Albums
My albums are grouped by loose chronology and style. I prefer home studio indie recording, but much of my catalogue is in a rough state, so I'm in the ongoing process of restoring my studio setup and re-recording them. I have made some featured songs and most of Draggle Glade and Garden available, as well as limited previews of my other albums (excluding juvenilia).
When the member section is finished, Korelai and Gold members will be able to view and play the latest versions of ALL albums in browser as well as peruse lyrics and additional notes on the albums.
About
Hi, I'm Glen Spoors! I write and record music under my own name, but publish it under the Korelai Music brand of Lost Isle Media.
I grew up in suburban Perth, Western Australia, and my music has largely been an expression of the desire to escape it. I learnt to play guitar around the age of 14 with a now lost nylon string guitar and eventually followed up with a steel string Blue Ridge acoustic - about 99% of the songs on this site were composed with those instruments. My most prolifiic period was between 1988-1994, during which I wrote 14 albums, with another major period around 2005, during which I wrote another six. My earliest recordings were on some random portable stereo, then about 60% were recorded on a Tascam 4-trak, with much bouncing down of tracks, and from 2003 the rest of my material was recorded on an MBox with Pro Tools, although I also kept track of new material on a Samsung Android Galaxy.
If I had to classify my music it would range between urban folk and indie rock with a strong emphasis on storytelling, with occasional eclectic and experimental excursions. I listened to artists like Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Steeleye Span, Jethro Tull et al around the time I was learning guitar, but I can't say my style shows much inspiration from them or anyone else. I picked a gestalt or theme and expressed it best I could through the instruments available, so mostly was inspired by technical qualities of instruments and a general literacy of scales and progressions from ambient listening.
I now play a steel string cutaway Furst, a sunburst Squier Fender Stratocaster, and a cheap Monteray bass. I own a Peavey KB300 with a GT-3 effects bank and Boss DR-5 drum machine but use them sparingly. I also have a small collection of ethnic et al instruments, i.e. a Kalimba, bongos, guiros, djembe, African wrist seed rattle, maraccas, pan flute, tin whistles, recorders, bird whistles, miniature gong and Nepalese singing bowl. (I have no talent at any of these, I just like the potential to improvise unusual sounds.) In 2016 I updated to an MBox 3 with Pro Tools, Battery, Reason.
I'm in the unusual position of being someone who has written 22 albums (one a trilogy) but simply recorded demos and moved on, periodically returning to re-arrange a song or two or amend a few lyrics. Currently my albums are recorded on a mix of home stereo, 4-trak and MBox - and some simply on mobile phone - and of obviously varying quality, so I'll have to slowly release them as I re-record them.
Draggle Glade is available as well as Garden minus a couple of songs, though there also are a couple of songs I need to re-record on them. I have demos of the other albums, and will activate pages with a few demos I'm ok with before I start going through and re-recording my catalogue.
I've stashed all my juvenilia or discarded tracks (which were too weak, repetitive or derivative to fit on the above albums), in placeholder albums: The Untrained Eye (early juvenilia/remainders), Driftwood Cove (later remainders), and A Deck of Fools (some lighter songs and unused figures and fragments). I also have made a start at a lo-fi cover album of mostly 60s/70s songs that were influential, I liked, or suited my style, called Ungainly Plover. I'm uncertain if I'll ever be indifferent or shameless enough to release them.
As for new music, I've mostly just been recording fragments but have a list of song names for a 12-track mixed media album called Parliament of Joy. I have no timeline for that, but it's intended to include more electronic compositions and either round out Cycle 6 or start a new Cycle.
I hope you enjoy some of my music! Let me know if you have any issues or queries at korelaimusic@gmail.com