about little gem

the concept has been in existence for a while, the dust collecting.

from the warehouses of waterthorpe, the backrooms of bristol, the south coast's secret studios.
miles of tape, terrabits of processing, fields of tobacco, power to generation five, five element style.

lazy never pays, but haste and desperation makes you look a prick.
as does such purple prose.
we've been so near, so often it's stupid.
bad decisions, bad timing and bad luck takes its toll, so people come and go.

but inspiration keeps knocking at the door.
constant travel fills hungry minds with new ideas, new aims, new directions.
all this filters through the analog fuzz, the digital fizz, it's all there and it refuses to sit still.
this collection represents one side of what we do.

with our broken down toys we reach for the skies
and you have to ask,
is that it?

reviews of collected dust

Sheffield Telegraph:
"A PRODUCTIVE year for Sheffield indie label Giovanni Chrome comes to a close with a cerebral ninth release still glistening in the ears. With a history of live and studio mixing for the likes of Fila Brasilia, Arctic Monkeys and Gomez, Ashton's influences and peers are diverse and this album is a departure from alternative singer songwriting projects he has undertaken in the past. The first half of the album is dedicated to a mini-trilogy of tracks entitled Childhood in the Machine. Part Three comes first, an orchestral piece that ekes out into a sweep of strings and keys before part two takes a more percussive and obviously electronic direction and part one paints a dreamier piano-strewn soundscape. The Piece de Resistance comes later, when Childhood In The Machine The End reveals a sequel to the previous three tracks that is longer than the three of them put together and sounds rather like a film score with the occasional chord structure from the earlier tracks reworked into a pristine epic of varying tempos and atmospheres."

Blowback:
"An enigmatic bunch... Mixing guitars with electronic sounds is not a new idea but it is one that few have done really well (New Order and Depeche Mode are probably the most obvious examples). Collected Dust takes leaves from the books of Spiritualized, Steve Reich and Brian Eno but it also creates its own,individual footprint for Little Gem. This is a grower that starts good and gets better - the dreamy, trippy, smiley tone is balanced by really good production and sounds that bite. Credits: Swirling, warm jets of pleasure..."