The Declining Winter

We're Moving

2011-02-03T01:54:00.001-08:00

We're heading back to www.thedecliningwinter.com so if you've bookmarked the blogspot address please change it. A new improved website will be coming soon..........

Home Assembly Music HALF PRICE SALE

2011-01-27T02:05:00.000-08:00

As I write there are three days left in January. Thats three days to get any of our lovely Home Assembly Music records or any other on the label (bar Northerner 'The Ridings now sold out) for HALF PRICE. Move fast. Don't delay etc. I sound like a sofa salesman. Go HERE

Blow Up

2011-01-27T01:50:00.000-08:00

Wow, its been some time since I last posted....or did anything really. I'm still on the go in any case so thats the main bit of news.

Otherwise we were really happy to see our last record 'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window', reviewed in Blow Up which I'm told is the Italian version of The Wire. Here is the review below:-

The new EP by former Hood Richard Adams is a really nice surprise. The sound that spreads from these 4 tracks is reminiscent of the previous band's but without the intermission, the disturbed frequencies that made us love Hood. Here the sound is reduced to the bone, to an impalpable substance resting on everything and leaving a soft, permanent track, recalling the golden years of 4AD and Project. The choice might appear dated but is actually appropriate, if guided by the feeling of loss and melancholy that is Richard's most sincere link with the past (7/8) Roberto Canella

Oh and its now available domestically in Japan care of Linus Records

Otherwise Secret Furry Hole, Norman Records

Leonards Lair Review

2011-01-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

A nice review of our 'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window EP from the ever reliable and perceptive Leonards Lair

"As a member of Hood, Richard Adams has played a major part in leading a group of British artists who bring the sounds of the environment in to their music, whilst also incorporating hip-hop and electronica in to their peculiarly brilliant vision. With Hood still on hiatus, Adams has led The Declining Winter through a couple of albums and singles which have even encompassed an alternative (and pretty decent) World Cup theme. ‘Scenes From The Back Bedroom Window’ is their latest EP and one which epitomises Adams’ skills and wilfully subervise approach to music."

"The EP begins with doomy church organ straight from the Talk Talk school of misery as Adams sighs dejectedly. It’s a strange choice for a lead-off track since what comes after it is far more involving. As you’d expect from its title, ‘Killer’ is a instrumental that demands to be noticed. Adams sings in a distant whisper but the distorted guitars circle round in hypnotic fashion. ‘Nobody Else’ features the rustic-sounding guitars which will be familiar to those who have appreciated Hood’s Northern take on post-rock over the years. This leaves the despairing ‘Rachel’; a song so tender and sad and reminiscent of July Skies at his lovelorn best."

‘Scenes…’ takes the unusual step of each track being better than the last one. However, since The Declining Winter don’t have the pressure of front-loading their releases, this is a good move as the listener gets rewarded the more he/she listens. Best of all, Adams proves that rather than distancing himself from his parent band, he celebrates those influences to produce a brief but moving selection.

In Love With These Times, In Spite Of These Times

2011-01-04T03:25:00.000-08:00

One of our favourite blogs has re-appeared of late. Much love for our World Cup Theme. No 8 out of their top (yikes!) 100

http://kisschase.blogspot.com/2010/12/were-falling-were-falling-were.html

8. The Declining Winter "Official World Cup Theme 2010" (Home Assembly Music, CD single)

Comfortably the best World Cup record since Jules Rimet's prize comp kicked off in Uruguay eighty years ago (incidentally, does anyone else agree that Uruguay's rather pretty national anthem knocked spots off the dirges of most other teams in the summer ?) Anyway, Richard Adams' plaintive half-whisper optimistically implores our overpaid timewasters to "bring back the old silverware" over a typical Declining backdrop, an exquisite rustic knit of gently tumbling guitars and aching violin, all broken twigs and twisted bracken underfoot, with production stalwart Choque Husein serene at the controls. This, and last year's wonderful "Haunt The Upper Hallways", remind us a little of the former Creation Records band, the mysterious Pacific, who despite being rather maligned in their day managed to release two excellent, multi-instrumental singles that straddled traditional and modern rather acely. Indeed, "Official World Cup Theme 2010" is *such* a tizzingly beautiful record that the obligatory sampled commentary (in this case of John Barnes' mazy run in Rio), however tongue-in-cheek, rather takes the edge off the magic. Still, a further demonstration - along with the gorgeous second track, "Red Kite", as majestically rare as the endangered bird that's its subject - that the Declining Winter have flowered, with typical pastoral grace, into being one of England's very finest bands. In sharp contrast to the England team, they deserve our (and your) support.

2010 - the year that was

2010-12-18T06:51:00.001-08:00

Here is a round up of all The Declining Winter and related activities this year.

We started 'on the road' with a UK and Europe tour which included a robbery, sickness, hospitalisation, freezing cold and some very good shows. Here is a video of us on that very tour performing the old favourite 'Yorkcity3'

Our good friends at Norman Records re-issued our debut album 'Goodbye Minnesota' on wonderful 180 gram vinyl. These things look an absolute treat and still seem to be selling by the erm..... thimble load

'The Official World Cup Theme 2010' would have been great on vinyl but alas time got in the way/ or I didn't get my act together quick enough. Yet we did manage to get a release out and got our first mentions on Pitchfork, Drowned in Sound, and other more confused media outlets on which the joke was lost on. A nightmare start to finish this one, but we still think it sounds great and are hoping to reap the benefits in 2014. Here's the video........

We performed our final show (until mid next year) at the extraordinary Forest of Sound is Dead event at Left Bank, Leeds and waved a temporary goodbye to guitarist Paul Elam who headed for the stunning climes of Toronto.

With everything else happening, I forgot that I'd recorded 'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window' which snuck out in November through our friends at Secret Furry Hole. The packaging on this is phenomenal and I was pleased the release coincided with freezing weather.

I also completed remixes for Brave Timbers, Winter North Atlantic, Team Forest, The Green Kingdom and performed on upcoming albums by Absent Without Leave and Epic 45.

Yet somehow its been a quiet year, I've spent a lot of it moving house or sorting out moving house or sorting out complications relating to moving house.

That all said we should be back next year though I can't promise when, I have a house to renovate. Don't give up on us though. Thanks to anyone who still reads/listens. An even bigger thanks to anyone who buys stuff, this keeps it all going in the days of diminishing returns.

richard/the declining winter

dec 2012

Seasonal Free Stuff

2010-12-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

I like to give away a christmas treat or two each year and with the season fast approaching here is this years selection. Both are downloadable for absolutely nothing!

You can download for free a live version of our hit 'My Name In Ruins' taken from a performance in Antwerp, Belgium. The story behind the very different version is that our drummer had been rushed to hospital and so we had about an hour to come up with an acoustic set! Hence this version is very different from the one found on our 'Haunt the Upper Hallways' album.

and here for your christmas delectation is the original home sketch of 'The Official World Cup Theme 2010'

'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window'

2010-11-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

"A warm, ponderous, yet sad, organ line - simple as you like - overlaid with the kind of decaying, spectral vocal manipulation Grouper may endorse. Really quite unnerving & beautiful in its haunting bleakness."

Buy from Norman Records (UK)

Buy from Secret Furry Hole (IT)

You can also get these direct from my discogs page

'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window' OUT NOW

2010-11-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

Four stifled/suffocated titles, the acoustic muted and the singing veiled, revealing a facet of the Declining Winter far more atmospheric than usual AUTRES DIRECTIONS

Organ chords, granulated vocals, and judiciously applied reverbs combine to form a slow burning, steady state piece – elemental and commanding, this is a far cry from anything released under the Declining Winter moniker thus far. FLUID RADIO

The ability of the piece to retain its instrumental-ness even in the presence of a voice says a lot about the accomplishment of the instrumentation, a heavily reverberant hall of sonic mirrors in which guitar strings flutter endlessly. DISQUIET

Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window

2010-11-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

Its here! And it looks great. It comes in a fold out piece of card that folds forever and ever. I couldn't fold mine back up. Here are some pictures.......

At the moment only available from Secret Furry Hole. But as more places stock it I will add to the list.

The Declining Winter 'Killer' Video

2010-11-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Kindly made by Brooklyn based filmaker Giacomo Belletti

THE DECLINING WINTER/KILLER from giacomo belletti on Vimeo.

Absent Without Leave 'Faded Photographs' OUT NOW

2010-11-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

I make a guest appearance on the new album by Absent Without Leave, 'Fading Photographs' . There are a few other names on there you may recognise such as Epic 45, Stafraenn Hakon and Millimetrik. The album is available to pre-order from Norman Records and comes housed in 4-panel digipak of recycled cardboard with the front cover image printed on photo paper!It's a limited edition of 500.

Winter North Atlantic remix

2010-11-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

A while ago I did a slew of remixes and promptly forgot about them. One by one they are seeing the light of day. The latest is on this VERY LIMITED CD on Boltfish. An impressive line up includes my landlord Bracken, our compatriots Fieldhead and an Arctic Monkey or two. HERE is the link to which you can buy. I'd also recommend picking up the original album if you haven't already.

Also I did an interview with the oh so supportive people at Autres Directions and you can find a link to that HERE

Autumn News

2010-11-03T04:37:00.001-07:00

Autumn is here, the clocks have gone back and its dark at about 3 in the afternoon. I'm still in the middle of a house move, relying on my brother to house me in his spare room. I get a lovely view of the park with leaves turning all shades of gold and red.

In a matter of weeks our new CD EP 'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window' will be released courtesy of those nice Italian people at Secret Furry Hole. I will post details of where you can buy but for the moment you can pre-order ONLY from HERE

We are finding time to slowly work on new music as well as finishing off the Memory Drawings LP of which I keep muttering. Everything is snails pace these days but it will be worth it in the end.

Within our ranks are Fieldhead and they have a new album out now through Gizeh Records. This is a live album, download only and is available with a donation scheme from their bandcamp page.

For now, wrap up warm, buy an umbrella and we'll get through this thing. More news as it happens. Join me on Twitter as thats where the big news breaks when i'm busy doing other things.

richard/the declining winter
xx

Fluid Radio Review

2010-10-24T03:25:00.000-07:00

The nice people at Fluid Radio have written about our upcoming EP release.........."I’m always excited to hear new material from The Declining Winter – Richard Adams’ previous albums are firm favourites in this reviewer’s house. Melancholic, resolutely Northern, and exuding a warm familiarity, Richard’s music has always sounded like an extension of that produced during his Hood days, albeit with an idiosyncratic twist."

"This EP, then, marks an interesting point in The Declining Winter’s development as a project. Whereas previous releases have concentrated on establishing a solid and fairly traditional “band” sound, “Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window” appears to be an endeavour to blur this template and create something which, whilst maintaining continuity with the already laid foundations, exhibits a qualitatively different character." Read More

The Declining Winter : Killer by secretfurryhole

Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window PRE-ORDER DETAILS

2010-10-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

http://secretfurryhole.blogspot.com/2010/09/sfh-9.html

Killer

2010-10-04T02:50:00.000-07:00

The Declining Winter : Killer by secretfurryhole

'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window' Cdr OUT SOON

2010-09-28T10:48:00.001-07:00

Get ready get ready, there's a new Declining Winter record in town. Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window is a cdr containing four tracks due very very soon on Secret Furry Hole. Heres what I had to say about it in conversation with the label

"with 'scenes from the back bedroom window' i was trying to make something a little more minimal with long stretched out notes. i wanted the whole thing to sound a little like it was underwater. it was recorded in the depths of winter with snowstorms so bad i had to walk six miles to get to work. i hope some of that feeling of detachment and isolation comes across in the music."

Brave Timbers 'For Every Day You Lost' OUT NOW

2010-09-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Ach I've been really busy recently moving house so am slow on the news uptake. Anyway this fantastic album by our violinist Sarah Kemp is now out. Please go to Norman Records to get your copy with bonus CD featuring The Declining Winter, Fieldhead, Gareth S Brown and Epic 45 remixes. And just look what Fluid Radio had to say about it

Brave Timbers podcast

2010-09-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

Our very own violionist extraordinaire Sarah Kemp takes part in a Second Language podcast in advance of her wonderful Brave Timbers album 'For Every Day You Lost'. It contains a chat plus beautiful live versions of some songs off the album.

Download here.

Her headlining show with Gareth S Brown and Memory Drawings in Leeds was an absolute stunner. The album is absolutely beautiful and initial bonus copies come with a remix CD with a mix by......The Declining Winter.

Keep checking back to the Second Language site for release dates, purchase details etc

The Green Kingdom 'Prismatic'

2010-08-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is the latest release on Home Assembly Music. A fine record label from Saltaire, Bradford who have released two of our records in the past. Initial copies come with a bonus CD featuring mixes from The Declining Winter, Fieldhead, Northerner, The Boats, Inch Time, BVDub, Part Timer and more. You'll need to order swiftly to get the special edition as these things are becoming increasingly popular with each release and the other ones have now mostly sold out.

You can listen to soundclips on the Home Assembly site

http://www.homeassemblymusic.com/listen.php

GIG ALERT: Brave Timbers, Gareth S Brown, Memory Drawings

2010-08-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

an intimate evening of music and film featuring several current Declining Winter folk....

brave timbers

solo project from sarah kemp (lanterns on the lake, fieldhead, last harbour, the declining winter). violin, piano, tenor guitar and other acoustic instruments meet to produce beautifully mournful pastoral music inspired by rachel’s, dirty three, ‘the straight story’ soundtrack.
http://www.myspace.com/bravetimbers

gareth s brown

beautifully crafted songs and immense compositional skill. think philip glass, terry riley, michael nyman, max richter, yann tiersen and aphex twin. "music for entwined" 10″ due autumn on misplaced music.
http://garethsbrown.wordpress.com/

memory drawings

one off performance from anglo american collaboration between morocco based dulcimer player joel hanson and members of the declining winter. hammered dulcimer, acoustic guitars and violins combine to produce evocative, drifting pastoral instrumental pieces.
http://www.memorydrawings.blogspot.com/

plus films, projections and other incidental music.

saturday september 4th

admission £4/£3

Cardigan Arms, Leeds

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

Memory Drawings

2010-07-27T08:20:00.001-07:00

anglo american collaboration between morocco based dulcimer player joel hanson and members of the declining winter. hammered dulcimer, acoustic guitars and violins combine to produce evocative, drifting pastoral instrumental pieces.

one off performance leeds cardigan arms 04 sep 2010

Facebook event page

Website

Upcoming........

2010-07-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

It doesn't stop....oh no. Upcoming for the rest of 2010..........

"Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window" limited 3" CDr on Secret Furry Hole due early autumn

Remix on bonus CD with initial copies of The Green Kingdom "Prismatic" due September on Home Assembly Music

Remix on bonus CD with Brave Timbers "For Every Day You Lost" due autumn on Second Language

Remix on Team Forest CD on Aerotone due soon

T-shirts sold out at source

2010-07-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

....except for the leftovers found in my cupboard. about 5 of em - various shapes sizes and colours. email if interested.

North American Distribution

2010-07-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Literally tens of you have asked about availability of our releases in North America. I am pleased to announce that we now have North American Distribution through the fantastic Coming Home Records

In addition our Home Assembly Music releases should soon be available through Experimedia

Fieldhead - Riser 10" EP - OUT JULY

2010-06-29T03:28:00.000-07:00

Our (now) Vancouver based guitarist Paul Elam has a new release out next month under his Fieldhead moniker. Its a wonderfully grainy exploration of how dusty lo fi electronics can be married with eerie vocals to create something akin to if Aphex Twin had got hold of the vocalist of Mum and tortured her in an underground chamber. It features the vocals of our very own violinist Elaine Reynolds amongst others and well worth getting hold of especially for the first 50 which come with an exclusive screen print from Gizeh Records.

Performed a miracle there

2010-06-29T02:29:00.001-07:00

Sadly not 'our boys' who reduced our singer to turning the air blue in a field last sunday (no change there then). We, however did a lot better in actually getting our world cup record into a physical format and available to purchase in the three weeks we had between it getting recorded and the World Cup starting. One day i'll write up the full story, its incredible - it will be made into a Hollywood blockbuster - the feel bad story of the year.

Several people need to be named and congratulated in public for their help in making it happen:

Choque Hosein for magically turning a basic demo into a rollicking widescreen production.

Sara Johnson for the original release plan before a house/job move got in the way

Home Assembly Music for taking up the mantle, frantically gathering funds and round the clock work to make it happen on a ridiculous time frame

Rachel Woolley for learning photoshop from scratch in order to create the fantastic Panini Stickers

Shorn Keld for two enormously rushed mastering jobs after the files got corrupted first time round

Carmel McNamara for the use of images without receiving a please or a thankyou

Caroline Cummings for web assistance

Paul Elam, Richard Morris, Sarah Kemp, Gareth S Brown and Elaine Reynolds for fantastic playing .....and lightheartedly accepting my attempts to ruin their musical credibility

Everyone who bought the limited or any other edition. Anyone who reviewed it or promoted it.

This will be the last time we attempt something so ridiculous. We have a bleak, difficult, arty disc out later this summer on Secret Furry Hole to get things back to normal. More details when we have them..........

Download

2010-06-21T02:08:00.001-07:00

Hoorah! Download now available through Itunes or Amazon

"a million miles away from the usual World Cup song fare, assuredly melancholic, hauntingly sad yet strangely rousing... hits the back of the emotional net with a great piece of build up play from the strummed acoustic guitar and flair from both wings contributed by the lush string section" Norman Records - Single of the week

"a well timed curio about the current Pan-Galactic Soccer Tournament, and it is not half bad. This seems a feat of strange magnificence given our other World Cup musical options………" Drowned in Sound

“an epic, string-laden piece of indie magic, bringing memories of ‘Fear Of Drowning’ era British Sea Power and won’t leave you in tears after yet another penalty shoot out nightmare.” 4/5 God is in the TV

“Yearning and mournful resignation, are the themes. Triumphalism and hubris have been wisely avoided. My personal World Cup 2010 Top Tip if you care more for music than goals” 8/10 Whisperin & Hollerin

“Has about as much to do with the World Cup at heart as Colourbox's Official World Cup Theme - even the sampled commentary is from a non-World Cup game, being of John Barnes' famous goal in the Maracana - but the Hood side project do good things marrying the influence of striped sunset sound of the Go-Betweens, Lucksmiths etc to pre-Ibiza New Order” Sweeping the Nation

"The left-of-centre football anthem for 2010" Jumbo Records

The release date is upon us!

2010-06-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

We are trying to forget about England's miserable showing on saturday and instead concentrating on the great football elsewhere and the huge amounts of love being shown to our new single which if its not in the shops now, should be in the next few days.

There are a handful of the limited 'panini' versions left. The picture above shows exactly what you will receive if you order. Remember that the panini sticker special edition is only available direct from Home Assembly Music.

Thanks for all your orders and kind words (a handful of reviews are below).

Bring it Back!!!!!!

2010-06-07T03:59:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce that pre-orders for our World Cup single will be shipped this Thursday (10th June)

If you have pre-ordered the very special, limited edition CD Single you will get:-

*the limited CD version with b side ‘Red Kite’ and an instrumental version of the theme.

*collectors postcard with song lyrics

*‘panini’ style stickers of the band (see example below)

If you haven't ordered your special limited version with panini stickers you can do so now HERE

Alternatively you can buy the normal version from any good record stores such as

Norman Records(UK)
Jumbo Records(UK)
Linus (Japan)

Download details will follow...................

Weekend of gigs

2010-06-07T03:54:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend playing in Hebden Bridge on friday and Leeds on saturday. The photograph above shows us performing at the stunning Left Bank church in Leeds at the Forest of Sound is Dead event. It really was a fantastic night with some really brilliant music and a great farewell to the best gig promoters in Leeds.

Official World Cup Theme 2010

2010-06-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

"The left-of-centre football anthem for 2010" Jumbo Records

Out June 14th on CD and download. Limited edition CD with bonus postcard and band panini stickers available to pre order from Home Assembly Music

Tour of West Yorkshire

2010-06-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

Two gigs this weekend:-On Friday 4th June we roar into Hebden Bridge and rock the Hole In t'Wall to its very foundations (alongside Fieldhead and Johnny Powell).

This gig is FREE IN.

Then on Saturday 5th we are part of the wonderful Forest of Sound is Dead event at the spectacular Left Bank in Leeds. Theres tonnes of great people playing such as Glissando, Epic 45, Brave Timbers and many many more. Just a £6 in. Brilliant. Starts at 4pm we are on at about 8 ish.

The Declining Winter Official World Cup Theme 2010

2010-05-10T02:38:00.000-07:00

Have a sneak preview listen here

Pre-order your limited edition CD version with exclusive tracks, postcard souvenir and more goodies . £3.49 plus postage. click HERE to buy

Probably one of our more madcap ideas of recent years is to write and record a World Cup song for this summers competition. Produced by Choque Hosein, it features the theme itself backed with a new version of 'Red Kite' which originally appeared on the compilation 'Music and Migration' earlier this year.

There will also be an instrumental version of the World Cup song so you can sing along at home. We will be doing a collector pleasing limited CD run on Home Assembly Music which comes with exclusive numbered postcard and other collectibles.

Gareth S Brown

2010-05-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

Our long serving keyboard/bass player and all round good egg Gareth S Brown has uploaded a new website which is well worth a look. As well as documenting his musical endavours theres information of his wide ranging extra curricular activities.
Have a browse here

Later this same summer.............

2010-05-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

"scenes from the back bedroom window"

due late summer. a four song, three inch compact disc on italy's secret furry hole label. they've previously put things out by hauschka, glen johnson (piano magic), simon scott and peter broderick so we are very pleased to be involved.

.....some words from the label......

"we're also working on a new astounding DECLINING WINTER 3" cd-r. tunes are here. tracklist done. mastering done. release date to be confirmed (late june, we guess). audio preview will be up soon. still designing artwork... "

Goodbye Minnesota at Jumbo and elsewhere

2010-05-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

The vinyl edition of 'Goodbye Minnesota' is now available from Jumbo in Leeds, Road Records in Dublin, Monorail in Glasgow and Linus in Japan. We're trying to sort out a domestic US shop/distributor. More news shortly we hope......

Buried Structure

2010-04-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

Saw this on the main A66 trunk road from Penrith to Keswick in the Lake District. What does it all mean?

Studio Mess

2010-04-27T06:12:00.001-07:00

What a mess! How can I work in these conditions? The simple answer is I can't. Therefore the studio is getting its much delayed upgrade/three yearly tidy.

Urban Explorers Festival

2010-04-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all those who bought the 'Goodbye Minnesota' vinyl. They are still pouring out & we hope to have a few more shops selling them soon.

The next piece of news on the agenda is that we are playing the Urban Explorers Festival in Dordrecht, Holland on May 21st. Theres a lot of other people playing such as Tim Hecker, Library Tapes, Pattern Theory, Lars Hornveth and many many more as they say. Their website is here.

Goodbye Minnesota Vinyl

2010-04-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Its finally here. You can now order it by following this link.

THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE WORLD YOU CAN GET IT (at the moment!)

Below see a couple of pics of the record modelled by Mitten!

Goodbye Minnesota vinyl out Friday 16th April

2010-04-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to announce the release of The Declining Winter 'Goodbye Minnesota' vinyl edition. This is limited to strictly 250 copies and comes on 180g heavyweight vinyl in a handmade double fronted sleeve. Each copy comes with an exclusive used postcard and contains a bonus track not found on the original CD version.

Orders will be shipped from Friday 16th April onwards. Please note that there are no pre-orders on this - it will be sold live. We'll be posting details some time on friday so keep checking back or join our mailing list to get information straight to your inbox.

Leaf Archives now available digitally

2010-04-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Our 2009 tour CD 'Leaf Archives' is now available digitally via Bandcamp. We have about 10 CD copies of it left which you can get from the shop . After that its gone. I hope to use the Bandcamp page to make available digitally any of our limited edition things once they've sold out as we really like people to be able to at least hear stuff whatever the medium.

Also we also have an exclusive track up there which you can download for free!

Forest of Sound is Dead

2010-04-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hello. I'm just checking in after a few days avoiding getting soaked in the Lake District. I fell in a ditch, got icy water in my boots then as I took them off to attempt to squeeze some of the water out of my socks the boots fell apart leaving me with no choice but to stagger down the mountain with one sole flapping about wildly and my sock and the freezing ground seperated only by a thin piece of cardboard like material. Anyway. We have another gig in June......... this is the final gig to be promoted by top Leeds promoters Forest of Sound and we are pleased as punch to be involved.

Forest of Sound present:

Saturday June 5th @ Left Bank Leeds (the former St. Margaret of Antioch church), Cardigan Road, Leeds, LS6 1LJ.

Doors 4pm. £5 advance / £6 on the door. Tickets available from We Got Tickets .

A bar selling refreshments (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) will be open.

The groups involved are as follows:-

GLISSANDO
EPIC45
THE DECLINING WINTER
GOLDEN DISKO SHIP
SLEEPINGDOG
BRAVE TIMBERS
ITHACA TRIO

June

2010-03-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

Aah June. The World Cup is upon us. I for one can't wait. But first we must perform a couple of gigs, the first of which has just been announced. The lucky metropolis that will house us on Friday 4th June has been selected as the beautiful and remote Pennine town of .............Hebden Bridge

The Last FM page is here. Please feel free to register your interest. And the Facebook page here.

We play with our very own Fieldhead plus Johnny Powell.

A Silver Mount Zion in Manchester and Leeds (UK)

2010-03-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

The exciting news is that we'll be supporting A Silver Mount Zion on the following dates:-

21st Mar Academy 3, Manchester (UK) TICKETS
22nd Mar TJ's Woodhouse Club, Leeds (UK) TICKETS

Listen page

2010-03-05T01:24:00.000-08:00

There's now an exciting new 'listen' page - ok its not really that exciting at all. Its a 'Listen' page. Where by the wonders of Soundcloud TM you can hear a few tracks of ours streaming absolutely free. Get a taste of The Declining Winter for no money whatsoever.

Also up there to massage my rampant ego i've put a 2008 interview with myself on Tape Relay

Goodbye Minnesota Vinyl UPDATE

2010-03-01T08:24:00.001-08:00

The records are back and waiting to be sleeved. The word on the street is April 19th release date....more news as and when.....

The King of Hi Vis

2010-03-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

Spotted here marshalling at the Water Aid walk in Culcheth, Cheshire - another tragic care in the community case.

York City Three live in Metz (Fr)

2010-02-24T08:24:00.001-08:00

In the Recovery Position part 3 - The Finale

2010-02-24T03:12:00.000-08:00

Brussels was one of those gigs that goes to plan. Ok mostly to plan. This time our guitarist Paul went down with an illness hours before the show and we had to attempt to reconfigure the set without him in case he didn’t make it. Luckily he recovered in time to play. This show wasn’t one of our best performances but more than made up for that with a good atmosphere and an attentive crowd.

It was a shame to have to leave the luxury of the Brussels space to have to veer into France. No bad thing normally but it was freezing cold. I wore one t shirt, a shirt, 2 jumpers, a hooded top and a coat. Still I was freezing. On arrival at the venue there were hideous toilet problems. I don’t want to be a Mariah Carey style diva but I simply can’t work with a toilet which was plunged into darkness and had something stuck in it. I haunted the streets of Metz rather than hang around the venue and upon my return another one had gone down with the bug. This time Sarah, our violinist was stricken and had to be taken to our accommodation whilst we attempted to play without her. Like the earlier Gent show this was a free gig but was up against four other shows in the town so attendance was modest. There was the usual dribble of attentive fans and a smattering of drunks. The highlight came when one worse for wear punter decided to count us in 1-2-3-4 and without missing a beat we went straight in – cue hilarity all round. We were also bothered almost continually by the town drunk- a pestulant fly of a man who just wouldn’t leave us alone however many times we tried to swat him away.

We were taken back to a countryside flat in a small village which seemed to still have its Christmas decorations up (or were they early for next year?). The final show day and it’s a strange mix of emotions. Part of me just wants to be back home but the other half says enjoy it while you can. I’m so tired though. We manage to get to Luxembourg early and on a whim I decide to spend the time I should have spent sleeping eating a Magnum bar. I was then furious that I’d left myself only 20 minutes to nap. It was a good job we got to the venue at 5pm – only leaving ourselves just the 6 hours until show time as they kept pushing back the time. We played with a band Berndt from Sweden who were young, polite and full of vitality. I spent most of the time slumped in a corner sipping at a fruit tea, hat pulled low over my head, virtually dead. The show was great though- a game of two halves - we started poorly but burst into life half way through with some wild enthusiastic playing. There was someone asleep in the audience but I think most people were awake.

The final day we woke up to snow and a long 10 hour journey home. The driver, Leo, came into his own, safely negotiating the inclement weather and the dawdlers on the A1 in order to drop us back in Leeds at a good hour. Paul’s road was frozen solid so there was 20 minutes of utter chaos as the van slithered up and down before finally resting at the bottom of the road. Instruments were dragged up the hill and people scattered attempting to get their cars down the slippery slope in order to get home. I’m still not quite sure where half my stuff is - it was a typical bizarre and memorable finale.

In the Recovery Position Part 2 - Europe (1)

2010-02-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

I do like a Travel Lodge and Ashford didn’t let us down with its winning blend of comfortable beds for the sick and injured and wonderful toilet facilities. The thought of a journey over the sea the next day didn’t fill me with glee but luckily once on the ferry I slept the whole way. It was good to see the sun appear low in the sky once we hit the European mainland a stark contract to Englands slate grey skies and seemingly perpetual darkness.

We arrived at the venue in Gent and amazingly for me the hotel was just around the corner from the venue. I had a sleep that could be described as ‘textbook’ before I was awoken with a start by a text suggesting we were on stage in 10 minutes and that I’d better hurry up. I thought the show went spectactularly well until I was collared immediately afterwards by the type of ‘fan’ whose initial enthusiasm immediately gives way to heavy criticism. Amongst other things I was informed that the show was “not one of the best” and that the band was “going nowhere”. I never quite understand this mode of conversing, whether things are lost in translation and so come out overly harsh or that people think that they may impress me with their honesty. The only thing it does is to make me feel even shitter about something I already feel extremely shit about.

The evening gave way to sleep which was interrupted by a sound no-one wanted to hear. Another band member getting into sickness difficulties. We’d hoped that somehow my illness was food poisoning or a one off but there it was, aural proof that the germ had spread. Our drummer Moz was next…..and it got worse. My breezy, premature announcement that “the worst was over” proved laughable as only hours later he was rushed to hospital. The ambulance staff seemed more intent on ensuring I paid up (even demanding the correct change) than ensuring he was being comforted.

We then had to trust him to the care of the doctors whilst we rushed off to attempt to fulfil our fixture in Antwerp. Luckily we had a good hour or so to attempt to cobble together an ‘unplugged’ set whilst the excellent Fieldhead (our tour partners) elongated their set to cover. It seemed to work though it was kind of like one of those dreams where you end up in a public place without your trousers on. The only other quirk of the night was the transient nature of the crowd. There seemed to be a continual shift in the amount of people in the room with another group mainly inhabited in the bar but occasionally drifting through. We were later informed that the venue had been double booked and that the local gay and lesbian group held their meetings in the same space!

The next day we headed back to Gent, got Moz out of hospital and trecked onto Brussels. This would prove to be the finest show of the tour and will be written about in the final instalment. How can you possibly wait?

In The Recovery Position Part 1 -The English Leg

2010-02-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

Followers of our twitter account will have seen reference to the various and varying disasters that accommpanied us on our recent trip abroad. We are now back (almost) in one piece. I think personally i may just lay low for awhile. Anyway here are some ramblings from the inner workings of the thing that still calls itself my brain.

Having set off for Birmingham on a freezing cold day, the inherent bleakness of the run in to that city is something quite to behold. Do they have the most pylons per square inch of land? We played in what was a Hawaiian themed bar (the bar of choice apparently was booked). The show went fairly well until we realised we had been shorn of an iphone and 130 euros in cash. We thought it was simply the usual casual misplacement until a member of our entourage all of a sudden went pale and recalled a conversation he heard outside the bar where a member of staff was heard to ask another "how much is 130 euros worth?" hmmmm. investigations are ongoing

Welwyn Garden City was perhaps the most preposterous gig i've ever done. I've played gigs where 'no-one' was there. 'no-one' meaning a handful - 10-20 or so. This was literally no-one. No paying customers. We played to the promoter, 2 of his mates, the sound guy, the one man support act. I suppose it didn't really help that the promoter had left the main entrance to the building shut with the light turned off. The night ended in farcical circumstances with the soundman confiscating the promoters guitar as insurance against non payment. The rest of us simply made do with having a penalty shoot out competition in the big empty hall.

Possibly one of the worst positions i've ever found myself in was playing in front of 60 or so real people at the Wilmington Arms the following night in London, the only thought racing through my head - "how do i get through the set without vomiting?" What initially i had down as pre match nerves erupted into what could only be a horrible sickness bug. I'm never normally sick in the street in front of horrified commuters. I'd managed to get on to the stage but i was on auto pilot and as the set wore on felt worse and worse so the set was cut short to save the dry cleaning bills of the front row. As the final note rang out i headed straight to the dressing room to return to my preferred position of that evening - throwing up. I apologise to the several old and new friends at the gig i was hoping to catch up with.

After that it was a nightmare two hour journey through the night to a travelodge. Then on to europe. How will our heroes fare? Tune in to the exciting next installment to find out....

Tour Updates

2010-02-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

I never thought i'd do this but if you follow us on twitter you can keep up to date with how things are going on our mammoth tour. dates are below if you fancy coming along in real life, otherwise sit back, relax and enjoy the ups and downs of 8 (eight) days away from my own bed.

Aarktica 'In Sea' remix album

2010-02-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

We feature on the new remix album 'In Sea' by Aarktica. Its out today and available from Norman Records amongst other places.

February Tour Dates

2010-02-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

Goodbye Minnesota Vinyl

2010-02-09T03:26:00.000-08:00

Its happening! Just going to listen to test pressings. Should be out March.

Music and Migration

2010-02-07T03:28:00.000-08:00

exciting news. worth a punt on this one i'd reckon. i think the in itial copies sold out but they are doing some more due to extraordinary demand. its a lovely looking thing and the music is consistently brilliant

Music & Migration Various Artists

Label : Second Language
Cat No : SL02
TRACKLISTING:

1. Hauschka - Lipstick Race
2. David John Sheppard - Small Town Raptor
3. Vashti Bunyan - Here (Demo)
4. Danny Norbury - The Lovers
5. Xela - Autumn Prayer
6. Heather Woods Broderick - Suture
7. Enderby's Room - Tiptoe
8. The Declining Winter - Red Kite
9. Ghostwriter - Even Solemnity In The Instruments (Farina's Automatic Translation Machine)
10. Darren Hayman - Summer Visitors
11. Gareth S. Brown - Over Biscay
12. Peter Broderick - Untitled For Violins
13. Lene Charlotte Holm - Tracing Echoes
14. ANT - Magpies (Demo)
15. brave timbers - Let's Never Go Back
16. Carousell - Black Swallow
17. Seasons (pre-din) - A Night Alone Pt. 2
18. Winter Cabin - Swifts And Swallows
19. Fieldhead - Open Show
20. Library Tapes - Another Field
21. Leyland Kirby - Whiffling

The compilation album Music & Migration really is music for the birds – its 21 tracks inspired by both the miracle of the migratory impulse and the human-inspired peril of avian life today. A showcase for the finest in contemporary post-classical composition, idiosyncratic folksong and pastoral soundscaping, it’s an album with a charitable raison d'etre that just happens to offer 75 minutes of bewitching, immersive sounds and stands as an enticing survey of where left-of-centre music is at in 2010.

For further info about Second Language and its releases, please visit : www.secondlanguagemusic.com

The Declining Winter

We're Moving

Home Assembly Music HALF PRICE SALE

Blow Up

Leonards Lair Review

In Love With These Times, In Spite Of These Times

2010 - the year that was

Seasonal Free Stuff

'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window'

'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window' OUT NOW

Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window

The Declining Winter 'Killer' Video

Absent Without Leave 'Faded Photographs' OUT NOW

Winter North Atlantic remix

Autumn News

Fluid Radio Review

Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window PRE-ORDER DETAILS

Killer

'Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window' Cdr OUT SOON

Brave Timbers 'For Every Day You Lost' OUT NOW

Brave Timbers podcast

The Green Kingdom 'Prismatic'

GIG ALERT: Brave Timbers, Gareth S Brown, Memory Drawings

Memory Drawings

Upcoming........

T-shirts sold out at source

North American Distribution

Fieldhead - Riser 10" EP - OUT JULY

Performed a miracle there

Download

The release date is upon us!

Bring it Back!!!!!!

Weekend of gigs

Official World Cup Theme 2010

Tour of West Yorkshire

The Declining Winter Official World Cup Theme 2010

Gareth S Brown

Later this same summer.............

Goodbye Minnesota at Jumbo and elsewhere

Buried Structure

Studio Mess

Urban Explorers Festival

Goodbye Minnesota Vinyl

Goodbye Minnesota vinyl out Friday 16th April

Leaf Archives now available digitally

Forest of Sound is Dead

June

A Silver Mount Zion in Manchester and Leeds (UK)

Listen page

Goodbye Minnesota Vinyl UPDATE

More tour stories?

The King of Hi Vis

York City Three live in Metz (Fr)

In the Recovery Position part 3 - The Finale

In the Recovery Position Part 2 - Europe (1)

In The Recovery Position Part 1 -The English Leg

Tour Updates

Aarktica 'In Sea' remix album

February Tour Dates

Goodbye Minnesota Vinyl

Music and Migration