tilos Radio page here
Aug:
Clip for "We're All Drunk Again" up on Ring of Fire's "Bottom of the Pops" Youtube chart list here
July:
Thanks to Mixdown Magazine for including me in their "10 Artists to Catch Live This Weekend" segment: link
Review of the July 3rd show at the Barn, Adelaide Hills, by Robert Brokenmouth at I-94: link
April:
Filmclip for "We're All Drunk Again up now on Youtube
Mythologies is currently at no. 5 in 3D Radio's top 20 chart
Jan 2016:
Review of the 21/01/16 gig at the Metro (by Robert Brokenmouth) up at the I-94 Bar Website
here
Review of my 10/01/16 album launch at the Tote, by Feeling the Beat, up here
My new album "Mythologies" is out now:
Bandcamp link
Gezeitenstrom Magazine (Germany) Review
Peekaboo Magazine (Belgium) Review
Michael Plater: voice, lead and rhythm electric guitars, acoustic guitars, baritone guitar, pedal steel guitar
Cabin Inn: lead electric guitar (1, 2, 8)
Clare Bligh: piano (1, 5, 6), organ (1, 5)
Danny Martinov: drums (2), percussion (1, 2, 5, 8)
Dean Richards: e-bow guitar (3, 7), lead slide guitar (10)
Matt Green: harmonica (8, 10), leslie harmonica (2)
Neil Thomason: Nashville acoustic guitar (5)
Pete Azzopardi: bass (2, 10)
All songs recorded and mixed by Neil Thomason at Headgap, 2014-2015
Mastered by Adam Dempsey at Deluxe Mastering
Artwork: Peter Aldrich
December 2023:
"Ghost Music" has been ranked #4 in Sun 13's list of their Top 50 albums of 2023:
https://sun-13.com/2023/12/18/sun-13s-top-50-albums-of-2023/
November:
A new track of mine, "Navigators and Shipwrecks", is out today on the latest "Snowflakes" neo-folk/classical album from German label At Sea Compilations. The track was recorded in the U.K earlier this year with Paul Stride-Noble and Stafford Glover. It's out now on Bandcamp:
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July:
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A deluxe limited edition CD edition of "Ghost Music" in heavyweight cream linen case is now available via the Australian/German label NWN. You can pick up a copy through my Bandcamp page here
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June:
The film-clip to my track "Your Family Ghosts", starring Fawnia Mountford is up now on Culture as a Dare's Youtube page, as part of Alex Monk's curated playlist. Check it out here:
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Feb:
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My new album "Ghost Music" is out now on digital and limited edition lathe cut vinyl formats on Hypostatic Union. Recorded between 2019 and 2021 at No Recording Studio in Essex, the album is dedicated to the late John Hannon (Liberez, Woe), who recorded, produced and played everything from violin, harmonium, harmonica, clarinet, to bagpipes on the album.
The album also features crucial contributions from Stafford Glover (Enclosed & Silent Order, Extreme Noise Terror), who co-wrote two of the songs and plays an equally varied collection of instruments, including bass, autoharp, organ, doorframes and piano lids. "Ghost Music" also features guest appearances from Mark Kluzek, Tony Millman, and Fawnia Mountford, with additional technical assistance from the legendary Mark Beazley (Rothko), and Julian Wright. The album was mastered and pressed to lathe cut vinyl by the extraordinary Michael Lawrence at Bladud Flies!
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Ghost Music Preview on Youtube
Ghost Music at Hypostatic Union
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The Noise Beneath the Snow Review
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