A6, 24 pages, Black & white printing, Saddle stitched, Softcover, Includes cassette, 2025

From multidisciplinary writer Ian Macartney’s sonic project FORSYTH comes The Fox and the Hiker, released on limited-edition cassette via Kentucky cult-stalwarts Fantasy Audio Magazine.

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of Beecraigs (the forest near Linlithgow, Scotland), The Fox and the Hiker is an audio-verse-drama – two monologues set to an electronic soundscape. There is the Hiker (the last human left, trying to climb to the top of a hill called Cockleroi; played by Chris Black) and there is the Fox (who wants to eat the Hiker's heart; played by Ian Macartney). During their parallel journeys are dreams within dreams, eco-mockery, asynchronicity, and the pulse of deep time, wherein both animals unite to become cosmic dust…

To create the soundscape, FORSYTH collaborated with Edinburgh-based producer Alasdair Kelly. While Macartney improvised on a Roland System-8, Kelly responded with electric guitar, reversed and distorted through pedalboard. These sounds were then combined with field recordings from around Linlithgow Loch (circa January 2nd 2023), to create the final work.

Released by Fantasy Audio Magazine &