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Rough Trade Records are pleased to announce the reissue of Sea Powers Man Of Aran score on 25 August 2023, which will see the album released on vinyl for the first time.In 2009 the band, then known as British Sea Power, were commissioned by the Edinburgh Film Festival to create their own soundtrack for the 1934 quasidocumentary, which they premiered by playing along live during a screening at the event.A studio version of the album followed in May the same year, while more screeningperformances took place at the BFI in London and at cinemas in Brighton and Sheffield, while events were also staged on a series of islands, including Jersey, the Hebrides and a Norwegian islet in the Arctic Circle.Charting the activities of fisherman based on a remote outcrop in mouth of Galway Bay in western Ireland, Man Of Aran captured a disappearing way of life as Arans inhabitants battled daily against the elements to survive, something that chimed deeply with Sea Powers own curiosity for the past and their urgent, environmentallydriven concerns for the future. The film is a powerful and provocative dramatised documentary from the late American filmmaker Robert J Flaherty. The film was both celebrated and controversial on its release. The film was created from half a million feet of film shot by Flaherty while living closely with the islanders. But Man Of Aran isnt a straightforward documentary. The family at the centre of the film werent related, rather a group of islanders cast as the family unit by Flaherty. The fishing expedition for basking sharks which forms the films dramatic heart was based around methods that hadnt been employed on the Aran Islands for decades. Blending reality and staged elements, Flaherty arrived at a compelling document that captures the elemental power of the islands past and present. The film won the Grand Prix at the 1935 Venice Film Festival and the eminent film critic Pauline Kael described it as, 34The greatest film tribute to man’s struggle against a hostile nature.34Its a wonderful film, said Sea Power guitarist Noble at the time, The images vary between huge drama and a brilliant kind of ridiculousness check out the amazing footwide bobbled berets that the fishermen wear. Its a great look, like a 1930s Irish version of Jack White or Kraftwerk. Its a film thats also relevant to the current era a time when the idea of living a simpler life is in the air. The film shows something I’d like to think I could do, but know I never will.The resulting, mainly instrumental score, proved to be a true artistic collaboration that stretched across the decades, earning the group widespread acclaim upon its release, both for the musics simpatico relationship with the original film and as a stand alone work in its own right.Declared by The Quietus on release as a perfect symbiosis that should rightly be regarded as something of an understated classic, Irelands Hot Press called it Stunning… breathtaking while NME encouraged listeners to let it all gloriously wash over you.Fans will finally be able to experience that artistic and emotional depth on vinyl with this reissue.Released on 25 August, and available for preorder now from Sea Power and Rough Trade Records online shops, the double LP set of Man Of Aran will be initially pressed on to yellow and blue vinyl, and features the albums original artwork. A black vinyl edition will follow after the initial run.Described by The Independent On Sunday as chiming perfectly with BSPs fascination with lost ways of life, that band also found Man Of Aran resonated strongly with audiences when they performed the soundtrack live, producing the same, inspiring emotional responses from widely different demographics, which included a group of tearstained Norwegian fishermen packed into in a 14thcentury wooden church an enthralled crowd of ravers at the UKs Big Chill festival and 2000 Irish expats at Australias Perth International Film Festival.It is fitting then that Man Of Aran is now finally coming out on vinyl, where the formats deep dive qualities with allow the impact of Sea Powers music to be felt in full. Sea Power LP is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £30