Neglected sounds put together to help boost funds for Wigan charity

Manchester record label Front and Follow and radio show and website Gated Canal Community joined forces to find out what happened to all the tracks that do not make it onto regular compilations.

They decided to collect the unwanted sounds and put together the Isolation and Rejection compilation.

With more than 100 artists signed up already, they will release five volumes over the coming months, with the first available this Friday June 26.

Each volume will showcase those lost gems, discarded and abandoned but now lovingly embraced and put front and centre for everyone’s enjoyment.

They will also share the stories behind the rejections – funny, weird and sometimes heartbreaking.

The project is raising money for The Brick, which supports people in Wigan who are homeless, in poverty or facing crisis.

It is in need of funds now more than ever, following a significant downturn in income from donations and fund-raising initiatives, along with rising demand for its services, due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Justin Watson, founder of Front and Follow and co-presenter of Gated Canal Community, said: “We have always tried to be supporters of artists and music on the fringes, and this project allowed us to put a positive spin on the current isolation being felt by many across the UK alongside the constant challenge of artistic rejection.

“Supporting The Brick allows us to continue this positive approach and focus on supporting those most in need at the moment, mobilising artists and our networks for a fantastic cause.”

Louise Green, CEO at The Brick, said: “We are delighted that the Gated Canal Community and Front and Follow are supporting The Brick with this innovative and inspirational fund-raising project. This is a first for The Brick and we are all looking forward to hearing the previously isolated and rejected music that has been brought together into something new and special.

“This project certainly resonated with The Brick and what we stand for, as we support people in our community who could have become isolated or indeed who may have faced rejection, so this makes this fund-raising initiative to bring together previously isolated and rejected music all the more significant and we want to thank everyone involved.”

Artists contributing to the series include Time Attendant, Howlround, Dolly Dolly, Cahn Ingold Prelog, Alison Cotton, Farmer Glitch, Rupert Lally, Sone Institute, The Declining Winter, TVO, Ekoplekz, Kemper Norton, Grey Frequency, Elizabeth Joan Kelly and Thomas Ragsdale.

Go to fandf.bandcamp.com to purchase Isolation and Rejection: Vol 1.

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