My Father Was A Sailor" is the ambitious new concept album from Vancouver’s North Atlantic Explorers. It's a collection of nautical-themed songs inspired by Glenn D’Cruze’s late father’s life at sea with the British Merchant Navy. Its highlights include a full choir singing multi-part harmonies, a horn section featuring JP Carter (Destroyer, Dan Mangan) and narratives by Stuart David (Belle & Sebastian, Looper).
Though some of these sea-themed songs were written before Glenn’s father William D’Cruze recently passed away, they took on new meaning after he died which inspired additional songs about the sea, his life and the afterlife – and the transition between the two.
There’s a laid back 1970’s vibe, a theatrical quality and a prevailing undercurrent of sadness and beauty flowing throughout the record while retaining the atmospherics and layers of melody from its predecessor, the critically acclaimed "Skylines." Both albums were recorded with Jonathan Anderson (Aidan Knight, Jordan Klassen, In Medias Res).
My Father Was A Sailor was played by Glenn and Jonathan with a horn section and was sung by Glenn with a fourteen person choir. Scotsman Stuart David contributes gale warning and shipping forecast narratives on "The Sailor & The Stenographer" and "Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle" respectively. Also included is a cover of "South" written by Mark Powell & Lupe Núñez-Fernández of European indie pop duo Pipas.
Bandcamp streaming the legendary violin player from The Legendary Pink Dots who left the Dots many years ago to focus his musical endeavours on traditional Celtic music.
I include the full review below, as I feel that this album will interest many more than just a few of us here, especially ambient fans. I downloaded from emusic
the bright young folk review
What have The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, X-Factor winner Joe McElderry and Doctor Who got in common? The answer is the impressively rich and overwhelmingly diverse CV of Scottish Violinist David Grubb who, on debut album High Rise, has met with expectation and then some!Having garnered praise galore from the great and good of the folk world for some time Grubb has finally sat down and committed to record the tunes that he has been crafting and perfecting for over six years now.The city and all its gritty urban charm is a recurring theme throughout the eight tracks and tunes that make up the record, which is a refreshing and interesting influence for a style of traditional music that normally evokes rolling hills and shimmering lochs.Grubb also works an effective quiet-loud-quiet aesthetic throughout the album from which lilting progressions lead seamlessly into mighty climaxes. Opening track Sleeping Giant is perhaps the best example of such texture and structure as a delicate opening is overtaken by building percussion that develops into a riot of galloping beats and strings. It’s stirring stuff and only gets better with each listen.The city-recorded soundscapes that interweave between songs provide further testament to Grubb’s astute observations on urban life. The intro to Coffee Shop in particular is a gloriously understated jazz piano piece underpinned by the sound of traffic and chinking crockery. It works perfectly and is neither invasive nor contrived.Indeed jazz is a mainstay of the album, particularly in the case of the piano. It’s used to stirring effect on the gorgeous Glascade with a lazy progression that evokes images of dew scented inner city parks and hazy skies. It’s altogether as beautiful in sound as it is in concept.Whilst not necessarily as genre-defining as Lau, David Grubb certainly shares a spirit and thought process with the acclaimed trio which helps set him apart from the traditional music stock in much the same way. High Rise is a work of remarkable proficiency that takes some getting used to, such is the surprising nature of the record, but it’s worth every effort and every repeat listen as it gently takes you in and lifts your soul.
Comments
Good old Amie Street find.
Craig
My Father Was A Sailor" is the ambitious new concept album from Vancouver’s North Atlantic Explorers. It's a collection of nautical-themed songs inspired by Glenn D’Cruze’s late father’s life at sea with the British Merchant Navy. Its highlights include a full choir singing multi-part harmonies, a horn section featuring JP Carter (Destroyer, Dan Mangan) and narratives by Stuart David (Belle & Sebastian, Looper).
Though some of these sea-themed songs were written before Glenn’s father William D’Cruze recently passed away, they took on new meaning after he died which inspired additional songs about the sea, his life and the afterlife – and the transition between the two.
There’s a laid back 1970’s vibe, a theatrical quality and a prevailing undercurrent of sadness and beauty flowing throughout the record while retaining the atmospherics and layers of melody from its predecessor, the critically acclaimed "Skylines." Both albums were recorded with Jonathan Anderson (Aidan Knight, Jordan Klassen, In Medias Res).
My Father Was A Sailor was played by Glenn and Jonathan with a horn section and was sung by Glenn with a fourteen person choir.
Scotsman Stuart David contributes gale warning and shipping forecast narratives on "The Sailor & The Stenographer" and "Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle" respectively. Also included is a cover of "South" written by Mark Powell & Lupe Núñez-Fernández of European indie pop duo Pipas.
Stream it on Bandcamp, it is also on E Music
Heins Hoffman-Richter - Symphony For Tape Delay, IBM Instructional Manual & Ohm Septet
I include the full review below, as I feel that this album will interest many more than just a few of us here, especially ambient fans. I downloaded from emusic
the bright young folk review
What have The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, X-Factor winner Joe McElderry and Doctor Who got in common? The answer is the impressively rich and overwhelmingly diverse CV of Scottish Violinist David Grubb who, on debut album High Rise, has met with expectation and then some!Having garnered praise galore from the great and good of the folk world for some time Grubb has finally sat down and committed to record the tunes that he has been crafting and perfecting for over six years now.The city and all its gritty urban charm is a recurring theme throughout the eight tracks and tunes that make up the record, which is a refreshing and interesting influence for a style of traditional music that normally evokes rolling hills and shimmering lochs.Grubb also works an effective quiet-loud-quiet aesthetic throughout the album from which lilting progressions lead seamlessly into mighty climaxes. Opening track Sleeping Giant is perhaps the best example of such texture and structure as a delicate opening is overtaken by building percussion that develops into a riot of galloping beats and strings. It’s stirring stuff and only gets better with each listen.The city-recorded soundscapes that interweave between songs provide further testament to Grubb’s astute observations on urban life. The intro to Coffee Shop in particular is a gloriously understated jazz piano piece underpinned by the sound of traffic and chinking crockery. It works perfectly and is neither invasive nor contrived.Indeed jazz is a mainstay of the album, particularly in the case of the piano. It’s used to stirring effect on the gorgeous Glascade with a lazy progression that evokes images of dew scented inner city parks and hazy skies. It’s altogether as beautiful in sound as it is in concept.Whilst not necessarily as genre-defining as Lau, David Grubb certainly shares a spirit and thought process with the acclaimed trio which helps set him apart from the traditional music stock in much the same way. High Rise is a work of remarkable proficiency that takes some getting used to, such is the surprising nature of the record, but it’s worth every effort and every repeat listen as it gently takes you in and lifts your soul..
Just back from the dentist - ugh....
Autechre - Quaristice
For anybody else who's stuck with doing it manually, use:
(img src="http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0002/259/MI0002259418.jpg?partner=allrovi.com" width="300" height="300" /), except replace ( ) with < >
Welcome to the (picture) club amc!
Thanks!
So many versions on Amazon - 30th Anniversary, 40th Anniversary and so on!
Figured out a linked image too; link's to Free Music Archive.