WRAPPING UP 2012 with Kiran Leonard

Tomorrow is the end of the world accordingly to the Mayans. So who better to answer some questions about 2012 than Kiran Leonard who has just released the 24 minute “The End Times” partly inspired by hearing of this predicted catastrophe aged 10. If the apocalypse does arrive tomorrow, it may not just be the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica who will feel justified.

When I wrote about Kiran Leonard’s "Bowler Hat Soup" back in March, I commented amongst other things on his attention-span, mainly due to the restless stylistic zig-zagging and multiple time signatures deployed on the album. Having now corresponded with Kiran (via last.fm), as well as a restless intelligent mind fizzying with ideas and sounds, I now see this is also matched with an acute sense of detail and control. So not only did he respond almost instantly, he was adamant that the punctuation, grammar and use of case in all his answers was exactly how he intended it, had been thoroughly checked and should not be changed.

So here are the unedited thoughts of a pre-apocalypse Kiran Leonard on his 2012 (and if we all do survive tomorrow he’ll be washing dishes in an Italian restaurant in Delph, where we are welcome to join him and, apparently, “the penne markotte is very tasty”).

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
this year was the first time a group of people started following what i was making rather than just my friends... i started PERFORMING and got in touch with a LABEL or two... it's been a very unassuming and minute crescendo but it's been satisfying

What should be forgotten about 2012...
don't forget anything and preach awareness + pleasure above all

The best gig I played was...
I PLAYED the CAREFULLY PLANNED FESTIVAL in october at the SOUP KITCHEN... it is a lovely venue... the first song we did was a grotesque punk version of WILD WALKS where my guitar was a quarter-tone out with everything else so i just beat the shit out of my strings so it could sound brutal and all the dissonances would no longer be discernible over the wall of noise... i yelled my face off like a phantom howler dog to the moon... everyone in the crowd was smiling but none of them came very close.... our saxophonist went on walkabout.... the band i play with were really encouraging and loud... it was the closest thing to a punk show we as a band, had ever done... we were under-rehearsed and nervous (at least i was)... we sounded terrible but it looked and felt brilliant





The best gig I saw was...
AT THE DRIVE-IN at leeds fest this year... surrounded by people who'd grown up with their music, all screaming the words to the songs... it was exhilarating...
it didn't even matter that OMAR wasn't into it because we were all aware that it wasn't 1998 anymore... chanbara was PHENOMENAL...

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
DEATH GRIPS' THE MONEY STORE. one of the most incredible records of all time and i do not say that lightly... every lyric is poetic, scarring and fantastic...
they are the defining band of this decade, no question... nobody can reach their level or do what they're doing... i am a proud owner of their complete discography of 46 tracks (as far as i know.. anyone reading who has more hit me up somewhere... on my last.fm or something). they'll play this record till the end of civilization, never mind in 10 years time

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Kiran Leonard?
in 2013, besides the vinyl pressing of the record i put out this year BOWLER HAT SOUP, i am planning a return to ELECTRONIC BEAT MUSIC and NOISY MUSIC. i will probably record approx. 4-5 HOURS of new material in 2013, with the intention of releasing every minute (though i may not succeed in releasing it all within the same year). though i will try to release the follow-up to bowler hat soup GRAPEFRUIT this year... and a beat album... there may also be a couple SPLITS in the making, more work for CASSETTE, lots of VISUAL media, small TOURS around the uk and parts of europe, LIVE albums, OUTTAKE comps.... BUSY YEAR HOPEFULLY. i'm looking forward to it. i think it will move faster than 2-0-1-2 did

Hearing "Bowler Hat Soup" for the first time and seeing Kiran Leonard play live were two of the unforgettable moments of this year for me – that and getting over his age and just concentrating on what a talent he is. 2013 certainly looks intriguingly busy. Hopefully it will mean he’ll be able to spend less of his time as a dishwasher. "Bowler Hat Soup" will be re-issued physically by Hand Of Glory.

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Easter

If you cast your mind back to May on these pages, Thomas Long was talking about the “more rocked up” mark 2 version of Easter that had created the album “Innocence Man” and was on the cusp of releasing it. Come the autumn, with the album out of the traps and the band touring, there was another line-up change for the band and some internal re-shuffling of roles (Mark 2.1?). Although a quarter different in personnel, this version of the band was still damn sharp in delivering those towering songs from “Innocence Man”.

I thought the record an “extraordinary listen: an immense, brooding and ruggedly beautiful journey, as monumental and carefully hewn as the carvings at Mount Rushmore or the implacable Victorian brickwork of Strangeways prison”. Americana UK said “Easter have produced a pretty remarkable feat with "Innocence Man". Its six tracks, some stretching out over six or even eight minutes, are both expansive and intense. There is a delicate balancing act of discordant riffs against powerhouse drumming and intimate, articulate and half hidden singing... Easter are noise alchemists shaping discord and painful feedback into sound sculptures of disconnection and confusion. For the most part it sounds suitably splendid”. I have to disagree – I think it all sounds splendid.

Thomas Long here looks back on the last twelve months of releases and re-births.

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
Getting the album out this year was the big one. It took us a while so to finally have it out and get some good reviews, airplay and people getting into it has been great. But almost as important has been getting the new line-up together, it's feeling really good at the moment cos we can now get out and tour, which we weren't really able to do before. We just did a string of UK dates in November and it was a big buzz.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
Like I say the line-up change has worked out well but it's always a bit of a drag sorting it out, it's almost like starting afresh, it could crumble, but thankfully it hasn't.

The best gig we played was...
The album launch gig at Kraak was awesome - it was packed. But our gig in Edinburgh with Broken Records probably tops it. It was the last night of the tour, great crowd and the new line-up was really firing.



The best gig I saw was...
Best gig for me was Radiohead at the MEN [Arena], it was just immense, epic set, great choice of tracks, a real fan's set. Made me realise how great they are as I'd overlooked them a little bit over the last few years.

A record from 2012 that will still be played in 10 years time?
EL-P “Cancer 4 Cure” is great, really intense, paranoid as ever, and great production. Think he's still one of the few people pushing things in hip-hop. Live he was immense too, played the full album. Only just bought Swans “The Seer” but that's great, lot to get yr teeth into but I think it'll definitely be remembered.

Overlooked in 2012?
Easter “Innocence Man”? Ha!

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Easter?
Hopefully have a seven inch out in the spring, and we're working on a proper UK tour for around that time as well. Then it'll be down to work on the second album which we’re building up tracks for at the moment. There might just be something else in the pipeline too but I don't want to jinx it.

I agree about “Innocence Man” being overlooked. Some enthusiastic reviews and praise from online sites and record shops, plays on 6Music and Xfm but it didn’t get the recognition it should have done in the monthlies or major music websites. If that was their loss, make sure it’s not yours too: “Innocence Man” is one of this year's, if not ANY year's, essential purchases.

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Land Observations

In Summer 2011, I became entranced by the “Roman Roads” EP from Land Observations, a trio of minimal motorik instrumentals created out of layered guitar. Although it was hinted this was from a forthcoming album inspired by the major Roman roads that criss-crossed Britain & Europe, I didn’t hold out much hope as Land Observations aka James Brooks, previously one-third of post-rock minimalists Appliance, had concentrated on an artistic career since the dissolution of his previous group in 2003. And nine years on his visual arts practice and interest in cartography and mapping seemed to dominate.

But then in September came the release of the eight track album “Roman Roads IV-XI” on Mute, his old label with Appliance. What I said about the EP in July 2011 still holds true for the album: “although there is repetition to their meticulous construction, rather than those sturdy (and perpendicular) feats of Roman engineering, these songs make me think more of the natural world in those times, of green fields, chalk horses, untamed hedgerows and empty skies: more pagan joy than imperialist perfection”. And this was echoed by The Quietus: “recorded in Berlin, the eight tracks here pay easy homage to their European forebears, but are unmistakably British in their overall sound and feel, nodding melodically to the traditional folk music of these isles, and existing at a slower pace, on a smaller scale, than the cross-continental constructions of Kraftwerk and company”. The EP is excellent but “Roman Roads IV-XI” goes further and not just in length – a more confident and complete investigation of these themes, musical and geographic.

Continuing the Wrapping Up series, Land Observations’ James Brooks casts a glance back on 2012:

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
Well, in musical terms I enjoyed the continuing renaissance of vinyl.... Along with another year cementing the fact that interesting music can still cut through and have an impact... In life - East London flourished and Fender brought out a new Jaguar guitar.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
Musically.... mmm, it feels negative to mention names... In everyday life, that the government and universities made some terrible decisions for education, (or maybe that would be a bad idea to forget)



The best gig I played was...
I think in Kreuzberg, Berlin for the enthusiasm and attention towards the performance. The album tracks are getting broader and it all seemed to grow at this show...

The best gig I saw was...
I enjoyed seeing the Matthew Bourne in Glasgow. Some days you are more receptive to watching a performance after you play and that was one.

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
(Obviously taking Land Observations out of the equation...) I enjoyed the Lightships record in a 70s album kind of way.

Overlooked in 2012?
The Kranky record label in Chicago, stills seems consistent, but perhaps doesn't get the attention it deserves.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Land Observations?
Well, I've started demoing the next record already and plan to record it in a very unique place... So it would be nice to think I could have that out by late next year on Mute.

Plus there are some extra tracks from last year's Berlin recording session, so it would be great for them to see the light of day. Then Enraptured are re-issuing the 3 track “Roman Roads” EP. So, all in all, it should be a fruitful year...

For more from James Brooks including how Land Observations became a musical project and his subsequent return to Mute Records, there’s an excellent interview on The Quietus from September. My main recommendation however is a swift purchase of “Roman Roads IV-XI”.

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Whistle Peak

“Whistle Peak is pop music in disguise” says Karate Body Records, label and home of the Louisville, Kentucky band. And indeed it is difficult to pigeonhole these electro-folk “children’s stories told by grown men”. Writing about the album in February, I cited Panda Bear, Beirut, Joe Henry, Eels and Tuung as various reference points on different tracks. Americana UK’s take was: “if the Folk Implosion had imploded they’d sound like ‘Land to Land’, but don’t think that these are inward looking indie fan-boy songs. Yes, ‘Sleepy Pants’ does sound like the Flaming Lips in restrained mood but ‘Play the Ghost’ contains some of the same DNA that makes Gnarls Barkley – notably the combination of dance music, soulful vocals and a leftfield sensibility.”

Maybe best to say the five-piece just sound like themselves? Either way I was wowed by “Half Asleep Upon Echo Falls” calling it a “buoyant and luxuriant experience: eleven tracks of melancholy-tinged Vaudevillian alt-pop floating on banjos, xylophone and egg-shaker with washes of electronic flutter and mechanical scrape that soothes and surprises”. Here three of the band - Billy Petot, Michael Snowden, Jeremy Irvin – shared their thoughts on the last twelve months:

What we will remember most about 2012 is...
Billy: I had a baby this year. And UK winning the NCAA was pretty awesome. I'm really proud of the album, of course.
Michael: I also had a baby, which is pretty unforgettable. Watching the record gain traction and making a bunch of new friends while working to promote it has also been great. No matter where things go from here, 2012 will always stand out in my mind as a watershed year for the group.
Jeremy: My lady and I got engaged in Zion National Park, in Utah. One of the most exciting moments of my life, set to the most amazing scenery I've ever witnessed. Let's not forget our single, "Wings Won't Behave," jumping to over 50k listens, practically overnight...



What should be forgotten about 2012...
Billy: Mitt Romney
Michael: Who's that?
Jeremy: Paul Ryan, who, by comparison, made Romney look like a Saint.

The best gig we played was...
Billy: Our album release show at Zanzabar in our hometown, Louisville. And we had a good time at Radio Radio in Indianapolis, though we could have played better.
Michael: Our show with The Cave Singers last Spring was really enjoyable. We played well, the Cave Singers killed, and the crowd was fantastic. Good times.
Jeremy: Record Store Day, at Please & Thank You, here in Louisville, KY. Due to capacity constraints, we were asked to perform a 'stripped down' version of our set, which resulted in what I believe Billy dubbed "acoustelectronic." 80's synthesizers and drum machines paired with acoustic instruments. It came very naturally for us, and if we could ever make it across that grand pond, I believe this would be an efficient way for us to tour Europe. There's a video of "Big & Bright" from that evening, it's floating around the Internet somewhere; check it out.

The best gig I saw was...
Michael: Just saw Lindsey Buckingham play solo earlier this week. Incredible.
Jeremy: Damien Jurado performed here in Louisville, as part of our own WFPK's "Live Lunch" series. These shows are always free, and the station really opens its arms to a wide range of artists. This was definitely my favorite show of 2012.

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
Billy: I am pretty sure I'll be listening to Bro Stephen's "Baptist Girls" for that long.
Jeremy: "Arrow" by Heartless Bastards.

Overlooked in 2012?
Michael: Big Fresh's “Moneychasers”, without a doubt. It's a solid album from one of Kentucky's most underrated bands.
Jeremy: “Red Parole” by Seluah. Label mates, and fellow Louisvillians, these guys kill it at their live shows.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Whistle Peak?
Michael: One thing you won't be seeing is more babies. Just new music... my vote is for the melancholic dance album of the decade.
Jeremy: An album FOR babies, BY babies. Or at least for baby-making practice sessions.

Before 2012 I really only knew Louisville, Kentucky as the birth place of Will Oldham. Now thanks to Karate Body Records and the name-checks above, I have a whole new world of Louisvillians to explore. And in Whistle Peak an excellent new favourite band who stand apart from any clumsy musical references. “Half Asleep Upon Echo Falls” does have worldwide distribution but if you have difficulty tracking it down Karate Body ship internationally (including the teal-coloured vinyl!).

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Hooded Fang

Hooded Fang’s debut UK release “Tosta Mista” is named after a grilled Portuguese sandwich snack. Apparently. But it’s best not to take the tongue-in-cheek, cartoon villain world of the Toronto outfit at face value – even from a band whose (Canadian only) debut EP was called “EP” and their debut album “Album”. Are they are a collective or just a vehicle for chief Fang Daniel Lee? Can these ridiculously infectious beat-pop tunes really constitute a break-up album? Does a 22 minutes and only seven proper tracks make an album? And what’s with the masked Mexican wrestlers?

What is undeniable, except to a few po-faced reviewers, is the effect of the record on the listener: “evocative of summer sunshine and parties on the beach – clean, bright indie pop mixed with ’60s garage and a whiff of Tiki kitsch” said Loud and Quiet. “A record that screams “FUN” across its breezy 22-minute running time... but rather than it sounding like an experiment in kitsch or all surface and no feeling, it really does sound like it’s written from the heart” said The Line Of Best Fit. My take back in March was “listening to this record is like opening a sealed time-capsule from 1968... but rather than diminishing returns retro-nostalgia, “Tosta Mista” feels like a genuine re-tread of garage rock year zero and Lenny Kaye’s “Nuggets” collection. Hooded Fang manage to capture – not recreate - the sense of possibility, experimentation and fun of that era brilliantly... half the length of most albums but twice the psyche-pop fun”.

Here Daniel Lee reflects on the last twelve months for Hooded Fang:

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
The birth of the internet. It came in the form of a 7-billion armed porn monster where ideas are everything and money disappears.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
Clop Clop. It had its day, and now pony cartoons having sex are passé.



The best gig we played was...
Brussels, London, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Berlin, the moon.

The best gig I saw was...
Ariel Pink at Constellation, the surf band in Manchester (shit I forget their name). [that would be The Bell Peppers?]

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
Slim Twig "A Hound At The Hem", Ariel Pink "Mature Themes".

Overlooked in 2012?
Probably everything good.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Hooded Fang?
New record, stupid costumes, purchasing of ponies, holograms, digital fictional live players, extra heads, extra head.

Hooded Fang toured the UK in May with Howler, having to bump a show for Underachievers Please Try Harder at The Castle until the autumn. Sadly I missed both chances to see the band live but let’s hope a return visit to accompany new album “Gravez” is on the cards.

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Richard James

Since the first solo album from Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci co-founder Richard James in 2006, the excellent “The Seven Sleepers Den”, the interval between albums appears to have halved – “We Went Riding” in 2010 and then this year’s stripped-back “Pictures In The Morning”. However the latter was actually written in the summer of 2009 and then recorded in two houses in Cardiff with producer/engineer Iwan Morgan. “I record everything now in houses, using every area of the building. It makes it hard to do drum tracks live but you can do acoustic ones. The album is meant to be quite low key and intimate as it’s quite personal.”

However a delayed gap from writing to release date does not Mr James has been idle: not only does he curate the musical side of the Laugharne Weekend festival each April he has also established In Chapters as an umbrella for publishing and promoting a variety of musical and literary endeavours including the Pen Pastwn group he formed with Gareth ‘The Gentle Good’ Bonello and Laura J Martin.

Although a low-key and personal record, The Line Of Best Fit captured the spell that the nine track album weaves perfectly: ““Pictures in the Morning” is also an addition to one of the most overpopulated brackets in the song-writing tradition: the break-up album. Add this to the album’s blanket ban on loud look-at-me antics and its propensity for melancholy introspection, and you’d be excused for assuming we’re faced with a bona fide misery-fest. However, although regret and heartache run rife through the nine tracks, these are nevertheless tunes tailor-made for the bright, warily hopeful morning after the boozy self-pity of the night before has faded. There’s hurt aplenty here, but you can practically feel the sunshine radiating from the gentle, warm melodies that propel most of these tracks.”

So a busy year for Richard James?

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
A week long trip to Sudan with the British Council in February. I took the Pen Pastwn band out there to collaborate with local musicians, play 2 shows. We swam off a reef in the Red Sea, met some great people and musicians, and was an eye-opener to that part of the world and its music.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
I can't remember....

The best gig I played was...
Green Man Festival, with a 7 piece Pen Pastwn band. [The gig in May at The Castle in Manchester was quite special too]



The best gig I saw was...
Y Niwl, The Fountain Inn, Laugharne Weekend festival in April. They were meant to play at midnight, but had a gig in Birmingham the same evening, turned up at five past, and were on by quarter past. Super charged rock 'n' roll, great set.

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
'Spin That Girl Around' by Euros Childs.

Overlooked in 2012?
Depends what you mean by overlooked. If a good artist has the chance to record and release their work, play live and get it across to people, then they aren't overlooked and the view of the media is irrelevant. The almost instantaneous word of mouth and directness to music fans the internet provides means the judgement of the media is increasingly irrelevant. Radio play I would say is the most important because of revenue, and provides a more well-known and well-trodden platform to hear the music.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Richard James?
Hopefully a couple of records, a few gigs, working on a couple of projects I hope will come off. Plenty in the pipeline!

Halving that release time again? This can only be a good thing. In exchange for your email address there’s a five track Pen Pastwn EP over at In Chapters. And the Richard James solo albums can be tricky to track down but here is a good starting point.

WRAPPING UP 2012 with The Douglas Firs

For their second full-length release “The Furious Sound” (see yesterday’s post), Edinburgh’s The Douglas Firs apply accident as much as design. Their excellent ‘gloom-pop’ album inspired by the East Lothian witch trials of 1590 was recorded in locations related to the persecution: South Leith Church, the parish of David Lindsay, who led the witch hunt on behalf of James I & IV as well as the church at Old Kirk Green, North Berwick and the dungeons at Tantallon Castle, East Lothian where the witches practised their sermons. However: “many parts of the record were improvised, inspired by the locations used. No fortuitous sounds leaking onto the tracks were excluded.”

Despite there being a spate of witch trial related music this year (and all of it excellent), The Douglas Firs are originals not followers: “The Douglas Firs are a band fearlessly doing their own thing, with as much 1960s psychedelia as 21st-century indie-folk, as many post-rock episodes as ambient soundscapes. Perhaps only The Phantom Band are pushing genre envelopes in quite the same way” says The Herald; “Belle and Sebastian on a spirit-quest” says The List. Or maybe the best of this bunch of comparators is from Subba-Cultcha “...like Midlake on a bad trip rather than chirping merrily about cedars and Aunt Roseline”.

Aberdonian Neil Insh, now living and making music in Edinburgh, is the driving force behind The Douglas Firs and answered some questions on his year (very promptly and well ahead of schedule) at the end of last month.

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
That Zlatan overhead kick was pretty memorable, from last week.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
Coming from someone who hates memories, this is a tough one. I'm going to have to say The Weeknd. and I don't even mean, 'the weekend'. I mean the dreadful artiste, The Weeknd. I had a disturbing streaming experience with his music a few weeks ago.



The best gig we played was...
We played two gigs this year. I'll opt for our gig with Michael Anguish and Iliop, at Old St Paul's.

The best gig I saw was...
I haven't seen any gigs this year, so by default I'll have to opt for Michael Anguish and Iliop, at Old St Paul's.

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
He hasn't actually released his second album, yet, but Green Gerry has leaked out some teasers. I've been listening to everything else he has done for over 2 years, so that's pretty good going. a quarter of the way there.

Overlooked in 2012?
Green Gerry.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from The Douglas Firs?
I want to record an album in as small a space as possible, but maximise the amount of people involved. So far, I have 8 people interested. And in my head, it sounds like the Velvet Underground playing spectral samba.

Sounds amazing. And more of that accident and design at play. But as evidenced by both “Happy As A Windless Flag” or “The Furious Sound”, The Douglas Firs are more than capable of pulling off ambitious plans. Bring on the spectral samba.

The third (I think) and final gig for The Douglas Firs is this Friday at Augustine United Church when they play live to launch the new album supported by Snake Until Listen, Lamplighter and Something Beginning With L.

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Laura J Martin

January this year saw the release of Laura J Martin’s debut full-length player “The Hangman Tree”: “intricately arranged, jaunty folk-jazz excursions, mixing eastern vibes and a percussive, soulful swing, all powered by flute, mandolin, xylophone or piano with Martin’s vocals switching from child-like (but never infantile) innocence to breathy sultriness”. The tail end of the year saw a collaborative EP with Mike Linday (Tuung/Cheek Mountain Thief) released under the name Bónus Skór, both this and the album on the excellent Static Caravan. So 2012 has been bookended by family feuds, Morecombe Bay, careless ninjas and 17th century Japanese arsonists at one end, then salty tales of fish scales and apple carts at the other. And in between Ms Martin has toured relentlessly. A year of travels literal and musical.

“These spry, gnomic songs echo Slapp Happy’s downmarket Weimar bohemia or the inveterate oddness of The Raincoats “Odyshape”” reckoned Uncut on “The Hangman Tree”. I prefer The Word: “an Oliver Postgate vision of Kate Bush”. Whatever your reference points, there’s no disputing she’s an original.

Having consistently failed to see Laura J Martin prior to this year, I made sure 2012 was about catching up, seeing her in January, in May for Sounds From The Other City, in June for No Direction Home and in August for Green Man Festival (and I haven’t finished yet).

So what does the well-travelled Liverpudlian make of 2012?

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
My trip to Iceland and recording the Bónus Skór EP with Mike Lindsay. A wonderful eerie beautiful place.



What should be forgotten about 2012?
Usually things are painfully etched on my memory forever, but maybe my cover of Phil Collins’ ‘Sussudio’.

The best gig I played was...
A toss up between Ladyfest in Paris and the Union Chapel, I really hope it doesn't get closed down as a live venue.

The best gig I saw was...
Jonathan Richman at Green Man.

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
’Spy’ of course!



Overlooked in 2012?
My friend and esteemed colleague Jess Swainson is an amazing artist. She should be minted by now in my humble opinion.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Laura J Martin?
The second album is being mixed at the moment so another album hopefully.

Hopefully? If it’s being mixed now surely that’s a certainty?

Laura J Martin may be may be sparing in her responses and social media pronouncements and may appear diminutive on stage in stockinged feet but there is no doubt that both on record and live she is a formidable force with plenty to say. She also has an impressive address book – “The Hangman Tree” features collaborations with Euros Childs and Buck 65 plus she has worked with Richard James, Sweet Baboo and The Simonsound amongst others. For her two final live shows of the year more collaborations and surprises are hinted at. Don’t miss either the Cloud Sounds Xmas Bash in Manchester on 14 December with Y Niwl or the Kings Place, London gig on 21 December to see what may come of these. A magical end to a fairy-tale year?

WRAPPING UP 2012 with Seamus Fogarty

As December rolls in, time to catch up with some artists who’ve made an impression on me this year, to find out what they themselves made of the last twelve months. First up the nomadic Mr Seamus Fogarty.

As a subscriber to Fence Record’s Chart Ruse EP series, I was offered the extra benefit of purchasing new label signing Seamus Fogarty’s debut LP at a modest discount. I think I only needed to listen to one of the preview tracks available to know this was a done deal (and whilst the discount was a nice ‘thank you’ hardly essential to the transaction). Seamus’s induction into the Fence Records family began with meeting James Yorkston in Kilkenny in early 2009 (as recounted in this Q&A between the two) followed by an appearance at Homegame Festival in Fife that year.

The album “God Damn You Mountain” was released in April this year and I fell almost instantly for its “wayward folky sounds formed on guitar, banjo, fiddle and cello with the added curious spaciness of analog synthesisers, laptop interventions and sea-shell percussion; a mixture the traditional and the experimental, of the DIY and accidental”. I particularly like this from The List: "This is folk music that nods towards Irish tradition but with a dreamy, mesmerising feel all of its own; echoes of Scotland and rural Americana haunting everything... while the stripped-down tracks in the middle display Fogarty’s songwriting chops, it’s the more experimental beginning and ending that really demonstrate an exciting talent".I was then lucky enough to catch Seamus three times this year – supporting James Yorkston in May then at No Direction Home in June and at Green Man in August.

Here’s his take on 2012:

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
That it was the year I released my debut album and there was a lot of sport on TV.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
Ireland's performance at Euro 2012, although I suppose it was nice to be there for a change.

The best gig I played was...
On the main stage at Green Man. It pissed rain all morning, as it tends to do at Green Man, only to stop around 5 minutes before we started to play. I was in no fit state to be playing anywhere but it was unforgettable. [A video of 'The Wind' from the day here]



The best gig I saw was...
Tricky, not the man, the question…a tie between Jonathan Richman at aforementioned Green Man Festival and Hardsparrow at Away Game on Eigg

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
I'm kinda stuck in the past musically (see next question) but I reckon I'll still be listening James Yorkston's new one, “I Was A Cat From A Book”, timeless songs. And Lau's new one “Race The Loser”.

Overlooked in 2012?
I spend most of my time sat in front of my computer listening to Gregorian chant so quite out of touch with the world…I shared a few festival bills with Euros Childs this summer, he's not really overlooked but I can't believe he's not playing bigger venues, a consistently amazing songwriter.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Seamus Fogarty?
I've given myself until Christmas to write and record an EP, its going well, lots of Gregorian Chant. I'm also hoping to take some friends into a nice studio before the summer to record an album. And what else… I'm also doing a big UK tour with aforementioned James Yorkston and The Pictish Trail which I'm really looking forward to, that's happening in March/April time.

An EP influenced by Gregorian chant?! Can’t wait. “God Damn You Mountain” was a vinyl only (with download) physical release. If that put you off, there is a limited CD version in the Fence Shop if you’re quick. And for Londoners you can see Seamus Fogarty this week on Wednesday supporting Colorama before two dates back in Ireland with James Yorkston. Seamus Fogarty live and on record is very different propositions. Whether you get to see him live or not, you should really, really get the album.

Seamus Fogarty - By The Waterside by Fence Records