July 2009
MANICS, IDLEWILD, NINE BLACK ALPS, THE ANSWERING MACHINE, THE X CERTS, TELEGRAPHS, THE RACE - 7 ALBUMS IN A YEAR!!
Hey everyone! So sorry I haven’t had a chance to update the website in the last year (!), but I did 7 albums back to back & it was all a bit hectic!! The new Manics record “Journal For Plague Lovers” is out this week & the reviews have been simply phenomenal! Q gave it 5 stars & I haven’t seen a review of less than 8 out of 10! It was a 50:50 division of labour on this one - Steve Albini (who has always been a hero of mine) recorded 9 songs with them last November & then in January I went down to Rockfield to add additional production & mix 8 of those & produce & mix 5 more on top. It was, as ever, a true pleasure & I’m extremely proud of the results - it's also the 8th Manics record that I’ve worked on which is just mad!
I’ve also just finished the new Idlewild record “Post Electric Blues” (my 5th with them!) which I genuinely think is their best yet! The single, which is called “Readers & Writers” is truly amazing - its such a bright summery skewed pop song in an almost Flaming Lips way - in any fair world it’d be a massive hit!
Probing further back into last year I produced & mixed albums with The Race (awesome anthemic indie rock), The Telegraphs (awesome anthemic rock! 8 out of 10 reviews in NME, Kerrang & Rock Sound), The X Certs (awesome heart on the sleeve Scottish rock - tipped everywhere, this is a great record!), The Answering Machine (again tipped everywhere, tracked almost completely live, dead Stokesy but with their own thing going on - currently supporting The Manics!) & finally Nine Black Alps which is a truly angry, heavy record - perhaps my heaviest ever!
Phew, no wonder the website was left to flounder! I’m off back to Bryn Derwyn studios tomorrow to start Stars & Sons from Brighton - kind of like Ben Folds meets The Flaming Lips - amazing pop songs & incredible arrangements & found sounds - I’m dead excited about this one!! Hope you enjoy the site - I’ll try to update again asap!!