Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
Insta - @everythingflowsglasgow
Sleigh Bells are apparently an intense noise pop band.
I'd never have guessed after hearing their 2010 single Rill Rill on Lauren Laverne's brilliant 6Music show one morning last month. I must have played it 50 times over the next week or so.
Although after checking the album Treats that the song features on, I can see where the intense noise description comes from!
Sleigh Bells are Alexis Kraus and Derek Miller, the latter of whom was in a metalcore band, while Kraus was in teen bands. The duo met in Brooklyn and quickly found they could work easily together.
But back to Rill Rill, which is easily the bands most popular song with over 38 million plays.
The groove is there from the very start. It's got a kind of Beta Band rawness and soul, there are bells, little vocal noises and then Alexis starts singing. The vocal melody just flows so naturally and beautifully.
Wonder what your boyfriend thinks about your braces
What about them?
I'm all about them
Six such straight A's
Cut 'em in the bathroom
Rill Rill such a cool song and Apple picked up on it, using it in a 2013 iPhone advertisement.
The coolness stems from the Funkadelic song Can You Get To That from their classic 1971 album Maggot Brain. It's a sublime use of sampling, taking the little riff that comes and goes in the Funkadelic tune and using it as the basis for a whole song, inspiring a new flowing vocal melody - gorgeous.
You can listen to all the songs I've featured in my Trust Me series in a playlist by searching for Everything Flows Trust Me on Spotify or by CLICKING HERE
You can also read about the previous songs I've written about by clicking on the links below.
Cover version of the month #49 Dillard and Clark cover The Beatles
I've written about Don't Let Me Down by The Beatles a number of times through the blog, most recently in my Confidently Top 10 blog. It is my favourite Beatles song - so pure, so heartfelt, Lennon so in love that he has to say it in four words rather than three.
So I'm not going to talk about the original version that makes me picture the fab 4 on the Apple rooftop, Lennon's hair blowing in the wind and the friends gelling and laughing as they play their final show. Just watch and listen - magical.
Instead, I'm going to discuss the Dillard and Clark version that I recently discovered. I'm digging into the back catalogue of Gene Clark following the BBC documentary The Byrd Who Flew Alone.
Through the Morning, Through the Night was the second album released by Dillard and Clark, coming out in August 1969, only 10-months after their debut LP.
I've yet to find out how Dillard and Clark discovered the song before it was released on The Beatles Let It Be album in May 1970, but somehow they did.
Their version keeps the bluesy feel of The Beatles but turns it into country bluesgrass blues. Clark's voice is unaccompanied for the first few seconds before bass, drums, acoustic and lead guitar kick in. The vocal is beautiful and when the harmonies come in, especially if you are listening on headphones, it is pretty spine tingling.
My favourite section of the song is the middle eight;
I'm in love for the first time
And I know it's gonna last
It's a love that lasts a lifetime
It's a love that has no past
Clark changes a couple of words and the way his voice lingers on no past is just stunning. Dillard and Clark with over one minute of Clark repeatedly singing don't let me down backed by beautiful harmonies/backing vocals. The song fades ... I wish they had kept it going, it is sublime.
Stephen Solo is Stephen Farrell, Stephen Farrell is Stephen Solo. Music, words and melodies simply pour out of Stephen; every day, all of the time. Personally, I think he is a genius.
Stephen used to scribble things down, record things on a dictaphone, capture things at band rehearsals, spend hundreds of pounds on studio time, be elated when things worked and frustrated when things didn't. Being prolific is great in many ways, but by the time his band had rehearsed and recorded the songs, Stephen had dozens more to play with.
In 2015 Stephen got an iPhone6+. This is not a blog about an iPhone6+, it is about Stephen Solo. However the iPhone6+ plays an important part; leading to the creation and recording of Pii (short for Phone it in) that was released on Last Night From Glasgow earlier this year.
Pii may well be my album of the year. It is eclectic, eccentric, psychedelic, gentle, dreamy, beautiful, funny..... I hear elements of The Beatles, Talking Heads, Damon Albarn, Boards of Canada, Hot Chip......and Limmy.....and most importantly....Stephen.
Crying Because is one the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. You can watch the video at the end of this blog. Soundtrack To Unfilmed is a widescreen cinematic dream. Behind Your Eyes mixes the crazy with the sublime. There is so much going on in Pii, there is so much to love and as you'll find out from the interview below - there is so much freedom.
I had a wide ranging conversation with Stephen regarding the album and you can read all about Pii in Stephen's own words below. It makes me love and appreciate this wonderful album even more.
The phone stuff started with little experiments using iPhone and it's version of garage band. But it was too fiddly to use on a small screen, kind of a hassle. I've got over 400 phone demos on the dictaphone app and I'm always having to export them and the time it takes to go through ideas and make them real was just impossible.
I can always produce a fully formed and usually good idea by just doing it...it's like there is no writing involved. That's happened with the band a few times too and there's that magic moment when everyone combines without thinking.
I've always known I had the capacity to produce things in a 'throwaway' fashion and that it's always a little more enjoyable than 'working' on a tune. But I started doing it more when I got the bigger iPhone6+ and just that little screen and finger space led me to doing little videos and cartoons in the same fashion - quickly, intuitively and no thinking....once more it was more enjoyable than writing a script to a song.
Picture by Gary Sloan
The first app that got me into the zone was 'amimoog' which is a version of the classic moog synth and in just playing with a sound I'm usually already composing...if i find a sound I just get into it and see what it wants to do rather than thinking about what I want. I found certain apps can be linked to garage band through a separate program called 'audiobus' ad this acts the same way as if you were to plug in any instrument in a real studio and put it through the computer. There's always a bridge program to link things...so once I got that I had a look at what other apps could be linked together and essentially set up a virtual studio in my phone with a set up that I liked.
I got a few vocal effect apps including one that mimics the sound of specific microphones and a drum app called 'funk box' that emulates all the classic drum machines from the 80's. I find that if I get a beat I like and a synth or vocal sound set up, I'm into a song so fast that it writes itself.
Over a few nights I would wait until the wife and baby were in bed and just GO. I gave myself the rule of no writing, no stopping, no coming back to it. A tune had to be done in one session from start to finish or when I was tired or had to go to work and this instantly gave everything a special feel or sound.
Behind Your Eyes took me about 2-hours and was done sitting on the floor next to the plug point as the phone was charging. I did the vocal bent over with my head behind the couch so I wouldn't wake anyone up....I had the first verse beat and sound and set up the vocal effect and pressed record. The first words that came out of my mouth were the first take and that's what is on the album.
I then just got another sound and played some chords with a different feel and in the same way 'Behind your eyes, I'll be waiting' was the first thing to come out of my mouth. No idea where it came from but in retrospect it has a theme and means something to me now. Weird!
Behind Your Eyes - Stephen Solo
Freaks was in the same spot in the living room bent over as the phone as charging! Might even have been the next night. I was tickled pink.
Think Of The Stars was done in the office at work waiting on people arriving for a workshop. I did the chords first on the animoog and was thinking about The Beatles song Because. I then removed all the keyboards for the intro and gave it the shape...then people arrived at work and the song was stopped. I did the second half at home and just experimented not worrying about how it fitted. The end section is just me with acoustic and the closest thing lying around was a ninky none train from In The Night Garden, the kids show. It makes a cool sound when it drives around so I held it in one hand and the phone in the other and drove it around.
Tattoo Faced Man was done in the car during torrential rain after a school workshop in the East End. You can hear the rain hitting the car roof. The rain didn't stop for days and you can hear the same pelting rain at the end of When You're A Human as I did he vocal wandering around the house and standing at the open window.
Crying Because was done in one take and the entire song too me almost as long as it takes to listen to it... I went for a shower (it was first thing in the morning) and worked out backing vocals in the shower. So the whole thing was done in about an hour. This is a song about my little boy who used to cry all night. I was trying to imagine the baby monitor translating his cries.
I have kindly been invited to give a talk about my blog at the Apple Store in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, next Thursday (see above). You can reserve a place for free by CLICKING HERE
During the talk I'll be publishing a live blog to launch The Girl Effect #2, curated by TeenCanteen to raise funds and awareness for Scottish Women's Aid. An incredible selection of bands will be covering girl group songs. The first Girl Effect night took place at Summerhall in Edinburgh back in May and raised almost £3,500. Can the Glasgow one top that?
I will hopefully proving the importance of Social Media in spreading news/launching events - if you come along you can certainly help and it would be great to see you. There will also be a chance to ask questions about my blog.
I'll also be discussing;
1. Why I started writing a music blog
2. What I write about
3. The people I have met
4. Who reads the blog and how do they find it?
5. Stats - the good and the bad
6. Tips for those starting/considering a blog
7. A chat with Carla from TeenCanteen re the importance of blogs
8. An update on stats from the blog launched earlier in the evening
May is a busy month for music in Glasgow, yet there are two events that I am particularly looking forward to and it should be no real surprise that they involve the acts I am managing.
Thursday 19th May – Sonny Marvello live at the Apple Store
6:00 pm - 6:30 pmRocket Science Recording Studio Sonny Marvello’s producers Ross Hamilton and Michael Bannister will give us insight into how Apple devices make their workflow more dynamic. At Rocket Science Recording Studio, Ross and Michael rely on a MacBook Pro to record the music, an iPad 2 to wirelessly control Pro Tools and an iPhone 4 to capture HD video of the live sessions. Come along and find out more at this special event.
6:30 pm - 7:30 pmSonny Marvello: Music, Marketing and the Mac How can a pop band record, market, film and network successfully — all using Apple products? Find out from Glasgow’s own Sonny Marvello, a group that’s been compared to Beatles-era McCartney, classic Sparks and the Monkees crossed with ELO. Hear how they recorded their new acoustic mini-album, 100 Club, in only one day. They’ll close this special event with a live acoustic set.
Sonny Marvello - Fire Went Out
Post event Sonny Marvello will be playing a guerrilla style gig somewhere in Glasgow City Centre and following that there will be an exclusive aftershow party for members of the Sonny Marvello 100 club.
What is the Sonny Marvello 100 club?
It isn’t easy for a non-electronic act to find a studio and producer that they trust. It also isn’t cheap. Thankfully Sonny Marvello have found two producers who ‘get’ their sound and who bring out the best in them in the studio – Ross Hamilton and Michael Bannister from Rocket Science Studios.
Ross and Michael produced the bands ‘Pull Me Up’ EP and the band were so impressed that they went on to record three more songs with the duo with a view to getting an album together. Those songs; ‘Tiny Little Sparks’, ‘Paint The Sky’ and ‘Don’t Wanna Be Held’ were paid for out of EP sales. Once the kitty had run dry the band were faced with the task of generating more cash to fund studio time. So the band and I came up with the concept of the 100 club – an exclusive club with 100 memberships available at the cost of £10.
A tenner gets you;
A download of the song ‘Who Needs Somebody’
A strictly limited edition mini acoustic album featuring the songs; ‘Welcome to the 100 club’, ‘Invisible Girl’, ‘Charlie Sheen (you’re living my dream)’, ‘Hold Me Sway’ and ‘Fire Went Out’ (check the video of ‘Fire Went Out’ back at the top of this blog)
Access to a secret gig
A 100 club members badge
Chance to appear in a video
Mention on the website
Future exclusives
Not bad value for a tenner in my humble opinion. Everyone is a winner, the band generate £1,000 to fund a few days in the studio and fans get some goodies and future exclusives. At the time of writing the band are on course to sell the last dozen or so memberships before the Apple Store gig.
So by the end of the summer, Sonny Marvello should have finished the recording, mixing and mastering of their album and it is going to be a belter. The band (and in particular singer-songwriter Stephen Farrell) have been on emotional rollercoaster of a ride over the last two years and that comes across in their songs of love, hope, dreams and at times despair (highlighted in the song ‘Land of the Lost Cause’ recorded last week. The band wear their hearts on their sleeves, there are no gimmicks, no magic tricks, this is a band that write and sing songs that many people will relate to and that upon hearing, people will find themselves singing along to.
It is just over a year since I started working with Miaoux Miaoux and it has been an incredibly productive period. The next 6-months fill me with a real sense of excitement as Julian works towards the completion of his album, tentatively titled ‘Arcs of Brilliance’ and I look to see if I can find a label to release and promote his music. Miaoux Miaoux has developed very naturally over the last year with word-of-mouth playing a huge part. People check him out and recommend him to friends, blogs write about him and enquire about what is happening, and if he is booked to play somewhere he tends to get booked again or recommended to a fellow promoter/venue.
The phase begins with the release of a summer single through the small label Eli & Oz, run by Jen Anderson (also of Euphonios) who has a good ear for music and a good track record. I recently discovered the lovely Bear Bones through her label.
Miaoux Miaoux's songs in question are the insanely catchy and summery ‘Hey Sound’ and the beautiful instrumental ‘Cloud Computer’. The single will be a digital only release and are the first fruits of the album Julian is working on.
When I first heard ‘Hey Sound’ I left Julian’s studio with a huge smile on my face. It is probably his most ‘commercial’ song to date. I was the same with ‘Cloud Computer’. The infectious guitar riff is etched in my brain and I found myself humming it as I walked along the West Highland Way on holiday lately.
The single will be launched with a show at one of my favourite venues in Glasgow – Mono, on 24th May, the day after it is released. Expect a video in the week leading up to the release and you’ll be able to listen to the songs online soon.
With support from the lovely Jamie of Japanese War Effort (Jamie is also one half of Conquering Animal Sound who have released one of my albums of the year to date) and recently confirmed special guestsNevada Base it is shaping up to be quite a night.
