Album Review – TD Lind

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TD Lind -‘The Outskirts Of Prosper.’ (Dramatico)

There’s a curiously old-fashioned approach to parts of this album. Whilst many of the singer-songwriters doing the rounds seem to be heavily indebted to the singer-songwriters of the early 1970s (James Taylor etc..) there’s aspects to this album by the UK-born, US-based singer which have far older aspects.

There’s a jazzy inflexion to album opener ‘Pushover Boy Blues‘, while ‘Last Train To Redemption’ has a rockabilly feel. The standout track here is ‘Goodnight From Hollywood’ which is definitely worth hearing, and stands as a bit of an anthem for those trying to make it in LA.

However, while the rest of the album is pleasant, heartfelt and perfectly adequate, there isn’t much on display here after several listens) to truly set him apart from so many of his peers. the songwriting is strong, however, and I wonder if the songs might have benefited from being more stripped down.

***

The Outskirts Of Prosper is out now on Dramatico.

17 Seconds Records update…and more so!

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Yup, one of those posts where I blow not so much my own trumpet (ahem!) as those of the artists we are privileged to work with…and some of those artists that they’re playing with.

First up, if you’re thinking of heading to the Dylan Uncovered Night at the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, this Thursday (February 10) the very first act on will be our Chris Bradley, whose album At The Outpost was the first physical album release on 17 Seconds Records last year. The night will also feature Song, By Toad Records’ Yusuf Azak as well as Esperi, Norman Lamont, Hookers for Jesus, The Sundancer, Shock and Awe, Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Issac Brutal and the Trailer Trash Express, and Tribute to Venus Carmichael. Chris will be on at 7:50.

Fiction Faction released the first release of the year on the label last week with ‘Apparitions’ playing in Glasgow twice and London (their support act for the first Glasgow gig, who they then supported at their single launch the following week was Armellodie’s CD/EX (AKA Chris Devotion and the Expectations), whose debut single ‘I Need Your Touch’ is very good indeed. Fiction Faction are next playing live on March 29th at the Captain’s Rest, Glasgow when they support Scanners. Scanners are shortly to release their new single ‘Salvation.’

The Last Battle, meanwhile are extremely busy (as ever). Tomorrow they are playing at Bloc in Glasgow and it’s free. Nada. So go. They will also be supporting Kid Canaveral at EDinburgh Royal Collge of Art on February 26, and two more dates further afield in March: the Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore (March 19) and Musa Art & Music Cafe, Aberdeen (March 20).

They will also be playing with the rather excellent Letters at Henry’s Cellar Bar on February 16.

Letters are about to launch a free single of which this is the rather ace ‘Double A-side’:

LETTERS- PIPE DREAMS by Soundandvisionpr

17 Seconds’ busy eight days or so…

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Well, it’s a busy few weeks ahead of us, and I’ve been interviewed about 17 Seconds Records again. This too will pass, but thank you Peenko!

I’ve mentioned it before but tomorrow night, The Last Battle have the album launch for their debut album Heart Of The Land, Soul Of The Sea. Support comes from Glasgow’s magnificent Burnt Island and Edinburgh’s Matt Norris & The Moon.
And I will be DJing. Tickets are £5 advance, £6 on the door.

Some great reviews coming in already here, here, here and here. The album will be released on October 4.

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Sunday will see 17 Seconds Records at Independents’ day at the Barron Theatre in St. Andrew’s, Fife. Chris Bradley and The Last Battle join a bill that also includes Found, Kid Canaveral, Panda Su, Jo Mango, Iona Marshall and Oates Field. We’ll be selling 17 Seconds Records’ er, records, and CDs as well. It’s more than just a little satisfying to see our logo next to that of Chemikal Underground on the posters.

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Next week The Last Battle will play the Sufjan Steves’ tribute night at Stereo, with other acts including Endor and Julia and the Doogans…

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Meanwhile, on September 24 at the Freshers’ event at Edinburgh’s College of Art, X-Lion Tamer will be playing, with My Tiny Robots and The Machine Room.

Keep the music live folks (as the musician union used to say)!

Chris Bradley -‘Golden Girl.’ mp3

Last Battle -‘Cutlass.’ mp3

X-Lion Tamer -‘Tugboat.’ mp3

Album Review – For a Minor Reflection

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For A Minor Reflection – ‘Heading Towards Chaos.’ (self-released/through Proper Music distribution)

‘Age ain’t nothing but a number’ as Aaliyah once sang. Well, maybe, but that still doesn’t mean that it’s not very impressive that the four men who make up For A Minor Reflection are only aged twenty and this is their second album.

Hailiing from Reykjavik, Iceland, these guys have released a sophomore album that is one of the most beautiful things to gace my ears this year. Sure people will make comparisons with Sigur Ros because they’re Icelandic and post-rock, but they also doff their caps to the likes of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Mogwai.

Over the course of ten tracks and fifty one minutes these guys show that you don’t need vocals to keep the attention up, and more it’s the thrill of listening to what they will do next. The centrepiece of the album is ‘Sjáumst Í Virginíu’ which clocks in at fourteen and a half minutes but that shouldn’t give the impression that this descends into self-indulgence. because -no mean feat, this – it never does. Not for a single second.

Sure, we may have heard beautiful shimmering post-rock meets shoegazing before; and the fact that a band is Icelandic is no longer unusual either. What is amazing is that such a beautiful album can exist. Thank heavens it does. If this does not appear in best of lists at the end of the year, then shame on the bloggers, music press, radio staff and anyone else who considers themselves tastemakers, frankly.

****1/2

Heading Towards Chaos will be released on September 6, 2010.

For A Minor Reflection website//For a Minor Reflection myspace

17 Seconds Records update

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It’s getting busy here at 17 Seconds Records.

Next Thursday will see the launch of the debut single from The Last Battle ‘Ruins’, which takes place at the Wee Red Bar at Edinburgh College of Art, and features not only the band performing, but a solo set by Neil Pennycook of Meursault (who will be fresh back from Glastonbury), Jonnie Common and yours truly on the decks. Tickets are £5 (£3 concessions), and it lasts from 7-10. Which means you can still go home and get a decent night’s kip before work in the morning.
There’s a lovely write up over here at suitcase Orchestra. You can hear ‘Ruins’ on the most recent Song, By Toad podcast and also on Jim Gellatly’s latest podcast. Vic Galloway promised live on air that he would play it this coming Monday. You can bet I will be nudging him to do this…

Meanwhile, you can download the b-side to ‘Ruins’ for free NOW. Because we’re lovely people.

Last Battle -‘Ward 119.’ mp3

(NB due to the subject matter of the song, this does contain swearing. If you are easily offended, and God knows why you’re reading this blog, you idiot, DON’T LISTEN. Go and read Grazia or the Daily Mail instead. Fuckwit)

If you’re off to Kelburn Garden Party next weekend, not only will you be able to see excellent artists supported by this blog such as Broken Records, Panda Su, Meursault, Foxgang and Stanley Odd, but you will also be able to see our very own Chris Bradley who was added in the last month. Go Chris!

Chris Bradley -‘Golden Girl.’ mp3

If you aren’t going to Kelburn, you could catch the Dirty Cuts at the 13th note in Glasgow on Saturday July 3, ahead of their single launch for ‘Yummy Mummy’ on July 23, with a gig in Bristol and two in London coming up.

Dirty Cuts -‘Lips.’ mp3

X-Lion Tamer will be releassing another four track EP with us in the next few months, and will be playing at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh, alongside the fabulous Deserters Deserve Death on July 31.

X-Lion Tamer -‘Life Support Machine.’ mp3

There will be more to come…watch this space!

17 Seconds Records update

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Busy times at 17 Seconds Records, with plenty of live dates and releases coming your way very soon.

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Chris Bradley released his second solo album At The Outpost in March, becoming the first full album release on 17 Seconds Records. Chris is playing at the Leith Festival tomorrow (June 13), as well as at the Outsider festival on June 19, Jock Stock on June 26 and the Wickerman Festival on July 24, having already appeared appeared at Knockengorroch.

The Last Battle will release their debut single ‘Ruins’ on July 5 on download and CD-R. They will be having a launch night at the Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh (at the Art College) with support from Neil Pennycook of Meursault who will be doing a solo set and Neil Common. Oh, and me DJing. The album Heart Of the Land, Soul Of the Sea will be released at the end of September, the album launch will take place at Edinburgh’s Roxy Art House on September 18, as well as playing the Woodworks festival in England. It’s all jolly exciting!!

This is the artwork for the single. It’s great (and I can say that, ‘cos I had nowt to do with it)!

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The Last Battle -‘Black Waterfall.’ mp3

The last call!

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OK folks, tis the last reminder I will post, but Tigerfest is underway, and tonight and Thursday are the 17 Seconds Records nights in Edinburgh.

£6 a throw, and with X-Lion Tamer, The Wildhouse and White Heath (not ours, but fabulous anyway!) tonight and Chris Bradley, the Dirty Cuts and the Last battle on Thursday…what more could you ask for?

X-Lion Tamer -‘Life Support Machine.’ mp3

The Wildhouse -‘Ficca.’ mp3

Dirty Cuts -‘Lips.’ mp3

Chris Bradley -‘Hide & Seek.’ mp3

The Last Battle -‘Nature’s Glorious Rage.’ mp3

17 Seconds Records’ update

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Lots happening over the next couple of months with the label…

Over the next week alone, we have Chris Bradley doing a live session for Leith FM on Friday at 3PM (as it happens just three days after labelmates The Last Battle played!) and Chris will also be doing an instore at Avalanche Glasgow on April 7 at 5PM. Chris’ album At the Outpost came out on Monday and has some great praise, and is available online and at good indie shops, including Rough Trade, Avalanche, Coda, Underground Solush’n and now Fopp too! If you like things digital, try iTunes or eMusic. Please leave feedback!

The Dirty Cuts are back in the studio and over the next wee while they will be playing in Glasgow, London and Edinburgh – check their myspace for details. Their follow-up to debut single ‘2 Page Spread’ should be out very soon. As ever watch this space and hassle yr local station/indie club/blogger about them.

The next release from the label will be the ‘One EP’ by the Factory Kids. This will be available as a five-track download EP from all good download stores from April 12, and this is 17SEC18, our fourteenth musical release as a label. In the name of promotion and friendship (umm, or something) we’d like to offer ‘Factory Crease’ as a free download:

Factory Kids -‘Holiday Crease.’ mp3

Aberfeldy, Escape Act and The Wildhouse have all been getting studio tans (!), and both The Last Battle and David Scott albums should be out over the next few months. There will also be more stuff to come from X-Lion Tamer very soon…

If you read the post below you will see that we’re very involved with Tigerfest this year, with X-Lion Tamer, Chris Bradley, The Dirty Cuts, the Wildhouse and The Last Battle making appearances.

And before the month is out, a very special night at Limbo in Edinburgh. See the poster at the top!

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Here it is!

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Our first physical release, available now on CD and also on download.

A couple of great reviews that we’re really chuffed about:

Maverick Magazine: ****

The work of a Renaissance master with his paintbrushes replaced by a guitar.

Based in Edinburgh and releasing his second solo album, it is here that Chris is really carving himself a fine career. The plaudits have come thick and fast, such as a glowing review in the Sunday Times, and here no criticism will be heading towards this albums direction as it really isn’t necessary.

Consisting of twelve songs with all but one written by Chris himself, the best song of these dozen tracks has to be The Beatles. A sound which could have been created by talented teenagers in their parents basement away from prying ears just so not to steal their authentically awesome sound, this is Rockabilly music at its’ best circa 1962 and what a sound it is. The first prize has already been awarded, but the silver medal of this album must go to Running song. Telling of a story of despair that I’m sure many would relate to, the tale sung about so passionately adds vitality to the spirit of a song which paints a somewhat morbid story but played in such an upbeat sprit. The bronze medal is awarded to Beggar to fall. With its opening efforts on piano instantly drawing you in, this appealing aspect seems to spread itself to the rest of the instrumentations and certainly to Chris’s vocals as they more than hold themselves when up against the fine, aforementioned piano efforts.

With this being just Chris’s second album, here is to him releasing a third because what a sound that album will possess. RH

Is This Music?: ****

There’s soulfulness at the heart of this album that immediately makes one warm to it. While many singer-songwriters albums tend to drown you in melodrama, melancholy and sincerity, there is a wry honesty here that makes you smile. The lyrics are both humble and knowing as they strive to tell you something you didn’t already know about life. Summer may well have long gone but its’ sounds are here for all to see in Bradley’s plangent melodies and straightforward, unsentimental lyrics. Each song gels beautifully with its’ discmates, creating a fully-rounded and very satisfying listen. This is an entire album that takes its’ time to burn slowly and surely onto your synapses. Its’ ripe and juicy melodies making you want to sink your teeth into it. At The Outpost is a little stodgy in places, but such minor inadequacies can be overlooked by the quality on display here. ****

Rock ‘n’ Reel:

Aberfeldy native, Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Chris Bradley gets you from the moment the arresting rhythm of ‘The Man I Love’ kicks in on this, his follow-up to 2008’s Voices.

And there’s better yet ahead on this hugely enjoyable set of lean acoustic arrangements anchored by an acute pop sensibility and Bradley’s warm delivery – ‘Beggar To Fall’, ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Goddess Of Love’ and ‘Running Song’ (a nod in the direction of Steely Dan) fall around you like confetti. Even the Status Quo-like boogie riff on ‘The Beatles’ works!

And there’s an endearing DIY approach to the album, with Bradley playing everything (except for a guitar solo by Riley Briggs) and producing.

A Master’s graduate in composition from Edinburgh University, he merits a first for At The Outpost’s consummate thesis on the craft.

[sic] magazine: 7/10

Chris Bradley is the real name of the Marvel comics hero-turned-villain Bolt, a character who commanded electrokinesis and suffered from devastating headaches. Happily, this Chris Bradley does not inspire the very same. This Chris Bradley is an Edinburgh-based, eclectic singer-songwriter who projects confidence in place of lightning, variety instead of forcefields. Disappointed? Don’t be.

Bradley roams successfully from Neil Young sepia tones to Nick Drake laments, from piano-led storytelling that occasionally recalls James Taylor to power-chord pop. Utilising his day job compositional skills, Bradley’s songs are lush and narrative-based. Furthermore, he has friends in the right places having become an established part of Aberfeldy‘s chamber-pop bosom since 2007. Riley Briggs naturally therefore repays a few favours and cameos on guitar solo throughout the irrepressible midpoint “The Beatles”.

Peculiarly the easygoing lead single “Waltzing” places late on the tracklisting but leaves an impression, just as the folkish strains of the opener “The Man I Love” does. It’s not the gay anthem one might expect, and is instead a powerful paean to Bradley’s late father that comes back-to-back with “Beggar To Fall”, a decidedly more up-tempo affair. In turn, it sets the scene for the country-fried, toe-tapping sunshine provided by “Golden Girl”, a track that hints at The Allman Brothers catalogue while suggesting something The Cave Singers might produce after several years of AA meetings. Later still, “Running Song” has a dose of the Elton Johns to it, bobbing along happily in piano-pop country.

Listening to At The Outpost in full is repaid with a strong finale. “Not What It Was” is highly assured stuff, built on solid repeats and comes filled out by electric and acoustic guitar patterning before breaking into incongruous yet welcome synth spirals. The sparse, guitarless stomp of “Your Close Friend” is a particular highpoint taking in a boisterous rhythm borrowed from the Blues as it goes.

At The Outpost suggests either a sense of wilful ostracism in its creator, or one who comfortably calls the road his home. Whichever, Chris Bradley seems comfortable on this release. It’s emotional but not overly revealing, and it appears that when he drops his guard further it will more than pay to be around.

At The Outpost is released March 29th 2010 on 17 Seconds Records and will be followed by the re-issue of Bradley’s debut album Voices.

Chris Bradley -‘Golden Girl.’ mp3

Chris’ facebook page

Chris’ myspace page

Get ready…ready to play

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Roll up, roll up!

Yours truly DJing, two of 17 Seconds Records’ acts and Zoey Van Goey headlining.

This is what the bumpf says: “Zoey van Goey haven’t played Limbo in Edinburgh since November 2008, and, having released their debut album last May and then re-released (Chemikal Underground) it in October, they’ve progressed quite a bit. Expect the top quality ‘indie folk’ from them. Support comes from Chris Bradley and X-Lion Tamer, both signed to Edinburgh’s 17 Seconds record label, the former bringing a soft, lilting Americana/folk edge and the latter a sublime Eighties electro-pop aesthetic that will melt your heart and caress your soul as effectively as it gets you feet tapping. 17 Seconds label boss and blogger extraordinaire, Ed Jupp, supports on the decks, alongside residents the Black Spring DJs. It’s another bumper package of consistently great live music at Limbo!”

Blogger extraordinaire, eh? Cheers for that!

Get your tickets in advance here or here

And three weeks later, Tigerfest starts in Edinburgh, we have two nights as 17 Seconds Records…watch this space.

Zoey Van Goey -‘The Best Treasure Stays Buried.’ mp3

Chris Bradley -‘Hide and Seek.’ mp3

X-Lion tamer -‘Starsign (Teenage Fanclub cover).’ mp3