M U S I C L I S T E N E R

Update

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:20:55 +0100

Hello hello,

Things have been eerily quiet around these parts of late. That’s because the main updates are now happening over at my website, www.francinegorman.co.uk.

To read in depth interviews with the likes of Efterklang, Yeasayer, Tom Jones, Marques Toliver and Karin Park, please head to www.francinegorman.co.uk and have a look around.

Francine x

Hello.

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:05:00 +0100

I’ve updated my website with some recent reviews and work, feel free to have a nosey around by clicking on the link below.

www.francinegorman.co.uk

Thanks a lot!

Francine x

Live Review - Tom Jones

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:22:00 +0100

Tom Jones - Hammersmith Apollo, London 01/07/12

Published by The Line of Best Fit.

The doors are early. At 6.30pm, I’m normally finishing up the day’s work and arranging to go for a drink before we head to the venue in a couple of hours’ time. Tonight’s different though, different crowd, different part of town. Tonight there will be no support act. Tonight, Sir Tom Jones plays a headline London show, so I find myself on a (very) early evening tube with a lot of people in their 50s and 60s, heading west to review the show. And tonight, I have an assistant. Accompanying me is my mum Denise, who will be providing tonight’s commentary from the perspective of a 55 year old fan, to somewhat balance out the cynical opinion of myself, a 25 year old music critic. She’s well qualified, her last major concert was the Foo Fighters back in 2001, and since then she’s been to a few local hardcore shows in support of her drummer son. And she watched every episode of The Voice.

The venue this evening is the Hammersmith Apollo, a 1930s theatre that I’ve only once before visited, around 15 years ago to see Phillip Schofield perform in Dr. Doolittle, complete with animatronics. That was a great day, so we’re hoping tonight will shape up to be of a similar standard. Hammersmith Apollo, or Hammersmith Odeon as both my co-reviewer and Sir Tom would refer to it throughout the night, is a 3’600 seat concert hall. “It could do with a lick of paint,” Denise comments of the tatty walls and threadbare seats upon arriving, but there’s something quite poetic about seeing Tom Jones, a man whose career is enjoying a form of renaissance, in a venue which, recently inducted into that soulless chain of concert venues now referred to as the HMV ‘whatever’, has also been given a second chance. For all of its weariness though, there’s no debate that this is a venue steeped in history, from that historic Blondie performance of 1980, to a fracas after a Public Enemy show leading the venue to ban rap music performances for the next few years.

Tonight shall be no ordinary Tom Jones concert. Denise has been forewarned of the fact that this show is part of 2012’s Blues Fest, a series of events which has brought the likes of Van Morrison, George Benson and Ronnie Wood back to the London stage. As such, we’re prepared for the fact that this might not be a concert of hits, pray as I may that the opening notes of tonight’s performance will be the intro to ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’.

As suspected, they’re not. The show this evening will be an altogether more sombre affair, as Sir Tom explains in his opening address to the crowd. “This is a blues festival. So we’re going to play some blues!” And so they do, kicking off proceedings with a cover of Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Soul of a Man’. Working his way through tracks from new record Spirit In The Room as well as 2010’s Praise and Blame and a few favourite covers, Jones’ voice is phenomenal - deeper, more rich and more powerful than ever before. “What a voice, no-one’s got a voice like Tom Jones,” says co-commentator Denise. In fact, the whole performance is note perfect, aside from a fairly laboured duet with ‘up and coming popster’ Josh Osho (“No, wasn’t keen on that” - Denise) and the charming part where the 72 year old Jones forgets the opening words to Paul McCartney’s ‘(I Want To) Come Home’ and requires his son to come on stage for a swift prompt. There’s a warmth and palpable passion about the performance, a collection of Tom Jones’ favourite songs from his preferred genres of blues and soul, and although Jones is clearly enjoying the vocal theatrics that these tracks inspire, as well as appreciating the remarkable musicianship demonstrated by his band, the crowd’s reaction is pretty flat. And Sir Tom has noticed.

“What he understands better than a lot of young performers do, is that the people here want to hear his older songs,” Denise remarks of the crowd’s reaction. “Even if it’s a blues thing, we want to hear the bigger songs that we’ve all grown up with.” But it’s not until a good 15 songs into the set that the audience is really set alight, when Sir Tom sends his two guitarists to the front of the stage to sing the opening phrases of that ol’ Jones classic, ‘Green, Green Grass of Home.’ Up until this point, the crowd’s reaction hasn’t been cold, it’s been appreciative… but tepid. This song, however, triggers the rapturous applause and feverish adoration that Tom Jones concerts are so well known for. As honest, meaningful and rich as the blues tracks may have been, there’s no doubting what most of the people in the room are here for, and that’s to hear the hits.

I personally am a much bigger fan of the blues numbers than my co-reviewer tonight, and I embrace Jones’ impeccable croon as he rounds the set off with Leonard Cohen’s ‘Tower of Song’, as well as ‘Evil’, the Howlin’ Wolf cover that Jones recorded and released with Jack White earlier this year.

Leaving the stage for a few minutes, Jones soon returns to commence the encore. As the opening notes of ‘Delilah’ fill the room, the crowd is finally given the long-awaited opportunity to go mad. And they do. A delighted atmosphere spills over into the final song of the evening, Tom Jones’ renowned cover of Prince’s ‘Kiss’ accompanied by a chorus of squealing 50 year old women. It’s as though a tension has been eased in the room, as the crowd hear what they came to hear, and Sir Tom is able to give his adoring audience what they want.

(Fortunately) no knickers were lost in tonight’s proceedings, and I count myself as one of the crowd members who very much enjoyed the opportunity to see a star that has been so boxed in by his success given the opportunity to spread his wings a bit. Denise would’ve rather heard a few more of the big tunes. And she didn’t like it when it went a bit jazzy, but her overall verdict? “He’s still got it.” Can’t argue with that.

Interview - Matthew Dear

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:10:27 +0100

“I’m not saying the album’s all teddy bears and roses…” : Best Fit meets Matthew Dear

By Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best Fit]

“In Europe in general, I think London’s probably the top place for us to play as a band,” states Matthew Dear as he sits at a table in the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, nursing a tea and preparing for his performance later this evening. “The support and the energy that people bring, it’s always consistent, so it’s always a good thing.” And he’s not wrong. It may be a Monday evening, but this corner of East London is bustling, the bar overflowing with eager spectators turned out to witness Dear’s sold out show. New York based Dear’s rise to prominence has been a steady one, and one that’s certainly set to continue as he unveils the news that his latest album is ready to go.

“It’s coming out in August,” he smiles, “it’s mastered, it’s mixed… it’s sitting there, waiting. It’s champing on the bit!” Beams will be the fifth full length release from Detroit originaire Dear, who first made a name for himself in the Detroit techno scene where he co-founded his current label home of Ghostly International. An acclaimed DJ, Dear released music under the monikers Audion, Jabberjaw and False before stepping out as Matthew Dear, the musician that we’ve come to know and to love, and the one who’s sitting in front of me, explaining how he put his latest album together.

“Everything was done at my home studio, but this time, we took all of the tracks and mixed it at an outside studio,” he explains of the process. “I went to a place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with a guy named Nicolas Vernhes in the Rare Book Room Studio. When I make a song in the studio, I work I work I work, maybe five hours go by and I think ‘ok, i’m getting a little tired… I think it’s finished, I like it like this.’ Then i’ll pass it around to the label and Sam [Valenti] at Ghostly [International] will listen to it, i’ll take it through my headphones and walk around the city or whatever, and then i’m done with it. But this time, I took everything apart, I took it to the studio and all of a sudden you get this new set of ears. So Nicolas would say ‘hold on, let me try this, and what if I make this sound a little quieter here’, and that’d make room for a little guitar part or something, so i’d go into the studio and add things. All of a sudden, songs that I thought were finished were opened up again and I got to see them from a new perspective, whereas in the past, I didn’t feel like re-entering that headspace. But this time, I felt like I had more energy to add more.”

And there’s certainly a sense of energy about the record. The brighter, lighter vibe that was first introduced on January’s Headcage EP rolls through Beams’ tracks, with Dear describing the overall tone of the record as “more dancey, more upbeat” than his previous work. A notably prolific songwriter and worker, Dear goes on to reflect on his method of reviving old ideas and adding a new, perhaps wiser perspective to them.

“[There are] a couple of old things [on the album]. There’s one song called ‘Shake Me’ that I wrote when I wrote ‘Gem’ on ‘Black City. I wrote a bunch of songs back to back, and that was back in 2003. So I pulled them out and did new versions for the album that became Black City. ‘Shake Me’ almost became a version of that song for this album. I like representing my old self as well. It’s weird, I have these little songs from when I was 23 or 24, and in a totally different headspace. And to include those on modern day albums is weird, it feels like i’m bringing a past soul back into the process.”

On to the new album then, and the origins which inspired it. Dear’s last effort, 2010’s Black City was widely recognised as the product of the sensations experienced when relocating to the vast metropolis that is New York City. It was an album that was home to dark, brooding tones and driving new wave rhythms. So where did the new album come from, and is it thematic as are his previous albums?

“This album’s called Beams, and beams are represented in a couple of ways. You have beams of a building,” he says, tapping the conveniently placed beam supporting the wall next to our table. “I feel like the songs are the beams of my life and the album, holding everything together. And then you have sunlight, beams of light, so optimism and colour. It’s still on the tail end of this black city experience where the dust is still settling. But Black City was done at a time when I was working non-stop, touring, travelling all over the world and seeing all of these really black cities - London, Tokyo, always being in the grime, and I think that album represented the style of my life. Whereas now, that beam is the step out of it, but a very peaceful step. So Beams is all about that.” “It’s weird when you’re coming up with a title, because you really have to think. You can’t force it, you really can’t overdo it. And that one just popped up, so I thought about the different ways it could be meaningful, and it still sticks with me. I’m happy with it.”

The build up to Beams has been one involving extensive touring and continual writing. A high profile support slot to Interpol as they toured their eponymous latest album brought Dear and his band to the attention of many throughout Europe, before he went on to make acclaimed appearances at festivals around the world. His fusion of dark, new wave tones, unexpected instrumentation (trumpeter Greg Paulus always providing sonic highlights) and pop hooks have led Dear to steadily and surely become one of the most interesting and outgoing propositions of his field.

“We learned how to be really quick!” Dear laughs, as he responds to the question of lessons learnt on the road with Interpol. “Because we only had 30 minutes, and you have to set up and get out in a heartbeat. So you get really road tough and road ready. Then just seeing their production and to see how a band like that operates, coming in with two trailers, setting it up, playing a show, tearing it down, every night… But you get to the point of plugging everything in without thinking about it - it’s more about the process, so it’s good, it refines it.”

Of a Matthew Dear performance, it’s the main man himself that is the most striking. Tall, impeccably coiffed and known for his tendency to sport sharp suits, Dear moves about the stage ensuring that each inch of it, as well as every member of the crowd is invited, engaged and involved in the sonic world that he’s creating. A frontman emanating charisma and confidence on stage, it’s surprising how modest and softly spoken Dear is in ‘real life’. So how natural is it to produce this on stage performance, and how did touring stadium size venues with Interpol affect this?

“On the Interpol tour, it’s a get up and play and get off stage kind of thing. You always feel like you’re here for their fans, but people are there to see Interpol so you just want to do your thing and not get in the way. But again, back to the whole process of it all, it gets you to a place where you can really do what you do and not over think it. I’m definitely far more comfortable in my skin doing what I do on stage now as opposed to 2006 or 2007 when I first started with the band. But it’s always a learning process, i’m definitely not there yet. But I don’t think I ever want to be there. I always feel like you have to get better at something, it’s never perfect.”

As we wind up our interview to allow Matthew to prepare for the show, conversation turns to his writing process and whether, almost ten years after releasing his first album, he retains the same tried and tested method and approach.

“It’s always about whatever’s inside. Black City was turmoil, it was intensity so that became the theme for the album, whereas Beams, I was much more rested. But it’s hard to say, I think I was trying to listen to whatever guiding light was somewhere within and letting that take over the songwriting process. I’m not saying the album’s teddy bears and roses, it’s still got its dark side but there’s a definite tinge of colour in there.”

Beams will be released through Ghostly International on 27 August 2012.

Interview - Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:01:24 +0100

“Such is the unpredictable world of trying to be creative”: Best Fit Meets Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

By Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best Fit]

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs: one guy, a whole host of costumes and magnificently matched tones, beats and timbres. It’s this recipe that has placed Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, aka TEED, aka Orlando Higginbottom so prominently at the forefront of music loving minds over the past 18 months, and why the anticipation for his debut album Trouble to drop has been so… troubling. His outstanding live performances featuring dancers, extravagant headdresses and outfits, and carefully plotted setlists designed to lift listeners to the point of rapture have made him one of Europe’s most coveted live acts and now, he’s finally released his debut full length album. We catch up with Orlando Higginbottom at home, a few days after wrapping up a much praised headline show at London’s Koko to hear more about how Trouble came to life.

“I had Rob Da Bank and Zinc supporting, which was kind of… amazing!” Higginbottom comments coyly of his recent Koko show. “And I was lucky, the weather was incredible so everyone was in this great mood.”

The live show is where a huge amount of TEED’s following first came across the artist. With Higginbottom being an incessant tourer boasting an acclaimed live show, our conversation naturally begins by discussing whether he was always a comfortable performer, or whether nerves have ever played a part in his musical life. “I get a lot of adrenaline before a show,” he comments. “I’ve had a few shows where I’ve been nervous, but on the whole, it’s fine. Even early on, I wasn’t really nervous, it was just the odd one where there was a lot of pressure that I’d think ‘Ah. Fuck.’ It’s the ones where I know that it’s going to be shit where I get nervous!”

Such extensive touring has given the Oxford native occasion to not only create a dazzling live show, but also to air the tracks prepared for his long awaited debut album, Trouble. “I’m very excited [about the release]” Higginbottom states. “Of course, i’m a bit nervous. There’s a lot of work that I’ve put into it and it’s a very personal thing that i’m putting out there. So i’m nervous about how people are going to take it, but on the other hand, I don’t really care how people take it. I made it, that’s what I wanted to make so there’s nothing else I can do really. I am excited and I have no idea what’s going to happen with it. I don’t know if it’s going to sell any copies at all, or a thousand copies, so it’ll be a surprise.”

Trouble is certainly not TEED’s first release, having already put out five EPs, a plethora of remixes and enjoyed viral online success with the track ‘Garden’. So when it came to writing an album rather than an EP length burst of sound, did the writing approach need to be modified? Was there a need to plan more intricately what was going to take place?

“There was definitely no theme that I was working with, musically I didn’t really know,” he responds. “All I knew was that I wanted to keep writing an album until I felt like there was an album, until it took shape. What I can say is that at first, I didn’t think I’d be singing on it that much. I thought i’d just be singing on three or four songs, but I think there’s only one instrumental song on there which now, doesn’t seem surprising to me at all but if i’d said that to myself a year and a half ago, it would’ve been like, ‘oh wow, so you’re a singer then, are you?’. So that was something that took me by surprise. My plan with it was really just to explore the idea of a dance music album and why that doesn’t really work a lot of the time, so I was thinking about that and trying to work out what the problem is.”

The subject of the life span and validity of dance albums is a poignant topic on the day of our chat, as an interview had just been published where Higginbottom feels that his views on this matter had been misconstrued, leading to a series of clarifying messages appearing on his Twitter account.

“I did a magazine interview and I was talking about [this], and I wrote that I was thinking about why so many dance music albums don’t stand the test of time,” he explains. “But what that was understood as was that I was saying I’d written a dance music album to stand the test of time, but of course I wouldn’t say that and I wouldn’t think that. But the point was that I was thinking about that very thing, about how few dance music albums there are in everybody’s record collections, considering how popular dance music is and has been.”

“When I was a teenager, which I guess was my biggest album listening time, I used to listen to UNKLE, Psyence Fiction - I know that’s not dance, it’s electronic - but that album is incredible and still sounds incredible. Roni Size, New Forms. I was also listening to a lot of R’n’B and Hip Hop, a lot of Erykah Bahdu, Common and Dilla stuff. But I was missing those dance albums.”

“When I was making the album, I was thinking about making something that had a variety of sounds and emotions and tempos and styles and something you could really get your teeth into. Those were my aims, really. Something that would work in the car, in a home and in a club, hopefully.”

Higginbottom’s certainly not alone in reflecting on the prospective longevity, or even the relevance of the format of an album in the modern day, super fast paced, Internet led music world. As an artist who, until now, has experienced heady levels of success on the back of releasing single songs, short EPs and remixes, what does TEED think to the point of the format of an album in the current musical climate?

“It’s pretty weird, isn’t it? We still work on three modes of release - the single, the EP and the LP, and those all come from the days of vinyl. And even though there’s a bit of a vinyl resurgence - but that’s just a couple of extra kids buying records - most people buy their music from iTunes. And I think we don’t need those three formats, it’s just that we’ve built this system that we can’t break out of. So it is weird, the idea of an album now.”

“For me, I definitely wanted to put something together that you could listen to the whole way through if you wanted to, if you had an hour to spare, but more a collection of my sound really. It works as a whole, but each track has its own space. That’s how I plan on working it, and hopefully putting each one out on Soundcloud so everyone can get to know it that way. But it’s a really funny time, there isn’t a perfect way of doing this and certainly the record industry still revolves around albums. And y’know, with people like Adele, it still works.”

With a mixture of brand new songs featuring alongside some of the already well known and loved tracks that have brought Higginbottom to this point of prominence, is there a track on the album that stands out as a particular personal triumph, a song that perhaps means just a bit more than the others?

“That would probably be ‘Trouble’,” he answers quickly. “That was the first song I ever sang on the whole way through. It was a bit of a surprise to me and something I found quite scary. And I felt like I was putting my neck on the line, as it were, and now in hindsight, i’m really proud of that song and I really like it, but I was really shitting myself when I first put that out there! I had zero confidence in my voice, or the idea of me as a singer or a songwriter, so that song was a bit of a personal battle for me that ended up coming out well.”

The first whispers from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs were heard way back in 2009, with the past 18 months seeing Higginbottom enjoy radio success and a surge of popularity. As such, the opportunity must have arisen to have released an album sooner than he has. So if an album had been released earlier, would it still have had a similar feel?

“No,” he responds decisively. “I think the time I took really made this record sound as it does. If I go back to the original demos for my album, the 30 tracks that I came up with when I first decided to write an album, it’s very different stuff with a slightly different attitude. But I’m really happy about the way this has gone, it’s become increasingly honest and free, and experimental - certainly in my eyes - and that’s how I want to keep on going. Even forgetting that i’m writing dance music or whatever, and just find out what the music is that I want to write. And think about it like that. I’ve been grateful of the time - it added to the pressure massively, but the eventual record is something that i’m happy with.”

“I used to go into the studio as soon as I’d eaten some food and stay in there until I was hungry again. I loved being in the studio and I was quite happy to put the hours in, it’s what I do, and sometimes I’d spend three days there and get absolutely nowhere, sometimes I’d write and finish two tunes in 24 hours. Such is the unpredictable world of trying to be creative.”

Currently in the midst of a host of festival dates, before heading over to the States for some shows later this summer, what will the rest of the year hold for Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs? “A holiday?! Seriously, I’m really excited about the album coming out. I hope that people give it a chance, I hope people listen. And I’m just excited about touring and then sitting down and going ‘ok, I’ve done that, let’s think about the next stage’. But it’s still not out! So i’ve got a little way to go.”

Trouble is available now through Polydor.

Interview - The Walkmen

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 23:48:00 +0100

“To have something that sounds happy, rock and roll with simple lyrics, and to actually like it was a big breakthrough for us”

by Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best F it]

All the way back in 2002, The Walkmen wrote, recorded and released their debut album Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. It was an album which served to introduce the band - comprising members of two former groups, Jonathan Fire*eater and The Recoys - as a brand new, raw and thrilling musical proposition, The Walkmen. But it was their second record, 2004’s Bows and Arrows that truly brought the band to the attention of those elsewhere than the band’s home of New York, as the driving beat of lead single ‘The Rat’ quickly and thoroughly infiltrated radio stations, music channels and CD collections in Europe and the US.

Ten busy and fruitful years have passed since those early days, with the band releasing a further four albums and in this, their tenth anniversary year, unveiling the latest addition to their impressive back catalogue, the divinely titled Heaven. “It does seem like a long time,” reflects vocalist Hamilton Leithauser of the band’s lifetime.

“When you think back to ten years ago, that was a really long time ago. We were very different people, the band was very, very different back then. We were all in Harlem and we had this recording studio… It seems like thirty years ago! But when we did these tenth anniversary shows, for some reason, it just made us all feel legitimised. At first it was a little strange as it didn’t seem like something to be celebrating, necessarily. But as I said, it felt legitimising and I think it helped us to finish the record. I don’t know why, because it took ten years to get there and it was a very gradual process, but suddenly we were able to look back and think ‘well, we did this! We got here, we’re alive!’ ”

“Our whole life is different now. We used to all live in New York, we were all single guys in our early twenties and now we’re all married with kids and live all over the country. When we got our start, we played around all the different clubs in New York once a week or twice a month or something. Now it’s an international thing, where we don’t really see each other much outside of touring because we see each other so much while we’re touring. So it’s very different.”

Scattered all over the country, how do the band members go about their traditional collaborative writing process? “It’s all done very individually which is always the way that’s worked the best for us,” Hamilton responds. “We used to try and get together and have band practice with us all in the same room, but looking back, nothing good ever came of that! Just a lot of stupid jamming for hours and hours, it was really just a waste of time. But writing now, it’s very isolating, it can be really lonely and stuff, because it takes a year where you spend so may hours a week in your room by yourself. We email stuff back and forth, but honestly, we get stuff done much faster and I like the stuff we write better. It’s made our actual output more productive, I think.”

Following a few years of moderate success, the release of the group’s sixth studio album Lisbon in 2010 would see the band once again thrust into the musical limelight, with lead single ‘Angela Surf City’ becoming an instant favourite of magazines, blogs and radio stations. The album peaked at #27 in the US charts, confirming not only that there continued to exist an excited and insatiable hunger for The Walkmen’s driving, powerful brand of vintage rock, but also proving that the band had reached a stage where they could produce that style of music better than any other. Their follow up album, latest release Heaven was recorded near Seattle under the watchful eye of Phil Ek, a producer who’s very well respected in his trade having worked alongside the likes of The Shins and Fleet Foxes, but one who’s also widely regarded as a taskmaster.

“He was. He really was,” Hamilton interjects quickly. “Kind of a pain in the ass too. He did a great job, but it was actually a pain in the ass! I suppose it was easier to make [the record] because we did keep a schedule and finish on time, but it was not a walk in the park making it, it was very tough.”

“It was just the way that we play together,” Hamilton elaborates, ”the way we play a rhythm, all of the old habits that we’d fallen into - he started trying to change those. So it was really hard, because we’ve been playing in bands together for twenty years. This band has been going for ten years, but a lot of us were in bands together for ten years before that.”

The hard work seems to have paid off, with Stereogum having already touted Heaven as the second best album of the year so far. ”We wanted something a lot more dynamic and a lot richer than Lisbon,” Hamilton goes on to explain, “and I think that’s what we got. We worked with [Phil Ek] because he’d done all the Fleet Foxes records. He actually called us up and we’d just heard the new Fleet Foxes album and thought it sounded great, so we thought, let’s give him a shot. We really wanted that rich sound and I think he brought a lot of that to our songwriting, and I think we also wrote songs that were a lot more dynamic. I think we ended up making something a lot bigger and more complicated than we thought, but I like it a lot more actually.”

Photo by Ro Cemm

The Walkmen have always been a band who deal in intricacies. Melodically, rhythmically and lyrically, the five piece concentrate on creating texturally rich tracks with a bold, impressively powerful vocal and lyrics that play host to poetic nuances, stories of love, life and growing up. ”Some of it was a conscious attempt to write very simple culture classic rock songs,” Hamilton explains of the thread holding the tracks on the latest record so seamlessly together. “Like ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Love is Luck’ were attempts to be as simple as we possibly could and to write in a style that we liked. That was a big victory for us, because we can never seem to write something happy and not hate it right after we write it! So to have something that sounds happy, rock and roll with simple lyrics, and to actually like it was a big breakthrough for us. Then the other side of it I would say would be the songs ‘We Can’t Be Beat’ and ‘Heaven’, which were the two last sets of lyrics that I wrote. I wrote those after we did those tenth anniversary shows, and they aimed to capture where we are as a band, a little statement of who we are.”

A lot can change in ten years, especially when your line of business is popular music. Ten years ago, iTunes was just beginning to make ripples in the market. It was the year that Pop Idol was launched, and a year where illegal downloads were beginning to truly effect the inner workings of the music business, with Napster having been very publicly shut down the year before. So a decade later, seven albums and a fair few worldwide tours under their belts, is there a consensus that the music business is still a good place to be?

“Well, it’s pretty hard to make a living,” Hamilton replies. “You have to travel, and you sometimes have to do things like play events that you don’t want to play. You have to sell your songs sometimes, and do things you don’t really want to do. You don’t really have an option anymore, anyone that wants to try and make a bit of money does stuff like that.”

It may not have always been an easy ride for The Walkmen, but enduring passion, belief and an unparalleled way of combining vintage instruments and Hamilton’s unique, soulful, rasping vocal have led the band to firmly mark their place in the world of music. Latest album Heaven is a fitting ode to all that the band and friends have seen, done and created, with each track brilliantly harnessing the sound and sentiments that the band have so skilfully honed throughout their career. Powerful, honest and eternally romantic, here’s to another ten years of The Walkmen.

Heaven is available now through Bella Union who are currently streaming the album in its entirety at the Bella Union website.

Interview - Sébastien Tellier

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 23:40:00 +0100

“To believe in something that might not necessarily exist - that’s a beautiful thing” : Best Fit meets Sébastien Tellier

by Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best Fit]

Recognised, renowned and respected for being the man behind the sumptuous ode that is ‘La Ritournelle’, but probably best known in the UK as that quirky, hairy guy that represented France in the Eurovision a couple of years ago, Sébastien Tellier is one of the more extravagant, confusing and wildly interesting subjects that a music journalist is going to have the chance to write about. Hailed in his home country of France as something of a national hero, the Parisian singer/songwriter has spent most of his ten year career inciting conversation due to his controversial musical antics, his curious attitude and his musical quest to explore philosophy and life.

A figure of humour, musical prowess and stature to the residents of his homeland and a man of cult status to those in the UK, Sébastien Tellier returns in June, bringing with him a new approach, a new philosophy and ideas which reach much further and much wider than those typically found on an album. My God is Blue is Tellier’s fourth studio album, a blue jewel in his crown and an eccentric, playful yet musically masterful effort. We caught up with Sébastien during some down time in Paris to find out more about his latest creation and the community he’s built around it.

“I love playing in the UK, even though the dressing rooms are often filthy,” Tellier states dryly of his feelings towards his upcoming tour which sees him come to the UK in July. “But I love those ten minutes that follow a successful show, it’s a great, highly addictive sensation.” A sensation that he’ll be well used to by now, as, if nothing else, Sébastien Tellier is a true performer. Whereas many musicians are content with quietly writing, recording and releasing an album, for Tellier, the process is an involving, all encompassing experience which links life and philosophy to sounds and rhythm.

Yet as wild and spontaneous a character as he may seem, there’s a distinct method to the creation of Tellier’s work. Each of his albums plays host to a theme, and that theme is addressed directly by the title of each record. Having already looked to Politics (2004), the Universe (2006) and Sexuality (2008) as inspirational touchstones, it was perhaps only a matter of time before the concepts of religion and spirituality fell into Sébastien’s creative path.

“My God Is Blue is about spiritual awakening, and it’s the mechanism of faith that interests me the most. To believe in something that might not necessarily exist - that’s a beautiful thing,” he states before listing ”power, future, awakening” as elements which are contained on the album.

That all sounds straight forward enough, as a concept. But for those who have experienced the complexity of Tellier’s music and character in the past, it’s clear that a phrase as soft and simple as this is a mere hint at something far more grand and convoluted, as is confirmed when Tellier goes on to describe the first moments of the album’s creation.

“I recorded the album in Paris, but the reality of this world was revealed to me during a shamanic trance in Los Angeles” he explains, bluntly. “There were no words or sounds, blue pixels morphed into bricks of blue nuances. And it was after this trance that I started to construct my inexpressible truth.”

Et voilà! With this utterance, Sébastien Tellier has arrived, more colourful, ambitious and lovably bizarre than ever before. With My God is Blue, Tellier has not only created an album celebrating spirituality and belief, but a whole community surrounding the music, a community that unites Tellier’s fans in a space of freedom of expression and musical harmony. A place where his “followers” are invited to share ideas and explore their creative passions and desires. And most importantly, a place where no one thinks that all of these ideas are completely mental.

Once the inspiration had been found and the theme set, Tellier returned to Paris to his home studio where the songs were constructed and the concept given the space to flourish. But in order to realise this project, a very sympathetic producer was going to be needed, something which Tellier fortunately found in Mr. Flash, a Parisian DJ and producer signed to the prestigious electronic label Ed Banger.

“He knew how to understand my ambitions,” explains Tellier of the partnership, “and where to make space when the planes became too vast. I wanted to make a futurist album with new sensations, and Flash was perfect to help me do that.”

In a recent interview, Mr. Flash proved that he was not only sympathetic to the ambitions of Tellier and his muse, but also that he himself was on a similar musical plane and therefore beyond doubt the best man for the job, stating: “if i had to say a few words about My God Is Blue, I’d say that we tried to infuse melancholy, rock, madness, tears, rainbows, magic, hope, majestic, poetry, mystery, lights….and at the end…true love.”

And the result? Irresistible pop twinges, sublime synth hooks, rich and imaginative lyrics and an album listening experience akin to no other. Although the theme and content selected for this album may sound weighty, the music retains a lightness and a playfulness which renders each track digestible, attractive and sincere. That’s not to say that he hasn’t raised a few eyebrows however. The video for latest single ‘Cochon Ville’ depicts, well, many a naked girl dancing in a club, to put it mildly.

“This song tells us to embrace our vices - not to kill them, but to tame them,” explains Tellier of the track, before going on to advise that “we should cherish the sources of our pleasure.”

“Nowadays, we’re living in a commual ocean which is pouring into a black hole of nonsense,” Tellier goes on to explain, as he introduces the online community that he’s constructed around his latest album. “The Alliance Bleue, with and by its followers, proposes to use this ‘virtual communal energy’ to appease the curiosity, the suffering and the frustrations of mankind.”

Upon announcing the release of My God Is Blue, Tellier invited fans to join this online community - a place to share ideas, to celebrate music, to explore beliefs and a place for Tellier to impart wisdom to his ‘devotees’, such as “Message Bleu #11 : Tout est vrai dans la tête du fou / All is true in the mind of the madman.” It’s a space for Tellier to further explore his ideas and interests and to share them with his fans, something which he’s looking forward to doing when he heads off on tour next month, ”Now my concerts are the time for me to meet my followers and to transmit the messages of Dieu Bleu [blue God].”

Eccentric, intelligent and completely original, 2012 has been crying out for someone like Sébastien Tellier to return to lighten the mood, to lead us to the dance floor, and to propose a fresh, eclectic and slightly twisted view of modern life. And one thing’s for sure - the world is certainly a much brighter (and bluer) place because of him.

My God is Blue is released through Record Makers on 4 June.

Biography - Faye

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 23:32:46 +0100

Biography for FAYE commissioned by Best Fit Recordings.

An artist whose sound is described as understated, evocative, catchy and commanding, Best Fit Recordings are extremely proud to announce the signing of Swedish siren FAYE to their family of artists, a songstress whose perfect blend of electronica and pop leaves an indelible impression upon all who listen in.

The story behind Swedish vocalist Faye Hamlin is by no means a usual one. How many singers can say that they spent their adolescence touring the world with the likes of Destiny’s Child and Aaron Carter as one quarter of hugely successful, multi-million selling all-girl group Play? Not many. And even fewer have been able to go on to create music with as much integrity and stylistic prowess as that in which Faye is so naturally and brilliantly releasing today.

Alongside long time friends and musical partners, Swedish production powerhouse Montauk, FAYE, formerly known as Fanny, is set to unveil her latest single, the dynamic, compelling and addictive ‘Water Against The Rocks’ on 25 June. Blending FAYE’s pristine vocals and sumptuous harmonies with gleaming synths and a seamless electronic backdrop, ‘Water Against The Rocks’ is the stunning sonic representation of FAYE breaking away from her pop roots and embarking on a much deeper, more personal and highly adventurous musical journey.

Interview - Tom Jones

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 23:24:00 +0100

Tower of Song : The Line of Best Fit meets Tom Jones

by Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best Fit]

“I don’t like sitting around too much,” states Sir Tom Jones as he welcomes me to the hotel lounge that will be his press-hosting home for the day. “Something to drink?” he offers hospitably as he generously fills a glass. I thank him and place it on the table, knowing full well that I’ll be far too nervous to ever touch it. It’s a miserable London day outside, drizzly, grey and dull. And in front of me is Tom Jones, dressed entirely in black save for a handsome grey scarf, his LA/St Tropez tan radiant against the darkness of his attire.

Where does one even start when looking to write an introduction to Tom Jones? Would it be best to begin with the illustrious body of work that he’s produced during his (very nearly) 50 year long career? How about the innumerable collaborations and celebrated friendships, which see every person that comes into contact with the Welsh crooner being placed within two degrees of separation from his ol’ pal Elvis? Of course, his off stage antics and reputation as the ultimate ladies’ man are worthy of a mention, with every band that’s ever had a pair of knickers thrown on stage at them owing something to the jovial gentleman sat in front of me today. Above all though, it’s that voice. That unmistakable, soul filled husk of a Valley voice that’s adorned stages around the world, adverts for anything you’d care to think of, sold more than 100 million records and soundtracked everything from Edward Scissorhands and The Simpsons, to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He’s currently starring as a judge and guru on BBC1’s The Voice and at 71 years old, has just played his first major role in a tv show, King of the Teds. So no, he really isn’t one to sit around. As many projects as he may have on the go, today we’re talking about Jones’ first and truest love, the reason that he does what he does, the music.

“We did it in the same studio as we did Praise and Blame, which was my last album, with the same producer, Ethan Johns,” Tom explains of putting his most recent album Spirit in the Room together, his sentences bathed in his trademark Welsh lilt. “We used basically the same process - a small amount of musicians, no headphones, no separation, all in one room. Except for the drums, we had to put the girl that played them in a room because drums spill. Then when I talked to Ethan about it, we thought we’d just kick it up a notch, we’d spread it out more than Praise and Blame, which was more of a gospel kind of thing.”

Spirit in the Room, remarkably Jones’ 39th studio record sees the singer release his second album of covers in a row, this time angling more towards rock and blues influences than the gospel and soul of his previous release. “Well I thought, what if we pick a song from songwriters that I like to listen to? And then I thought about which ones they’d be. [We recorded a track by] Bob Dylan which didn’t make the ten but will be released as a bonus track, and Tom Waits, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon, then some old blues. Odetta’s track ‘Hit or Miss’ is on there, which is one of the few songs that she actually wrote. She was a folk-blues singer, Odetta, and she wrote this song which I thought was great because it’s all about being yourself. You’ve got to do it your own way, hit or miss. Whether you succeed or not, you’ve got to do it your own way. We looked for meaningful songs that would sound real coming from me, not to do something that wouldn’t sound true.”

And that’s exactly what he’s done. By selecting a mixture of humble and relatable tracks, Spirit in the Room is about as true an album as they come. It marks a comfortable spot where Jones feels happy to create what feels most pure and honest to himself in his current position. Gone are the days of dying his hair and clinging on to the rapture of youth, this is an album for the grown up Tom Jones.

“We looked for real songs, like Leonard Cohen’s. I like him. With ‘Tower of Song’, we were thinking about either doing that one, or ‘I’m Your Man’ was another one. But we thought maybe [the latter] would be a little too… cliché. I’ve done macho songs before, so, you know… But ‘Tower of Song’ is about as real as I can get, it’s about what I do!” says Tom, before going on to emphatically quote the tracks lyrics. ” “My friends are gone and my hair is grey/ I ache in the places where I used to play!/And I’m crazy for love, but i’m not coming on…” (laughs) If I could write that well, I’d write that. And then he sings about Hank Williams, and I always liked Hank Williams. “I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does he get/Hank Williams hasn’t answered me yet/But I hear him coughing all night long…”, it was all very meaningful. The reviews for Praise and Blame, which was released two years ago now, were really great and they said, ‘Now Tom is stripped down, you can really hear what he’s wanting to say…’, thank God for that! [The idea] worked so well, so why not stay on the same track but widen it?”

Although getting a bit more serious on this release, there’s still a tinge of that trademark humour and playfulness flowing through the record, found most prominently on Tom’s cover of a Tom Waits track. “I love [Tom Waits’] new album which is called Bad As Me, so I thought I wanted to do one of those songs as there are so many great songs on it. Ethan suggested ‘Bad As Me’ and I thought… Christ… he’s already done such a good job of it himself anyway, and I don’t want to be blasphemous, because there’s a few ‘Mother Superiors’ on there… But I thought, as long as I can do it convincingly enough, with the laugh, the chuckle, then it could work. And it did. So with the arrangement, we tried to make it more floaty, with an almost middle eastern feel to it. And we pulled it off… I hope! A lot of people like it. I’d love to hear a dance mix of it, because the beat it really strong on there. That could be screaming in a club.”

It’d be fair to suppose that any young producer tasked with working with Tom Jones may feel a little intimidated at the prospect. But to read the CV of Ethan Johns is to see that the guy is more than qualified to undertake the task. He produced Ryan Adams’s Heartbreaker, Demolition and 29, Rufus Wainwright’s Poses, Kings of Leon, Laura Marling, Ben Kweller, Brendan Benson… the list goes on. So how was it to return to the studio with Ethan?

“Great. It’s so refreshing to go into a studio and know you’re going to come out with something that’s going to be really something. And to try things out. Like with Ethan, he’s got a bloody wall of guitars, you know, and he says ‘Let me think… we’ll try this one’ and he tries things out. There were only two musicians really, and the other stuff was added. There was no bass really, to begin with. And the only third person that was there, but not all the time, was the girl [Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa] who played the drums. So the tracks where you hear drums, that was live. But apart from that, there was Richard [Causon] on squeezebox and piano, and then Ethan playing guitar. And that’s how we did it. I wasn’t using headphones - they did, to hear me sometimes - but it was great, and it was at Real World in Wiltshire. Peter Gabriel’s place, the same room as we used before. We tried a few songs out in a couple of London studios, but something was missing. Then we thought we weren’t going to be able to use that room anymore, because they were thinking of turning it into offices. God, that would’ve been a shame. Because the first time, something really happened there. And the second time, something happened too. That’s why we called in Spirit in the Room because there’s definitely something happening in that room.”

In an industry where nowadays, it’s impressive enough to get to the point of releasing even a second album, to have made, released and toured 39 truly is an incredible achievement. The styles have varied, from the big band brass laden anthems found on 1965 albums What’s New Pussycat and It’s Not Unusual to the variety of styles and genres fused together with a broad range of collaborators on 1999’s 4x platinum Reload. As such a fan of music, and with so many reference points on which to draw, settling on a theme for an album must be a genuinely difficult task for Jones. So if the Tom Jones of 1965 were to hear Spirit in the Room, would he be impressed?

“When I used to sing in pubs and clubs, I’d use a rhythm section and sometimes it was just me with a guitar. So I started like that. It wasn’t until I recorded ‘It’s Not Unusual’ which was my first hit, that I’d ever sung with a band, and with brass and everything. So I didn’t come from there, that’s not my training. I’m not Michael Buble! So my thing was always listening to meaningful songs growing up. A blues record would come on the radio, there was a guy called Big Bill Broonzy and I loved that. It was just him playing a 12 string guitar and singing. When I first heard John Lee Hooker, he’d play the same sounds, but it was the way he did it, I just thought… ‘shit’. So when I signed with Decca, I thought i’d be doing something like that, something rock’n’roll. I was always heavily influenced by 50s rock’n’roll music because I was a teenager then, and that was a big part of my life. But because ‘It’s Not Unusual’ was such a hit with that sound, it took me in a different direction but I always tried to stay soulful with my vocal performances, it’s just that the instrumentation was different. So I think if I’d played this album to me when I was young, I’d think ‘thank God I finally came around to it. They finally let me do it.’ Because record companies want commercial, they want what’s ‘happening’. It’s understandable, they’ve got to sell records. But now, thank God i’m in a position to say ‘I’d like to do this’, and they say ‘ok’.”

With a career spanning 50 years, different continents and with a huge variety of stylistic and creative output, how does Tom manage to maintain the enthusiasm and passion for music for which he’s so celebrated today?

“It’s something that I have to do, I have to sing. They’ll have to shut me up!” he replies, before going on to recount a tale of such name-dropping proportions, that I’m left feeling a little breathless. “There’s a film producer in LA, I go to his house sometimes, he has nice get togethers. Tom Hanks goes and his wife likes to sing, so I was up there with Priscilla Presley and some of the Beach Boys go up there as well - so there’s nice gatherings happen at this place. And of course, he knows what I’m like, so he’s got a piano player! I have to stop myself, because once I start… especially with this one piano player that goes up there, he knows all these bluesy, early rock’n’roll songs… So you know, Priscilla was there the other night and I said, ‘I’m going to sing my favourite Elvis Presley song’, ‘One Night With You’ and she loved it, it was great! But they’ll have to shut me up. I won’t be able to stop [doing] that. Katherine Jenkins was there the other day too, I invited her up because I knew she was thinking about going out [to LA] to do Dancing With The Stars and she didn’t know many people, so I said i’d give her a shout when she came out. So we sang ‘Calon Lan’ together which is a Welsh song - she speaks Welsh so she knew it better than I did. But it was great, so there’s no way that I could not do it. It’d be a very boring life if I couldn’t sing. I’d hate it. I know it will happen, because age will finally catch up with me. I don’t know when that’ll be, hopefully a long way off but my voice [right now] is still as strong as ever, so i’m not looking forward to not being able to do it. Hopefully I’ll drop on the stage, and that’ll be the end of it!”

After a brief chat about the relationship between Tom and Jack White, with whom he recorded a 7” in March (“this kid’s got some fire” says Tom of his collaborator), conversation turns to the industry and whether or not new artists today will find it more difficult to ‘make it’ than the artists on Tom’s generation did when they were starting out.

“I know there are a hell of a lot of people about. There’s loads of singers now,” he comments, “much more than when I started. So I’d think it is more difficult now, because there’s so many. But the original concept of record companies hasn’t changed that much. They’ve always been looking for young people to record, and when something hits, they want more of it. Like when The Beatles hit first of all, record companies went to Liverpool thinking there was going to be loads of Beatles about. Like when Norah Jones came out, all of a sudden there was a flood of girls sitting at a piano and playing. So those things were like that in the 50s when rock’n’roll first kicked in. They wanted young, good looking people. That part of it hasn’t changed much.”

“But of course the way records are made and the way they’re put out, the way you hear them now is different from actually going out and buying them. I used to like LPs because the liner notes were great and the artwork, it was all part of it, it was a package. But I think hopefully, kids today will still go out and buy CDs because you’re getting more, that whole package. But that’s the record companies’ problem as far as i’m concerned, as long as i’m still allowed to go into the studio… I’m still basically doing it the same way. I’m still standing in front of a microphone, they haven’t changed that much. Guitars are still guitars and drums are still drums. The making of the music hasn’t changed too much. Unless you’re going to make a really pop record, with sequences and autotune. I think record companies think that kids have gotten so used to that sound that they use it even if they don’t have to, as it creates this sound which they think is commercial. Which I don’t particularly agree with. But it all depends on the kind of record you’re going to make.”

And with that, our time is up. The most remarkable thing to take away from this interview is how enthusiastic and excited Tom remains not only about his own career, but about music itself. He’s a fan at the end of the day, and that’s one of the reasons why he’s managed to forge such an enduring and successful career in the music business. He knows what sounds good, he knows what he likes and even after 50 years, he holds the fire, drive and ambition to create new, interesting music and to search for new paths and directions. Humble, thankful and still a a tyke at heart, there truly is only one Tom Jones, who waves us off with the closing line, “as long as I can go in there and do it the way I want to do it, and people still like it, then that’s fine.”

Spirit in the Room is released on 21 May through Universal/Island.

Introducing Interview - AlunaGeorge

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:32:00 +0100

Published by The Line of Best Fit

AlunaGeorge have certainly been keeping themselves busy this year. Their EP You Know You Like It was released to acclaim across the board when it appeared back in April, and the London based duo have just completed a tour supporting Friends. Their tracks have been remixed by the very capable hands of Lapalux and Raffertie, and the pair’s knack for putting sensual, soulful yet playful vocals against a sublime electronic and bass driven background has led the duo to be touted as one of the most exciting musical propositions of 2012.

We caught up with Aluna Francis and George Reid on a sunny Brighton evening before they took to the stage at The Great Escape festival to find out where they’ve come from, where it is they’re planning on going and the key to writing a perfect AlunaGeorge tune.

So you both met on MySpace, I believe?

A: Pretty much, yeah! It’s quite funny because it didn’t seem weird at the time, but when you say that now… it sounds a bit geeky! Like a dating agency or something.

G: Back when MySpace was new, I had some awful music up there - as you do. And I came across Aluna’s band at the time, and thought ‘that’s pretty good’. Then left it alone, and about a year later, I was trying to find a Van Morrison song on the internet, and their band had done a cover of it, so they came up again. Then another year goes by, and they were a featured band on the front page, and I was trying to get some remixes done as my band had just split up. So I got in touch about doing a remix, and that was pretty much that. Then we hooked up to do some writing, and it came out completely different to her band, so… yeah. She had to be stolen!

A: No, it was more that I was given an ultimatum by my band. All or nothing, I wasn’t allowed to do any other projects. So they kind of shot themselves in the foot there, I went for nothing!

Both of your backgrounds are in bands then?

A: Quite different bands though.

G: I was in a really sort of… techy guitar band for about four years.

A: And mine was quite electronic, left field, avant-garde stuff.

When did you reach a point that you realised you could make what you were writing together into a full project?

A: It was quite a while, it felt like we were messing around for ages.

G: Immediately there was something really fun about it. But I’d say it was about 6 or 7 months before we thought ‘well, shall we just put this music out and see….’ because there was no real idea apart from that we thought that what we were doing was quite good and it was fun doing it. So we kept writing, got the name….

A: Very original name…!

G: I just thought her name was too good not to use! But she needed some convincing… so we put mine on the end!

A: I couldn’t bear to have a band just called ‘Aluna’ or, ‘Aluna’ with other words added to it…

How does a writing session for AlunaGeorge tend to go?

A: It’s always different. The only basic rules of thumb are that George is the production side of things, and I do the vocals/melodies/lyrics side of things.

G: Then we nitpick and ‘suggest’ things to each other.

A: It depends, sometimes one of us will have something to bring to the other, or we’ll just start from scratch, or we might have quite a finished thing…

G: There are loads of different ways and starting points, but it’s nice to have different ways to do it - it’s never standard.

How did you approach the first live shows?

G: Well it’s taken us right up until now to get it to the point of how we want it. Because I think when you have finished a song that’s been made, pretty much entirely on a computer, you think ‘ah. Shit. How are we going to do this live?’ So it’s kind of reverse engineering and we look at what we can do live and what’s going to be electronic. But when we first started, it was really basic just because… well, equipment’s expensive! Neither of us had the money for it! So we did the first few gigs with this really basic set up, then we could buy another bit of equipment, so we built it slowly like that. Now we’ve got a couple of musicians that play with us. We’ve always had someone to play percussion…

A: This weird kind of, standing up [drumming] business… No drummer’s that happy with that set up!

G: The guy in Friends seems to do all right…

A: Yeah, but he’s a gymnast! He does use his whole body to kind of… work. But if you’re not that great with your body, it could look really weird to be standing up and drumming. It’s not a natural thing.

G: It’s tricky because you want as much of the sound of the songs to come across, but because a lot of people are still seeing us for the first time, they’re hearing a lot of our songs for the first time so you want something for people to get out of it. So we’ve added a live bass as well as the hybrid of electronics that we use live. It’s good though, and I think it’s important because it’s so easy to be this kind of ‘dead’ act. A lot of the time you’ll have someone with a computer just… not doing much live and as much as it sounds good, and 99% of them are triggering stuff… you just never know!

A: I couldn’t conceive of having fun on stage without the other musicians. The three of them together makes it feel like there’s an event happening.

If you had to pick a motto for AlunaGeorge, what would it be?

A: Umm…. if it makes you laugh, go for it! I’d say that in a lot of our music, that has been the motivation for choices! Which can end up sounding good.

G: We struggle to be able to take ourselves too seriously as it is just the two of us. But I think having a good rhythm is a good backbone for most of our songs.

A: If you feel awkward moving to it, it’s no good.

G: If you can hum it back, brilliant!

Who or what are your biggest creative influences?

G: Well for me anyway, i’d say other music. On the production side of it, I listen to experimental hip hop stuff so that was something I really wanted to try and do at the start of this.

A: For me, singing and writing lyrics is the only thing that really does it for me. When you’re struggling to know what you want to do, it’s very obvious when you hit on something that makes you feel like you don’t want to be doing anything else. The concept of ‘anything else’ is way gone for me!

What do you have coming up for the rest of the year?

A: Well, we’re hoping to get the album in the bag. We’re recording now.

G: Yeah, just try and get the album done. We’ve got a few festivals over the summer. But I think the album’s the main thing, then we’ll see when we can get it out, and maybe another tour towards the end of the year.

A: The Friends tour that we’ve just been on has been so much fun! We’re basically just hanging on to the tour because it’s been so great, if we can get to America… I don’t know, that’s a big step.

G: I think we have to get to here first!

AlunaGeorge will release their You Know You Like It EP on 12” in June through Tri-Angle Records, and catch them live at the following dates:

Festival Diary: Europavox

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:17:00 +0100

Festival Diary - Europavox 2012

Photo by Florent Giffard

A region famous for delicious cantal cheese, Volvic water and a rather impressive range of (apparently) dormant volcanoes (although one nice old lady I was chatting to told me they’re a bit livelier than people might think), it’s in Clermont-Ferrand that we find ourselves this weekend, heading to the annual celebration of European alternative music culture that is Europavox.

Friday

Friday is the first day of Europavox, providing a handful of specially selected acts before some of that famous French electro fills the evening air. It’s also the perfect time to explore the site, which turns out to be a very nice set up indeed. The event is based in and around the Cooperative de Mai, Clermont-Ferrand’s cultural hub and home to four of the festival’s stages, with two more stages placed in the tree lined courtyard and adjoining gardens. After travelling down from Paris, we arrive at night fall when the festival is already underway, so we rush over to catch Woodkid, who will open our musical Europavox experience.

Woodkid

Photo by Florent Giffard

Occupying La Cooperative de Mai is France’s Woodkid, a man who provides a tale of two sets tonight. The first half of his show is set at a slow, dark and dramatic pace, showcasing brass compositions, maudlin lighting and Woodkid himself, standing centre stage, waving his arms as if conducting the crowd. During the second half however, the tone lifts completely. Electronic beats are mingled with powerful thumps from two drummers, providing a sense of rhythmic symmetry and an almighty, booming bass tone. It’s during the latter half of the set that it feels as though Woodkid has managed to really connect with his audience, who are revelling in the dramatic rises and falls of tracks from album Run Boy Run. Woodkid is certainly at his best during this second half of the show, but that’s not to write off the power and intimacy of the slower tracks he chose to open with which, in the right time and setting, could have been equally as stirring as his heavier songs.

The Shoes

French duo The Shoes leave their guitars and indie-pop persuasion behind tonight, as they take to the decks to provide the Friday night party tunes. It’s a night of indie slanted electro that’s fired through the speakers, as the Parisian pair do what they do best - get a crowd going - and have a pretty good time themselves while doing it.

Saturday

We Trust

Making sure to arrive early for Saturday’s music, the artist that will commence our evening is Portugal’s We Trust, who entrances from the get-go with what We Trust mainman (and notable film maker, we might add) Andre Tentugal describes as ‘Free Pop’. Sweet and groove laden basslines are combined with tales of space and time, providing a bright and melodious introduction to the festival’s second day.

Django Django

Photo by Juan Alonso

It’s already been well established that Django Django are an outstanding live band. Signed to French label Because, the band have worked and toured hard in France and have achieved an exceptional reputation as a result. So that’s perhaps how Django Django have come to find themselves on the immense stage of this daunting arena, the Forum, bringing their fusion of tropical melodies, ringing synths and hypnotic rhythms to this crowd of thousands. Rather than feel intimidated, the London based four-piece embrace the energy of their audience to provide one of the most captivating performances we’ve seen from the band yet.

1995

France is traditionally best known (in wider circles) for producing two kinds of music: electro, and rap. We sampled some of the finer points of French electro last night, when dancing about the Palais Des Glaces for the packed out Shoes DJ set, so now it’s time for a bit of the latter. 1995 (pronounced un-neuf-neuf-cinq) are one of France’s most touted rap/hip-hop acts of the moment, hailing from Paris and gaining their reputation through a few key releases, but primarily, from their highly charged live performances. What’s impressive tonight is the use of vocal tone and harmonies within the spoken word, as the collective charge about the stage, stirring the crowd and dancing to their 90s tinged backing tracks. A highly enjoyable performance from the Parisians, who are ensuring that they keep that French rap crown polished and shined.

Photo by Juan Alonso

A Classic Education

Next, we return to the Palais des Glaces, or the Spiegeltent as many a British festival goer will know it. A Classic Education from Bologna, Italy are already underway as we arrive in the packed tent, and we quickly see why. The stage is full of band members, spilling from the stage onto the dancefloor and emanating from the speakers is a lush, guitar and vocal led trail of melancholy and musings. The music is truly beautiful, hinting at influences from Arcade Fire and Beirut, with irresistible cadences backing sublime vocal harmonies. We’re just sorry we didn’t arrive on time to hear the whole thing, but from what we did hear, we can safely say that this young band were the unquestionable discovery of the weekend.

BRNS

A Belgian act is the next to greet us, going by the name of BRNS and conjuring an engrossing blend of rousing beats, vocal repetitions and guitar led build ups and breakdowns. It’s a pretty inspiring mix that gets the crowd well and truly moving, as the four piece fire their way through their repertoire, with single ‘Mexico’ proving to be a particular hit. There’s dancing, jumping, consideration and nodding happening all at once in the Palais des Glaces when BRNS are on the stage, proving themselves to be an appealing live act as well as a rousing one on record.

Photo by Juan Alonso

Sun Glitters

One of the most highly anticipated acts of the weekend, for The Line of Best Fit anyway, Sun Glitters is charged with closing the club stage tonight. And what a party he provides. Completely entrancing, the Luxembourg-based producer is captivating as he leans over his host of equipment, mixing, producing and triggering his way to a euphoric set climax. It’s not always easy to transfer such ambient electronica to a live setting, but Sun Glitters manages it with ease, completely lost in the music himself, and inviting all spectators and listeners to join him and do the same. So we do, until the dying seconds of his set when we’re forced to come back to earth and get a bit of shut eye for the festival’s final day which is fast approaching.

Sunday

Mirel Wagner

Mirel Wagner’s a tricky one. There’s no question that her self titled debut album is anything less than brilliant, but the tone and temperament of the music is very hard to transfer to a festival stage. The attention and patience required to be able to fully enjoy her music are not traits classically found in a festival goer, so it’s a slightly chatty audience that Mirel is confronted with at the beginning of her set this evening, opening up the last night of the festival. Seemingly oblivious though, Mirel plays her way through any background noise, as intense and fervent as ever. As inspiring as it is intimidating, Mirel Wagner proves herself to be one of the most powerful live acts on the circuit, dark, brooding and exceptionally talented.

Boy

Photo by Juan Alonso

Swiss-German duo Boy are already favourites of ours here at The Line of Best Fit, so it’s a real pleasure to be able to catch the pair again and in such an atmospheric room as the Palais Des Glaces. In this setting, the pair’s sublime vocals are given the space to flourish as they roll out tracks from their album Mutual Friends. Captivating, spirit filled and showcasing the essence of folk with beautifully balanced vocal harmonies, Boy provide a serene and sumptuous moment before we make our way back to the main stage for an altogether different proposition.

Gaz Coombes

The Supergrass man has been drafted in last minute to fill the shoes of The Kills who, due to some illness or something, are unable to make it to the festival. Although he’s a pretty well established artist in Supergrass terms, Gaz and his band appear a little overwhelmed by the size of the stage they’re occupying tonight, as they unveil tracks from new album Here Come The Bombsto an expectant Europavox crowd. The reception is extremely warm, but the set feels uncomfortable at times, and fragmented. A shame, as the songs on the record are very strong, harbouring that indelible pop twinge that Coombes has always had such a knack for producing but tonight, they’re unfortunately not aired at their best.

The Hives

Photo by Florent Giffard

And here we are, already. The end of the festival. It all goes so fast, doesn’t it? The Hives have never been a band to arrive quietly, and tonight they arrive as noisily, flamboyantly and as vivacious as ever. Clearly thrilled to be back on the big stage, the Swedish troupe of punk-stars revel in the ferocious amount of noise being emitted by the audience as Howlin’ Pelle does his best to stir the crowd into a frenzy. Old tracks are mixed seamlessly with new throughout the set, a highlight being the band insisting that every member of the arena sized crowd sits on the floor, and as the chorus of ‘Tick, Tick, Boom’ drops, watching them jump back to their feet and the room explode. And with their resonating, closing tones, Europavox comes to an end, a truly special affair when it comes to showcasing European music.

It’s not too often that you’re given the opportunity to stumble upon an Estonian group, and then move off to catch a Norwegian soul singer for example, but here in Clermont-Ferrand, that’s the kind of line up they strive to create and the atmosphere of discovery that overflows from each stage and room. A melting pot of European talent as well as a hotspot for finding fresh, new music, Europavox is a special affair indeed.

Introducing Interview - Chris Holm

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:25:00 +0100

Published by The Line of Best Fit

Chris Holm is a pretty well known figure around the Bergen music scene. He’s a staple of the Young Dreams line up as well as having contributed to the work of various of the city’s starlets, including Sondre Lerche and Nathalie Nordres. But what we’re most interested in right now is his solo work. Due to release his debut album through Tellé later this year, we catch up with Chris Holm to find out what makes him tick and what made him turn to music in the first place.

So, Chris Holm, can you tell us a little bit about what you do and where you’re from?

Yeah. I come from Bergen, Norway, where I play, make and enjoy music. I’m involved with several bands and artists.

What’s your musical background? What was the first music to inspire you to create your own?

I’ve been playing and making music since I was 5-6 years old. It was natural ‘cause I ended up in the same class as my musical best friend Alexander Von Mehren. We still make and play music together and he was actually the first to inspire me to make my own stuff. Since then I have only played and listened to a lot of music. I don’t have a degree or lessons under my belt. Only street experience.

When did you first start making your own music? Can you remember the first song you ever wrote?

(laughs) The first song I wrote was co-written with Alexander Von Mehren. It is called ‘Grandmothers Ghost’. We made it when we were six years old, and got good feedback on it from our class. We got the lyrics printed out to the whole class and played it in a music lesson. Everyone sang. My grandmother is still alive today.

As a fan, what do you look for in a ‘good song’?

Hmm. There is ‘good songs’, ‘good music’ and ‘good beats’, and good intentions. If I feel it I feel it. I’m not looking for that typical singer/songwriter structure in a song. I like strong melodies and beautiful arrangements. If you can combine the first three ‘goods’ you are safe. Intentions won’t get you anywhere.

You’re going to be releasing your debut record Kilos through Tellé, can you tell us about writing and putting the album together?

Yes! Good times. The album contains old songs and new songs. I’ve never released anything before, but I’ve been writing songs for a long time. So this is kind of my bedroom diary. I’ve recorded everything as basic as possible on my laptop and played everything myself. Mixed it myself even. I don’t know if it appeals to people, but I just wanted to capture the rawness and truthfulness in the songs. The album is all about musical intuition and joy. I hope people will feel that. I don’t really care though, but if someone feels 10% of what I do from this, it makes me glad cause it is a beautiful feeling.

What are the three things that most inspire you to make music?

Darkness, sun, good songs.

What would you say is your favourite part of the music making process?

When a song comes together. When I have captured the right mood. When I can put it on and listen to that song on repeat for hours. I only make music I can crank loud and freak out to. That I really love.

Who are your musical influences? Which reference points do you draw on when writing your music?

I love hip hop, I love french 60-70s pop and I love Nirvana. You know, there is so much music that has influenced me, but when I listen to my own songs I can’t hear any of my favourite bands in it. Maybe I get that out in my other bands. I don’t know. I just make what I want to. That is the best part about making a record the way I did. Fo sho.

Can you tell us a bit about the other music projects that you’re involved with?

Young Dreams (singer, guitarist), Bloody Beach (singer, bass player), The Alexandria Quartet (bass player). Session bass player for Sondre Lerche, Nathalie Nordnes, Souldrop and many more. It is all music. It is all about having fun and doing what you do. We all have loads of information online, check us all out! Both Young Dreams and Bloody Beach will also release debut records this year.

We’re big fans of Young Dreams here at The Line of Best Fit, who have had a very busy year so far. How has that been? How did you come to be involved with them?

Thanks, I’m also a big fan. It has been a great year and I can’t wait ‘til the record is out, so the critics no longer can draw comparisons to other bands. Because we sound like nothing else. We all came together through a bar in Bergen called Vamoose (R.I.P) and our mutual friend, the musical mastermind Matias Tellez. Hopefully next year will be even busier!

What do you feel like you can achieve with your solo project that you perhaps can’t in the other projects you’re involved with?

I don’t really think about what I can achieve. I am just so happy that I can make music and show it to the world. Everything I do is different, and my solo project is one side of me, as Young Dreams and the other bands also are. But Chris Holm is all me without anyone else passing judgment, and I hope people will enjoy something that is so simple but 100% heartfelt.

What do you aim to achieve with your solo music?

I want to put out many, many records during the next years. If I’m allowed to do that without going bankrupt, I’ll be very pleased.

What are the best things about the Bergen music scene?

The great people and the mutual love and interest for and in music. It is such a small town, and there are great musical events happening almost every night.

Who are you listening to and enjoying at the moment?

I am still stuck at Unknown Mortal Orchestra. I love that record. And the track ‘Changes’ by Sandro Perri. Wow. Can’t stop listening to it.

What does the future hold for Chris Holm?

Hopefully lots of shows and more good music to be released! With all of my projects.

If you had to pick a motto for yourself and your music, what would it be?

Just… Breathe. (laughs) I don’t know.

Chris Holm’s debut album Kilos is due out via Tellé later this year.

Sébastien Tellier Biography

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:02:00 +0100

English biography for Sébastien Tellier, commissioned by Record Makers.

“Don’t listen to my record, listen to my message, vibrate to my music, let’s merge our dreams, together spreading our combined energy in an immense blue wave that will flood the world – and the truth with emerge.”

Announcing his long awaited return with this distinct message, Sébastien Tellier bounds back to the forefront of our collective musical conscience with his highly anticipated fourth studio album, My God Is Blue.

It’s a record whose message is powered by something almighty, by some higher plane, by something much more spiritually significant than anything else the Parisian artist has composed to date. It’s an album harbouring a prophetic philosophy and a vision of ideality, an album whose music seeks to not only entertain, inspire and charm, but also to create a community of like minded individuals searching to follow their dreams, and find their true path in life.

“I’d finished my tour for Sexuality and needed to recharge and re-motivate myself to go and make a new record,” says Tellier. “But I was a little bit… lost. I was looking for a subject that I was passionate about.” It was this search, this quest for spiritual and musical inspiration that led Tellier to take heed of the advice that “to be able to make pure music, you have to focus on removing yourself, distancing yourself from your dreams.”

As such, Tellier began to notice a pattern in his dreams, and one which would go on to become the foundation of his latest oeuvre: “It had a really strong effect on me, I realised that I had blue dreams, I was having blue visions. When I went back to Paris to start making music, I wrote while thinking about what this meant, thinking about blue dreams, about spirituality, about truth.”

With inspiration firmly back in place – the quest to understand and to realise one’s dreams – the creation of My God Is Blue was able to commence. Starting things off in his usual manner, Tellier went about composing his newest creation in his studio in his apartment, before completing the record alongside reputed producer and Ed Banger stalwart, Mr Flash. “Each song holds a message within to be uncovered” says Tellier of the lyrical thread of the album. Leading single and opening track, the choral, grandiose ‘Pépito Bleu’ for example, carries the missive of “self reinvention” and “having the imagination to dream.”

Citing artists such as “Michael Jackson [and] George Michael” as musical inspirations for this album, it’s clear the Tellier hasn’t lost his knack or desire for a pop pinch and serious dance floor appeal. A track such as ‘Cochon Ville’, for example, plays host to enrapturing rhythms and outlandishly catchy melodic hooks designed to entrance, mystify and seduce the listener as only Sébastien Tellier knows how, and to “put the imaginary, put dreams back at the centre of our consciousness.”

Throughout his career, Tellier has been inspired, almost infatuated with different mentally, spiritually and physically provocative subjects, with each such infatuation going on to conceive a vision and a theme for an album. From 2004’s Politics, through to the hugely successful Sexuality in 2008, Tellier has spent the past decade practising and mastering the art of igniting a flash of inspiration into a blazing inferno of realised creativity. “I’m always inspired by a current subject, like sexuality, politics, and truth were the subjects of my first album. But in fact, you need to talk about the mystery of these subjects.”

It’s this mystery that provides the real spark to these 12 tracks, with deep rooted philosophy woven through the album’s core and transmitted through mystical, sumptuous, spirited lyrics. There’s a vision encompassed in each melodic transition and shift, but more than that, there’s an invitation to enlightenment that pulsates through the essence of the songs, a vision and a promise which is strengthened by the union, the kinship of the online community being built around and through the music, L’Alliance Bleue (The Blue Alliance).

“The aim of L’Alliance Bleue is to create a place of freedom… that’s what L’Alliance Bleue is to me, in a literal sense.” A collective with an “ambition to revolutionise our relationship with the world and all it contains”, Tellier aspires to create an “an amusement park for adults”, an online community where ‘followers’ are invited to share visions and to build ideas together under the musical guidance of My God Is Blue, a veritable discothèque of light, of colour, of spiritual vibrancy and of shimmering vision.

From the first rattles of debut single ‘Fantino’ back in 2001, through to the enduring popularity of 2005’s sumptuous ‘La Ritournelle’ and the smash hit success of Eurovision touted ‘Divine’, Tellier has proved himself to be the undisputed king of a pop classic with a psychical, sensual and physical pull. His latest work presents a transcendental record of far reaching prowess and a road to a thoroughly modern, community led enlightenment. My God Is Blue is the work of a composer, a poet, a visionary, an inventor, and it’s merely opening the door to a world of thought and revelation which is yet to fully unfold. His ambition is to “bring back the imaginary, to revive dreaming…” It’s an invitation, and what a glorious place Sébastien Tellier’s imagination is proving to be.

Interview - Rufus Wainwright

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:45:02 +0100

Welcome Back To The Ball : The Line of Best Fit meets Rufus Wainwright

by Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best Fit]

Laughing, lavishly robed and lounging on a leather sofa – this is exactly how I’d hoped to find one of popular music’s most esteemed charismatic characters, and I’m certainly not disappointed. His unique and nasal laugh fills the corridors of the office where our meeting is scheduled to be held – his humour infectious, his passion palpable and his heart worn firmly and proudly on his finely tailored sleeve. Rufus Wainwright is in London to discuss the journey which led to the creation of his latest album Out Of The Game, a journey which has seen ups as dramatic as the downs were deep, a journey exploring loss, gain, bounteous new territories and the talents of a new musical ally. Out Of The Game marks a bold and colourful return, and Rufus is delighted.

“I’m really looking forward to getting a band back!” enthuses a wide eyed, jovial Wainwright. “Because I was doing the opera and then I had All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu which was totally solo, piano, voice, so for the last couple of years it’s really just been me… me against the world! So I’m really looking forward to getting a band back together again. You know, being around rock people. Rock and rob ‘em!”

It’s been two years since we had a new album from Rufus, the last being 2010′s All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, a record released just two months after the death of his beloved mother Kate. The past few years have also seen Rufus release his acclaimed Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall as well as writing and creating his widely publicised opera Prima Donna. He became a Dad, he became an uncle, he fell in love. An awful lot has happened over the past few years, in what could be described as the most turbulent years of an already sufficiently turbulent life.

Out Of The Game marks the seventh studio release from Rufus Wainwright, an album which plays host to the many layers and facets that we’ve come to know and love of Wainwright’s repertoire. There’s an overwhelming sense of vibrancy, a joyous kind of energy and a buoyant sense of excitement. But there’s also a softness, a deep feeling of consideration and a constant, underlying sadness.

“Most of the material is very new in terms of only being written several months before we started recording, but there are a couple of songs that are very old, demos from other albums that didn’t make the cut. It was mostly Mark who sifted through some of my ancient material and found some unpolished gems. Some of those are on there as well so it’s sort of a mix between my latest dramatic lifestyle and my old, somewhat lascivious one, and everything in between.”

The mention of ‘Mark’ brings the story of the album’s producer to the forefront, a certain Mr Ronson, brought on board to produce this latest effort.“I’ve known him for a long time now, it’s coming on for about three years. I guess that isn’t that long actually…” reflects Wainwright. “But I put the question forth and Mark promptly answered ‘yes, that’d be amazing’, and we just kept the dialogue going. And over a couple of years – because he was busy and I was busy – we seemed to be continuously engaged in this idea and finally, my schedule cleared and his as well, it became time to make the next album, the opera was put to sleep briefly, before being wildly woken up again two months ago in New York! So it all clicked, we went in and made the record and it was a really amazing experience – a deeply personal relationship was created between him and I.”

Photo by Jason Williamson

As our conversation continues and the topic of this collaboration is explored further, there’s an unmistakable warmth and fondness that creeps into the tone of Wainwright’s voice. Theirs is a relationship that clearly had a profound effect on not only the creation of the record but also on Wainwright himself. “We related to each other tremendously and I consider him one of the best friends that I’ve ever had at this point. It’s a ‘two long lost brothers’ kind of tale between us in a lot of ways. I think it’s nice because we’re very enamoured with each other. He’s married and straight and I have a beautiful fiancé yet there’s a kind of crush that we share on the ideas that we both represent. I can flaunt and faun over the legend of Mark Ronson and I think he does the same with me a little bit. We’re two dreamers, I think.”

A tremendously acclaimed producer, Mark Ronson is about as sought after-an-accomplice as one could think of. Artists fall over themselves trying to get him on board with a project, so what exactly is it that he brings to the creation of an album, and what is it that makes him such an attractive collaborative prospect? “Well he’s very into songs, he likes a good song. And I hopefully delivered a few. For me, on a technical level, besides the big inspiration for the sessions being me trying to please him,” explains Wainwright, unleashing his trademark bellowing laugh, “he was just really unsparing in terms of the quality of the sound of the album. He really needed the bass to thump and the drums to pump and the guitars to… chunk! And to break through the barrier without scaring everyone away. He wanted a warmth surrounding the sessions and he really paid attention to all of the minutia of what’s entailed in that process. Which I know nothing about. So it sounds great – it’s all on tape, all recorded in very classic rooms… and not even famous studios, just rooms that he knew had created great songs before and that he loved personally. We actually recorded in the same place that Amy [Winehouse] recorded.”

“Then there was also a kind of homage to the seventies, which I think is worn quite lightly on this album, but I think is definitely there. It falls in line with [Mark’s] hallmark of reinterpreting older genres but it’s not forced, it’s more just a nod to that. Because I still think that the album and the songs and the general vibe is pretty current as well. He’s a wizard at that kind of thing.”

On to the title of the record, Out Of The Game, a title which, like the message underlying a large amount of Wainwright’s music, is a nod to his status in the world. It’s a title with depth, evidently a title with significance, and a title which is home to plethora of interpretations. So is it intended to be a positive title or a negative title?

“I think it’s a tongue in cheek title,” he replies with a wry smile. “It’s about myself, especially when you consider that this is the most commercially viable record that I’ve ever made – whether it actually does anything is a whole other issue! But that being said, it’s like ‘I’m out of the game, but before I leave, here’s what you’ve always wanted, motherfucker. So there!’ But there’s also, for me, a more literal way of looking at it too where this album and my whole existence and all that I’m made of is from ‘the game’. I’ve been in the game my entire life and this is the end product of that. Kind of like out of the gates, or the closet or whatever. It’s a departure.”

Son of celebrated musician [do action=”secondary-artist”]Loudon Wainwright III[/do] and acclaimed Canadian songstress [do action=”secondary-artist”]Kate McGarrigle[/do], Wainwright was born into a life of creativity and has played the role of a songwriter and musician since the early days of his life. Not one to rest on his singer/songwriter laurels however, Wainwright has proved himself to be an artistic explorer - the adjective ‘prolific’ personified. Whether he’s recording covers albums, composing operas, writing solo records, or appearing at one of his many acclaimed performances, Rufus Wainwright is and has always lived the life of a creative. He’s been reported as saying that inspiration can strike at the most unexpected of moments, and the writing of this album would prove no different.

“I had plenty of [those moments]! Various toilets, horse tracks, hospital bedsides. I don’t have a problem with inspiration! I wish I did, I wish I could stop being so god damned inspired all the time! But it just seems to pile on and then I have to dump it down somewhere. And certainly, all that aside, whether it’s the death of my mother or the birth of my daughter or being in a long term relationship, real estate or whatever, there’s a lot to pine about and so I guess I’ve just worked really hard all of my life to open up those channels and keep them clear and be susceptible to the muses when they’re screaming at you. Not everyone’s like that.“

The mention of his mother’s death brings an immediate and noticeable change to the tone of Rufus’s voice. Kate McGarrigle, mother to Rufus and Martha, passed away of cancer in January 2010, an event which Rufus openly admits that he’s still struggling to come to terms with.

“In reality, I’m still dealing with my Mom’s death. It’s only been two years and I thought after one year it’d maybe start to ease up, but I’ve actually found that it’s gotten a little more intense now. The last tour I went on was right after she died and I don’t remember half of that period. This’ll be the first tour where I’m really cognisant and I’m going to have to deal with that accordingly. So… one big life issue at a time! But I’m very much enjoying Viva’s amazing life. Viva Catherine Wainwright Cohen.”

Changing the subject from one leading lady in his life to another, brightness is immediately restored to Rufus’s demeanour as conversation turns to his daughter. Born in 2011 to Wainwright and Lorca Cohen, the daughter of legendary songsmith [do action=”secondary-artist”]Leonard Cohen[/do], Viva’s birth was an important event for many reasons. Important for providing Rufus with a central focus to distract from the upset surrounding his mother’s departure, and for onlookers and fans, representing the union of two of the world’s most prestigious musical families.

“I’m loving [fatherhood], [Viva’s] one and a very little bit, now. I really had no expectations because this was never really planned. It’s something that arose while my mother’s health was deteriorating and my mother herself kind of proclaimed that it should happen. She got wind of it and in no uncertain terms demanded that I go through with it. For several reasons; one, to have a child, another, that she was about to die and I think also just because of Leonard Cohen being one of the greatest songwriters that ever lived. It’s a very old fashioned situation I feel that we’re in, even though it might look super modern with the gay couple and a straight woman, but it can also be looked at as two families within the same workforce forming an alliance.”

Like a Royal marrying a Royal, I suggest?

“Or like the guy from the flower shop marrying the person from the fruit stand so that they can have the whole block!”

When listening to Out Of The Game, there’s one track which typifies the style and tone of the album. It’s a song that’s both deeply personal and deeply funny, but at the same time, heart wrenchingly sad. That song is called ‘Montauk’.

“It’s a dialogue with my daughter, presumably when she’s a little older and understands what I’m talking about. It’s just saying that she’s always welcome to come visit whenever she needs to, and that both Jörn [Weisbrodt - Wainwright’s fiancé] and I will be waiting for her there and we’re looking forward to that. And also to explain some of the parameters that she may encounter (“one day you will come to Montauk/and you will see your dad wearing a kimono/and see your other dad pruning roses/hope you wont turn around and go”) and to let her know that she’s certainly a major part of that debate. And then in the end of course I bring up my mother, who is now always with us. And I give [Viva] a little lesson about death, which I think is something you have to teach your children about at some point. You don’t have to dwell on it, but I’m from a good Irish family on my mother’s side and they were always talking about death so I grew up with that constantly around. But Viva’s part Jewish, her mother’s Jewish and they’re not so into talking about death. But we’ll figure out the right approach!”

Although still very much mourning the loss of his beloved mother, the arrival of Viva and the happiness that Rufus has found with fiancé Jörn is clearly visible. The Rufus that we meet in 2012 is confident, relaxed and seemingly at peace with himself, in contrast to the man we would’ve been faced with had we met Rufus Wainwright ten years ago, around the release of 2001’s Poses, as he plunged into the depths of a drug addiction which rendered him temporarily blind. What would the Rufus of ten years ago think if he were to hear Out Of The Game?

“I’d be very happy. I’d be really, really proud of myself. I think that’s what I have to hold on to in this onslaught of artistic challenges. Especially after doing the opera and the Garland album and my own work, where I’ve always gone out on these limbs and for better or worse, I’ve experienced the slings and arrows of discontent. Or triumph. Either. But at the end of the day, I do have to look back at that little boy who was so eager, so ambitious, so excited, so awestruck by what was available and kind of keep some of that innocent spirit with me now and just be able to sit down and smell the roses for a second. That being said, that’s not as easy to do as one would think. Mind you, I do have a rose garden now so I know where to go!”

After dipping his toe into the frosty waters of classical music, and with so much happening in his personal life, what was it that made Rufus decide that now was the right time to release a new studio record? “After the opera was done, I’d had it up to here with trumpet players who are great, but boy can they ruin an orchestra!” says Wainwright, once again unleashing that unmistakable laugh. “So I was looking forward to hanging out with guys and girls who were still into being silly and pretending to be young and cool… even though nobody’s cool! So that whole kind of mad-cap existence, coupled with the fact that it’s so much more profitable than the classical world! Fact! So it was a good homecoming.”

“Before I’d written the opera, I’d been in the pop world for most of my life and I’d always had a slightly snobbish view of the whole affair in thinking ‘Well, this is fine and dandy but the real great music is being created in the concert halls of Europe, and one day I’ll be there amongst the Greats’ and then I went and tried that, and actually succeeded at getting my foot in and then realised that actually, it’s a long process and in order to even scrape the surface, I’ve got to keep trying and battling. But in the meantime, and I will continue to do that at some point, but in the meantime, boy do I love pop music more than I used to now. And on a very deep level too. The whole concept of individual creativity and heart and societal influence – that belongs to popular music and it’s great to be a part of that.”

A homecoming feels like an apt way of describing Rufus’s return with this album. There’s a sense of lightness, a playfulness and an overwhelming feeling of pride and joy which emanates from the opening notes through to the closing resonances. But in typical Wainwright fashion, a foot is always kept firmly on the ground, an eye kept on the road and remembering those who mean the most is made the central focus of each melody and lyric. Out of the game? Certainly not. Wise to the game, that’s for sure. Winning the game? Absolutely no doubt about it.

Out Of The Game is released on 23 April through Polydor, and have a look at what happened when The Best Fit Sessions team caught up with Rufus to film this sublime version of the album’s title track.

Interview - M. Ward

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:33:16 +0100

“Trying to make the old new again, and the new old…” : The Line of Best Fit meets M. Ward

by Francine Gorman [Published by The Line of Best Fit]

Seven solo records, countless collaborations, a reputation as a revered guitarist, a venerated vocalist, a sought after musical partner. Stateside, he’s not far from legendary status having managed to pitch his tent on that fine line that lies between commercial viability and artistic integrity, creating records which chart well but which remain consistent, honest and unique. In the UK, he’s honoured with the respect and admiration commanded by only the most accomplished of musical souls. He is M. Ward and he’s in London preparing to perform at a sold out headline show at the Leicester Square Theatre.

“I just got in last night,” states a slightly weary Matthew Ward. “I was at SXSW all week so my head’s still spinning a bit from all of the travel. But it was great. It’s just insane. They keep making it bigger and bigger with more and more people, and more and more bands…”

From the offset, there’s something extremely warm and genuine about the guy. Although tired, his responses are elegant and considered, his manner charming, his philosophy unbroken and unquestioned. All traits which add up to make him one of the most popular collaborative partners in his folk-tinged world. Over the past three years, M. Ward has worked alongside everyone’s favourite New Girl Zooey Deschanel as the ‘him’ part of She & Him, as well as with Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and Jim James of My Morning Jacket as a permanent member of Monsters of Folk.

“Well, you can’t help but be influenced by your friends, and just working with them on music,” says Ward of his prolific collaborative nature and the influence of his partners over his current musical state. “And another big thing is the records that they turn you on to and just talking about music – you can’t help but be influenced by them.”

A Wasteland Companion is M. Ward’s seventh studio album, his first solo record since 2009′s Hold Time and his first for London based Bella Union, a matter which Ward is vocally happy about. “I’m very excited to be working with Bella Union, I’ve been a fan of their label and the people that run the label for a long time, as has my manager. They sent over some of these new songs and now here we are! I couldn’t be happier. [This album] took about three years to make, so I’m happy that it’s finally seeing the light of day.”

It may have taken three years to put together, but A Wasteland Companion was by no means Ward’s only focus during that time. Worldwide tours with She & Him in support of the high flying second record Volume Two, a christmas album, a record with Monsters of Folk and a subsequent tour plus collaborations with Tired Pony, amongst others are all projects that have been commanding his careful attention. Looking at this schedule, it’s startling that Ward managed to find the time and energy to produce any solo material at all. Or perhaps ‘solo’ isn’t quite accurate. The songs were certainly penned by Ward’s fair hand, but A Wasteland Companion contains resonances of the collaborations which have kept Ward so occupied over the past few years. Meetings, friendships and partnerships have led to many a studio door being left open to welcome Ward to record, and for this album, he decided that the time was nigh to cash in some of those offers.

“I’ve been invited over the last 8 or 9 years to record in all of these incredible studios around the USA and Europe and this was the record where I told myself I was going to make the time to do it. I also wanted to create a new kind of record that was a combination between a live record and a studio record, so I think it has the best parts of a live record, which is improvisation and working in different rooms, talking about the record with different people… And then it also has the best parts of a studio album where you can find sounds and manipulate them however you want to.”

Some of the faces (or voices, to be more precise) that feature on the album are already familiar to us in an M. Ward context. Zooey Deschanel lends her dulcet tones to the record, as well as playing host to contributions from Mike Mogis and Scott McPherson. But there are some new additions too; “The first [new] name that comes to mind is Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, who’s somebody that I’ve wanted to work with for a long time” says Ward. “I’ve been a fan of Sonic Youth since high school, so it was great to finally meet him in New York and then to record with him.”

Another name unfamiliar when pronounced in the same breath as M.Ward is that of John Parish, the production mastermind behind PJ Harvey’s much discussed Let England Shake, and who invited Ward to join him for a recording session in his studio. “He has an incredible studio in Bristol. I’d love to go back there some day” says Ward. “Because of the records that have been recorded there, I was expecting a really grand, fancy studio but instead it’s sort of … it looks like a den for grizzly bears or something.”

The recording locations may have varied – from the bustle of New York City to the relative tranquility of Omaha, the home comforts of Portland to the bright lights of Los Angeles, and even on to the rainy streets of Bristol – but Ward’s ethos has remained honest and true to his previous approach. “The more I make records, the more I realise how important it is to pre-programme half of it and then to leave the rest of it unprogrammed, if that makes any sense…” he reflects. “[But] I guess the thread through this record is that it all came out of the idea of where inspiration comes from. And the discovery that it’s best if you don’t know the answer and to keep continuing to guess. Journalists always ask ‘what’s the inspiration for this music?’ and that’s always such a hard question to answer. Although it doesn’t stop me from making educated guesses.”

“What’s even more difficult to understand is that my whole career is reliant on [the] existence [of inspiration] and so the thing to do is to try to understand where it comes from, because if you can get to that source or that spring, then you’ll be set for life, right?” Easier said than done, by all accounts. “Yeah. There are a lot of songs that get lost in that maze.”

Another element which Ward considers carefully is to create a sense of equilibrium, to find an intricate balance between shadow and light in his music. “Sometimes it happens by accident, sometimes you have to push certain buttons to make it happen. It’s just something that I’m constantly learning about – figuring out more ways to create balance. Finding new tools to use to create a balanced song. It’s hard to explain, but you know if you hear it. Emotion’s a big part of it, but I think most sad lyrics and slow tempos are very boring. I think most happy lyrics with major chords and upbeat rhythms are very boring too. It needs to be a combination of the two.”

As the interview begins to wrap up, conversation turns to the imminent show and the thought process behind the evening’s set list. “When I’m playing live, I combine everything,” he explains, “trying to make the old new again and trying to make the new old! I’m actually in the process now of figuring out how to do that. My proper tour starts in April, but I’m here to do these few solo shows with Feist, three in the UK and three in France so that should be good to help figure it all out.”

It’s this seemingly effortless approach, the apparently nonchalant ‘it’ll be all right on the night’ attitude that has led M. Ward to the highly successful and revered position he’s currently in. M. Ward is a true artist, a man that lives and breathes his music, constantly writing and eternally creating. A structured plan doesn’t need to exist when the method is a lifestyle, which is a comforting thought as it leaves no doubt in the fan’s mind that this extraordinary guitarist with the cotton soft vocal will continue to create as the years unfold.

One final question – after such a busy and prolific few years, when anyone in their right mind would be considering taking some down time, why choose now as the moment to release a new record? “I only put out a solo record when I have a finished batch of recorded songs that seem to fit together in some way. Sometimes it takes a year, sometimes it takes three years. The songs tell you when they’re ready.“

A Wasteland Companion is available now through Bella Union.

Francine Gorman - Writer, Editor, Translator

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:48:25 +0100

Aside from filling in the content, the new site is a go-go!

francinegorman.co.uk

Thoughts, advice and opinions greatly welcomed - please help to spread the word!

Francine x

Interview - The Men

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:37:44 +0000

Published by The Line of Best Fit

How to Avoid Noise Pollution : The Line of Best Fit meets The Men

By Francine Gorman on March 16, 2012in Interviews

A band with one of the most google-unfriendly names you’re likely to come across, apart from perhaps The The or as a certain member of our editorial team discovered last week, the name of up-and-coming chanteuse Fanny, The Men return this week with a brand new, ferociously engaging record entitled Open Your Heart.

It’s four sets of very tired eyes that greet us as we catch up with the Brooklyn post-punk four-piece, busy unpacking their gear in a migraine-inducingly bright CAMP Basement. As the band indulge in a bit of quiet time before the evening’s festivities commence, the phrase ‘calm before the storm’ has never felt as relevant as at this particular moment. Perfectly charming, yet indubitably knackered, the band’s show at CAMP Basement tonight will mark their final European date before heading home for a few weeks’ well earned R’n’R.

“It’s been long. 34 shows or something? 37 shows? It’s been long but it’s been good, it’s all been good,” explains vocalist and guitarist Mark Perro. “There have been a lot of good shows in good cities… We go home tomorrow, then we’re home for like, 12 days. Then we’re doing a two and a half week tour in the US down to Austin and back for SXSW. Not much of a break, but it’s all right,”

And exhausted they will be. 34 (or 37, whichever it may be) shows is an impressive feat for any performer, and an even more impressive achievement when the band is reputed for pouring every inch of their spirit into each show. It’s their kinetic, rugged performances that have earned The Men their current status as one of the most galvanizing forces on the live circuit, and you don’t get accolades like that if all you do is turn up and mince about the stage.

“Athens was a really wild show,” says drummer Rich Samis of a favourite show from their latest stint of gigs. ”It’s a really wild place right now. To be there at the time we were was pretty cool - the next day there were these protests and riots. And we played with some great bands there too, this band called Acid Baby Jesus who were really good. They’re really cool people and a really cool band.”

Heralded for the energy and ferocity of their live show, the band are equally as applauded for their albums, the latest of which dropped this week via Brooklyn based Sacred Bones Records, also home to Zola Jesus, Crystal Stilts, Woods and Moon Duo. Mention of the new record ignites a spark in the band, who brighten up at the mere thought of finally being able to share their newest effort with their fans. “I’m anxious for it to come out already so we can stop being in this middle period…” says Perro. ”I mean, we recorded it a year ago, so it’s a long wait to have all these people talking about your record that haven’t even heard it yet. It’ll be nice to have it out there and stop it being this mysterious thing that no one knows anything about.” Have any of the new tracks made it onto the latest setlist? “A bunch, four or five songs.” And have they gone down well? “Usually! If we’re not too tired!” says Perro through a burst of apologetic laughter.

Open Your Heart marks the third full length record from the Brooklynites, and appears just eight months after its predecessor, 2011′s Leave Home. “We recorded it with this guy Ben, who’s actually – once Tia [current bassist] finishes this tour – going to start playing bass for us full time,” explains Perro. ”He actually recorded Leave Home as well and he used to run a studio in the basement of this Catholic school in Brooklyn that has since closed down. So we recorded there with him over the span of six or eight sessions, not too many times. The first day we got completely shut down because they were shooting a film upstairs. We turned on our amplifiers and the producers all came down and said “No… not going to happen.”” Suggesting that you weren’t providing a suitable soundtrack to the scene they were shooting? “No, I guess not! Apart from that, it was a pretty normal recording session I guess, I mean nothing too difficult or strange. We had a pretty good idea of what we were trying to do and we had most of the songs pretty together and formed before we got there, so we just banged them out.”

The Men have certainly had an eventful last 12 months. Having spent the earlier days of their career cruising along at a relatively modest pace, last year’s release of Leave Home saw the band catapulted into a tempo of touring and working that they’d not experienced before. So how has that been? “Things have definitely changed. We’ve been busier, that’s for sure – there’s a lot of things to do outside of the music all of a sudden which is not something we’re used to. There’s more people involved, more people have an opinion over what we’re doing and have ideas about what we should and should not do, so that’s different. And not necessarily in a good way. But sometimes in a good way, so in that sense, it’s really different. Musically, you’re still going to be doing the same thing, it’s just that the world outside of the music has become a lot more complicated. Which is good and bad. It is what it is.”

This grounded attitude has served The Men well over the past 12 months as the band have embarked upon intensive tours alongside the likes of Iceage and Milk Music. They have a refreshingly blunt, no nonsense, no bullshit approach to the business pressures that have tried to increase their hold over The Men throughout the past year, yet the band continue to retain a sure sense of steadiness and direction as to what is it they want to do, rather than what, according to some, they should be doing.

“There’s a lot of people that are involved in our band and outside of the band that try to put us in all sorts of different situations,” Perro explains. “We try to weigh each one and avoid being all over the place because a) that’s stressful for everybody involved, b) within the band that’s stressful and then on top of that, you don’t want to be all over the place because it’s all oversaturated. To see “Oh yeah, Rich had a croissant this morning!” on the internet. Who wants to see that?”
“…How do you know that?!” asks a slightly disconcerted Rich.
“You told me you had a croissant this morning!”

Oversaturation certainly is an issue in modern day music. ”Yeah we try to avoid that,” Perro expands. ”We think about that. I think it’s a lot easier to put yourself out there now so I think people really use that. But I think we need to be careful not to do that. Anybody can have a website and a Twitter and Facebook and all this other crap. Is all that stuff really necessary? Or is it just overcrowded pollution? Noise pollution.”

After a quick jaunt through the influences over Open Your Heart, (“Cheap Trick. Big Star. 70s rock, country. We listen to everything”), the story behind the title track of the album is broached. “I just came up with it in like, two minutes on the couch.” says guitarist and vocalist Nick Chiericozzi. ”It was real easy. It reminded me of a Tom Petty and Frank Black song called… something about the moon. And it sounded good! It’s one of those things, those are usually the best songs, the ones that take the least amount of time.”

And that’s exactly what makes The Men so endearing. There are no media led marketing ploys, they’re not constantly striving to break down barriers. They’re creating music spontaneously, passionately and honestly and with the pressure and nature of the current musical climate, that’s probably one of the hardest traits to retain. Exhausted as they may be, fatigue does nothing to hinder the thunderous performance that rouses and rattles CAMP Basement later in the evening. A packed out crowd quivers into a swaying, sweaty mess as The Men unleash their decisively intense, yet surprisingly accesible set to a riff hungry crowd. This level of acceptance might not be what they had in mind at the offset, but this band might just turn out to be exactly what we’ve all been waiting for.

Open Your Heart is available now through Sacred Bones Records.

Karin Park Interview

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:14:16 +0000

Published by The Line of Best Fit

“Start out strong, and keep increasing” : The Line of Best Fit meets Karin Park

by Francine Gorman on March 2, 2012

Quite often when speaking to artists about their journey through music, the subject in question will have a few tales to tell about previous projects. Be that as a member of an embarrassing ska-punk band while in Sixth Form, or an acoustic performance of a heart wrenching indie song designed to win the heart of the guy or girl they’d set there sights on, more often than not, musicians will have been involved in other projects before their current one. It’s not that often however, that the artist in question started out as a bona fide pop star in her native region, with MTV awards to prove it. But that’s exactly the case with Karin Park, better known nowadays for her dark and brooding synth led compositions than her pop tinged beginnings.

As we catch up with Karin Park, she’s in Paris in the midst of a tour with SBTRKT. “We also just played with Azari & III… in Brussels. Both acts are really good so I’m really happy to be on tour with them.”

“The response [at the shows] has been overwhelming. I actually think the gig with Azari & III the other day at Botanique was one of the highlights so far. I just wasn’t expecting the reaction we got but 650 people started dancing and screaming right away and completely stayed with us through the whole set. It was great.”

Karin Park has spent the last year on the road, writing, recording and is now preparing to unleash the fruits of her labour in the shape of her fourth album Highwire Poetry, an invigorating mix of industrial pop, electronic inventions and heart-wrenching observations.

2004 saw Park release her first album, a hugely successful record entitled Superworldunknown which propelled her into the Norwegian spotlight. The music is worlds apart from that which Park associates herself with today, so how does she feel about her first album now?

“For me, there are a lot of emotions tied up in my first album, even though I feel like a completely different person now. It was kind of a musical childhood with both good and bad memories. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness and I’ve cried my heart out in hotel rooms, made confused statements and been totally depressed. It’s been an interesting journey!”

“I try to avoid hypothetical questions, as they leave my brain boiling. I’m sure I would have changed something [about my first album] but it doesn’t feel like it matters. I know I’ve learned a lot but I don’t really regret anything.”

Originally from Sweden, it was in Norway where Park first made her mark having left the small community of Djura, Sweden for the bright lights of Oslo, stopping off in Japan along the way. “I grew up in church where my parents made me sing every Sunday from an age of 5 and we moved to Japan when I was 7. We lived in the countryside in Japan too so there weren’t really many influences outside of our church before I got my first Whitney Houston cassette at the age of 10 and my brother discovered Metallica. My first serious love was Depeche Mode. We listened to Kraftwerk, Front 242 and things like that but my love for that came later when I discovered analogue synths properly.”

Living in such a tight knit community meant that Park was quick to turn to music for entertainment, “I was 6 years old when I made a lullaby for my younger sister and brother which they made me sing for them every night,” says Park. “I played the piano from 10, but didn’t really compose much before I was 16. Then I started to record my own stuff.” Park continues to make music with brother David today, him being her sole band member taking on the responsibility of a variety of instruments, mainly drums and bass, as well inventions that we’re not so familiar with. “Well, you see the equipment we want to use for our live shows doesn’t really exist yet,” explains Park, “so we have to build some of it ourselves.”

“[David and I] were kind of bitter enemies until the age of 20. We didn’t really know each other that well until I phoned him up in 2004 and said I needed a really good drummer. He started on drums, then he played guitar for a while, then he went to bass but now he is back on the drums and bass at the same time. He is the master of multitasking. We write some of the music together as well. He’s the best partner and we hardly ever fight anymore… David is the instrument genius. He is so creative when it comes to finding ways to play our quite special live set. He plays the drums and the bass at the same time and we have created a set up where we can experiment and be impulsive on stage.”

Highwire Poetry is Parks’ fourth album, an album more intense, more stylised and more experimental than anything she’s released up until this point. ”I wanted to go deeper in to this electronic journey that I had started on [previous album] Ashes to Gold. One day I got a song from Barry Barnett in the UK [producer of 5 tracks on Highwire Poetry] that he wanted me to write on. He didn’t know me. He had just heard my music from Myspace and his label contacted me.”

“So I wrote a song, they loved it and State of the Eye recordings flew over to Norway to see me. I really liked them and they ended up signing me for a whole album based on one song. That song is called ‘Thousand Loaded Guns’ and is now on the album.”

Park then went on to work with producer Christoffer Berg, who having already produced the likes of Fever Ray/The Knifeand Little Dragon proved to be a perfect match to Park’s style and approach. It hasn’t been a completely seamless process however, as using a writing approach that Park was unfamiliar with proved to set the journey of making this album off to a very bad start indeed. ”I actually had my first proper ‘writing session’ with some professional hit makers this time,” she says. “I thought it would be fun to try it. Me and these guys had a 3 day session. I CRIED the second day when I walked to the studio. I felt emotionally raped and just hated every second of it.”

“I take music very seriously. Maybe too seriously sometimes. But songwriting is an emotional process for me and not just something that you put together carelessly. So that didn’t work out. But then I hung out in the studio with Barry, Johnny McDaid and my brother David who’s got the same approach as me and loves music in the same way I do.”

The first single to be taken from Highwire Poetry is ’Fryngies’, a driving piece featuring hypnotic, dark electronic tones and nuances (“I love bass and beats so I’ve been focusing a lot on that”) with Park’s mesmerising, striking vocal providing the focal point. “Well, it’s kind of [a song] about looking forward,” says Park of the single, “pushing ahead and don’t let the monsters in your life get to you even though they are everywhere. You know the times when you feel that everything is just coming at you. It’s too much to take and you’re nearly drowning.”

An exceptional performer, an extraordinary writer and someone with an inspired approach to creating honest, progressive and exciting electronic music, Park is a very interesting prospect for 2012 indeed. ”Start out strong, and keep increasing.” says Park of her work ethic. “My dad told me this and it’s a motto from a Swedish cross country skier called Sixten Järnberg.” Strong in music, strong in mind, strong in attitude, this is certainly not the last we’ll be hearing of Karin Park.

Karin Park will release ‘Fryngies’ on the 5 March 2012, with Highwire Poetry due for release this Spring. Karin will be playing White Heat at Madame Jojo’s on the 6 March to mark the release.

Fanzine Biography

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:58:08 +0000

A biography that I wrote for the second signing to Best Fit Recordings, Fanzine.

Hailing from London, but drawing equally from the power pop sounds of West Coast America to the rainy streets of Glasgow, Fanzine are here to inspire, to incite and to invigorate in the most laid back, understated yet radiant way they can.

There’s a knack to making this positively inviting brand of modern, heart filled, outlandishly catchy power pop that Fanzine create so effortlessely. It’s all to do with fusing an irresistible melody and a soft, jaunty vocal with the perfect dose of fuzz and reverb, and then wrapping the whole thing up in perfectly executed layers of harmonic prowess. Fanzine have been perfecting this heady mixture and are now set to demonstrate their melodic mastery as they release a new single through Best Fit Recordings

Fanzine debuted with the ‘Low EP’ in true DIY style last year, as a self released record with an accompanying handmade fanzine. On the back of this, acclaimed U.S label Fat Possum signed the band to release single and veritable live favourite ‘Roman Holiday’ alongside accompanying track, ‘My Stupid Brain’. Since then, the four piece have made their way around the UK with good friends and musical allies Yuck, as well as the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Cults. And that’s not to mention their innumerable acclaimed appearances at gigs around the capital which have garnered the outstanding live reputation of which Fanzine have come to be proud owners.

Emotion drenched lyrics sitting alongside killer guitar led hooks is what this band do best. They aim to capture a special moment, a youthful energy, a lustrous vibrancy and transport their listeners to a musical time initiated by the likes of Big Star, Weezer and Teenage Fanclub.

Fanzine release ‘L.A’ through Best Fit Recordings on April 30.

Interview - Porcelain Raft

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:11:33 +0000

Published by The Line of Best Fit

“A sentence can start a feeling, a sentence can start a story” : The Line of Best Fit meets Porcelain Raft

by Francine Gorman on January 26, 2012

Porcelain Raft first leapt to our collective attention back in 2010, when his track ‘Tip of Your Tongue‘ went…well, viral. In no time at all, the tantalising tones of the hazy, heady song were rattling around blogs and sites as far as search engines could reach. Made from the hands of the then London, now Brooklyn-based Italian Mauro Remeddi, ‘Tip of Your Tongue’ succeeded in engaging everybody that was lulled into its path, and went on to spawn some great remixes too.

Fast forward to the early days of 2012, and Remeddi is driving up to Scotland, excitedly awaiting the imminent release of Porcelain Raft’s first album Strange Weekend. “We just played two shows [with M83] and it’s been so much fun. On stage I’m joined by Michael on drums, so now that we’re two, the sound is way richer, there are more details – I’m having so much fun!”

‘Hype’ can be a contentious creature, and the resulting pressure can often entice artists to travel in all of the wrong directions. So with the attention generated by ‘Tip of Your Tongue’ following Remiddi around, was there any sense of pressure to speed along and strike while the iron was hot, so to speak? “No, I didn’t feel pressure” he states. “We say that about that song now but back then, it didn’t feel like it was anything special. But I also think that in my case, momentum is not what I’m looking for. After that track came out, I had a lot of interest in the sense of ‘how would you like to support it?’ so I started playing live. That’s what I wanted to do, more than recording an album. So basically, instead of recording and signing a deal, we started to play live and did that for a year and it was amazing. So I just took my time and then when I felt like making a record, I just did it.”

Whenever Porcelain Raft is described or discussed, the manner in which the music is made is always a subject that comes to the forefront. Remiddi has made no secret of his recording habits, and of the fact that the early Porcelain Raft tracks that garnered him so much attention were recorded alone in his London bedroom. “I had to use headphones, and I couldn’t really sing loud, and I couldn’t use drums – I was in a flat – so sometimes, my music had this feeling of intimacy just because of that. Because it couldn’t be otherwise” says Remiddi of the process. “I just decided to stick with [that method], to play in a room, to not have any producers – just me by myself having fun with my music. But instead of being in my bedroom, I thought ‘let’s go somewhere where I can actually play drums and sing loud’. Then I could go more into details about things. I wasn’t just forced to be intimate or quiet, I could’ve been loud if I wanted to. So it just meant freedom.”

Having created each minute element of the music himself, the project must feel like such a personal thing, so how does Remiddi feel about opening the music up to another participant on stage? ”Even if something is personal, the important thing is to leave space for somebody else to come in and feel what he wants to feel as well” he replies. “So you’re telling a story, but you’re not dictating the feelings – you might feel one way about the story, but someone else might feel differently. So the important thing is to leave that space for somebody else to project his own feelings and in that sense, it’s been great.” The location of of the creation of Strange Weekend may have differed from that used for the making of 2011′s Gone Blind EP, but did time led to any other major changes? ”The process was still exactly the same,” Remeddi states, “the idea of composing and recording a song in the same day, and trying to not over-produce it, not over-think it. The approach was very similar, I didn’t want to change that. My next album probably won’t be like that, I’ll do what I feel like. It’s not like I’ll stick with this just for the sake of it, but right now, it really represents me.”

“I sit down recording, and then maybe improvise some lyrics and a melody, and then I’ll listen back to it. Sometimes, when you just say random things for the sake of finding a melody, actually those things that you’re singing randomly start to make sense. So I’ll start to listen to what I just sang and a sentence can start a feeling, and a sentence can start a story. I create the image that the sound will follow.”

Strange Weekend comprises a refined collection of glimmering, lovelorn, swooning melodies. It’s an album full of tender tunes, while remaining bright, vibrant and lively. It’s a body of work that could in no way have been created by a novice, but who’s saying that Porcelain Raft is indeed a novice? In fact, Remiddi boasts an eclectic music CV, to say the least. Playing piano for a New York tap show, composing film scores and playing gypsy klezmer music with the Berlin Youth Circus are all listed as previous professions, implying that Remiddi’s musical training has been far from ordinary. “I wanted to experiment and see if I really liked it. And then I’d move on and do something else. So they all make sense in my life, because I’m doing what I’m doing now because of those things. They made me understand what I really like and what wasn’t a very good fit for me.”

With Remiddi currently in the process of creating a number of videos to accompany the album’s tracks, it’s easy to spot the fact that each song harbours a distinct personality and message, with each song telling a story and some inciting a certain sense of nostalgia, especially for the composer. ”I like ‘Unless Speak From Your Heart’. I had so much fun with every song but I remember that one because it was summer and I was finishing the album, so it was just adding details – I didn’t have to record anymore, it was more about editing. And I remember that all of my friends were out having beers, it was such a beautiful day and I thought ‘argh, I really have to finish this!’ So I thought ‘ah, fuck it’ and I got some beers and I recorded the track in one day, just because I wanted to. I was drunk and singing and composing this song, and it was fun! That was the last track I recorded for the album.”

Thankfully, the anticipation roused by those first whisperings of ‘Tip of Your Tongue’ have amounted to something which very much lives up to expectations. As a first album, Strange Weekend is accomplished and as an antidote to that dull, wintery sensation that seems to thrive in these January days, it’s perfectly fitting. As Mauro Remiddi prepares to climb back into his tour van to complete his journey to Glasgow, he offers an insight into what the year will hold for Porcelain Raft: “I have my laptop with me and I’m going to make a video for most of the songs while I’m on tour” he explains. “Then I have so many songs that I didn’t actually release, that were recorded for this album. I recorded maybe 20 songs for this album, and then decided to just use 10 but there are these ten songs that I love, so I think I want to do something with them. There’s lots of material to work on.” Prolific as ever and completely unphased by the kind of attention that would’ve melted someone with less experience and drive, Porcelain Raft is sure to make 2012 into whatever he wants it to be, and while we’re waiting to see what that is, we’ve got a great record to be listening to.