Richard Youngs

His music has been noted for its diversity, with Dusted saying that he had been "defying strict genre classifications since the early nineties, swapping labels, styles, partners, motifs, and recording techniques as the desire has struck him".

[2] When reviewing his 1996 CD Festival, Melody Maker described him as "grand-meister of contemporary British improv, spiritual son of Eddie Prevost and Maddy Prior; gentle manipulator of English hymn-notics and religious incantations; protege, challenger and radicaliser of folk, blues, rock, minimalism and improvisation; translator for the sea and the rain and the sky; ambassador to war and peace, to love and anguish".

A keen collaborator, he has released albums with Matthew Bower, Brian Lavelle, Neil Campbell, Stephen Todd, Makoto Kawabata, Alex Neilson, Andrew Paine (under their given names and under the group names Ilk and Urban Parable), Telstar Ponies, and his longest standing partner, Simon Wickham-Smith.

He has performed live with Heather Leigh Murray, Vibracathedral Orchestra and also with Matthew Bower's groups Sunroof!

NFR discography In recent years, Youngs has performed live more often, including shows in the UK, Canada and Italy.

Several privately issued cassettes on their own Jabberwok label exist, including Living in Harmony (1984) and Shouting The Silent Slogan (1986) and a clutch of compilation appearances including Sympathy on "Time And Time Again" with Assorted Artists (Fragment 1985) and Marjorie Daw on Sensationnel N°5 - All with voices (Illusion Productions 1987).

Jabberwok issued several cassette compilations which featured OFW material including Fugitive Pieces (1984), The Great Difficult Music Swindle (1985), and Cars and T-Shirts (1985).

Both are primarily solo Youngs and appear under the artist name The Creation Room - Dark Shadow Breath b/w Roog Confetti and Apricot Tree & Will To Tedium b/w 19 Used Postage Stamps (the latter being explicitly referred to by Youngs in The Wire, issue 259 and reissued on the limited edition 20th Century Jams CDR in 2007).

A further Creation Room cassette Music that Undid Him in a Japanese Minute (1985) has been listed on Discogs; again, this is primarily solo Youngs with a contribution from Simon Batley on two tracks.