Firstly I should apologise for the delay in releasing our Top5. Hopefully your all having a great holiday and need a little diversion from the eating, drinking and socialising – if so we’d love to hear your thoughts on our Top5 (or the Top20)! So, in reverse order, here are our Top5:
#5 Woodpecker Wooliams – The Bird School Of Being Human
The highest entry from our hometown of Brighton is Woodpecker Williams. Gemma’s extraordinary voice, a harp and a whole host of electronic wizardry drive this album to some brilliant highs. Raw, emotional lyrics add yet another dimension to this fascinating record. We love it!
#4 Bowerbirds – The Clearing
Phil and Beth, from Bowerbirds, have taken inspiration from nature and their surroundings on this, their third album. The Clearing, is a record that takes some investment but pays you back by the bucketload. The tunes are complex but beautiful, the vocals sublime - this record may be grounded in its subject matter but that doesn’t stop it from soaring.
#3 Hurray For The Riff Raff – Look Out Mama
Based out of New Orleans, Hurray For The Riff Raffhave pulled together various streams of American roots music to produce the stunning, ‘Look Out Mama’. The band sound brilliant, but it is the powerhouse performance of singer/songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra that leads the way. These are her songs and her truth – and the intensity of the delivery make this a truly exceptional record.
#2 First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
First Aid Kit came very close to scooping top spot on our chart with the brilliant, The Lion’s Roar. It is folky, it is Americana and it definitely features two amazing vocals, but for us this is a damn fine pop record with a host of tunes that’ll get you tapping your feet and singing along. So much fun you just have to keep playing it over & over.
#1 Cat Power – Sun
So, top spot goes to Cat Powerwho released, Sun, her first album in an age. Anyone familiar with Chan Marshall’s previous work may have been a little apprehensive of the more electronic direction on this album, but they needn’t of worried as this fits neatly into the pantheon of great Cat Power records. Like many artists in this top20, you cannot help but feel that Chan puts her life and soul into her work – this leads to compelling recordings for the listener. For us ‘Ruin’ is the stand out track on the album (and possibly our favourite song of the year!) – “bitchin, complaining?” – not us as Sun is our Album of 2012!
Anyone who follows our Twitter or Facebook pages will be well aware of our love for this six-piece hailing from Lewes (& surrounding area). We first saw Early Ghost play an acoustic set in Union Music Store, where they defied physics by all managing to perch on the tiny stage. The set in those days didn’t include any of the songs from new album, Cadaques, but was full of stomping tunes, enthusiasm and more than a little craft.
After that we saw them play a variety of shows, sometimes headlining, othertimes supporting. Early this year they supported Team Me and then Bowerbirds and it was blatantly obvious that their sound had developed, almost beyond recognition. Violins, Trumpet, Clarinet and Sax lined up alongside the acoustic, electric, banjo combinations we had been used to seeing. The sound was just so much bigger, Morricone-like refrains dominated and Mike and Zoë’s vocals took on a new confidence. If I’m honest, at times the wall of sound was so big it meant that the tunes got lost, but even then, when everything came back together the strength of the songs made it all okay!
We were lucky enough to see the band play the launch show for ‘Cadaques’ and we are pleased to report that, for us, this was their best show yet – the band and album sounded fantatsic.
Thanks to Mike from the band for taking the time to answer our questions.
Debut Album ‘Cadaques’ has just arrived – how has the reception been?
The reception has been wonderful. Often when we write a song the influences can shine through a little too much – it can be dangerous when you’re really going after a certain style and tone because it can almost sound too replicated, so we’d often water that down a bit after the first form of the song was written. By the time the final versions were written, it was hard to tell how obvious those influences even were anymore. So, I am so pleased that our fans and reviewers seem to have picked up on the influences perfectly, and really seem to understand what we were going for.
How long did the album take to come together?
We worked on the album for a long time and the main thing that held us up was the habit we had of writing/scrapping/rewriting again and again. I mean some of the sections we had for certain songs on that album go back two years. In terms of the actual recording, that spanned about a year – we were constantly scrapping recordings as well, which was probably extremely annoying for everyone involved but worth it for the finished product. I still have copies of the old versions of the songs and it’s really interesting now to listen back.
It is quite a different sound from your previous EP – how would you describe the difference?
It is a cliche to say so but the new work is definitely more focused. It’s funny because it almost feels like the old EP was written when we were a different band entirely. I think perhaps ‘We Crossed The Waves’ had a bit more of a sporadic variety of styles and influences going on – there was the obvious Morricone sound there but other tracks were a little more straight forward. For this new record we’ve explored beyond spaghetti western soundtracks and, although that’s still the core style of music, other music from the 1960′s has been just as important to us such as Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Band etc, and a lot of Surf music too. Further back there’s also tracks that we wrote whilst listening to a lot of gypsy jazz and Balkan music.
Early Ghost live is a real ensemble experience – do you write all the tracks together or do you do that individually?
There doesn’t tend to be a set process for that, in that all the members are constantly writing things. Songs tend to end up being a mix of riffs and ideas that we are all throwing around at the time. I suppose sometimes it can be a bit of a routine process since often someone will bring a riff or section to the table, Mike will go away and arrange it, everyone will refine their own parts from the new arrangement and then Zoë and Mike will work on the vocal parts and lyrics. We all tend to obsess over certain aspects of the songs, for example Sam (Allan) likes to compose memorable guitar riffs more than anything else. Says he’s from the ‘Tasty Riff Department’.
Who in the band can play the most instruments
It’s hard to say really because it’s difficult to say what constitutes being able to play an instrument …some of the instruments we appear to be fluent in a lot of the time we learnt them for the sake of the songs they appear in – for example, we used to play ‘In a Single Mind’ with a guest trumpet player, but since he wasn’t able to make all of our shows Sam (Allan) started to learn the trumpet and managed to nail all of the parts in a few months. It was pretty much the same situation with Mike playing the accordion and Zoe playing the fiddle. Basically we can play these instruments but only really know how to play our own songs!
In terms of who plays the most instruments, let’s go with Sam (Watson) because he swaps between things the most.
How did the band come together?
We started as a 3 piece as just Karl, Mike and Sam (Watson). We started writing songs that were difficult to play live as a 3 piece pretty much from our first song. We brought Hugh in for drum sections but then had to keep adding in extra members as we added in extra instruments during recording, and eventually grew to a 6 piece!
Trumpet, Clarinet, Sax, Banjo…..the list goes on. Is there an instrument that would never make it onto a Early Ghost record.
Not that I can think of…let’s go with Bagpipes. Although Sam might not be happy about that due to being from Scotland and all that. Maybe the Keytar? Then again, the other Sam loves cheesy instruments like that. He wants to start a Status Quo tribute band called Wet Denim. He already has the album art planned out – something to do with him dressed as a fireman in all denim struggling with a firehose, or something like that. I try not to really listen when he talks about it. I think he’s pretty set on it though.
What is the bands favourite tune to play live?
Probably The Hidden Stirs. I just really enjoy the feel of that song and it’s probably the song we are proudest of from the new material.
Are Early Ghost rock’n'roll? Any hi-jinks we need to know about?
I wish we had some stories to give here but there’s nothing to share…yet. Give it a few years maybe, when life on the road has dug her prying claws into our souls a little more.
I’m a massive Morricone fan and there is an unmistakable influence of his on this album – most prominently on ‘Interlude’ – who is the fan and how did you come about his music?
I hadn’t really thought about where that influence came from until you asked this. Karl and the two Sams came back from a trip to Amsterdam with the riff to ’1914′, from our old EP. It was really Morricone sounding and as soon as we heard it we really fell in love with the idea of moving towards that sound. After that we’ve really just been developing that style.
My favourite Morricone sountrack is The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – what’s yours?
Without a doubt “…e per tetto un cielo di stelle (in English – A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof)”. I think it’s actually a spaghetti-western-comedy. We haven’t actually checked the film out yet but we came across the soundtrack and the title theme is mindblowing. It’s just incredibly composed and the guitar tone is unbelievable.
Your covers, videos & even lyric sheets all contain striking artwork – it would seem that EG is a cottage industry – what else are you making?
Hopefully very soon, t-shirts too!
What is happening next for Early Ghost?
We are going to be spending 2013 playing shows in support of ‘Cadaques’ and in the summer doing a small round of the festival circuit. We are already in talks for some festival bookings so they will get announced as soon as we are allowed to get the word out!
You’ve played a few festivals this year – if you could choose 3 bands to headline ‘Ghost-fest’ this Halloween who would they be?
Let’s say…Kurt Vile, Timber Timbre and The Doors with a resurrected Jim Morrison.
Regular readers of the blog will be well aware of our our love and admiration for Union Music Store. What you may not be aware of is that Union co-owner, Jamie Freeman, is a rather fine recording artist in his own right. To set that record straight we caught up with Jamie to chat about song writing, band leading and his new video.
Your debut solo album ‘Just You’, is still bearing fruit with the video release of ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ Have you been pleased with the reception to the album?
I’ve had some great response to it, and I’m really pleased with it as a collection of songs. But we didn’t really have a plan for it, so we didn’t approach it the same way we do now with other Union artists. ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ is actually the first proper video we’ve done for any of the album tracks.
What prompted you to release the video now?
Religion is rife with hypocrisy. The song was mainly prompted by the religious rhetoric during the Iraq war. Imagine if all those western Christian politicians actually followed just one of their God’s top-ten rules; thou shalt not kill. How different would the world be?
I’m an atheist, I think religion is bunk. That stance is only strengthened when I see how many people are prepared to bend their religions to whatever political or personal need is present at the time.
The record packs a real emotional punch – was it a challenge sharing that much of yourself in song?
The point of songwriting, for me, is to convey some emotion. Love, anger, loss, whatever it is.
I’ve written some properly sad songs, but funnily enough I got a tweet from someone who watched the video and said it moved them to tears! I hadn’t expected that, I must say, but they obviously heard something in it that touched them.
How do songs manifest in the Freeman brain-box?
Well, from my previous answers you know I’m not about to say they’re a gift from God, but they do sometimes just appear out of thin air. Often a line or a phrase will lead to an almost fully-formed song and it flows out pretty quickly. Other times I might leave an idea kicking around for months or years then really work at it. Usually the old adage ’20 percent inspiration and 80 percent perspiration’ is about right! I do try to work on the lyrics, because I can’t bear songs with sloppy lyrics, or words that are just there to fill space or make a convenient rhyme.
I know when I’ve got a lyrics right because it will often – regardless of the subject matter – make me choke up! It’s embarrassing as I often write on the train in public. I’m quite soft…
You’ve been playing live with the Jamie Freeman Agreement for a while – what’s it like being a band leader?
The band are great and it’s been really exciting, after years of playing solo, to have this bunch of people making your song come to life in a different way. It’s an amazing thing to have these actual, real-life human beings playing your songs – it’s awesome! Magic can happen when a bunch of musicians play together, you can’t beat it.
Is there an actual ‘agreement’ they need to sign-up to? Where did the name originate from?
Haha! An actual agreement, perhaps written on parchment, would be excellent. The name is just a rhyme really, it just sounds good. It’s kind of a play on the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Stevie will almost certainly remind me she came up with the name, but like all the good ideas, as band leader, they tend to become mine over time… in my head at least!
What is next on the agenda for you and the band?
A second album, once I’ve finished producing The Self Help Group’s debut album, which will be Union’s next release.
Your image is part-mod, part-cowboy has this ever led to any major fashion faux-pas?
Almost certainly! But I draw the line at cowboy boots, I’m more a brogues person!. I’m a mod, I just look for those crossover reference points; like Levis 501s or Converse for example. Amazingly I have another mod in the band now, Joe Ellis. He’s pretty hard-core, a very cool looking guy! We’re not an American band (except Jessica of course), we just play American-influenced music. In the age-old tradition of British bands!
The Beatles were trying to play American rock’n'roll, but the skiffle influence made it come out differently enough for the Americans to think it was something new. I think our folk influence means we’ll never be a ‘country’ band. That’s cool, the Americans already have that covered.
You produce your own material and you have overseen some excellent work by other artists. If you could bring in someone to ‘twiddle the knobs’ on a new Jamie Freeman record which producer would you go for & why?
Jack White would be a good candidate; he totally gets it. Or T Bone Burnett. I’m hoping to have Richard Smith produce something in his Nashville studio for the next album, he’s been offering to record something for me for ages, and he could certainly put some good pickers together for a session! Steve Earle isn’t strictly a producer but I would love to spend a while with him in the studio.
Neil Young or Bob Dylan? Why?
Neil, for me. For no particular reason, he just floats my boat more than Bob. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob – he’s a bonafide songwriting genius. I think it’s Neil’s guitar that does it for me, electric and acoustic. As one of CSNY, Neil’s was one of my very earliest influences; my Mum played De Ja Vu a lot, so aged four I could sing along with ‘Our House’ and I assumed it was about my family home. I always wondered why we didn’t have ‘…two cats in the yard’!
If you could curate your own dream festival who is in the line-up?
I’m gonna say The Levellers, in a pathetic attempt to ingratiate myself with the Beautiful Days people! Seriously though, Neil Young and Crazy Horse would headline. Larkin Poe are there. Emmylou Harris of course. Phantom Limb would be excellent. And late on the Saturday Steve Earle invites The Agreement on stage to join him for Copperhead Road… Well, it’s my fantasy after all!
Finally, which of your tunes would you recommend people listen to as an introduction to what you and your music is all about?
Tricky… The album is fairly evenly split between the folky, English-sounding ones and the more country ones. Lilly’s Boarding House is kind of a ‘calling card’ track, but the title song ‘Just You’ is probably more representative.
We always ask what are our guests top 3 Dylan albums so, what are yours Jamie?
Let’s see… Everybody Know’s This Is Nowhere, The Beach, Rust Never Sleeps… Oh, Dylan, sorry My all-time favourite is Bringing It All Back Home; that’s the sound I was consciously going for with Thou Shalt Not Kill – Dylan going electric (did you hear the ‘Judas’ reference at the end?). After that I don’t have too strong opinions, but I do like The Times They Are A-Changing and I have a soft-spot for John Wesley Harding. You might think I’d be into Nashville Skyline, but really I’m not. It’s not a great record in my humble opinion. Don’t tell him I said that!
Thanks to Jamie for his time.
The Jamie Freeman Agreement play a FREE show tomorrow, 22nd September, at Union Music Store http://unionmusicstore.com/
In case you were looking for some new tunes this weekend we wanted to share a few things that we’ve been enjoying here at someofitistrue.
1. Small Shipwrecks – ‘White Diamond’
We have a real soft spot for this tune which has really grown on us over the past few weeks. It’s a slow burner that builds up layer by layer, wriggling its way into your affection, before gently fading away having made its point. The point being ‘You need to listen to me again’.
The band are based in Lewes, East Sussex, and they are preparing to release their debut album Eucatastrophe. We have had a sneak preview of another track, which we like at least as much as this one, and cannot wait to hear the record and see the band live.
Please do have a listen and let us know what you think.
2. Lazy Acre Records – Norwanglish ‘An Introduction To Lazy Acre Records’
We have met lots of lovely people since we started the blog – the fine people at Lazy Acre being amongst the nicest. As the title says, this album provides you with an overview of what Lazy Acre are all about. There are fine tunes from the likes of blog faves Uno Moller and Stylusboy, as well as excellent songs from Bellman and Synne Eileen & The Sunbeams. Something for everybody!?!…..and it’s ‘Name your Price’ – how good is that!
Last but not least, the kind folk over at Fatea Magazine have just released there 2012 Summer Showcase. This is very new to us at someofitistrue, so new that we haven’t had time to listen to it all the way through! However, these guys know a thing or two about music so expect some traditional folk through to Indie Singer/Songwriter. Oh and it’s free as well!
If you’re looking for a gig this bank holiday weekend, why not check out Bowerbirds at The Haunt in Brighton? Their recent album, The Clearing is an understated gem full of great songwriting that conjures both vivid landscapes and heartfelt emotions. It is a thought provoking piece of work, so when I had the chance of asking Bowerbird Beth a few questions, I brought my A-game and then I asked her about the tour van!
How is the tour going? Where are you now?
The tour is going great. We are on our way from Antwerp to London right now. We are opening a show with Dry the River, who supported us on our North American tour this Spring. It’s a nice trade-off.
Will you have any energy left by the time you reach us in Brighton?
Yes, and we have the day off after the show, so we know we can sleep in the next day. Which means we can use up every last bit of energy we have left, if need be.
What can we expect from a Bowerbirds live show?
If anyone has seen us in the past, we travelled with three or four musicians, and we were pretty quiet and mostly acoustic with a lot of vocal harmonies. We still have the harmonies, but now we have five musicians, and the show gets louder and is more dynamic overall. There are still quiet moments, but they are interspersed with more intense ones.We are really enjoying playing the new songs and also re-interpreting some of the old songs with the added members.
I‘m loving the new record, are you pleased with the reception so far?
Thank you. Yes, it seems like some people are really getting into the record. It sometimes gets misunderstood as simple folk music, and when looked at from that angle, a person might not see the complexity that is masked by the more accessible aspects to the songs. But when people do get what we are doing, we are really appreciative.
What’s your favourite song to play live?
Everyone in the band has a different favorite, and we have a hard time making set lists. Right now, I like playing Death Wish or This Year best.
For the uninitiated, how would you describe Bowerbirds? Who are your influences?
We are influenced by all kinds of music: dubstep, African kora music, 60s and 70s rock and folk, jazz, Alice Coltrane, Charles Mingus, movie soundtracks, Beyonce, and basically anything we hear and like. We draw from a lot of sources, but mostly are trying to be as original as possible. We really don’t want to sound like other artists.
What’s going on with all the Vans?
Yeah, our North American tour involved a lot of van breakdowns. It started with a minor repair, during which the mechanic dropped a bolt into the engine, had to take the whole thing apart, and then couldn’t figure out how to put it back together again correctly. So our van was haemorrhaging oil the rest of our journey and kept breaking down. We think it is totally ruined. We abandoned it in Mississippi and will deal with it when we get home. We had to rent a lot of other vans along the way.
Have you been to Brighton before? How was the reception?
We have played Brighton once, back in 2008. It was really fun. We played with another band, who did a cover of Rihanna’s Umbrella, which made our month, because that was the song we had been singing in the van.
I see you are playing Lollapalooza. What would be your dream festival line up?
Radiohead, Archers of Loaf, Toumani Diabate, Alice Coltrane, Cat Power.
Bowerbirds are supported by the excellent Early Ghost who are always worth a listen. Hope to see you there!
Hailing from Coventry in the UK, Stylusboy plays Indie-folk. His ‘Whole Picture EP’ is a very fine listen and he must surely be one of the hardest working musicians on Twitter! Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome Stylusboy to the blog and do give his music a listen – it is well worth your time.
Who is Stylusboy, what does he do and where does the moniker come from (assuming it’s not your real name!)?
No you’re right it isn’t on my birth certificate! My name is Steve Jones and Stylusboy came about when I was creating an email address. I wanted a memorable address and using my name in my email meant it had loads of numbers in it! At the time I was in front of a well-known printer and thought stylus sounded cool and then just added the boy on the end. When I started writing and recording these folk songs I put them online as Stylusboy, as I felt it sounded a bit more interesting than using my name!
Tell us about your latest EP ‘Whole Picture’
Whole Picture EP is a 6 track EP that was released in June by Lazy Acre records (http://lazyacrerecords.blogspot.com/). It is a pay what you want release where you name your price for it via bandcamp or at gigs.
I recorded with my friend Chris in his studio over lots of evening and weekends. Chris was brilliant to record with, as he really challenged me musically and creatively. The songs are about my family, forgiveness, loss and hope and all sorts of other things.
The physical EP comes in a handcrafted cover which I make myself. When people buy the EP they also get a second copy of the EP to pass on to someone else who they think will enjoy it.
Have you found that you return to recurring themes in your music? If so what are classic themes in Stylusboy lyrics?
I ask a lot of questions of life in my lyrics and make observation and comments I guess. I talk a lot about my family and things like hope, love and loss.
I think my favourite tune on the EP is, ‘Beyond the Flags’, what is the story behind that song?
Beyond the Flags is inspired by a story I read about an Australian swimming in an open water swimming club. In this club he was always told that he had to swim inside the flags, but no one ever explained why. After a few years he kept asking if he could swim beyond the flags, but was never allowed. So after a while, he left the club and decided for himself where to swim. So the song talks about doing things differently and actually how the swimmer found more happiness and peace when he did things a little bit differently to the way he was always told to.
I love a vocal harmony and you do this very well – who do you sing with on this EP?
I sing with Rachel Grisedale who is a good friend. I met her a number of years ago when I recorded my first EP ‘Fingerprint’, and I asked her to sing on it. After that she sang at some of the live gigs and now we are writing songs together. Beyond the Flags was actually a collaboration too.
There is lots of interesting instrumentation on the EP – what instruments can we find on there?
On Whole Picture I play acoustic guitar, bass, glockenspiel, a little bit of banjo. My friend Chris played the keyboards and Tim played drums. Another friend of mine Pete played Cello too.
What is your musical history/background?
I learnt to play guitar when I was a teenager and I have been in a couple of loud guitar bands that did pretty well. I’ve also played in a band called Kanute who are still around. They are an amazing hip-hop/dance band. I can’t read music and a lot of what I what write are chords that I work out that sound good together!
Stylusboy seems quite a mellow chap – does he have a hard rocking alter-ego?
I guess I am pretty mellow really! In terms of music I like all sorts of music and some loud guitar bands like Idlewild, Pearl Jam and Switchfoot. I still have my telecaster and amp which one day may make an appearance!
I became aware of your music via Twitter – how has the new social media helped you as an artist?
Twitter is brilliant. I love how it allows people to connect with other people and build friendships. For me as an artist it is great to write, record and perform songs and before things like Twitter I could only connect with fans while at the gig or through email. Now I can ask people about songs when I demoing, then after the gig too. However, I also just enjoy getting to know people generally and I discover an amazing amount of creativity through Twitter like singer songwriters, bands, photographers, bloggers (like yourself), artists and film makers.
You’re always up to something original – living room gigs, remixes etc. What else have you done/do you have in the pipeline?
In the New Year I am going to be releasing a remix EP and a little live album which I have recorded at the house shows I played earlier in the year. I recorded the shows on a little hand held digital recorder and they have a great bootleg feel to them. They are not perfect recordings and they are not meant to be by any means, but they have a lovely vibe about them.
Please tell us about your video project
I am going to be making a video with my friend and film-maker Laura Meades, who I actually met through Twitter. A number of people are currently remixing the songs from my Whole Picture EP and the video is going to be for the remix of ‘Something Worth Keeping’. Last Christmas one of my favourite bands, Sleeping at Last, asked people to send in film of Christmas things for a video they were making. I contributed some and it features in the video, so I was inspired by this idea. I have asked my fans to send in photos of things that are worth keeping, things that are special to them. People have now sent in some lovely photos of things like special places, their first car and wedding rings. I am beginning filming with Laura in the New Year which I very excited about.
What’s coming next in regards to musical output?
As I release the remix EP and live record I will continue to write songs for my album. I currently have 5 songs written and am now working on more. I am not planning a time scale for this as it is not something I am going to rush. It will be recorded and released some time in 2012 hopefully!
Do you have any gigs coming up? Where can we find out about them?
Yeah I have a number of gigs booked for 2012 included the Warwick Arts Centre in February. This is a lovely seated theatre venue. You can find out about my gigs by joining my mailing list or looking at: http://www.Stylusboy.co.uk
Musical Influences – who would you say are your top 3?
Although it’s not obvious in my music, Elbow are a huge influence on me – I just love their songs; the emotions that they portray and the interesting melodies and rhythms. Also I am a big fan of Laura Marling, I think she is an incredible talent. Last night I was listening to Document by REM for a new blog project I am involved with and I realised how much they actually influence my music. Lyrically, I like Michael Stipe’s imagery and style of melody. My influences change quite a bit!
What have been your fave records of 2011?
I think Laura Marling’s album is brilliant and one of my highlights definitely. I have been listening to a lot of records that I already own this year. I am involved in a project on a blog called Compact Discussion, where I am listening to and writing about an album a week I already own which is great!
Is there a big/strong music scene in Coventry? Who else should we be looking out for?
Coventry has a very strong music scene, but sadly the masses are not always that interested in it. There are a number of brilliant singer songwriters around like Al Britton, Wes Finch, David Sanders, Cliff Hands and Kristy Gallacher. There are some great bands like The Shackletons, Shockparade and Sympathy State.
