History of the Silev Archive

I first became aware of Silev when I bought some reel-to-reel tapes from a car boot sale. I intended to use them as blanks, but thought I'd have a listen to what was recorded on the tapes before erasing them. One in particular caught my eye: it had a large figure of a snake stencilled on the case in red-black ink, with the Roman numeral 'III' underneath. I threaded it onto the machine, pressed play, and the sound that came out was astonishing. It was Silev. I found a small piece of typed paper in the case, with these words:

SILEV
SNAKE TAPES VOLUME III
i. Dulcet
ii. Δ
iii. Ist Plaything

(The delta symbol is hand-drawn in ink.)

This was not a tape to be erased. I checked the others: an unused reel, and a dubbed LP by Perry Como or someone similar. Nothing of interest. At the next boot sale, I asked the stall owner about the tapes. He knew nothing about them, and had no more.

Searching the Internet for information on Silev, I drew a blank. The word is the name of a Polish town, also called Sulejow. It crops up as a surname, a name of fantasy and sci-fi characters, and on a few Estonian sites. I don't understand Estonian.

By careful searching over the next few months, trawling websites, shops and record fairs, I turned up a few more examples of Silev's work. There appear to be four volumes of the Snake Tapes; a diagram enclosed with volume II indicates as much, though I was unsuccessful in finding volumes I or IV. I also have a cassette tape which appears to be a live recording, and a seven-inch single containing versions of two 'Christmass songs', as the label has it.

Then, late last year, came a breakthrough. I unearthed references to a collaboration between Silev and Bronnt Industries Kapital, a shadowy German outfit who have seemingly been making music for decades, though only started commercial releases in the last few years. They have an e-mail contact, through which I obtained a postal address for Silev - if only after a midnight meeting at a ruined abbey, and subsequent blindfold interrogation to determine my motives. I'm not at liberty to divulge any more specific details, but I can assure you that Bronnt are very thorough.

I wrote a letter to Silev (whose real name is still a mystery to me), explaining my interest in the music and that I'd set up this website in his honour. It was weeks later, in the first post of the new year, that the reply came. In several pages of spidery, rambling handwriting, Silev repeatedly forbade me from giving away any identifying details, warned me of the (quite Biblical) consequences of any breach of his trust, and, finally, gave me permission to distribute his works as 'recordings, internet transmissions and performance', in return for a share of any profits made. The word 'performance' puzzled me, until, later that week, a parcel arrived. Inside I found a collection of strange items: glass balls, bamboo skewers, pieces of metal and rubber, and a black box with knobs that I identified as an analogue delay unit. Underneath these, and the straw in which they were packed, was a thick sheaf of ragged papers, covered in that same spidery handwriting, along with fragments of musical score, diagrams, numbers and tables. All these sheets were yellowed and dog-eared, with the exception of a note which read: 'This is the music. Learn it and destroy it. Show no-one. Let them only hear.'

After studying the diagrams, I determined that I could replicate some of the setups described quite closely, using my own guitar and amplifier. They called for the speaker cabinet to be laid on its back, with the guitar on top of the speaker grille, and the delay unit and other items within easy reach. Other, more intricate setups will require some building on my part.

Since I believe this is what he intended, I have commenced playing live, using his graphical scores, and under the Silev name. The scores are fairly open-ended, and the equipment setup itself imposes many parameters on the performance. I presented a version of the piece Δ (Delta) at the Bristol Folk House on 18 March, with further public outings to follow. I will also be reissuing some of the original Silev recordings on my Fact Fans label.

Samples of the Snake Tapes will shortly be available from the music download page of this website. I've recorded and uploaded side A of Christmass Songs.

Known Discography and Downloads

About Me

My name is Hugh Spiller. I make electronic music, usually as Id Lab. I play bass guitar and other instruments in the Cube Orchestra, Sculpture and maybe some other groups. I am also a photographer, particularly of live music events around Bristol, UK, where I live. Neither of those activities pays.