The Toy Library

The Toy Library began life in around 2005 as the solo work of epic45 co-founder member Rob Glover. Initially starting out as a name given to a bunch of laptop recordings captured live to mini-disc, the project took on a life of its own in 2006 with a series of live dates in Europe. These performances utilised guitar, laptop, samplers and keyboards and skipped between lo-fi skewed pop and dark, cavernous noisescapes.

After producing remixes for the Italian outfit Mauve as well as collaborating with Xenia Randle of Cat Green Bike, the project lay dormant until 2010 when Rob released the double CD Haunted Woodland Volume One on Wayside and Woodland. The first in an ongoing series, Haunted Woodland set out to capture the atmospheres and myths associated with the woodland situated near White Ladies Priory on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border. This release also featured a second disc entitled The Secret Lives Of A Building, which employed 78rpm vinyl played at 33rpm – processed live through effects and samplers, captured live in Birmingham during March 2010.

In early 2011, Rob undertook his first soundtrack work as part of the Spill performance festival which took place over 3 nights at the Barbican in London. In collaboration with artist Harminder Judge, Rob produced an immersive 50-minute surround sound audio piece that soundtracked an intense visual performance, Do What Thou Wilt, which explored the occult’s influence on popular culture.