press release: birds like waves

Darling, do you promise to love me in the punk times? Love me in the wussy times? The fat wallet times? Baby-mine , you held the chromatic tuner to your lips and expressed a perfect G. Meanwhile, my tape machine sings a rattling A#. 

I bus home happy this evening. The city's feelings are a din. Like that one time on Buffy (Season 3, Episode 18, production code: 3ABB18). 

Mucus adheres. The mucus of my music adheres to your waxy canals. Thank you for listening. 

Things have changed a lot and this is a heavy thing to consider. My love for you is still eternal and tender. 

CDs, tapes and downloads to follow. 

Today, something just clicked for me and there was no fear.

birds like waves

There is a new thing up on the Polite Records page today. It's one song from an album length collection of recordings I've made for a new projects called Sea Glass. I made these recordings in the summer as something to do. Part of the point of starting a new thing with just me was so that I'd have something to work on when my other bands are not in the same place as me (The Nervy Betters are all over the South of England and Olly is about to move back to Bristol). I'm making a small number of CDs and Cassettes and I'm guessing they'll be later this month so I will write an update when that happens.

polite podcast no.8

This is the last episode of the second series of the polite podcast. It is a tour diary of the Frozy/Nervy Betters July tour 2014. 

Weds 9th July - The Nest, Bath 
Thurs 10th July - Gwdihŵ Café Bar, Cardiff 
Fri 11th July - House Show, London
Sat 12th July - The Vagina Stereolodge, Birmingham
Sun 13th July - Gulivers, Manchester
Mon14th July - 13th Note, Glasgow
Tues 15th July - Mystery Day 
Weds 16th July - Traveling Man Bookshop, Newcastle

There will probably be one more series of podcasts in the new year.

credits

from Polite Podcasts, track released 31 August 2014 
live recordings of Frozy and The Nervy Betters by Nicol Parkinson 
field recordings by Henry Ireland 
photo by Steve Brett

we are putting on our own show in glasgow

polite podcast no.6

This is the second episode of a second series ('series') of polite podcasts. Things are as they were. There will be four shows, this time in the summer months and I will be publishing them in the mornings, not the evenings.

This episode was published on 21st June at 4.43AM, which is sunrise on the year's longest day. the next episode will be ay 8AM on the 16th of July. No special occasion this time, but it will be the last day that we are on tour.

credits

from Polite Podcasts, released 30 September 2013
We're Doing it - Ace Bushy Striptease acebushystriptease.com
Mao's Dynasty www.handidiom.co.uk/mao'sdynasty.html
Dirty White Van - King of Cats kingofcats.tumblr.com
The Girls of Summer - Hugh John Noble hughjohnnoble.bandcamp.com

Interviews - Gef Lucena (Saydisc Records: www.saydisc.com ); Nicol Parkinson

fan art

I got an envelope of nice stuff in the post today from Stef Purenins and Sarah Graley. Among the many great creative things that they do separately and together, Stef and Sarah are also a band called Sonic the Comic. I totally love their songs. they are making a new album right now and I only just started listening to their last one, Pixel!



And if that wasn't enough, they made this cover song of Gravestone by The Nervy Betters!

business card

I was going for the "crazy polymath" angle. This is the first time I've used my Kelsey table-top press. I got the plate cut at Centurion Graphics (who I found out about from Steve Brett). I know it's kind of cheating to set it digitally and then cut it to a plate but it would have cost a lot more in time and money to buy the type. I'm pretty happy with this solution and it cost me about £20 to make 100 business cards (and the next 100 will only cost £3.50 now that I have the plate). Another great thing about cutting stuff onto plates like this is that next time I need a new card design, I can try something hand-rendered!

nervy betters pre-order

Steve Brett is good people. He has my undying devotion. As well as being a great person, he is also a fantastic songwriter. Over the last year or so, we have been recording and polishing some pop songs, with help from our friends. What has come of this is an album of songs, which is now available to pre-order.

The album was lovingly recorded by Steve and mixed with great care by Nico Marcel until the sound was clear as a bell. I'm pretty proud to be a part of this album and I hope you enjoy it.

party tzar

polite records is proud to present party tzar by tiger & panda & goat.

we recorded these songs on 4-track cassette on saturday the 22nd of february 2014.

There is no long press release to go with this recording. All we really want to say is that we are genuinely delighted with the outcome. The songs are indie-pop songs and we think that they will sound good to you. We are selling them at a good price because we are currently fundraising for some future projects. 

If you enjoy this maxi-ep, It would mean a lot to us if you purchased it as a download or CDR, or maybe tell your friends?

Anyway, here it is, world. 

stars don't shine to noise

Headfall released Stars Don't Shine to Noise in November 2004, just short of ten years ago. The record has just recently been made available to order online, along with a free digital download of the whole album. It was one of the first records I ever owned and it is still one of my favourite and most prized possessions by far. 

Seriously, you should buy this album. It is a genuine undiscovered classic. The only reason this thing is not completely sold out is that for a long time, the only place you could purchase it was at Headfall shows, which only tend to happen once, maybe twice a year in pretty small venues.

George McKenzie (drums, guitar, violin, piano, humming, tape loops, clarinet.) once told me that this album was the only thing he's ever made that he is still proud of. He then went on to tell me where all of the mistakes were. But they don't sound like mistakes to me. This whole shuffling, brooding thing sounds so on purpose, grey as mist on the sea, broken glass, to sand, to salt water. A bunch of punk kids trying to make jazz, awkwardness exploding out of them. Everything is poetry, sung and played, 'a truth too teenage'. 


I don't want to keep describing how it sounds. You can find out for yourself, and you should. I just think that what it does sound like, what it wants to sound like, is captured perfectly, stylistically, aesthetically, framed in smokey static electricity, perfectly honed and curated, artfully presented. a jagged frenzy beneath a swelling surface, barely restrained, three yearning hearts.

polite podcast no.4

Hello, this is the fourth and final polite podcast. It contains songs by different people, oral histories and field recordings. I will be releasing an episode in the last hour of every month until the end of this year. So that's four episodes in total, okay? Okay!

credits

from Polite Podcasts, track released 31 December 2013
ribbons (live): palomica palomica.bandcamp.com
untitled: headfall myspace.com/headfall
mackerel sky: the living end! thelivingend.bandcamp.com
sea air/five roses (live): palomica
eugene v. debbs: grizzly and the bears
in the winter: frozy frozy.bandcamp.com
the snowfall which promised so much (yet gave so little): unecdotesoundcloud.com/unecdote
untitled: roxy brennan; steve brett; henry ireland; nicol parkinson
ferris wheel (live): palomica
coffee machines (live): palomica

interviews: Florence Carson; Mike Lollipop; Karis Clapperton; Jack Horton

sounds and recordings sourced by Henry Ireland and Nicol Parkinson

tell everyone everything

Hey! The Nervy Betters are playing at this great nice all day gig. The money made goes to LinkAge Bristol. There is a Facebook event. See you there! 

d.i.yuletide

This nice show is being held at the Sebright Arms on Sat 14th Dec by Burn The Jukebox who have very kindly asked us to play. The Sebright claims to be over 18s only on its website but if you are under 18 and would like to go, contact me and we will figure something out!

With:
Dead Flowers
Full-on Americana/beards assault from London, with a new album out
http://ianwilliamsandthedeadflowers.bandcamp.com/

Tiger & Panda & Goat
Wondrous folk-inspired songs from DIY label Polite Records
http://politerecords.bandcamp.com/

William Nein
Wry anti-folk
http://williamnein.blogspot.co.uk/

Kindling
Heartwarming slowcore alt-folk
http://thekindling.bandcamp.com/

+mince pies, BTJ DJs, dancing and Christmas Burgers upstairs in the pub!

£3 o.t.d
Nearest tube is Bethnal Green/Cambridge Heath, or buses going up Hackney Road

polite podcast no.3

from Polite Podcasts, released 30 September 2013

impossible walls: fontaine 
inclosure: moscow rules 
i found you: the dream is over
middling good boy: damh

interviews: marion ireland; mark dillon; philip dodd; elisa lloyd; james cabaniuk

tiger & panda & ox & otter live at cafe kino: press release

Polite Records are proud to present Tiger & Panda & Ox & Otter Live at Cafe Kino

cat no.: pcd016 
format: CDR/download
artwork: CDR with photographic print, lino printed title and 12 page mini-zine
price: £5 (CDR) £2 (download)

The night this record was made was something special. One of those times that you get so rarely in life when you can't think of anywhere you'd rather be or anything you'd rather be doing. The atmosphere in the basement of Cafe Kino was cosy and warm (thanks to the large crowd mostly -it had been freezing during setup), and it felt like the whole room was willing the performers to do well. 

Henry Ireland and Olly Watson have been my friends for a long time and I am extremely lucky that this is the case. From the outset of this record, you get a taste of what their music is about -at once intensely personally revealing and incredibly shy. The way Henry introduces the concept of the evening and then instantly rubbishes it reflects their style of serious ideas and high concepts refracted through a prism of “let's not take this too seriously, eh?”. Their music is always both serious, but in its own way, not some poe-faced reallyfuckingartisticactually way that often comes out of the independent music scene. 

I recorded the performance in a pretty simple way: 2 large diaphragm condensers in a mid-side stereo pattern. This works by combining the signal of one mic in cardioid pattern facing the front and another in figure of 8 pattern facing both sides. You double up the figure of 8 signal and invert the phase of one of those. Through magic I don't understand, this creates a nice, wide stereo field with a strong centre. I also had a boundary microphone on the back room of the wall to add extra detail (this comes into its own in the noisier parts of the show, when it really picks up the delay repeated keyboard bass notes), and took a direct out from the mixing desk to give me a clean vocal signal. The direct out is what means we can actually hear the boys' lyrics, and is the reason I had a tear in my eye at the end of the show, having been one of the only people in the room who heard exactly what Henry was saying in the midst of the music. 

I am immensely proud to have been a part of this and I hope that I am allowed to record many more Tiger and Panda records in the future. 

-Phil Dodd

polite podcast no.1

Hello, so this is the first polite podcast. It contains songs by different people, oral histories and field recordings. I will be releasing an episode in the last hour of every month until the end of this year. So that's four episodes in total, okay? Okay!

coffee machines: palomica
the whole town watching: here is the river (liz melia; blake gifford; ben meschko)
the river: two white cranes
glimmer: we wanted to be lions

interviews: marion ireland; maggie willans
field recordings: henry ireland; nicol parkinson
edited: henry ireland 

oliver watson: backlog vol. 2

It just occured to me that this blog is five years old this month. That's pretty old in internet years...

two white cranes/nervy betters tour 2013

 

I'll try and keep this short...

Bristol
We play at Aaron and Roxy's house and Kano and Ohne are there. We have a pizza party. The next day, we pick up the car. Super sporty with a spoiler. The rental men are excited for us. We see Rachael and Shuki. We pick up Roxy from work and drive to Birmingham

Birmingham
We listen to podcasts in the car. The show is at the Ace Bushy house (the Vagina Monolodge). Eve made us a tasty vegan cake. Jen Schande plays a lovely set then runs away. Everyone is super nice. We have fun. Next day, we go to have breakfast with lovely people. We do a crossword together.

Peak District
Friendly people at the youth hostel. We walk to Lud's Church. It is a big ravine all covered in moss. I guess it might be the Green Knight's castle. Steve makes such a great miso soup and stir fry dinner. We have a band practice by the river and scouts come with a chainsaw. We are afraid they might bully us.

Manchester
Liam makes us such tasty burgers and we meet Natalie. Roxy has an essay in her zine. She gives us vegan pie and cookies. LLION SWYD are so great. "Only dickheads win the lottery". We thought we had food poisoning but really we are just nervous. We stay up late and chat and then sleep in luxury. I have a chocolate milkshake with my breakfast.

Oxford
The light is prickly and nice on the drive. The owners of this house are both called Matt. We play to a little living room of people and then have a nice time chatting. In the morning, Steve and Roxy swim in the river. I sleep in.

Norwich
Anna takes us to a tea room. Me and Franky want to move here maybe... I am pretty exhausted. We get food at the place and set up with our own things. Stephen and Tammy arrive. They are so great! This is probably the best we play on tour. We have lost our minds at this point. I swap records with Anna. Her 10" has my favourite Middle Ones song on it. We eat breakfast at a raw vegan cafe. Anna picks up a shelving unit off the street.

Seaford
Nicol is waiting outside for us. So good to see him. We walk to the beach and swim in the sea at sunset. Roxy - a vegan - goads me into eating a battered sausage. We each play a song and then go to bed. Verity's room is very comforting to sleep in. In the morning, Nicol records some drums for the album.

London
Driving through London is intense. Holy shit. we stop for pizzas. I'm so happy to see Franky. We set up the flat and people start arriving. Olly plays first. He is great. It's his album party and he's made a good album. It's really hot and we have such a fun show and sing happy birthday to Olly. So many lovelies there! After I wave Steve and Roxy off I go straight to bed and sleep.

oliver watson, two white cranes, the nervy betters in our living room

So Last night was the last stop on the Two White Cranes/Nervy Betters tour and also the album party for Oliver Watson's 'loosestrife'. We had it at our house and it was lots of fun!

great people we're playing with on tour

 Bristol



Birmingham



Manchester



Norwich



Seaford



London



Super exciting! Here is the facebook page for the whole thing. Lots of them are house shows, so just contact me if you want to come to one of them!