georgeburrage @georgeburrage - Tumblr Blog

Shortly After Takeoff, an album by BC Camplight on Spotify

BC Camplight’s new album ‘Shortly After Takeoff’ was released a few weeks ago and it sounds awesome. Ben Cashell (cello) and I (violin) recorded strings on a couple of the tracks and are very grateful for the experience.

Here’s the Spotify link but there are also vinyl records available if anyone wants to support the band.

https://bellaunion.com/2020/01/bc-camplight-returns-with-shortly-after-take-off/

#bc camplight #shortly after takeoff #album release #strings #manchester music #ghost hunting

Photos taken from BETHLEHEM CASUALS’s show in Chester on our ‘Tragedy of Street Dog’ album release tour.

Photography by Andrea Terzuoli

#bethlehem casuals #gig photography #chester #street dog #album release #music photography #band photography

Some photos from Diving Station‘s performance at the beautiful Niamos Centre, as part of the Un-Convention conference in March 2020.

Photography by Andrea Terzuoli

#diving station #live performance #music photography #band photography #niamos #music concert #gig photography

I wrote a review of one of my favourite albums ever: New Order’s 'Power, Corruption & Lies'. This album has hugely influenced my own songwriting so I hope it is an enjoyable read!

------------------------------------------------------------ Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order

New Order’s second album is colourful and even optimistic. After the release of two of the band’s most-loved singles (‘Temptation’ and ‘Blue Monday’), ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ can be seen as a reinvention point that saw New Order fully realising what they could accomplish with synthesisers. In 1983, without trying to do so, they paved the way for indie rock and the then futuristic electronic dance music. The speed at which this occurred, when compared to the band’s releases just a couple of years earlier, is remarkable. Not as raw sounding as their last album ‘Movement’, moreover ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ is far less bleak. By opening themselves up to brighter expressions but retaining a distinct remoteness (a sentiment also achieved in Peter Saville’s enduring album artwork), New Order created some of the best pop music of the 1980s.

The first glimpse of this is in the album’s opener ‘Age of Consent’. Kicking in with one of Hook’s most anthemic bass lines, Morris’ insistent drumbeats, Sumner’s wonderfully exposed guitar work, and Gilbert’s emotive synths quickly join. Their performances give the track an incredible propulsion and individuality. Every part of ‘Age of Consent’ is so memorable that I’m always drawn back to it. One of the big changes seen here from New Order’s previous releases is the key signature: it is triumphantly major. Throughout the album the use of major tonality helps separate it from ‘Movement’ and brings the band’s pop elements to the forefront.

Tracks like ‘The Village’ and ‘Ultraviolence’ have peppy synth basses playing a larger role, but when paired with the band’s aggressive playing it creates an unusual stylistic clash. A quick watch of any of their temperamental live performances surrounding this album makes these moments even more elusive. As Sumner boyishly sings on ‘The Village’, “Our love is like the flowers, the rain, the sea, and the hours” it is clear that we’re a long way thematically from albums like ‘Unknown Pleasures’. These songs also show what New Order could do with limited chords. By writing in this way, they were able to avoid overcomplicating anything. In doing so I think they achieve a strong emotional directness that has had an effect on many listeners.

‘5-8-6’ is a thrilling excursion through electronic passages. The instrumental has been called ‘Blue Monday’s big brother’ and features Gillian Gilbert’s textural synths. They give the track a playfulness and are constantly changing. When hearing Sumner repeat the phrase “I heard you calling, Yes I heard you calling” it isn’t hard to imagine James Murphy singing a similar refrain on a track that could be a lost LCD Soundsystem cut. My favourite synth work on the album has to be on ‘Ecstasy’. The recording quality is very much of the time, but every time I listen it sounds progressive. Again, the organic/synthetic melodies and textures are memorable. It is amazing to think that the same group that wrote ‘Dreams Never End’ are now writing fizzy dance music.

Elsewhere, ‘Your Silent Face’ is a grandiose piece of synth pop with Morris acting as drum machine. Most likely Kraftwerk-inspired, it can still include a melodica solo and reach a peak with the line, “You’ve caught me at a bad time, So why don’t you piss off”. This track is another example of New Order (and Joy Division e.g. ‘Atmosphere’) being able to conjure up bathos out of simple parts that aren’t afraid of repetition. Whilst the music and lyrics in album closer ‘Leave Me Alone’ show it to be the most mournful, it still features beautiful repeated instrumental and vocal passages. As with other tracks on the album, the parts of ‘Leave Me Alone’ are now ubiquitous in rock music due to the slew of bands that have tried to imitate New Order.

Although it is hard to not succumb to the nostalgia surrounding many Factory Records artists, I would recommend this album as a starting point to anyone wanting to discover more New Order. I think ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ as an album is overlooked because the band’s fantastic singles were not included here (or on any of their early albums). There are so many great melodies abound it is a shame that none of the tracks were released as stand-alone singles. This is not a perfect album - I’m still not keen on ‘We All Stand’ or the messily long intro to ‘5-8-6’, but the excitement felt from listening to an original band trying to push their sound further makes it the closest they ever got to one.

#new order #power corruption and lies #album review #classic album #music journalism #music review #synth pop #new wave #post-punk #factory records

Diving Station recently contributed a track, ‘When I Arrived It Was Raining’, to the MancMade///Acts of Hope album. This project aims to raise funds for MancSpirit, Greater Manchester’s Mental Wellbeing Charity

It is a huge honour to share a release with the likes of Peter Hook, Johnny Marr, Maxine Peake and IST IST.

Buy from 42’s Records here - https://42srecords.tmstor.es

#diving station #mancmade #acts of hope #mancspirit #mental wellbeing #charity #album #manchester music #greater manchester #peter hook #johnny marr #maxine peake #ist ist

BETHLEHEM CASUALS‘ new album ‘The Tragedy of Street Dog’ was released on April 17th 2020. It was 2 years in the making and we are very proud of it!

Listen here: https://songwhip.com/…/bethlehem-…/the-tragedy-of-street-dog

Shortly After Takeoff, a song by BC Camplight on Spotify

About half a year ago Ben Cashell and I recorded strings on a couple of songs for BC Camplight's new album. The first of those tracks has been released as his latest single and it's also the album's title track. Thank you Francesca Pidgeon for recommending us. I'm a huge fan of the band's music so this was quite a daunting recording experience, but I feel very lucky to have been involved and to have seen how Brian works in the studio.

#bc camplight #shortly after takeoff #recording #strings #music studio #session work

I wrote some words about the incredible new Caribou album. Have a read and I hope you enjoy listening!

-------------------------------

Suddenly - Caribou

After 5 years since the release of Caribou’s last album, ‘Our Love’, Dan Snaith returns with his new album: the wonderful ‘Suddenly’.

In the last decade there has been an incredible range of electronic music released from both new and revered artists. Caribou has, for me, always managed to stand out. The fact that their first few albums leaned much more onto the psychedelic side (and are all well worth listening to) makes this uniqueness more impressive. Dan has successfully managed to weave in several musical styles and still maintain a very individual sound. It helps having a voice as distinctive as his own, but there’s more going on in terms of the layered arrangements and production choices. ‘Suddenly’ seems to effortlessly incorporate these styles from a two-decade long career into its track listing. The result is an album with huge musical scope.

Since seeing the band support Radiohead on the King of Limbs tour I’ve been hooked. The live show is so fantastic I would need to write another review just to separately praise how well the quartet version of Caribou perform together. I also have vivid memories of hearing tracks off ‘Swim’ and ‘Up in Flames’ for the first time; thinking I had never heard anything like them before. So whilst there is an element of nostalgia going into this new album, ‘Suddenly’ does not dwell on the past and instead presses on. Caribou has always managed to keep up with current music trends (as well as influence them), but this new album has so many surprises it makes for a joyous experience. Tracks like ‘New Jade’ and ‘Ravi’ wear their dance music influences heavily, yet their extreme sampling effects and harmonic choices sets them apart from any of Caribou’s contemporaries.

The lead singles, particularly ‘You and I’ and ‘Home’, were unusually understated when compared to previous releases like ‘Can’t Do Without You’ but they still have exciting sounds and textures. However, within the context of the album they help enforce the music’s strong feeling of emotional directness. Amidst a diverse range of tracks each one somehow manages to complement the other and maintain a cohesiveness that I admittedly missed on first listening through, and now find astonishing. Other tracks such as ‘Never Come Back’ and ‘Like I Love You’ are huge growers, and their memorable melodies put them comfortably alongside Caribou’s biggest songs.

Sonically, nothing in the album is wasted or unwanted. Every sound is bright and esoteric. This, along with the close-miking of Dan’s vocals, makes a large portion of the album sound very intimate. To achieve these kinds of moments on tracks like ‘Magpie’ and ‘Sister’, whilst contrasting tracks feature some of the most uplifting and glamorous music I’ve heard this year, shows that those 5 years made ‘Suddenly’ worth waiting for.

#caribou #suddenly #album review #music journalism #dan snaith #music review #electronic music

Here’s a link to Diving Station‘s live session for our latest single, ‘Honey Bees’. Big thanks again to The Bookhouse - Recording Studio for the session. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkuFdtbl-DU

#diving station #live session #honey #bees #the bookhouse #recording studio #live music

Artwork for BETHLEHEM CASUALS’ single, ‘The Drink’, out now.

https://songwhip.com/song/bethlehem-casuals/the-drink

Created by Calum Heath: https://calumheath.tumblr.com/

#music artwork #bethlehem casuals #the drink #artwork #calum heath

Here’s the second live video we recorded with the brilliant 491 Film Co. This one is for a track called ‘Downtown’, which will be on Anna McLuckie’s upcoming album.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Qjj8Dk-ac

#live music #music video #anna mcluckie #downtown #manchester #live session

Very excited to release new music with Diving Station soon! In the meantime here is the first of two live sessions we recently performed in London at The Bookhouse - Recording Studio.

Our song ‘Film’ can be watched here: https://divingstation.fanlink.to/film-live

#diving station #live session #music video #the bookhouse #recording studio #film #london