our blood is an ocean

I get to work on this cool project with my pal Jack. I'm making an animated backdrop and he is being weird and awkward on stage. I think it's going to be really great!

polite podcast no.2

oliver watson: loosestrife: press release

Polite Records are proud to present Loosestrife by Oliver Watson...

cat no.: pcd015
format: CDR/download
artwork: recycled brown envelope, handwriting and water colour
price: £5 (CDR) £2 (download)
 
How many songs has Olly Watson written in the last ten years? I doubt that he knows. When I knew him in school he was recording one song a day, onto a minidisc player, after school and his job washing dishes at the bakery down the road. We recently rescued over 100 of his recordings from a laptop that crashed in 2007. 

He's made a shit-tonne of recordings. 

And he has made every one of them in the same punk-rock-as-hell way. His philosophy hasn't changed and even from the earliest, roughest recordings he made, his music has remained free of affectations.

He once wrote a set of rules for recording music, the first of which being 'That microphone is fine where it is'...

His songs are his songs. His recordings are his recordings. That is why it was imporatant that Olly had the freedom to make every aspect of this album himself.

A couple of Summers ago, Olly and Steph walked the Thames path from where they live in London to some rural place similar to where Olly grew up. Loosestrife is full of the experiences of that Summer. The sometimes uncomfortable butting together of urban and rural existance. Memories of a past life picked out of the dog-shitted rubble of crumbling city walls.

How the hell do I describe what it sounds like? Olly's voice is soft as Autumn but he's a powerful singer when he chooses to be. His use of a bit of reverb on this new eight-track gives his quieter moments a spaciousness, like an orange campfire light back in the recesses of a deep, dark cave. He's used omnichord and drum machine sparingly, adding occasional vivid bursts to the pastel shades of his music. The guitar, his main deal, is percussive, ranging from soft woody chord sequences and riffs to grating metalic shangalangs.

Olly is never alone now in his songs. Steph is heard in the background in the flat where they live together, where Olly recorded Loosestrife. She is his companion in all of his stories. His art is a reflection of his life and it is a life that he has built artfully. It is clearly the most important thing to him and his songs simply offer glimpses, friezes of that life.

You can listen to songs from Olly's recovered back catalogue, here.

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!

olly watson: backlog vol. 1

The first instalment of Oliver Watson's extensive back catalogue is now available to listen to and download.

'Loosestrife', a new album by Olly will be released on Polite Records on the 29th of August.

i think it's ok to start thinking about autumn now

tiger & panda in our living room

sent i november: press release

Polite Records are proud to present Sent I November by Tiger & Panda...

cat no.: pcd014 format: CDR/download
artwork: recycled brown card gatefold with lino-printed/hand tinted cover and A3 pastel green liner notes/poster/thing
price: £5 (CDR) £2 (download)

We wrote these songs at the end of 2012 and recorded them early 2013. Sent i November is the original Swedish title of Tove Jansson's Moomin Valley In November. In Swedish 'sent i November' means 'late in November' but in English it could also be a funny way of saying 'I sent November' like as if you are the seasons or like as the author she has subjected her characters to November to see what will happen to them.

We recorded the songs on thin cassette tape.

The music is about the fuzzy frostiness and out-of-tune blackness of late autumn when life hides beneath the surface until spring. The static on the radio at night blows also through the trees and tinny telephone voices speak orange-yellow comfort among acres of dark wilderness. Acoustic guitar plays sweet 'n' muffled 'n' keeps a rock-steady rhythm while electric guitar slips and slides like tectonic plates, accidentally jazzing the fretboard here and there. Further shadows are cast on the walls by the sizzling of a ride cymbal and the freight-train honking of a distant toot-box player.

Tiger & Panda are Olly Watson & Henry Ireland. The other singer on these songs wished to remain anonymous...

prints in progress

I made prints from earlier sketches. Both of these are from music projects that I'll hopefully be finishing simultaneously. 

The year got off to a hectic start, but I'm slowly finishing a whole lot of projects. Our flat is full of brown parcels of materials. It's very exciting.

sent i november

On Sunday, Tiger & Panda got a chance to record our new project for the year, called 'sent i november'. We recorded stuff quickly and pretty loosely with lots of analogue tape saturation. it sounds nice. Hopefully we'll have it finished in time to sell with the live recording we made at Kino last year.

Lots of recording so far this year! 

kino residency: music and pictures

this photo may have been taken by phil dodd

headfall

land's end (photo by olly watson)

vase

photo by olly watson

 photo by william ireland

On Saturday I held the second event of my residency at Cafe Kino. I was really nervous but I think it was good. Lots of people came and everyone played really well and the artwork looked great! I've put links to the musicians under their pictures where possible, but I'd also like to mention the people who hung artworks: Oliver watson, Stephanie Newman, Michal William, Amy Parsons and Daniel Parsons.

The whole thing was recorded expertly by Philip Dodd onto four track tape and the sound was doen by a combinations of George, Michal, Lisa and Phil. And at one point, my Mum was doing the door. Thanks everyone for making it great! 

kino residency: event 2

So this is my second event at Cafe Kino and it will take place at 7pm on Saturday the 28th of April. It will be a Music and Pictures type event, similar to the ones we used to hold in the Scout Hut. There will be music and artwork hanging from bulldog clips around the room. I have also arranged for Kino to provide a little bit of free tea and cake for people. This will be the first of three unique Tiger & Panda performances that will take place over this year and will be recorded by Phil Dodd.

Tiger & Panda are Oliver Watson and Henry Ireland respectively. They have been playing together as Tiger & Panda since 2007. In 2009, David Burke joined the band as ‘Ox’. Steve ‘Otter’ Brett will also join them for this gig. They try to change their music a little between each performance and recording. Their performance on Saturday the 28^th of April will be the first of three completely unique Tiger & Panda performances that will take place at Café Kino over the course of 2012. These three performances will recorded on 4-track tape by Philip Dodd. At the end of the year, a copy of these recordings will be given to Café Kino as a thank you. They will also probably be made available to listen to and purchase, most likely through Polite Records.

Vase is a project by Stephen Lane. He will be joined on the 28^th by George McKenzie. In 2004, Lollipop Michael Keane wrote a review of Vase in which he said, “Vase actually is the Chippenham underground scene.” Since then, Stephen has relocated to Norwich, but he has maintained close ties with Bristol and its music. His songs are hushed, softly spoken over gently plucked Spanish guitar, often with some other instrumentation. Vase has released six cassette albums, five CD-R albums and two 7" vinyl records on hand idiom recordings.

Land’s End is Matthew Cheney. Matthew is best known for Arctic Circle, players of dreamy electronic pop. When I saw Land’s End play, it was a lovely wall of spidery looped guitar and voice, including a Syd Barrett cover. Matthew is still preparing what he will perform on the 28^th, but I can guarantee it will be amazing!

Headfall: ‘We’re not low-key, we’re no-key’. Headfall are a tight-loose noise collage with hypnotic rhythms, soft spoken word, shrieked vocals, jagged guitar, melodic guitar, squealing clarinet and super amazing harmonies that fly out of nowhere.

2nd of march at old st mary's

Last Friday, we put on a gig and art show at St Mary's Old Church in Stoke Newington, London, with Rob St John, Frozy and Tiger & Panda & Ox. It was a great evening and we were very grateful for everyone who played and attended and helped. We were especially grateful to John Field and St Mary's Art. If you are looking to put on an evening of music or anything, they only take a percentage of the door and run a bar for you and are generally helpful and encouraging. You can contact them here. Also, worth mentioning was Steve Brett, who came all the way from Bristol to play with Rob and also did the door while we played.

a wonderful drawing of the evening by Lizzie Stewart

this photo may have beent aken by olly watson

rob st john

frozy

grizzly and the bears

Grizzly and the Bears formed in 2005 and we played shows around Bristol and Reading until about 2007. We made an album called Poppit Sands and then were on hiatus for years as we weren't really able to get together that often any more. Now we are recording some new songs on about four dates spread out over a year. The photos above are from the second, and most recent, 'secret recording date'. It is really nice to play music together again and we have been really pleased with the recordings so far. It's also a nice opportunity to come and hang out with our pal Philip Dodd!

our previous album

flickin' the 'v's

Spent most of my free time over the last week printing this artwork for the next tiger & panda & ox ep, flickin' the 'v's. I'm pretty pleased with how they look now and I think they will be ready to buy around the 2nd of march when we are playing at Old St Mary's. The nets for this packaging are recycled card and they came from a company called eco-craft ltd. I have Steve Brett to thank for telling me about this company. As well as being excited about the artwork, we listened to a rough mix I had made of the songs the other day and were pleasantly surprised. I'm looking forward to finishing this project!