Tag: Current

The second single to be taken from the forthcoming second Alfa 9 album ‘Gone To Ground‘, out early 2013.

‘TOWERS’ is the second album from BALTIC FLEET and follows the 2008 self-titled debut which was an Album of the Year (No 29) for Rough Trade Shops who described it as “A faultless piece of instrumental music that captures the spirit of Eno, NEU! all the way through to modern post-rock and chamber music”.

BALTIC FLEET is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist and DIY producer Paul Fleming. The second record signifies a departure from the travelling and diarising of life on the road (whilst touring as keyboard player for Echo & The Bunnymen), and arrives home to the industrial backdrop of North West England. The album was written and recorded in a room overlooking the industrial landscape a stone’s throw from Spike Island, the scene of another Northern band’s finest hour.

The cinematic aspect is still apparent on this second offering but is more direct. Analogue synthesisers intertwined with distant guitars roll over a backdrop of live and electronic drums. Two years in the making, the record captures varied emotions. Towers tells a story of life in between the silos of Liverpool and Manchester but with a foot in both, a cultural no-man’s land, in the shadows of industry.

Towers: Written and Produced by Paul Fleming. Additional recording at Parr St Studio, Liverpool. Mixed by Nick Terry at Malabar Studios, Oslo.

The first single to be taken from the second Baltic Fleet album ‘Towers‘.

When Fay Hallam played live at Blow Up and was introduced to Blow Up’s very own recording artist, Mr Nasser Bouzida AKA ‘The Bongolian’, little did they know that they would shortly get together to create the album ‘Lost in Sound’.

Both Fay and Nasser share a serious passion for 60’s Hammond Beat and Soul. In the studio, they felt free to experiment with different sounds and rhythms, immersing themselves in the sounds they both love, including Bossa Nova, heavier 70’s grooves and a strong Northern Soul influence. During the months they worked on the recordings, Fay would bring the basic songs into the studio, and along with Nasser, flesh out the arrangements. Their choice of instruments included mainly old Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hammond C3 keyboards and other vintage equipment, mixing things up with some cool cinematic synth. sounds. As the sessions developed, the songs kept flowing; finally resulting in the album being completed in London where it was mixed by Miles Clarke (The Who / Pete Townsend engineer), with additional mixing and mastering by Nick Bennett.

Get ready to get Lost in Sound…

The first single to be taken from ‘Lost In Sound‘ – the brand new collaboration between Fay Hallam & The Bongolian.

Following ‘Leaving For A Day‘, another brand new track from Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck, an melancholy upbeat indie-pop song for Christmas….

This will released before Christmas, but in the meantime you can check out now on Soundcloud and youTube...

The second single to be taken from the second Baltic Fleet album ‘Towers‘.

The second single to be taken from ‘Lost In Sound‘ – the brand new collaboration between Fay Hallam & The Bongolian.

‘Moves On The Screen’ is the second single from Swedish indie-pop 8-piece Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck, and taken from their debut album ‘Days Come and Go‘.

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Released this March, Gone To Ground is the second album from Alfa 9. The self produced twelve song set was recorded in their home town of Newcastle-under-Lyme at their own Dungeon Studios, and mixed in London by Myles Clarke (The Who / Pete Townsend). Several years have gone by between the release of their debut Then We Begin and the band have remerged with Gone To Ground as a four piece.

Citing the ’60s and early ’70s folk and country-rock of The Byrds, in particular, Gene Clark, Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers, the Paisley Underground, bands of early ’80s LA, Gone To Ground (which was recorded over six months) channels the same love of the past as such contemporaries as The See See, Tame Impala, The Quarter After, Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Beachwood Sparks. “I guess the sort of stuff we were becoming influenced by was far more subtly produced, so it was a pretty natural move,” says Leon of the album’s more spacious production, marked by rich mid-60s harmonies, ringing 12 strings and naturally overdriven and fuzztone guitars.

Gone To Ground deserves a place on the record shelf of anyone susceptible to organic jangle and fine melodies. The album will be preceded by the singles Into The Light and Seedless.