Introducing Ivy & Gold – your new favourite electro-pop duo. Consisting of Rachel Wilkinson and Jamie Davies, the two-piece released their debut EP ‘Awake’ last year, and are pleased to confirm the news of their follow up EP ‘Eye of the Storm’ – due for release on June 2nd via 84 World.
The EP’s four tracks showcase Ivy & Gold’s talent for well-crafted pop songs: sophisticated layers, seductive melodies and Wilkinson’s strong yet brooding vocals.
Davies handles most of the production in their home studio and steers the basic structure of their songs whilst Wilkinson writes the bulk of the lyrics and vocal melodies. However, as a couple, the pair are a very collaborative force, and one that has successfully smoothed out most of friction from writing with your other half.
With a cinematic quality to their arrangements, it’s not surprising that the duo are inspired by the soundtrack composers Tom Tyker (Cloud Atlas, Run Lola Run) and Hans Zimmer.
Rachel’s lyrics are influenced by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Buckley, Tori Amos and Florence and the Machine but she also finds supernatural stories to be a wealth of inspiration.
Human Hair have existed in one form or another since 2008. Since their first incarnation, they’ve had 3 different drummers, added a bass player and slowly acquired members that live in the same city – as opposed to travelling between Nottingham and London for band practice.
Throughout this period, the only constants have been vocalist Jack Lenton - a former straight-edge, furniture salesman who is extremely verbose even via SMS – and guitarist Henry Withers, who has seen Lovvers (Wichita) come and go, is the co-founder of Homerton recording studio Sound Savers and grew up in the Transcendental Meditation community in Skelmersdale.
These two main forces of Human Hair sit on opposite ends of the musical spectrum, Lenton with his Nick Cave, Swans and esoteric soundtracks against Withers’ love of Pavement, The Fall and simple, no blues notes. The push and pull between them defines the band and makes for a thrilling and captivating sound.
Having only released a handful of 7”s and gigged sporadically over the course of 5 years, something changed in 2013, the new line-up solidified, the live show got tighter and a more cohesive unit began to form. It was time for Human Hair to make an album.
Recorded by Ben Phillips on a boat docked in the Thames (Lightship 95) and mastered by the legendary Alan Douches (Sufjan Stevens, Owen Pallet, The Rapture) in New York, their debut LP is entitled ‘My Life as a Beast and Lowly Form’.
The album spans the entire history of the band and their two opposing sides: the childish creativity found on songs like ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Sleeping’ and the more accomplished, newer tracks: ‘Worldly One’, ‘Hungers’ and ‘Left Hand’.
Influenced by writers Frank Stanford, JG Ballard, Ted Hughes and Alan Moore, Lenton’s lyrics on ‘My Life as a Beast and Lowly Form’ represent the animalistic tendencies toward the base things in life: the drink, sleeping all day and primal urges.
Joined by Thom Sadler (ex Throats, Claw Marks) on bass and drummer Jordan Hayward, Human Hair’s final member is Joseph Walsh aka Dignan Porch (Captured Tracks) on guitar. Walsh recorded the last two Dignan Porch albums and his forthcoming DP record with Withers.
The High Wire announce details of their new album ‘Found In Honey’ – due for release on 14th July.
Lead single ‘LNOE’ (out 30th June) is an epic ride, a towering string-driven pop song that purposefully steps the band away from the shoegaze fuzz of their previous albums – 2010’s ‘The Sleep Tape’ and 2008’s ‘Ahead of the Rain’.
We wanted to push Ross’ melody and lyrics to the fore and tried to leave the production as clear, honest and emotional as possible. Davide Rossi (Goldfrapp) played all the strings, layering them up and weaving around the song's simple repetitive riff,” says founding member Tim Crompton.
‘Found In Honey’ was produced by The High Wire, Andy Rugg and Rik Simpson (PJ Harvey, Portishead) and was recorded at Coldplay’s Beehive Studio in London.
Writing, recording and living in the City had a major impact on the tone and feel of the album and provided many of the lyrical themes for the songs. And whilst R&B, psychedelia, shoegaze and folk can all be heard on the record - it’s the pop influences that resonate loudest, with key nods to 60s Motown, New Order, Soul II Soul and Gorillaz.
“We wanted to make a daylight soundtrack, clear and bright, completely unselfconscious and free from effects. We stuck to this throughout the writing and recording process…” says Crompton.
On ‘Found in Honey’, the band decided to make their sound as clear and ‘hi-fi’ as possible, something they’ve previously fought against. The step up in production is noticeable, and with no distorting effects, Alexia Hagen’s vocals are allowed to shine. The opening track ‘Last Invitation’ is a case in point; her directness provides a disarming entrée on what proves to be most instrumentally minimal cut on the record.
‘Angelspeech’ was originally written for another artist but its pure pop melody and electro rhythms ultimately gave the band a starting point and approach for many other tracks on the record. The swaggering hooks of ‘Under A Spell’, the anthemic indie rush of ‘Still’ and the blissed out Beach Boy-isms of ‘The Thames & The Tide’ and ‘Radio On’ all benefit from the space they are given and the willingness to experiment outside the dream-pop margins.
The London-based trio have gained radio support over the past year from Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Radio 2 and XFM.
The High Wire began as a solo vehicle for singer/songwriter Tim Crompton. Soon after the completion of ‘Ahead of the Rain’ in 2008, the line up expanded and now counts west coast Canadian Alexia Hagen and UK native Ross Forrest as core members alongside Crompton. band have previously played festivals including V Festival, Glastonbury (BBC Introducing) and CMJ.
Tracklisting: 1. Last Invitation, 2. LNOE, 3. Angelspeech, 4. The Thames & The Tide, 5. Still, 6. Radio On, 7. Under A Spell, 8. Cinch, 9. 20,000 Streets
Cliff Martinez at the 14th World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert in Ghent
The 14th World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert will take place at 25th October 2014 in het Kuipke in Ghent.
Film Fest Gent is happy to welcome the American composer and ex-drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers: Cliff Martinez. He composed the music for films like Sex, lies and videotape, Traffic, Kafka, Contagion, The Limey, Solaris and the Refn-classics: Drive and Only God Forgives.
The concert will be performed by the Brussels Philharmonic with Dirk Brossé.
Tickets cost 30 euro and are available at the website from Filmfest Ghent.
Warner Benelux releases the sixth season of True Blood on both DVD and Blu-ray
Good news for the fans of True Blood as Warner Home Video will release the sixth season from True Blood on both DVD and Blu-ray. The releasedate is 18th June.
The sixth season of the HBO supernatural drama series True Blood premiered on June 16, 2013. The season had an abbreviated run of ten episodes, as opposed to the usual twelve, partially to accommodate the pregnancy of lead actress Anna Paquin.
It is also the first season not to be primarily based on the corresponding novel in The Southern Vampire Mysteries series (in this case Definitely Dead), instead taking elements from multiple books in the series.
Now its sixth unforgettable season, True Blood is HBO's sexy, scary, wildly entertaining series from Oscar- and Emmy-winner Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) and based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. In addition to returning TB favorites - led by human/faerie hybrid Sookie (Anna Paquin), her unlikely vampire ally Eric (Alexander Skarsgård), and newly reconstituted supervamp Bill (Stephen Moyer) - Season 6 introduces several jarring storylines that threaten what little sense of normalcy remains in and around Bon Temps. As "Billith" comes to terms with his newfound powers after emerging from a pool of blood at the end of Season 5, Louisiana Governor Truman Burrell (new cast member Arliss Howard) declares open season on vampires, replete with novel anti-vamp weapons and a high-tech internment camp. Meanwhile, Sookie and Jason steel themselves for an encounter with the killer of their parents: the mysterious and ancient Warlow, whose identity remains a troubling mystery as the season unfolds.
EXTRA MATERIAL:
Inside The Episodes (BD, DVD)
Audio Commentaries (BD, DVD)
Vamp Camp Files (BD)
True Blood Lines (BD)
