Monday, 29 August 2011
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
New BRNLV Band: Bleeding Heart Narrative
"Vintage tones and instrumentation - a truly enticing sound" - Clash
"Musically sumptuous and highly arresting... pulled off with an enviable sense of beauty and inspired musicality" - The Quietus
"Filled with lush instrumentation" - The Line Of Best Fit
"Satisfying and dramatic" - Breaking More Waves
Bleeding Heart Narrative are a London sextet who weave together beautiful sounds with a haunting intensity. As interested in textures and orchestration as they are with rhythm and melody, theirs is a distinctive and captivating style that never settles on a single genre or approach. In creating their own music, Bleeding Heart Narrative incorporate their more abstract influences into traditional song structures, applying pop sensibilities to them as they go. You might hear the shimmer of Tortoise or Steve Reich built into a song that could be played on an Arcade Fire-sized stage, or pick out a Battle-esque repetition in a Mogwai-sized crescendo - but it'll always be Bleeding Heart Narrative you're listening to.
Live, Bleeding Heart Narrative are inspired. Having been the loudest band at the Shhh! All-dayer (Cecil Sharp House), they attracted the biggest attendance of 2010 at the Daylight Music Sessions (Union Chapel); they've also soundtracked films & readings for the British Film Instute and Whitechapel Art Gallery, and performed at arts spaces like Cafe Oto, The Shunt Vaults and Bristol's Cube cinema, and at festivals such as Truck, Green Man and the Huw-Stephens-curated SWN.
"Bison" is their first release on Brainlove Records, and follows their acclaimed 2010 album "Tongue Tangled Hair". But there are long-standing links twixt band and label: BHN ringleader Oliver Barrett (also of Petrels) is currently working on new material with emergent BRNLV artist Mat Riviere, having played cello with him at Brainlove Festival 2011 and turned in an orchestral reworking of "The Give In".
LIVE:
Aug 7th Fat Out Till You Pass Out @ Islington Mill, Manchester
Aug 11th HOWL presents @ The Others, London
Aug 21st Green Man Festival, Wales
Sept 17th Southsea Festival
Oct 20th SWN Festival, Cardiff, Wales
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bleedingheartnarrative
Soundcloud: http://www.myspace.com/bleedingheartnarrative
EP PAGE: http://www.brainloverecords.com/bhn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BHNnoise
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Brainlove: Label News / New Releases / BRNLVFSTVL Film
Recent Label News:
-----------------------------------
Three new CDs on Sale: http://www.brainloverecords.com/order
A film of Brainlove Festival 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlS9SK8xveY
A new mixtape: http://www.mixcloud.com/brainlove/brnlv-mixtape-7
An interview in Bearded: http://www.beardedmagazine.com/features/article/label-love-brainlove
John starts an artist management company: http://projekta.co
Follow us on Facebook to get news like this: http://facebook.com/brainloverecords
-----------------------------------
Hello Readers!
I'm not going to do small talk, for once. Big talk only.
Brainlove tends to make only 5 or 6 physical releases a year, at most. I kind of think of them as special little artefacts, not just CDs like any other. Each one is brimming with magic, in it's own way, and each one means something. The manifesto of the label has long been "to support musicians exhibiting creativity, spirit, intelligence and imagination, regardless of genre, commercial potential, or technical ability. As such, Brainlove is a record label with artistic values at it's core".
I am certain that all of these releases fulfil these criteria, and I'm very, very proud to be releasing each of them.
Three new ones are now out to buy, here - http://www.brainloverecords.com/order
-----------------------------------
1) David Thomas Broughton - Outbreeding. A stunning proto-folk collection, with a 12 page lyrics & illustrations booklet by DTB himself.
LISTEN: http://www.brainloverecords.com/davidthomasbroughton
2) We Aeronauts - Chalon Valley EP. Four ambitious constructions, bright-eyed and bristling with youthful optimism, earthy folk and grand post-rock. This one is a short run of card wallets with very pretty artwork.
WATCH: http://www.brainloverecords.com/weaeronauts
3) Bastardgiest. A very very limited run of his album, on CD in hand-stamped card cases with lace and string decorations. Beautiful drones, a spine-tingling one-off voice, and bass-heavy melodies... gorgeous stuff.
LISTEN: http://www.brainloverecords.com/bastardgeist
-----------------------------------
Please do buy them. Postage is free in the UK and it's a huge help for our continued activities.
Thanks
John / Brainlove
-----------------------------------
Join / Follow / Friend Us:
http://facebook.com/brainloverecords
http://myspace.com/brainloverecords
http://twitter.com/brainlove
http://vimeo.com/brainlove
http://mixloud.com/brainlove
-----------------------------------
Monday, 13 June 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
David Thomas Broughton - Outbreeding
New Album Released May 23rd 2011 via Brainlove Records
May 20th London Show at King's Place Announced
"Dazzling" - Pitchfork
"Layer upon layer of musical quality" - The Guardian
"Haunting, fragile, full of tension" - Drowned In Sound
"Enthralling" - CokeMachineGlow
Experimental folk artist David Thomas Broughton will release a long-awaited new album, entitled "Outbreeding", via independent London record label Brainlove Records on May 23rd 2011. Featuring eleven songs that will be familiar to his loyal and ever-growing live audiences, "Outbreeding" brings together compositions written over the last couple of years into a compelling new collection.
As seen at festivals such as Primavera, End Of The Road and Green Man, and at his sold out 2010 ICA show, Broughton's famous semi-improvised live show baffles and beguiles; starting songs with beautiful refrains, he then engulfs them in feedback and noise, removing the layers one by one to reveal once again the beauty beneath. Elements of physical comedy and surreal interludes complicate things further. He will headline a special album release show at King's Place in London on May 20th, with further UK dates to be announced soon.
"Outbreeding" is at once raw, honest, playful and poignant, leaving the listener unsure of whether to laugh or weep - the exact kind of divergent response that has made David Thomas Broughton inspire such devotion in his fans and followers. For converts, "Outbreeding" is essential listening; for the uninitiated it's a perfect entry point yet into this magical body of work.
Album page: http://www.brainloverecords.com/davidthomasbroughton
DTB site: http://www.davidthomasbroughton.co.uk
Wiki Biog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thomas_Broughton
Hi-res Cover: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5512576537_948eac0378_o_d.jpg
Hi-res Portrait: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5513214656_10befa7274_o.jpg
Press Contact: john@brainloverecords.com
May 20th London Show at King's Place Announced
"Dazzling" - Pitchfork
"Layer upon layer of musical quality" - The Guardian
"Haunting, fragile, full of tension" - Drowned In Sound
"Enthralling" - CokeMachineGlow
Experimental folk artist David Thomas Broughton will release a long-awaited new album, entitled "Outbreeding", via independent London record label Brainlove Records on May 23rd 2011. Featuring eleven songs that will be familiar to his loyal and ever-growing live audiences, "Outbreeding" brings together compositions written over the last couple of years into a compelling new collection.
As seen at festivals such as Primavera, End Of The Road and Green Man, and at his sold out 2010 ICA show, Broughton's famous semi-improvised live show baffles and beguiles; starting songs with beautiful refrains, he then engulfs them in feedback and noise, removing the layers one by one to reveal once again the beauty beneath. Elements of physical comedy and surreal interludes complicate things further. He will headline a special album release show at King's Place in London on May 20th, with further UK dates to be announced soon.
"Outbreeding" is at once raw, honest, playful and poignant, leaving the listener unsure of whether to laugh or weep - the exact kind of divergent response that has made David Thomas Broughton inspire such devotion in his fans and followers. For converts, "Outbreeding" is essential listening; for the uninitiated it's a perfect entry point yet into this magical body of work.
Album page: http://www.brainloverecords.com/davidthomasbroughton
DTB site: http://www.davidthomasbroughton.co.uk
Wiki Biog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thomas_Broughton
Hi-res Cover: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5512576537_948eac0378_o_d.jpg
Hi-res Portrait: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5513214656_10befa7274_o.jpg
Press Contact: john@brainloverecords.com
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Five show-stopping moments I'll never forget
From an unexpected ass-wiggle in a London Student Union, to a dazzling multimedia stadium pop show at a castle in rural France, to a band breaking bits of furniture over each other in Dudley, these are five performances that have stuck with me over the last decade.
1. David Thomas Broughton, Bandstand Busking, Arnold Circus, 02/08/09
David Thomas Broughton is a startlingly unpredictable performer. He's come up with a unique kind of performative improvisation, in which he impishly, self-destructively misbehaves throughout his set - starting out on Buster Keaton style skits such as walking over the back of a normal dining-room chair as a it falls to the floor, or undermining the seriousness of his songs with bouts of beat boxing and rapping, or throwing dramatic Elvis-style shapes at the front of the stage while his loops slowly deteriorate in the background.
At a Bandstand Busking session a couple of years ago, Broughton was on brilliant form. He chased the cameraman around the bandstand mid-song in a game of cat of mouse, coiling his guitar wire around the mic in doing so; stopped mid-song to self-consciously rub imagined dust off his clothes; started a dictaphone running, but had nowhere to put it down, and so grasped it between his chin and shoulder as he played. It was never going to work, and he knew it - the tape machine clattered to the floor and smashed into pieces. It was a moment of intentional self-sabotage that snapped the crowd out of the soporific trance that acoustic music can create. With the crowd's full and focussed attention, it's even easier for DTB to break hearts with the imperfection and poignancy of his songs.
2. Michael Gira / Angels Of Light, ULU, 26/05/05
I'd never heard Angels Of Light before, and was in fact at this show to see the first UK performance by the support. Michael Gira, the band leader and frontman, sat in a chair front and centre playing acoustic guitar and giving a gravitas-laden, growling performance. At the peak of one song, he started gurning and grinning and stood up from the chair. In a manoeuvre that was surreal and discomfiting, he stumbled to forwards a step or two, turned his back to the crowd and started shaking his ass from side to side, like some drunken uncle at a family event that clambers onto the table, three sheets to the wind. For all of the seriousness and weight of the music, it was this simple act of inappropriate mischief that brought the performance into the moment, punched through into my memory, and illuminated Gira's attitude towards being on the stage, somehow.
3. Kevin Blechdom, OUR AURA HOUR, Berlin, 12/07/05
A truly strange and brilliant show in Berlin. Kevin Blechdom put together a night of all-stars from the Berlin art-music community in a lean-to DIY space to celebrate the release of her weird but wonderful album "Eat My Heart Out". It was the first time I saw Planningtorock, who would later release a 7" on Brainlove, towering over the crowd like an operatic mannequin come to life. Max Tundra played a set of breakneck speed pointillist pop. Kevin Blechdom came on last, and played a set of bizarre, hysterical songs about breaking up and breaking down, desperation and obsession. At the finale, she stripped off from the waist up and produced from a huge animal heart, proceeding to caress it, hug it, hold it up and ultimately cast it into the crowd. In turns horrific, surreal, funny and gauchely confrontational, it was an unforgettable moment that successfully communicated the insane emotional turmoil the show and the album were based around.
4. The Flaming Lips, La Route Du Rock, France, 15/08/10
The Flaming Lips have built their career around providing a huge live spectacle. At La Route Du Rock, their incredible show clicked somehow - the right time of the night, the right mood in the crowd and maybe the alignment of some faraway suns; from Wayne's entrance in an inflatable bubble to the eye-shattering digital show, jets of smoke, giant balloons and plume of streamers and confetti throughout, this was, put simply, the gig of a lifetime. The best film I found of it is shaky, distorted and shot through the crowd, but it fully captures the full noise and thunder - The Flaming Lips is about being there and surrendering yourself to what's happening, and this is as close as you can get on YouTube.
5. Queen Adreena, Dudley JBs 15/11/02
Katie Jane Garside of Queen Adreena became quickly infamous for her strange performances. Set against buzz-saw guitar lines and heavy bass, she writhed onstage, tearing at her clothes, smudging her makeup into a rictus clown face, thrusting the microphone between her thighs, teetering on chair and barging into her bandmates and audience members, dripping with wine and sweat. At one point she seemed to lose it completely, breaking a chair over the back of her guitarist, who tried to hide his shock. It was hard to tell if this was over-the-top theatre or genuine cathartic emotional trauma, and the combination of overt sexuality, vulnerability and unhinged ferocity was strange and unforgettable.
1. David Thomas Broughton, Bandstand Busking, Arnold Circus, 02/08/09
David Thomas Broughton is a startlingly unpredictable performer. He's come up with a unique kind of performative improvisation, in which he impishly, self-destructively misbehaves throughout his set - starting out on Buster Keaton style skits such as walking over the back of a normal dining-room chair as a it falls to the floor, or undermining the seriousness of his songs with bouts of beat boxing and rapping, or throwing dramatic Elvis-style shapes at the front of the stage while his loops slowly deteriorate in the background.
At a Bandstand Busking session a couple of years ago, Broughton was on brilliant form. He chased the cameraman around the bandstand mid-song in a game of cat of mouse, coiling his guitar wire around the mic in doing so; stopped mid-song to self-consciously rub imagined dust off his clothes; started a dictaphone running, but had nowhere to put it down, and so grasped it between his chin and shoulder as he played. It was never going to work, and he knew it - the tape machine clattered to the floor and smashed into pieces. It was a moment of intentional self-sabotage that snapped the crowd out of the soporific trance that acoustic music can create. With the crowd's full and focussed attention, it's even easier for DTB to break hearts with the imperfection and poignancy of his songs.
2. Michael Gira / Angels Of Light, ULU, 26/05/05
I'd never heard Angels Of Light before, and was in fact at this show to see the first UK performance by the support. Michael Gira, the band leader and frontman, sat in a chair front and centre playing acoustic guitar and giving a gravitas-laden, growling performance. At the peak of one song, he started gurning and grinning and stood up from the chair. In a manoeuvre that was surreal and discomfiting, he stumbled to forwards a step or two, turned his back to the crowd and started shaking his ass from side to side, like some drunken uncle at a family event that clambers onto the table, three sheets to the wind. For all of the seriousness and weight of the music, it was this simple act of inappropriate mischief that brought the performance into the moment, punched through into my memory, and illuminated Gira's attitude towards being on the stage, somehow.
3. Kevin Blechdom, OUR AURA HOUR, Berlin, 12/07/05
A truly strange and brilliant show in Berlin. Kevin Blechdom put together a night of all-stars from the Berlin art-music community in a lean-to DIY space to celebrate the release of her weird but wonderful album "Eat My Heart Out". It was the first time I saw Planningtorock, who would later release a 7" on Brainlove, towering over the crowd like an operatic mannequin come to life. Max Tundra played a set of breakneck speed pointillist pop. Kevin Blechdom came on last, and played a set of bizarre, hysterical songs about breaking up and breaking down, desperation and obsession. At the finale, she stripped off from the waist up and produced from a huge animal heart, proceeding to caress it, hug it, hold it up and ultimately cast it into the crowd. In turns horrific, surreal, funny and gauchely confrontational, it was an unforgettable moment that successfully communicated the insane emotional turmoil the show and the album were based around.
4. The Flaming Lips, La Route Du Rock, France, 15/08/10
The Flaming Lips have built their career around providing a huge live spectacle. At La Route Du Rock, their incredible show clicked somehow - the right time of the night, the right mood in the crowd and maybe the alignment of some faraway suns; from Wayne's entrance in an inflatable bubble to the eye-shattering digital show, jets of smoke, giant balloons and plume of streamers and confetti throughout, this was, put simply, the gig of a lifetime. The best film I found of it is shaky, distorted and shot through the crowd, but it fully captures the full noise and thunder - The Flaming Lips is about being there and surrendering yourself to what's happening, and this is as close as you can get on YouTube.
5. Queen Adreena, Dudley JBs 15/11/02
Katie Jane Garside of Queen Adreena became quickly infamous for her strange performances. Set against buzz-saw guitar lines and heavy bass, she writhed onstage, tearing at her clothes, smudging her makeup into a rictus clown face, thrusting the microphone between her thighs, teetering on chair and barging into her bandmates and audience members, dripping with wine and sweat. At one point she seemed to lose it completely, breaking a chair over the back of her guitarist, who tried to hide his shock. It was hard to tell if this was over-the-top theatre or genuine cathartic emotional trauma, and the combination of overt sexuality, vulnerability and unhinged ferocity was strange and unforgettable.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
We Aeronauts Take Flight
"Larger than life orchestral, hymnal masterpieces." - The Fly
"Dazzling" - Clickmusic
"Joyful" - Drowned In Sound
"A genuinely exciting find" - CMU Music Daily
"Fun, positive, uplifting... they leave the audience with smiles outside and inside." - Simon Raymonde, Bella Union
Oxford 8-piece folk arkestra We Aeronauts are pleased to announce their debut release on Brainlove, "The Chalon Valley EP", to come out on a beautifully artworked ltd. edition gatefold CD this April 4th.
The story of this EP began when the eight old friends piled all their instruments into a car and took off into the French countryside for a holiday together. Inspired by their blissful surroundings and the once-in-a-lifetime moment they found themselves in, they started writing songs about the area - from the endless bike-rides they took around the Chalon Valley, to the days spent in the sun down at the nearby lake, to the foothills of the Alps on the horizon.
The EP came together slowly over the two years since then, as the band's endlessly itchy feet dispersed them as far afield as Serbia, Spain, India, Mongolia and Canada; but recording sessions and rehearsals happened when the Aeronauts landed in the same place. The final piece of the puzzle was the addition of a choir to "Alpe d'Huez", recorded in Oxford's spectacular Christchurch Cathedral.
There have been other victories along the way: the band won the Green Man Poll in 2009 with over 90,000 votes cast, and a panel stage judged by industry luminaries including Simon Raymonde of Bella Union. As their prize, the band opened the festival's main stage, introduced by Huw Stephens of BBC Radio 1. The band played three times at the Iceland Airwaves festival in 2010, and brought down the roof with a headline performance at London's legendary Shunt Vaults. We Aeronauts are also the first band ever to be asked back to Oxford's BBC Introducing for a second live session after winning the "Best Track of the Year by a Local Artist" award.
This EP is where the story is up to just now: but as everyone who's engaged with this most special of bands knows, the past is prologue, and their story is just beginning.
Feb
15 The Social, London, Huw Stephens Introducing w/ Young Buffalo
24 Cellar, Oxford w/ Cat Matador
March
01 Purple Turtle, Reading w/ Cat Matador
04 Labour Club, Northampton w/ Cat Matador
19 Mr Wolf's, Bristol w/ Cat Matador
22 Dublin Castle, London w/ Cat Matador
25 Cellar, Oxford *EP Release Party*
26 Central, Nottingham w/ Cat Matador
April
22 Bullingdon Arms, Oxford w/ A Hawk and a Hacksaw
http://www.myspace.com/weaeronauts
http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Aeronauts/13443086965
http://twitter.com/weaeronauts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
