Month: May 2017

There aren’t many artists that can lay claim to having put out records on labels as divergent as Rough Trade and John Talabot’s Hivern Discs. Perhaps this is because few artists express such genuine diversity in their musical tastes and creative explorations as David Kitt.

Since the turn of the decade as New Jackson he has mined a seam of driving, ghostly house to run parallel with his solo strand of ambient folk electronica. His debut release in 2011 The Night Mail on Pogo channeled early record collection heroes Aphex Twin and Orbital through to Drexciya and Projekt PM but had one foot firmly in the 21st century beaming in like some futuristic cyberballad. On the flip side Hussle Free had that mix of house and boogie sensibilities with dark and dusty synths and vocoder that would become a signature. This was followed by acclaimed releases on Hivern, Permanent Vacation, Major Problems, Apartment and most recently Cin Cin.

His debut album set for release on All City in May was recorded in Kitt’s bedroom studio overlooking Dublin bay, its nocturnal hues very much a product of the nightshift often working on headphones with the rest of his housemates fast asleep. It takes full advantage of the scope of the LP format, ebbing and flowing between deep house club ready gems and more restrained and meditative beatless moments for the morning after. The recording process yielded many eureka moments with Kitt finally nailing sounds that had hitherto proved elusive. A key moment was getting a bank loan to buy an SP 1200 sampler – “It’s a sound I’ve tried to get close to for almost half my life now and the only way to really nail it was to get the machine itself. It’s featured on so many of my favourite records by the likes of Premier, RZA, MF Doom, Daft Punk, Moodyman and Theo” Indeed the presence of a sampler used heavily in hip-hop is no coincidence, for Kitt this record owes as much to beats and rhymes as it does to head-down club house. “My first love when it comes to samplers and drum machines is hip-hop and I’ve often wondered what kind of house Pete Rock or J Dilla would make. I like to think the record reflects that a bit.”

“From Night to Night” is one end of the result of his artistic persistence. Machine love alongside crafted songsmanship is evident from start to finish – the beautifully structured pop tones of Put the Love In It and the deep vocoder boogie of Found the One sit next to the machine funk of SP2 and the atmospheric ambience of Cadaquez. There’s a beautiful re-imagination of DJ Shadow in the ten minutes of the deep funk of After Midnight in A Perfect World with the LP closing out, appropriately enough, with a reworking of one of his breakthrough tracks – the epic piano house vibes of Of A Thousand Leaves. Part Larry Heard, part Pete Rock, part Arthur Russell, a deftly constructed LP of musical subtleties from a considered artist mining the creative result of a lifetime’s listening and making.

https://www.facebook.com/NewJacksonMusic/

Pale Rivers are a five piece Alternative, Rock/Pop band based out of Cork, Ireland. They spent the last year writing and recording with producer Gavin Glass at his Dublin studio and mixing engineer Kieran Lynch (U2, R.E.M, Elvis Costello)

Following on from their debut single ‘August 6th’, the band present this new track ‘Heart-Throb’. While their debut release was an at times atmospheric and slow building indie rock song, ‘Heart Throb’ presents a different side to the band, with loud guitars and fast drums, this is almost a punk effort from the band.

https://www.facebook.com/palerivers/

Cork based Indie specialists Neon Atlas are on form once more as they return with a new single; “Move In Circles” which goes on general release June 8 2017.

“Move in Circles” is a slice of guitar-driven indie gold reminiscent of The Gigolo Aunts and Teenage Fan Club. The track is lifted from their forth-coming and yet untitled 3^rd album due toward the end of 2017. In the meantime, the band will be touring nationwide, and playing this year’s Indiependence and Townlands Carnival Festivals.

“Oozes with Tim Wheeler-like melodies and weezer-esque riffs…..the LP shines thanks to super- slick production……. packs plenty of punch.“- HOT PRESS

“Ring is a captivating vocalist and the band have a finely tuned sense of melody“. – IRISH INDEPENDENT

“Neon Atlas have cooked up a batch of warm, fuzzy pop tunes with enough songwriting chops to keep even the hardest to please music listener interested. The Cork band have a future as bright as their music“.- GOLDENPLEC

“Hard to beat a solid, catchy riff – and that’s what helped bury this one into our brains. Fantastic drumming and a sneering vocal also played their part in a pretty relentless three minutes of indie-pop gold.” BBC ACROSS THE LINE

TWITTER: @neonatlasband
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/neonatlasband/

Following on the success (10,000+FB plays in 1st 48hrs), great reviews and widespread AirPlay of his debut release ‘Landslide’ (Dublin Town) in December, Nousom Knots has released a 2nd single and video. The song is called ‘Midnight’. Mixed and Co-produced by New York based Óisín O’Malley who has co-produced with the likes of Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, this song of Love & Loss is accompanied by a striking new video, filmed in Provence, France.

The song showcases the full band sound of Dublin singer-songwriter Nousom Knots’ material. Musicians on the song include Nousom Knots: Lead vocals & guitars, Colm Querney: Bass guitar (Lir, Cathy Davey, Jerry Fish), Tommy Leonard: Drums (Eric Bell, These Charming men), Camille Cremona: backing vocals.

People are hearing influences such as Bowie, Neil Young, Jeff Buckley, The Smiths and The Cure. Indeed Knots guested as a singer at the recent iHeart Bowie tribute in Dublin’s Opium Rooms to great reception, singing some Bowie classics backed by agro-funk band BARQ and more. These videos and more can be found at his website and facebook pages.

Single Release Date: 4th May

http://nousomknots.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvft2HSuSmQs4nstOl0vVZQ
https://m.facebook.com/NousomKnots/
https://soundcloud.com/nousomknots
https://twitter.com/nousomknots

Ergodos launches new album What is living and what is dead by Irish composer Simon O’Connor at the American Irish Historical Society, New York City, on May 11, 2017. Register to attend the performance here.

An immaculately crafted, beautiful and poignant collection of nine piano pieces, What is living and what is dead is the new album from Irish composer Simon O’Connor. Written for and recorded by Ireland’s foremost young pianist Michael McHale, this monumental release will be launched and performed in full for the first time at the American Irish Historical Society in New York City on 11 May 2017 at 6.30pm.

“I wanted to create something that could make a profound emotional connection with people, music that could really draw listeners inward to themselves and awaken a sense of joy in the beauty of the world around them,” says O’Connor of the 57-minute long collection.

“The work takes it’s title and inspiration from a lecture given by the late NYU historian and writer Tony Judt, and is an attempt to articulate through music his sentiment that a more equal world is one worth fighting for, one that must be reimagined anew, and that the past may guide a path through our present and perilous times.”

“Now, more than ever, I feel the need to create music that can reconnect every listener to a childish sense of wonder; music that takes its joy in innocent melody and delicate harmony; music that is – at it’s core – an embodiment of hopefulness.”

Michael McHale’s recording of What is living and what is dead is now available on Ergodos. Listen to What is living and what is dead on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7GlEaSrCTSstSz90HaKp8E

“Simon O’Connor’s album What is living and what is dead for solo piano (performed by Michael McHale) is an hour-long meditative, introspective work that … lounges in being hard to place … calling to mind Arvo Pärt and Keith Jarrett… extended duration and emotional directness are key to the work’s effect” – Liam Cagney, The Journal of Music

The performance of ‘What is living and what is dead’ in the American Irish Historical Society, New York, on May 11 is presented with the support of Culture Ireland / Cultúr Éireann.

Time must be speeding up. It does NOT feel like 30 years since The Stunning formed in Galway in 1987. But it is indeed the case.  Laid back as they are, the last original song The Stunning released as a single was in 1993 – “Tightrope Walker”. Now, twenty-four years later, they’re about to release their first single of the 21^st Century “Brighten Up My Life”. No rush lads…in your own time.

You’d think with the passing of so many years, that the band’s sound would have matured into more easy-listening territory, but that’s certainly not the case here. Think of the current crop of sensitive, acoustic, singer-songwriter troubadours and then think what the opposite of that would be. It’s got swagger, it’s melodic, it’s rock’n’roll, it’s pop music and it’s tongue is planted firmly in it’s cheek.

“Brighten Up My Life” is what would happen if you put Marc Bolan of T-Rex into a room with The Black Keys and then the White Stripes joined the party. Maybe even Primal Scream stopped by for a drink. It’s what the boys have always been good at – inventing big guitar riffs such as ‘Brewing up a Storm’, ‘Romeo’s on Fire’ and ‘To the Bright & Shining Sun’. Big riffs that build towards an even bigger chorus. It’s a Saturday night song with no precious message……other than, it’s ok to have some fun every now and then!

“I’m so disappointed in most of my friends

They’re talking about houses and gross dividends

Whatever happened to shaking your ass

And a roll in the grass?”

The band is also putting the finishing touches to a re-recorded, re-imagined version of their multi-platinum second album “Once Around the World”. It hit the number one spot in 1992 and included the hit singles ‘Everything that Rises’; ‘Heads are Gonna Roll’; ‘Mr. Ginger’ and ‘She’s on my Mind’. The band always felt that the original album hadn’t done the songs justice. It’s been renamed ‘Twice Around the World’ and will include the new single ‘Brighten up my Life’ as a bonus track.

Forthcoming shows:

May 26^th                 St. Lukes Church, Cork (Steve & Joe acoustic)
June 3^rd                   Boston Irish Festival. USA
June 16^th                Doolin Folk Festival
July 27^th                  Leopardstown Racecourse, Dublin
Aug 26^th                 Mungret Music Festival, Co. Limerick

More dates to be confirmed.

Website: thestunning.net
Facebook: facebook.com/thestunning/
Twitter: twitter.com/TheStunningBand
YouTube: youtube.com/user/TheStunningTV

Northern Irish family band Saffyre release their much anticipated single ‘Run For Your Life’ on Friday May 26th. The song was recorded by Grammy Award Winning producer Jim Jonsin in his Florida studio. Jonsin has written and produced music for artists such as Beyoncé, Eminem, Pitbull, B.o.B and Usher. The single is available to purchase from May 26th 2017.

Saffyre spent two weeks in Florida with Jonsin and his team co-writing and working on ‘Run For Your Life’.The single is a mix of pop meets folk, meets country. The varied backgrounds of Jonsin, his team and Saffyre have come together to create a unique, fresh sound that is to date the ‘most exciting, energetic’ project that girls have worked on.

The song and lyrics have a strong empowering message of overcoming difficulties- ‘running on empty when the end is in sight’ and keeping focused on what’s important- ‘you’re not alone, when you’re running for your life’.

The girls grew up very closely in a large family where music and singing was a huge part of their lives. They were influenced by many artists across several genres ranging from Country, Folk, Pop, Blues, Irish Trad and Rock. The melodies and harmonies that are signature to the Saffyre sound are a culmination of the influences they grew up with and the three part harmony they have honed and perfected over years of recording and live performance. Jonsin has captured the strength of family harmony, strong melody lines and unique vocal blend in this upbeat, catchy track.

For many songwriters the idea of writing a song with a pre-existing form seems restrictive, stifling and boring. It plays to their greatest fear that if they do not write freely and organically, then their songs will become formulaic and patterned. They adhere to the notion that freedom starts with a blank page.

Those songwriters are then quite surprised to learn that the opposite is actually true. By writing from their instincts and intuition alone, and in an effort to find their true writers voice, they find themselves either sounding remarkably like a previous version of themselves, or like one of their influences since they are writing from the familiar and comfortable only, and not from a position of challenge. Instead of sounding like a fresh new version of themselves they actually sound like an old version or worse, a lesser version of the artist they admire most.

Writing from a song form provides two very positive advantages to artists in every discipline, and in every style. It first, provides a framework for the song to be written within, eradicating writers block, since the songwriter already has a song form, they also then already have the start to a song. The second advantage is that it provides a challenge, and within that challenge the artist finds a place to grow their skills and vision. A process that does not come from creating out of the familiar or out of a vacuum either.

Many writers fight against this challenge feeling like this is yet another ploy to get them to be something different; to make them change. This is, however, not the case at all. Although it is true that it is not valuable to make art that does not reflect who you are, and to let forces from the outside change you, this is not change, but growth that is being leveraged.

Classical composers like Bach and Mozart wrote Fugues and Minuets that were pre-made forms, for those composers to pour their creativity into and the rules, restrictions and limitations provided opportunities for ingenuity and innovation within the use of those forms. The innovation gives the artist what they want; to make art that is uniquely their own, to display their perspective and share their emotional experiences. Proper form is then the element that serves the listener; it gives them a reliable framework to help identify and consume music within.

Raymond Loewy was a designer who had a whole philosophy about the familiar and the innovative features in the creative process. He designed the original Coca-cola cooler. The innovations involved the addition of a message that read “Have a Coke” and a bottle opener on the front. The innovations were that the cooler itself invited consumers in a conversational tone and the bottle opener meant that consumers would not have to wait for a sales person to open the bottle for them; instant gratification was re-born. The traditional element in this, however, was that it was still a cooler and still did the job of keeping bottles cold.

Notice that the most prominent feature in Loewy’s Coke cooler is fundamentally traditional and the innovation is quite small… but significant. This is the lesson we can take into our songwriting to make our listener…our chosen kind of listener, feel like they are in the right place, listening to the right music by the right artist and we get to still be ourselves…even a better version of ourselves, for having risen to the challenge of adaptation.

Finding reliable song forms that have been abstracted, or drawn out, of the complexity of a song chart has, up until now, been a challenge. That is why I spent the last 10 years researching and compiling over 500 popular hit songs and reduced these to the 100 best song forms that are found in my new book Song Forms for Songwriters.

The premise of the book is that the chords of a song each have a function, or a job to do. That job is to create or remove tension, within the context of the chord progression. What my book does is display these function names in place of the chord names in templates. Songwriters can just plug new chords, that function the same way, into the pre made template forms and get the same effect as the source songs produced but with their own choices, creating a whole new sound and a whole new song. Millions of songs can be produced from these 100 forms alone.

So in some respects this is a very old traditional idea, like Bach pouring his inspired choices into The Brandenburg Concerto and in a way it is a new innovation, in that these are forms from pop songs from our time and we are then writing contemporary work from them. Like Raymond Loewy it is a small innovation built from a platform of traditionalism and it is transforming the work of the songwriters who are using this book right now.

For more information on Song Forms for Songwriters contact info@nulljameslinderman.com or visit www.jameslinderman.com