Ansel going big on Tree Party

deniesthenulldeniesthenull
edited May 2011 in Rock Pop
Ansel is a contemporary rock group formed by frontman Evan Clayburn at the Berklee school of music in Boston. Evan is flat out a singer, and although many people may go ahead and classify their work in a genre I really see them as a dynamic group that supports a great vocal front that is entirely natural and harmonically in tune. If you are looking for an indie rock act that features great vocal work simply put this is your group :)

With their first full length release Space Cadet Shipwreck the original group self produced and showcased a great setting for Evan's songwriting to blossom. Truly this is a complete work and simply a marvel in the world of self production. It is available at most major online vendors including bandcamp.

I am writing this blog in great anticipation of their second full length release, this time one a little more major if you will. After reforming the group in LA Evan has really gone all out with instrumentations, dynamics, harmony, counterpoint and various other elements that went in to a full blown studio recording of the soon to be released Tree Party. You can sample "Simpleton Chambers" right now on bandcamp http://ansel.bandcamp.com/ and be sure to have a look at the video for the single "Vanity Fairground" shot in the same studio they recorded the album in:

The date is not official but I can say with confidence soon, check out the links I'll update you as I know more :)

Comments

  • amclark2amclark2
    Owl City. Ocean. Eyes.
  • jonahpwlljonahpwll
    edited May 2011
    All of that music should irritate me. None of what I've listened to (thus far) is stuff I'm even remotely interested in. Maybe it's just the odd mix of thank god the week is over euphoria and I can't believe the week is finally over exhaustion, but I'm finding a lot of this stuff sorta catchy.

    I liked the Bandcamp tune.

    The first song I listened to on the youtube embed on your site was meh.

    Now I'm listening to the song Maybe You're Lost At Sea (or something like that). I kinda like it. It appears that you've got a youtube vid on your site for every song on the new album. I tell you what, I'm not exactly the typical music buyer, but if all you had given me were 30 second samples, I'd have clicked away 15 seconds into it. But when someone gives me a listen to their whole album (or near about), I'm more patient because the next song might float my boat. Smart to let people listen. Can't promise I'm gonna buy the album, but if the music is always out there on your site and/or Bandcamp to listen to, you keep giving me opportunities to decide that I do want to buy it after all.

    Welcome to the site. It lists on your bio that "your band" is Prose in Rosette. Wasn't that one of those bands that released a kajillion tunes on Amie St. (RIP) back in the day? I think so. Mike Van Kook and Prose in Rosette and, hm, there was another one, can't remember. Well, anyways.

    Cheers.
  • jonahpwlljonahpwll
    Hah! On Reverie Lane, I really liked that!
  • MuggsyMuggsy
    Welcome to the site. It lists on your bio that "your band" is Prose in Rosette. Wasn't that one of those bands that released a kajillion tunes on Amie St. (RIP) back in the day? I think so. Mike Van Kook and Prose in Rosette and, hm, there was another one, can't remember.

    Crimson Razorback.
  • jonahpwlljonahpwll
    edited May 2011
    Crimson Razorback.

    Yes! Gah, that was killin' me. Thank you!

    By the by, the Kook in Van Kool was unintentional, but I think I'll let it ride. Seems right at home there.
  • deniesthenulldeniesthenull
    edited May 2011
    this blog is about Ansel, I love their work, please give true independent artists a chance: http://anselmusic.com/
  • jonahpwlljonahpwll
    Some of us are taught to say hello and thank you when we are greeted and nice things said. Some of us. ;)
  • deniesthenulldeniesthenull
    I'm sorry, Hello :) it is an honor to be part of such a great music website, I hope I don't come off poorly now that I've already left something of a negative mark :(
  • jonahpwlljonahpwll
    Nah, you're fine. Besides, as the resident Quality Control Officer, it would be a dubious claim were I to state that anybody around here behaves well.

    Cheers.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    Welcome. You'll be fine once you're used to how things go here. This is a pretty polite and interactive message board and it is also totally normal for threads to drift off-topic as conversation develops - they are conversation threads more than blogs (though they can get quite blog-like) and they behave like conversations - anyone can comment or add different thoughts. Best thing here is to roll with them; if you want to pull us back to the starting topic just make another comment or ask a question; no-one here really gets to control where the conversation goes on threads they start. Thanks for posting on this band - I hadn't heard of them. I'll check out the videos. Do keep posting.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    I'm with Jonah. Vanity Fairground was too frantic for me. On Reverie Lane is quite pretty, though. Not really my genre, but sounds well done.
  • deniesthenulldeniesthenull
    edited August 2011
    nice,

    yeah I agree that "On Reverie Lane" is an excellent tune, but my favorite Ansel tune at the moment is "Dollie and the Time of Day" love this piece
  • deniesthenulldeniesthenull
    edited August 2011
    just made a video for "Dollie and the Time of Day"

    If you can't tell I'm kinda in love with this number :)



    sorry still in the works :(
  • AnselAnsel
    HELLO ALL. My name is Phil, good friend/manager of Ansel. Just wanted to reach out and let you know that Tree Party went live on CDBaby yesterday. The link to download is www.cdbaby.com/ansel2, and it should also be available on iTunes - as well as several other sites - sometime next next week.

    Dollie and the Time of Day was the first track off of Tree Party that Evan sent me around 4 months ago, and I must confess that it's still my favorite song on the album (actually more like tied for 1st alongside "Ivory Ohms" and "Lovely Mystery"). Shoot an email to contact@anselmusic.com, and I'd be more than happy to send them your way.

    Thanks for the comments, and Doug I would love to take a peek at that video you made!

    Cheers from Evan and the rest of us at Ansel :)
  • deniesthenulldeniesthenull
    edited August 2011
    wow, the elegance and maturity of songwriting here is astonishing, glad to finally hear it in it's entirety, really is a great complete work...sorry about the video it's still in the works, album is great !!!

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tree-party/id457553492

    gotta love the longer previews in iTunes, Five Stars for me :)
  • ScissorManScissorMan
    You know, there's a certain subtlety that's called for when trying to promote a product on an independent internet forum, and I'm afraid you're not quite there with it...?
  • choiceweb0pen0choiceweb0pen0
    lol@ScissorMan. especially when someone drops out of nowhere to plug it on our forum.
  • AnselAnsel
    @ScissorMan & Choiceweb0pen0 - Apologies if it came off as a shameless plug..that wasn't the intention at all. Just wanted to let people (who were already discussing the topic) know it was available as well as share my thoughts on it. If I would have commented on Justin Biebers latest MASTERPIECE, or posted it in an unrelated thread I would understand where you're coming from, but we're just trying to get our music out there to people who might dig it, review it, talk about it, in this crapstorm we call the music industry today. Any advice that you might have on promoting in forums (or in general) the input would be appreciated, and as I mentioned in my post hit me up and I'll send you some tracks for free :)
  • AnselAnsel
    and @Denies - Dollie is definitely getting a music video at some point and we'd honestly love to see what you created or hear any ideas you have for it. If you're willing to share, please hit us up at contact@anselmusic.com.
  • jonahpwlljonahpwll
    edited August 2011
    Ansel, I believe what Choice and Scissor were poking fun at was the unlikelihood that sequential debuts on emusers.com by an unheard-of band and its "biggest fan" on a remote site like ours would be coincidental.

    Perhaps it is a crazy coincidence that both you and Denies are here at the same time and perhaps it's true that the two of you have no connection and have never met each other before. However, it is a cliched promotional tactic of a musician to post about a new release on a forum and then have a friend pretend to be some random unassociated person who just happens upon the forum to gush about how awesome that band is.

    That kind of PR tactic stands out embarrassingly clear on sites with heavy traffic. On a site like emusers that has maybe ten active members, it's even more obvious. But like I said, maybe it's just a coincidence. I don't know and I'm not an internet detective being paid to find out. I'm just explaining the reaction.

    Cheers.
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Cue Costello
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