Now, we attempted simple hand claps, as, y’know, that’s what they are! But, that sounds crap. So, like all budding self-producing artists, we referred to the endless resource that is The Internet, and found some excellent anecdotes of some old Motown techniques for producing the perfect hand clap. Apparantly banging two planks of wood together creates a nice percussive tone, as does hitting a phone book with a stick. So, if it was good enough for the Godfathers of Clap, it was good enough for us. Will and I then proceeded to follow this advice and I must admit the tones were fantastic. I did have a bizarre moment where I realised that, in the absence of a phone book at my disposal, I was actually hitting the face of a poor unsuspecting model on the front of one of mother’s clothing catalogues. Nonetheless, the whacked book creates quite the percussive tone.

As mentioned in my last post, we are planning to doff our caps to The Stills – Snakecharming the Masses for the climactic outro of Invisible Lives. So, not content with the sounds created by wood banging and catalogue bashing, we then tickled a tea cup, thumped a drum stool, rattled a radiator and pounded a carpet covered bass trap. These created an array of sounds that we will come back to in another session to arrange appropriately. If we can get anywhere near the intense poly-rhythms of the aforementioned Stills song, we’ll be happy.

We also filled our time with imbibing some curry, adding some pianock to Reels of Light, as well as having honorary listens to Heartmachines, Spider Days and Lotus. We are quietly confident that the songs we have begun to record are now at the fine tuning stage, so we now need to turn our attention to writing… ahem, I mean recording the middle of the album.

I ended the evening with a fascinating chat with Nick (the 6th Hour) about the lack of anything exciting and enjoyable in the current music scene, and a realisation that the new music of 2004 and 2005 was of such a staggering prolificity and quality that the subsequent years have not come close to matching it. Seriously, take a look at your music collection and I’m sure plenty of it will be 04/05 vintage. Incidentally, if you know of anything out at the minute that is particularly inventive or enjoyable, please tell, as we are all complaining of a new music enjoyment deficiency.

Until next time, stay cool won’t you.

Luke

Your loyalty and patience is the kindling to the fire in our bellies.

I guess we’re back, but so is the silence (for a while at least). We’ve had babies, haircuts, showers and new ventures since last we spoke and now, as we enter the dark period of the year, we are pleased to speak to you, our good friends, again. After all, Golden Hours look and feel much better at this time of year.

Fatherhood takes its toll on time and creative energy, so it is probably for the best that we have been working hard on committing our existing music to record, rather than focussing on any new creations other than our progeny. The recording has been quite the task considering the premium of time at our disposal, but we are quietly confident that we are taking the first tentative steps towards finishing this thing.

Last night three quarters of us had a chance to review Reels of Light and Invisible Lives, before enjoying the sonic qualities of The Stills – Snakecharming The Masses, from which we took inspiration for the potentially glorious climax  of Invisible Lives. There was a moment listening to Reels, when fantastic simplicity helped clear the quagmire of whethertos and whyfors, and Alex simply stated, “let’s remove the harmonies”. So we did that, down to one, low, sultry lead vocal in the midst of the bizarre crashing of the slow-mo digital wave of Will’s creation, and by jove, it worked. In that moment, the song that looked like it needed to be torn up, set alight and buried, had found its identity and we realised that the song was closer to completion than ever before. Its quite amazing how the removal of layers can help give a song focus. Buoyed by this apparent break-through we moved onto Invisible Lives, which, in contrast, needed some harmonies added. That was quite the roller-coaster with a lead singer who’s voice was worn out from criminal under-use, and a backing vocalist who, when not fog-horning, was coughing into the microphone. Still, I think we managed to get some useable takes recorded, so on another day we will go through those with a fine tooth-comb. That took us to about 10.30pm, which was way past we Daddys’s bedtimes. So, a line was drawn under our modest, yet truly essential, return to the studio. We’ll be back next week, and relentlessly until our opus primum is complete.

Until next time, I leave you with two great songs with ‘Babies’ in the title:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58X68rQ4GJE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38by00DGid0&ob=av2n

All the best,

Luke

We haven’t spoken since the terrible winter of ‘10 covered the nation in snow, us included. We’ve been buried in our secret hideout, digging our way out, and our shovels have only just broken the surface. It’s nice to be out in the sun.

But as well as tunnelling out, we’ ve been hard at work on some new recordings. Hopefully those will be gracing your earholes soon (though I’m sure I’ve said that before…)

In the meantime, you can still hear our songs Pioneering and Wash The Night Eyes on the music page, or Spotify, or iTunes.

Enjoy the spring.

Album Club is a semi-regular thing where we talk about an album which has influenced us, is important to us, or one that we simply enjoy listening to. Like a book club, but with albums. This week it’s my choice: The Century Of Self, by …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

I can’t help but feel proud of Trail Of Dead. Admittedly their fourth album So Divided felt a bit tired, but The Century Of Self is the sound of a reinvigorated band, a fuck-you to their critics and their old label Interscope. I’m inspired by their ability to write weighty, concept-heavy songs without sounding like stoned teenagers.

Have a listen on Spotify and leave a comment below.

Album Club is a semi-regular thing where we talk about an album which has influenced us, is important to us, or one that we simply enjoy listening to. Like a book club, but with albums. This week it’s Sam’s choice: Genesis Live, by Genesis.

Here’s what the All Music Guide has to say:

… what we hear on this album, which has now been upgraded on CD at least twice, once in the ’90s and again in 2009 as part of the Genesis Live 1973-2007 box set, are the definitive interpretations of these pieces by this version of the band, more so than the studio originals … [This] is about the best single-LP representation of what this band could do on-stage.

Have a listen on Spotify and leave a comment below.

I have been waiting since the very first Album Club for this week’s choice to be added to Spotify in order for me to be able to invite y’all to listen to it.

Now, the back story. I first heard of Blossom Toes when sifting through an old copy of Shindig! Magazine. It compared the little known 60s psychedelia band as a more edgy and raucous version of the Small Faces. As a huge fan of the Small Faces, I was intrigued. Imagine my joy when I discovered a copy of Blossom Toes’ second album ‘If Only for a Moment’ on vinyl in my Dad’s record collection! I gave it a listen as soon as I could and from the opening notes of the truly insane ‘Peace Loving Man’ I was hoooked… I don’t think there have been many better album openers… EVER! (Doesn’t sound much like Small Faces to me though… )

The album develops from the intense Peace Loving Man into a psych-prog-rock journey through the deepest recesses of the late 60s! In fact, even the record sleeve recounts the band members’ stories from the recording of this album, and it sounds like a truly hazy wedge of a bygone era.

Blossom Toes are widely remembered for their first album ‘We are Ever so Clean’ and its twee and wistful pschedelic pop vibe, but the daring and edgy’ If Only for a Moment’ is a far better record in my opinion. I truly hope you listen to this and enjoy it. We always recommend giving Album Club records at least 3 listens, and that may be required here more than before. You definitely need to get your head in the right ’space’ for it, but once there, the listen is one hell of an experience. Best served in a cosy bedroom with the lights off, some wine and plenty of incense burning. Take yourself to 1969 and it will make the listening experience all the better. ENJOY!

You can hear it on Spotify here.

Please feel free to post your comments on the album here…

Album Club is a semi-regular thing where we talk about an album which has influenced us, is important to us, or one that we simply enjoy listening to. Like a book club, but with albums. This week it’s my choice: Spirit Of Eden, by Talk Talk.

This is the moment when Talk Talk completely shed the New Romantic pop sound they’d started from: Spirit Of Eden is slow, contemplative, almost ambient. Each song is given room to grow, and the use of reverb and organ gives the album a hushed, churchlike atmosphere – which makes the loud bits (notably the chorus of “Desire”) all the more powerful.

This album has soundtracked many late nights for me – and each time, listening on headphones at 2am, Mark Hollis seems to be singing to me alone.

Listen on Spotify or last.fm, or buy it from a shop.

Album Club is a semi-regular thing where we talk about an album which has influenced us, is important to us, or one that we simply enjoy listening to. Like a book club, but with albums. This week it’s Sam’s choice: The Hazards Of Love, by The Decemberists.

I’m pleased as punch that Sam’s picked this one, as it was my favourite album of last year. I described it as “a folk-rock prog-opera about the star-crossed love affair of a prostitute and a forest-sprite which somehow manages to reference Shakespeare, Welsh mythology and Bon Jovi while still making sense.”

Sam simply said “killer riffs dude!”

Listen on Spotify, the band’s website or MySpace, or buy it from a shop.

A new week, a new album.

For me, this is an album by an artist which came to my attention through blissfully serendipitous occurences. From the first moment that I heard ‘Six Feet of Rope and Revenge’ (which is criminally not actually on this album) I felt like this band were perfect for me. I kept an eye on their career and bought their debut album as soon as I could and it wasn’t a disappointment.  Highlights for me are Thirteen Times the Strength and One Wrong Door.

The album specialises in soaring, epic indie/pop and I hope you enjoy it.

You can hear it at Spotify here.

Comments below please squires…