One day you hear an idea; the next you almost have an album!
And it was 23rd June that Julian Aplin from ‘Angry Badger Records‘ suggested we put together a compilation album.
Julian had become a regular at the Showcase UK nights in the Soul Cellar and decided to put on a few gigs at the venue to showcase some of his own acts. He asked me to perform a DJ set between the bands following that sent an email with the immortal words: “How do you fancy a Showcase UK/Angry Badger compilation CD?”
There was no need for persuading as I had been thinking for the past two years we needed a follow-up to the previous South Coast collection “The Coming of The Railways” which introduced me to Birdpen and many others.
I would have loved Birdpen to have been on this collection but as they are now signed to a French label this excellent trio are beyond our reach. However we both know many great acts and could easily find 15 for a compilation which we’ve called ‘Showcase Sett’.
Where Julian and I agreed immediately was that it had to be quality through and through, at a very reasonable price.
Showcase Sett by Peter Jaques
So we enlisted the wonderful painter and graphic designer Peter Jaques to create the cover (left). For the design and layout of the inner sleeves Oliver Taylor was recommended by the Soul Cellar.
The music had to have a flow, and each song sound it’s best, so we visited Peter J Croissant at Grand Master Audio to master our first pick of the South Coast’s talent.
We’re expecting this to be the first of many. This area is rich in quality musicians and, as I have been saying in the Daily Echo, there is a ’scene’ on the South Coast and scene is quality song writing.
And here we are, almost a month later and we are sending the elements to be turned into ‘Showcase Sett – Propeller’, a limited edition album (400 commercial copies) which is already receiving pre-orders.
You can see the full track listing and place your order at Iconic Culture. It is released August 1st 2009 priced £4.99 online and £5 in the flesh.
Directed by Simon Gesrel who was one of the people responsible for the John Carpenter homage ‘Zombie Zombie’ (see Art of Birdpen) this is the official video for the first single off the excellent Birdpen album “On/Off/Safety/Danger“
Collaboration is the theme for the year and one of the best examples we’ll soon see is between the group Birdpen and Southampton illustrator Joanne Negus.
Joanne’s been working with the band for the past six years designing covers such as the single breaking Precedent above, as well as helping with a couple of videos.
On March 9th Birdpen will reveal Joanne’s creations for the physical release of their debut album On/Off/Safety/Danger.
The art collaborations also continue with a new video for the single “Breaking Precedent”.
The current video (above) was homemade and delves into a band’s life on the road. By using split screen we get the interesting juxtapositions between band and the surroundings they drive through. You can see it on the Daily Echo’s web site.
The band recently made another road trip to Paris to film the green screen elements for the new video which will be made by the award winning animators Simon Gesrel and Xavier Ehretsmann.
The duo’s latest animation “Zombie Zombie” (below) uses action men type figures to deliver an excellent six minute horror film set in an Antarctic research centre.
We love Paris and have always wondered what it would be like to see Birdpen in the City of Light.
And although the free EuroStar tickets are yet to arrive we can whet our appetite with a free film of a Birdpen concert recorded at Fleche D’or on December 19th 2008.
The film was made by Grandcrew who specialise in making shows like this available to all. Below is a taster: Birdpen’s “Off” which, if you have iTunes, can be found on the album “On, Off,Safety, Danger”
