The most recent release on the 17 Seconds Records label which grew out of this blog was Matt Norris and the Moon’s This Kingdom EP (stream here ). This was a rather lovely version of ‘I Saw Three Ships’ which they recorded last year, and made available to download from their soundcloud. I posted this last year -but if you haven’t heard it before (or even if you have) check it out!
It was never intended that 17 Seconds Records would leave it so long between releases, but this came out today!
The This Kingdom EP by Matt Norris and the Moon can be streamed here and bought from the band’s bandcamp, or from other sites including iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon, as well as being able to stream at Spotify.
I’ve already posted this video before, but I do think it’s rather fine…
You can also download this track for free (not on the EP, btw):
There have been some nice bits of press, including The Scotsman, Rhythm & Booze, dauphin mag, [sic] Magazine, For Folks Sake, Folk Blues & Beyond, and Thank Folk For That.
Not only that but nice pieces have appeared at RingMaster Review and Frost Magazine.
There are quite a few live shows coming up, too, over the next month or so:
May 23, The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland
May 24, The Cafe Continental, Gourock, Scotland
May 25, Hootananny, Inverness, Scotland
May 26, Newmarket Bar, Thurso, Scotland
May 27, Y-not Bar & Grill, Thurso, Scotland
May 30, The Slaughtered Lamb, London, England
May 31, Knockengorroch World Ceilidh, Castle Douglas, Scotland
June 3, Dirty Weekender Festival, Kilmarnock, Scotland
June 6, Go North 2012, Inverness, Scotland
June 8, 20 Rocks, Falkirk, Scotland
June 9, The Classic Grand, Glasgow, Scotland
June 27, The Third Door, Edinburgh, Scotland
June 30, Kelburn Garden Party, Largs, Scotland
Next week will see the first release from 17 seconds Records in over a year, Matt Norris and the Moon’s This Kingdom EP. This will be 17SEC28.
It comprises four tracks: ‘Roots Below’ ‘Eyes Of A Storm’ ‘Shadow From The Sun’ and ‘The Shallows.’
It will be available on CD and from all decent download services. The band will be playing an instore at Edinburgh’s Avalanche Records at 5PM on Monday May 14 and they will also have an EP launch at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms on May 23. This will come with support from Donna Maciocia and Randolph’s Leap, as well as yours truly on the (ahem) wheels of steel.
Check out the video for the lead track ‘Roots Below:’
Yes, we know, last year was quieter, but the big release round 17 Seconds Towers was the arrival of the wee man nearly eleven months ago.
Anyway, Matt Norris and the Moon have finished their fine, forthoming five track EP, and it sounds ace.
There will be all sorts of wonderfulness to come very shortly, think lots of gigs and launches and much, much more…
In the meantime, enjoy this, the first track to do the rounds from it:
And this is the four track demo that convinced us we had to work with them in the first place:
Two bits of Wildhouse news to share with you:
First of all, the Wildhouse will be playing at The Balcony Bar in Dundee on September 10 (yes, that’s a week today), supported by Vladimir (recently featured on these pages) and Cosmic Dead.
You might like to know that it’s only £1.99 to get in…
…and in other news: great excitement at 17 Seconds Towers the other day, when the latest album by The Wildhouse arrived here.
It will be released on November 14, and it’s called Solanis.
The tracklisting is as follows:
Paint The Whole Day Red
Snow Angels
Song For Shiva The Destroyer
Plague Diary
Racism versus The Wildhouse
Palace of Swords
Close Up the Dictionaries
Silver Comet Jr.
Our most recent release by The Wildhouse was the Good Morning, Captain EP, from which ‘Palatine’ is taken:
The first time I came across Matt Norris and the Moon, they were the support act (along with Burntisland) for The Last Battle at the album launch for Last Battle’s Heart Of The Land, Soul Of The Sea.
Come March and I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of entries for the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Contest, which I was one of the (forty) judges for. Matt Norris and the Moon were one of the standout entries and one of my three choices.
Eventually, Matt and I were introdiced by a mutual friend -and bizarrely, discovered that back when I was still teaching, I’d actually been a teacher at the school when Matt was still a student there. I expressed an interest in putting out some of their stuff…and we’re proud to announce that the band will be joining us here at 17 Seconds Records.
The band are Matt Norris, Tom MacColl, Dave Law, Helen Cookson and Dale Birrell. We will be doing an EP with them in the next few months.
Here are four excellent songs they have recorded:
First Light Of Day by Matt Norris & the Moon
Before There Is Frost by Matt Norris & the Moon
This Year by Matt Norris & the Moon
Tell The Land by Matt Norris & the Moon
…and here is an excellent video for ‘First Light Of Day’ directed by Julien Pearly:
Forthcoming gigs (just Scotland for now):
September:
14th – Edinburgh Unplugged, Medina, Edinburgh
22nd – Madhatters @ Hootenanny, Inverness w/ James Mackenzie and the Aquascene
23rd – Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow w/ James Mackenzie and the Aquascene
24th – Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh w/ James Mackenzie and the Aquascene
October
15th – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh w/ Chasing Owls & Bear Bones
Watch this space for more info…
It has been a quieter year for 17 Seconds Records, but that shouldn’t be taken as meaning that we’re no longer in existence. Oh no. And nor that any of the acts have just.
The Wildhouse have just produced this rather ace video for their track ‘Go’ from this year’s Good Morning, Captain.
This – if you still haven’t grabbed it – is the free download from the EP:
The Wildhouse -‘Palatine.’ mp3
The Wildhouse’s forthcoming new album has just arrived at 17 Seconds HQ, so new that it hasn’t even entered the CD player yet.
But do watch this space…
Tomorrow is Record Store Day. This now seems to be a fairly worldwide thing (OK, North America and the UK) which is now starting to be a victim of its’ own success. To whit: There are now a huge amount of special releases, which is great that bands are encouraging fans to buy physical releases; but not so good if a bunch of ebay Pirates get therte early, snap them all up and flog them online before true fans (i.e. the ones who might want to, y’know, actually listen to them) get a chance. NME have listed fifty essential purchases. Great if you are rich enough and don’t have to go out to work, I guess.
However; rather like libraries (I’ve worked in both Record Shops and for the Library Service over the last ten years), Record Stores have their place. They are worth fighting for. As a punter, I still get more of a thrill browsing new and second-hand racks than gazing on eMusic or iTunes. I do use these services, but this is back-up, not as a replacement. It was far more thrilling to hold the physical releases that we have put out as 17 Seconds Records than to see them on digital services. There’s still something that is tangible, collectible. I remember the thrill of buying my early records – the first 7″ was ‘Caravan Of Love’ by the Housemartins back in late ’86, from WH Smiths.
Yes, there have been a lot of record stores that have gone, because they made mistakes. It is bizarre that HMV now seems to hardly sell any music (though we did get the Aberfeldy 7″ in the Edinburgh one!). However what the Megastores tended to do was to focus purely on a quick turnover. I don’t really mourn the loss of these, but I get sad when the small stores suffer. Small stores run by staff who are knowledgeable, who take an interest in being able to point out stuff you might like. Sorry, but there’s something more personal about this than ‘74% of people who bought this item also bought this.’
Avalanche in Edinburgh has continued to survive whilst others failed by focusing on supporting local acts, and I have seen many customers come in from abroad who will then buy stacks of CDs that they have been recommended. I never saw that in Woolworths. It also does a lot of second hand stuff, which is brilliant. Oh, and when I’m buying second hand vinyl I like to be able to check it. I’m not into sniffing vinyl (except to put the wind up people), but I do want to be able to chat with people about what I am buying.
Can you do so much of this stuff over the internet? Well, yes, you can. But then again, I’d rather go out for a coffee than sit in a chatroom online. Like David Byrne points out in his excellent book on Cycling, Bicycle Diaries, there’s something far more organic that comes together when people collide and come together naturally, rather than just gravitating to people or things they think they’ll like. I’ve bought stuff I have liked because I heard it playing by chance in a record shop. I tend to do less with links on digital record shops.
There’s excellent articles on RSD on Song, By Toad, some interesting points from the NME here, and The Scotsman’s Radar has contributions from both Bruce Findlay and Kevin Buckle.
We have done a limited CD-R as 17 Seconds Records, which is being given away in Avalanche.
This is the tracklisting:
Fiction Faction ‘Apparitions’
X-Lion Tamer ‘Neon Hearts’
Factory Kids ‘They Used To Call Me Baby’
Chris Bradley ‘Beggar to fall’ ‘
Wildhouse ‘Palatine’
X-Lion Tamer ‘Hope’
Wildhouse ‘More Stars’
Factory Kids ‘One’
Chris Bradley ‘Hand Me Down’
Last Battle ‘Any Ocean’
The Last Battle are playing there tomorrow at 3, right next door in Red Dog Music. Remember, a record shop is for life, not just Record Store Day…
Hello all.
Just a quick update on things.
Forst of all, next week it is Record Store Day on April 16. As part of this, we [17 Seconds Records]will be giving away a free CD sampler at Avalanche Records in Edinburgh. More details to come nearer the time – BUT -artists confirmed to appear on it so far include Fiction Faction, The Last Battle, the Wildhouse, Chris Bradley and X-Lion Tamer.
The Last Battle will be playingas part of Record Store day in Edinburgh at Avalanche, they join Frightened Rabbit, Penguins Kill Polar and Gordon MacIntyre from Ballboy, all from 1pm… they have also announced that they will be playing with Jesus H. Foxx and The Travelling Band at the Electric Circus on May 31 in Edinburgh. Not only that but they will be playing at both the Insider Festivals and Homegame in Scotland. And they are working on a NEW EP.
The Wildhouse are headlining a noise-pop all-dayer in Glasgow at the 13th Note on April 30th -read more about the line-up here.
In other news…Fiction Faction are working with Saraseto Records for their next release. As with when they worked with us, this is a single deal, and we are really chuffed for them. ‘Apparitions’ is still available on download from us, mind you… 😉
Just for fun, here are a number of 17 Seconds-related videos from the two and a half plus years we have been going:
Fiction Faction are not men to allow the grass to grow under their feet.
Not content with having released a single with us earlier this year ‘Apparitions’ they have already been back in the recording studio this weekend and this is the first fruits of their labours…
This is entitled ‘Malenky Lizards.’ Liking this a lot.
Malenky Lizards by Fiction Faction
The band also support Scanners at their gig at the Captain’s Rest in Glasgow on March 29 (yes, tomorrow, you were told).
Update: go here to hear more from Fiction Faction.