Hong Kong In The 60s : My Fantoms Remixed Vol 1

These interpretations by Grovesnor and Rough Fields are the first in a series of remixes of tracks on Hong Kong In The 60s' debut album 'My Fantoms'.

Hong Kong In The 60s Launch Party Tonight

Sonic Cathedral's Broad Church night at The Social plays host to Hong Kong In The 60s' launch party for 'My Fantoms' tonight. Its free entry, the band play live alongside Sunny Street and they'll have mix CDs, badges and cakes for those in attendance.



More at soniccathedral.co.uk.

Hong Kong In The 60s : My Fantoms

“'My Fantoms' is a record of heart-melting beauty. With a collection of 60s and 70s analogue sounds, textile synths and carpeted spongey drum machines, Hong Kong in The 60s present their vision of song, reminding us of forgotten sounds like The Passage, Young Marble Giants and Robert Wyatt, as well as the debt we all owe gentle pop. The melodies are sung with the perfect balance of honesty and control... the control is so welcome. This record is with me a lot. It’s fresh, new but familiar. I love this."
Sean O'Hagan - The High Llamas

'My Fantoms' is the debut album by Hong Kong In The 60s, released 2nd May 2011 through Proper Songs. Influenced by early electronic pop, 1960s Chinese music and European film soundtracks, the 12 tracks include bittersweet pop songs, dreamlike instrumentals and even excerpts from a mouse opera for children.



Tracknotes:
1. When You Were Dreaming. A song of romantic frustration musically inspired, in equal parts, by droning Teutonic rock and swooning Oriental pop.
2. You Can Take A Heart But You Cannot Make It Beat. Our updating of the feather-light Brazilian-inflected sounds of ‘60s and ‘70s sunshine pop.
3. Les Petits Chasseurs De Son. Part two of our long-term mouse opera project. This instrumental - featuring the sounds of a malfunctioning Casio CZ-101 - introduces a band of fantastical sound-hunting rodents, inspired by the real life Fédération Internationale des Chasseurs de Sons.
4. Softly Sung. An ethereal lullaby of regret, backed by a Mellotron- and Casio-tooled take on Julee Cruise and David Lynch’s ‘50s fantasies.
5. My Fantoms. Named in tribute to Théophile Gauthier and his translator Richard Holmes, this title track is rooted musically in the softest and synthiest of ‘70s MOR. The lyrics explore the heedless self-deception of love.
6. Theme From King Of Chinatown. From the soundtrack to an imaginary late 1980s Hong Kong action movie set in London's Chinatown, full of honourable bloodshed and mawkish sentiment.
7. Diaryland. A motorik pop song for synth and drum machine, detailing a private childhood dreamworld.
8. All At Sea. What we imagine The Velvet Underground might have sounded like had they been forced to perform as a lounge band on a cruise ship.
9. Cobb's Box. An unearthly mood piece, built on recordings of an antique music box.
10. At Your Door. Another song inspired by our vision of the lush, warm sounds of ‘70s AM radio.
11. Les Petits Chasseurs Au Bord Du Lac Lunaire. Part three of the mouse opera, in which the eponymous “chasseurs” encounter a vast and otherworldly landscape.
12. Shadow Of The Bear. The oldest song on the album, originally written in an attempt to combine the sounds of Nico’s first two solo albums.

Pre-order the CD now at hongkonginthe60s.bandcamp.com and get an immediate download of the album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. Avaliable in real life and digital record stores on 2nd May.

Val-d'Isère : EP

Released through Proper Songs today is the brilliant debut EP by Val-d'Isére, duo Sean Bamberger and Carrie Flower from London and Leeds, UK.



More info at propersongs.net/label.

The Leaf Library : Different Activities, Similar Diversions

'Different Activities, Similar Diversions' is The Leaf Library's long-discussed debut long player made up of all their recording adventures over the past few years.

A Christmas Gift From Proper Songs

'A Christmas Gift' is a free 5-track download featuring tracks from Hong Kong In The 60s, Special Benny, Val-d'Isère, Dog Ears and The Leaf Library. Look out for excellent releases by all of them in 2011.

Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year from Proper Songs!

Dog Ears: Mrs Winchester

Dog Ears is the solo project of Mat Baynton, guitarist/vocalist in Special Benny. His debut EP of home recorded songs will be released spring 2011 on Proper Songs.




More at propersongs.net.

Special Benny : Other People's Toys

Special Benny have an EP of remixes from their 'Toys' album available for free download today. Versions come from Hong Kong In The 60s, Johnny Beverton, The Specialist and Shooting Horses from the Loose Synths blog and a 20 minute epic soundscape by myself.



Special Benny have trio of live dates in London over the coming week.

25/11 @ The Troubadour
01/12 @ The Wilmington Arms
03/12 @ The Good Ship

More at propersongs.net.

Val-d'Isére : Pinpoint

Val-d'Isére, aka Sean Bamberger and Cari Flower, are a new band from London and Leeds, UK. A imagined memory of the 60s and 70s, Val-d'Isére is a bastard cross of strong rhythms and pretty melodies played through old-school hardware. The tracks feature mistakes, lapses in rhythm and a loose approach to tempo with drums sampled from old Youtube clips.

Debut EP coming late 2010 on Proper Songs.



More at facebook.com/wearevaldisere.

Special Benny : Toys

Proper Songs releases Special Benny's debut album 'Toys' today! Listen and buy at Bandcamp.



The launch party is on 22nd September at The Macbeth in Hoxton.



More at specialbenny.com.

Special Benny 'Toys' Album Launch

Special Benny launch their excellent debut album 'Toys' at The Macbeth with support from friends, collaborators and admirers.

Special Benny
The six-piece band are Mat Baynton, Grace Cheung, Tom Corbett, Ben Gates, Rob Smoughton and Matt Turner who hail from Southend, Brighton, Bexleyheath and Hong Kong but now call London home. Although they admit their individual tastes differ greatly the band cites Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, Sufjan Stevens, Battles, Frank Zappa and Steve Reich among their shared favourites. As might be expected from a band who admire such experimental luminaries, there is a high degree of collaboration and planning involved in their song writing: “We finish all our ideas together, or the band as a whole aren’t interested. Democracy can be hard within a band, it can lead to arguments. But at the same time, the fact that we are always surprised when we play together is an absolute joy.”
specialbenny.com

The Voodoo Trombone Quartet
Formed in 2004 by producer, record collector and multi instrumentalist, Paul Thorpe, the band's first tracks were made freely available on the net as supposedly 'rediscovered' originals. The joke soon backfired however when they became immensely popular in their own right as each one clocked up thousands of downloads. The newly formed Freshly Squeezed took note and duly signed Paul for the band's debut album in 2005. Now expanded to a live 8-piece band, The Voodoo Trombone Quartet continue to win fans with their superb live shows at the best UK clubs and festivals including Bestival, Glastonbury, The Brighton Festival Speigeltent, Pussy Parlure, Lost Vagueness and many more. Their music is also featured in hit shows like Ugly Betty and Medium Wave has recently been the theme to MTV's new series The Paper.
voodootrombonequartet.com

Hong Kong In The 60s
Hong Kong In The 60s are Mei Yau Kan (vocals, keyboards, guitar); Christopher Greenberg (keyboards, vocals, guitar); and Tim Scullion (guitar, keyboards, vocals), a multilingual three-piece from London, who formed in 2007. They are heavily influenced by early electronic pop, 1960s Chinese music and Italian film soundtracks. Using their collection of old Casio keyboards, the group combine bittersweet pop melodies and atmospheric electronics to create what Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas describes as a “lovely, understated and quite beautiful sound.” In their hands, the cheap noises of old toy synths and outdated drum machines reveal hidden warmth and emotion.
hongkonginthe60s.com

with DJ sets from...

Grovesnor
Grovesnor is Rob Smoughton, drummer for Hot Chip (and sometimes Special Benny) and student of the old school who loves a good tune and a crisp rhythm. Although undeniably influenced by the pop music of the 80’s there’s something supremely modern about the music of Grovesnor – but yes, there are echoes of Hall and Oates and Billy Joel.
grovesnor-music.com

Mat Pringle
UPcoming artist Mat Pringle illustrated the fantastic 'Toys' album art. He'll be spinning fuzz drenched drum heavy global nonsense. A limited number of screen prints of the sleeve will be on sale.
matpringle.blogspot.com

Joe Gamp
An early fan of Special Benny, the Artrocker scribe will be making a rare appearance on the turntables.

Sarahtron & Benjamus Prime (Proper Songs)
Oh them.

+ Vinyl, CDs and screen prints on sale.

Venue: The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, London, N1 6LP
Info: 020 7749 0600
Doors: 8pm-1am
Price: Free entry!
Nearest tube: Old Street (Northern Line)

Special Benny : Toys

Special Benny's forthcoming 'Toys' CD is now on pre-sale over at their Bandcamp page. The album is immediately downloadable with a PDF of artwork by Mat Pringle and two bonus tracks. The CD is released on 6th September.



More at Proper Songs.

Special Benny : Toys

I'm very proud to announce the release of Special Benny's debut album 'Toys' on 6th September 2010 through Proper Songs!

The six-piece band are Mat Baynton, Grace Cheung, Tom Corbett, Ben Gates, Rob Smoughton and Matt Turner who hail from Southend, Brighton, Bexleyheath and Hong Kong but now call London home. Most of Special Benny studied music, apart from Mat, who went to clown school. Although five members can distinguish between a Neapolitan 6th, and a French 6th, none can fall over quite so hilariously as Mr Baynton.

The tracks on “Toys” draw from a variety of musical influences. Although they admit their individual tastes differ greatly, the band cites Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, Sufjan Stevens, Battles, Frank Zappa and Steve Reich among their shared favourites.

As might be expected from a band who admire such experimental luminaries, there is a high degree of collaboration and planning involved in their song writing: “We finish all our ideas together, or the band as a whole aren’t interested. Democracy can be hard within a band, it can lead to arguments. But at the same time, the fact that we are always surprised when we play together is an absolute joy.”

Special Benny are not a band to rush things - their ultra-obsessive nature with microscopic detail of sound would send the most hardy of studio hermits around the bend - but even for them “Toys” has been a long time coming. Mat and Ben have been making music together since they were 14, before meeting other members around university and starting Special Benny (named seconds before playing their first gig, the name stuck ever since, somehow). Despite building up a solid live following and self-recording/producing/releasing the “Rumblestrip EP” in 2006, the group struggled to find their natural rhythm and life began to interfere. original drummer Steve Galloway left, Matt Turner took a job in Australia for a year, Mat Baynton’s acting career took off, Ben and Grace started a family – the group even called time on Special Benny with a final gig at their spiritual home of The Fox in Lewisham, South East London. Then in late 2008, they discussed playing seriously again with their friend and drummer Rob Smoughton (who releases as Grovesnor on Lo Recordings and is live drummer for Hot Chip). The resulting rehearsals inspired the group into resuming with renewed focus, leading to the completion of “Toys”.

The release of “Toys” is a testament to their desire and need to create music together, and to do so on their own terms as a group. It is the sound of people discovering common ground despite their differences and disruptions and creating music that’s beautiful, precious, timeless and entirely their own.



More at specialbenny.com

Hong Kong In The 60s : My Fantoms

The lovely Hong Kong In The 60s are currently recording their debut album 'My Fantoms', out on the Proper Songs label later this year. Here are a few tracks.

Hong Kong In The 60s : Footsteps Out Today

'Footsteps' by Hong Kong In The 60s is a neat edit of their track from last year's 'Willow Pattern Songs', packaged with a remix by North London producer The Last Skeptik.

"Winsome, St Etienne-style and shimmery minor key pop." Drowned In Sound



propersongs.net/label

Special Benny : Air Filter Released Today

Proper Songs signings Special Benny have their debut single 'Air Filter' released today - cop it on the player below. You can also download their track 'Lanugo', which won't feature on the album, for free a little way below that.



Download 'Lanugo'.

Hong Kong In The 60s : Footsteps

Here's a video directed by Claudio Napoli for 'Footsteps', the lead track from Hong Kong In The 60's brilliant 'Willow Pattern Songs' EP. A new edit of the track and a The Last Skeptik remix will be avaliable for download soon.

Buy the EP now via Proper Songs.

The Second Release On Proper Songs Is By Special Benny

Available on digital in November, 'Air Filter' is the first track from Special Benny's exceptional debut album 'Toys' out in Spring '010.



propersongs.net/label