MAUREEN ANDERSON'S SHAPESHIFTER

Maureen Anderson's SHAPESHIFTER

featured releases...
1. Unwrapping The Familiar (UTSS CD1) CD 58'02"
2. Time Capsule (UTSS CD2/3) 2CD 125'50"
3. Live 1997 (UTSS CD4) CDR + CD-Rom
4. Looking Glass Ties (UTSS CD5) CDR

also available: "Shapeshifter" (2000) CD, "Shifting Gear" (2007) CD

Shapeshifter history, see also: Alan Freeman, Jim Tetlow

Shapeshifter are now Multimorph! see Multimorph at Glastonbudget 2009

Unwrapping The Familiar (UT/Shapeshifter UTSS CD1) CD

Shapeshifter - Unwrapping The Familiar, artwork by Alan Freeman £10.00 + p&p

1. APHRODITE 4'29"
2. EARTH 0'43"
3. LOVE POEM 4'45"
4. AIR 0'42"
5. WHALESONG 3'59"
6. SOLSBURY HILL 6'23"
7. WATER 2'12"
8. THE CITY 4'26"
9. FIRE 0'43"
10. SHAPESHIFTER 5'27"
11. ETHER 0'43"
12. THE GIFT 4'00"
13. SPIRIT 0'46"
14. THE LIZARD 11'20"
15. COSMOS 0'29"
16. ALIEN 6'53"

Compositions by Shapeshifter.
Words by Maureen Anderson (except 14 by Jim Morrison).
Interludes (2,4,7,9,11,13,15) by Anderson/Freeman/Johnson/Peberdy.
Recorded by Curly (December 1996 & March 1997).

Maureen Anderson: vocals, flute.
Alan Freeman: synths.
Dave Greene: percussion.
Dave Johnson: guitar.
Carl Peberdy: sitar, whistles, vocals, percussion.
+ Chris Conway: synth, & Alan Flanders: cymbals.

Time Capsule (UT/Shapeshifter UTSS CD2/3) 2CD

Shapeshifter - Easier To Feel, artwork by Jim Tetlow £15.00 + p&p

DISC 1: EASIER TO FEEL
1. WARM VOID 11'30"
2. CELESTIAL MIRROR 8'06"
3. THE WHITE RABBIT 17'00"
4. NORTHERN LIGHTS AT SEA 18'45"
5. THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN 14'45"

DISC 2: LIVE AT THE PHYSIO & FIRKIN
1. PATHFINDER 3'45"
2. CELTIC KING 7'04"
3. RED / KUNDALINI 14'53"
4. WHALESONG 7'30"
5. WARRIOR 6'20"

Disc 1 recorded in Maureen's front room during rehearsal sessions
(January-March 1999).
Disc 2 recorded at The Physio & Firkin, Aylestone Road, Leicester (24 April 1998).

Maureen Anderson: vocals, flute.
Alan Freeman: synth, vocal effects.
Dave Johnson: guitar.
Jim Tetlow: keys, percussion, guitar effects.
Dave Greene: drums, voice (disc 2 only).
Mick Oxtoby: violin (disc 2 only).
Carl Peberdy: sitar, percussion, whistles, vocals (disc 2 only).
Willow Songsmith: keys (disc 1 only).
Simon Styring: bass (disc 2 only).
+ Steve Bell: "twinkle twinkle little star!".

Live 1997 (UT/Shapeshifter UTSS CD4) CDR+ CD-Rom

Cover by Alan £5.00 + p&p

1. CARL'S FREAK-OUT 3'30"
2. "SHAPESHIFTER" JAM 3'03"
... The Royal Mail, Campbell Street, Leicester (29 March 1997).
3. "SHALL WE DO HALE BOP?" 0'54"
4. "THE HAWKWIND VERSION" 6'08"
... Practice, Big Wheel rehearsal rooms, Yeoman Street, Leicester (20 April 1997).
5. THE CITY 6'50"
6. WHALESONG 4'57"
7. HALE BOP 4'50"
... The Shed, Yeoman Street, Leicester (21 April 1997).
8. CHORD PROGRESSION 5'36"
9. SITAR-SAX JAM 2'18"
10. AFTER "THE GIFT" 6'11"
11. FREE-FORM MADNESS 3'05"
..... The Royal Mail, Campbell Street, Leicester (9 May 1997).
12. "SOUND-CHECK?" 1'00"
13. WARRIOR BROTHER SON 5'22"
14. FLUTE ROCK 3'29"
..... Practice, Maureen Anderson's front room, Leicester (12 November 1997).
15. "ROSY" JAM 2'15"
..... Practice, Maureen Anderson's front room, Leicester (date unknown).
16. "I WANT TO BE A SPICE GIRL!" 0'32"

Maureen Anderson: vocals, flute.
Alan Freeman: synths.
Dave Green: percussion.
Dave Johnson: guitar.
Carl Peberdy: sitar, tabla, vocals, whistles, etc.
Julian: bass (1-11).
Steve Cartwright: bass (12-14).
Dick: sax (8-11).

Compiled by Alan Freeman (May 2001), final mastering (24 June 2002).
All live tracks from audience recordings (courtesy of Steve Freeman).
Practice session tapes made on Maureen's old beat-up Ghetto Blaster.
Any drop-outs, distortion or sonic mishaps, are all down defects in the original masters.

Looking Glass Ties (UT/Shapeshifter UTSS CD5) CDR

Cover by Alan £7.00 + p&p

1. SHAPESHIFTER 5’35"
2. CHILDREN OF THE SUN 22’00"
3. LOOKING GLASS TIES 15’35"
4. BORN OF THE RING 9’05"
5. SUCCUBUS 13’00"
6. SHAPESHIFTER REPRISE 5’50"

Recorded live during January -March 1999 in Maureen’s front room on Jim’s 4-track.
Djembes on Children Of The Sun overdubbed by Jim, June 2007.
Rerecording of Maureen’s vocals (and trumpet on Children Of The Sun) October 2008.
Album compiled, remixed, mastered and designed by Jim Tetlow, 2007-2008.
synapse.art@virgin.net

Maureen Anderson: vocals, flute, trumpet.
Alan Freeman: synthesizer, vocal effects.
Dave Johnson: guitar.
Willow Songsmith: keyboards.
Jim Tetlow: keyboard, djembe.

One of the most exciting Leicester live bands through the mid 1990's, Shapeshifter have always been an ever changing, growing and evolving band, aptly Maureen Anderson's Shapeshifter have continued on to live up to their name and shape-shift! "Unwrapping The Familiar" marked the start of a new era in the band, moving steadily towards a more eccentric psychedelic music. One part Gong & Mother Gong, with a dash of Nico, flashes of spacey Ozric Tentacles, & lots of ethnic spiced psychedelia.

Shapeshifter were judged "too marginal" for the tastes of the audience at the yearly Leicester Abbey Park Festival, though for an Ultima Thule production this is positively commercial! Of course, it depends on how you look at it. As Maureen so often says at concerts "If you thought that was weird, things can only get weirder!" and on the "Unwrapping The Familiar" CD they do! This extensively features Rain Garden members, and is my own (Alan Freeman) debut at playing in someone else's band.

The new 2CD set "Time Capsule" collects 1) a largely instrumental improvisation CD called "Easier To Feel" from 1999 and 2) a 1998 live CD capturing Shapeshifter at their most creative (featuring Alan Freeman and Jim Tetlow, both now in Endgame). filling-in the missing period of Shapeshifter and showing the roots of how ideas for Endgame started. The live CD also features musicians from other Leicester bands: The Rain Garden, Earthly and Turtle Om.

At a recent gig (November 2002) Alan again joined in with Shapeshifter, playing the nifty Roland SH-32 synth, reunited again with Maureen and the two Daves for a storming set.

See also: the Polymorph page, which is an impromptu session and live project featuring Maureen Anderson with Endgame, and the Endgame Live page, for 2 discs containing music from a gig with ex Shapeshifter members Carl Peberdy and Mick Oxtoby. Also, go to www.maureenanderson.com for more info!