The Trunk 25/2/2018: Liked This? Try This

We've been releasing a fair bit recently from label veterans - people and acts that have worked with us in the past and are back for more. It's a pleasant thought, really: our little project has been going for long enough to have people coming back for more. But it also gives us an opportunity to refresh our memories, and yours, of what came before. So, this time, we'll be taking a short look at some recent and upcoming BEM releases and pointing you in the direction of older material by some or all of the same people. If you're newish to the label, you may just find some gems among these... and if you're not, well, hopefully you'll enjoy the ride regardless!

If you like Where The Moonlight Snows, try...

... Unsongs!

We're not going to go on too long about this one, since we did a deep dive on it last week, but if the preview track for Where The Moonlight Snows has whetted your appetite for this kind of progressive-indie-rock-jazz-quiff-pop (their words, not mine), we really do recommend that you give Unsongs a listen. Smart, brash, and eminently singable, Unsongs is not only a great album in its own right but very characteristic of the kind of musical approach BEM hopes to champion.

Where The Moonlight Snows also features a guest spot from Daniel Zambas of BEM alumni We Are Kin - you can't hear any of his contributions yet, but, if you like sharp keyboard work, ... and I know... and Pandora are also worth a spin.

If you like A Map In Fragments, try...

... The Divine Abstract and My Tricksy Spirit!

More specifically, if you like the masterful guitar work on Tonochrome's latest album, the man behind the groove, Charlie Cawood, has worked with us twice before. The Divine Abstract is his solo project, a richly textured instrumental odyssey with a bewildering array of guests and guest instruments which I personally can't recommend highly enough. He's also played with My Tricksy Spirit on their self-titled debut, a spacey melting pot of an album where Charlie works in perfect union with a cadre of thoughtful musicians. On both these records, he plays far more than just the guitar, putting his mastery of the plucked string to very good use indeed.

If you like 'Truck', try...

... Magnet, Spooky Action, and Archive!

If you've somehow been following the label for a while without hearing the full force of The Fierce And The Dead, we are so very, very sorry. That said, maybe you've heard their new single 'Truck' and you want a little more, but you can't wait until May 18th for The Euphoric. Fear not.

Start with Magnet. It's pretty short, but these five songs are a very good taster of what the boys are all about. If you like what you here, Spooky Action, one of BEM's very first releases, is a meatier chunk of face-melting - and, rather handily, you can get both CDs together on the Spooky Action Bandcamp page for the discounted price of just £7. That's almost an hour of pure sonic power at your fingertips. And, if you're still hungry, our reissue of their first album, If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe, is still in stock.

That said, if you like your Matt Stevens a bit mellower, his solo collection Archive, a musical maze of cleverly woven guitar looping, will sort you out.

If you like Black Bag Archive Vol. 3, try...

... This, Motherland, and Rise Up Forgotten, Return Destroyed!

Simon Godfrey must be one of BEM's hardest-working artists. Since the label's foundation, we've yet to see a year pass without him giving us something new (and he's got more scheduled for this year, so the streak may well continue). With classic pop-rock outfit Valdez, he produced this, and by this I mean This, an album of incredibly clever songwriting and equally polished performances. His solo work on Motherland is a stripped-down incarnation of that same songsmithing talent, and, if you'd prefer that talent in a more electronic setting, Shineback and Rise Up Forgotten have you covered.

And, of course, there's the recent Minotaur EP, and volumes one and two of the Black Bag Archive... if you're a fan of Simon's, you're certainly not short of material.

If you like Murder And Parliament, try...

... Happy People, Fit the Fourth, and Three Rows of Teeth!

When Tom told us he was making an instrumental album, we were a little surprised because he was so closely associated with sharp, eloquent, and thoroughly weird lyricism. If you'd like to find out what the Slatter Sound is like with vocals, you can't go far wrong with these three collections of stories dark and strange. It's ambitious. It's multilayered. At times, it's really confusing - but never annoyingly so. And it's definitely worth a listen.

Status Update

That new Mothertongue thing we were teasing last week is now available for preorder! New album Where The Moonlight Snows is out on March 23rd, a little under four weeks away. Make sure to preorder your copy soon to get instant access to the preview track, 'Earthbound', and ensure you get the album as soon as it's available.

Meanwhile, we're pleased to report that Close To Vapour is out right now, and we look forward to seeing what you all make of it!

Review Roundup

Just the one review this week: Tonochrome's A Map in Fragments popped up in the latest edition of PROG Magazine, and Sid Smith has given it a pretty stellar review - here, take a look:

Featuring a little bit of David Elephant's jumper peeking through at the bottom!

That's all for this week! I can tell you that we've got something pretty exciting planned for the next edition of The Trunk, so do keep your eyes peeled for that...

The Trunk 18/2/2018: From the Vaults - Unsongs

Welcome back to From the Vaults, the semi-regular feature where we dive back into the BEM archives to revisit some of our older releases. For reasons that will become clear very soon, we promise, today we're turning back the clock to April 2016, and to one of the more eclectic bands on our roster: Mothertongue, and more specifically their debut album Unsongs.

I hope that octopus isn't to scale. Yikes.

Mothertongue is a six-piece band: Phil Dixon (guitar), Will Holden (bass and sax), Andy Malbon (trumpet and cornet), John Simm (no relation) (drums and synths), Louis Smith (lead vocals, guitar and synths), and Mark Wall (guitar, strings and synths), with the whole band contributing backing vocals here and there. When Unsongs was released, they'd been bubbling under the radar since a digital-only album in 2012, and working on new material since then - the new album, their first CD release, was the product of four years' writing, recording, and assorted machinations.

Before we go on, I'd like you to listen to this track. Go on. It's not even three minutes.



Nope, there were no instruments there aside from brass, drums, and vocals.

This kind of wildly experimental nature is exactly what makes Mothertongue tick.

On their official website, Mothertongue call themselves "progressive-indie-rock-jazz-quiff-pop". That's entirely too many words, right? Right. But you can see why. You couldn't really describe this music with one neat label. A few reviews have called it a pop album, and there are certainly poppy elements, but I think that descriptor alone does it a slight disservice.

Give 'King of the Tyrant Lizards' a spin. (Then try to get "I'll work the pedals and the devil can steer!" out of your head. I still haven't, and it's been almost two years. Then the multi-part micro-epic that is 'Nautilus', Japanese oompah segment and all - and if that combination of words fills you with dread, I guarantee this song will change your mind. Genre kind of falls flat here. The best word to describe Mothertongue's music is "Mothertongue". Yes, that's an adjective now, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Unsongs is an explosion of bold, carefree (but not careless!) brass and controlled vocal power, bombastic and powerful and only overblown when it can get away with it. Even traditionally mellower instruments like the acoustic guitar cut through the soundscape and stand out. It grabs your attention from the first bar and it will not let go.

Critics were fond of Unsongs even if they didn't always know what to make of it. The Progressive Aspect's Roger Trenwith stressed that it was a "FUN" (yes, in all caps) album and noted his enjoyment of the "labyrinthine twists and turns", while Jody Dunstan said straightforwardly enough in his review that "it really is bloody good". David Rickinson of Progradar called Unsongs "a really rather wonderful progressive pop album", and you can't really say fairer than that.

We'll be able to tell you what the boys have been up to since Unsongs soon enough. In the meantime, grab your copy here.

Status Update

We're close to Close to Vapour now! It's out on Friday, so now's close to your last chance to preorder if you want to make sure you get your copy as soon as possible.

In other exciting news, BEM was namedropped in print recently. Jerry Ewing's new opus, Wonderous Stories - A Journey Through the Landscape of Progressive Rock, is fresh off the presses, and we couldn't help but notice three very familiar words in this passage right here...

Review Roundup

Tom Slatter popped up in The Progressive Aspect this week, as Phil Lively conducted a review-cum-interview on Murder and Parliament and judged it "an altogether new and exciting direction". That's Tom for you. Full of exciting directions.

And, if you've been on the fence about Close to Vapour so far, perhaps this glowing Rebel Noise review, declaring that "there isn’t a moment within it that doesn’t satisfy", will sway you?

The Trunk 11/2/2018: The Tuskies 2018

It's awards season! Oh yes, from the Oscars to the Grammies to the BAFTAs to the CRS Awards, it's that time of year when the best and brightest in the creative arts get their dues, and we at Bad Elephant Music are excited to join the party. These are the first ever Tusk Awards for Excellence in Bad Elephant Music, and, while our original nickname of the TAEBEMs was rejected for its similarity to the word também, meaning "also" in Portuguese, we're sure you'll be just as happy with the new one. Welcome, one and all, to the Tuskies!

You don't need to get dressed up for this one, folks - they're all right here on The Trunk. So, without further ado, let's get stuck in!

Best Publication

We had a lot of contenders for this category. The BEM Facebook page was frontrunner for a while, and several high-profile press releases almost got through, but, by popular demand, we're delighted to announce that this award goes to The Trunk!

brrrrrt

That's right! After much deliberation and some light bribery from Huw, the committee decided that The Trunk's contribution to the label was worthy of this prestigious award. Congratulations to us!

Best Yorkshireman

This was expected to be a hotly contested category, as BEM formerly employed no fewer than two Yorkshiremen, but there has a last-minute upset: an internal inquiry has found that PR wizard James Turner, who is now based not in Yorkshire but in Bristol, is thus no longer considered a Yorkshireman by the rules. Thus, the accolade of Best Yorkshireman is awarded by default to Martin Hutchinson.

All actual photos have been lost, so this is the best we can do. ("Pregg" art by Allyson Blue-Sky.)

Congratulations, Martin! Perhaps someday, in the distant future, another Yorkshireman will rise to rival you, but it is not this day. Oh no, it is not this day.

Best Letter In The Phrase "Bad Elephant Music"

I was lucky enough to be part of the committee discussing this one, and, take it from me, those talks got pretty heated. Objects were thrown. People were thrown. One committee member, in her spirited defence of the "c" in "Music", was forcibly removed from the meeting room after she produced a guitar and launched into a spirited cover of Yes' 'Roundabout'.

But, thanks to some expert mediation from a UN conflict resolution team, we do finally have a winner, and it's something of a dark horse. Step forward, the "h" in "Elephant"!

Not the one from Steps.

Beating out critical favourites like the "a" in "Bad" and the second "e" in "Elephant", this plucky little consonant won the day with its unique cocktail of whimsy, structural integrity, and raw physical allure. Here's to many years of prosperity.

Best Vocals

Though the Tuskies, like a lot of mainstream music awards, aren't really about the music, we do like to recognize fantastic vocal performances now and again, and there were few acts this year more strident in their use of the human voice than the winner of this award. By unanimous agreement, we're pleased to present this award to Murder and Parliament!

"M-me?"

Cynics and traditionalists might expect us to give this award to an act that actually uses vocals, but it's a crazy, topsy-turvy world we live in today, and it seems only fitting that the best vocals are a total absence thereof. Congratulations are in order to Tom Slatter. (His other work was not considered for this award.)

Best Label Boss Ever

Really, this award could only have one winner. Say it with me: David Elliott.

The only photo we're cleared to use.

Long live David Elliott, our eternal CEO and saviour of the record industry, of music, of the arts as a whole. Long may he reign, his subordinates' legs unbroken and his involvement in the voting process unquestioned. All hail. All hail. All hail. You can put that baseball bat down now. All hail. All hail. All hail.

Status Update

Close to Vapour is now less than two weeks from release - preorder your copy now to make sure you get it as soon as possible. We've some more music to announce in the next couple of weeks, though, so keep your eyes peeled.

Review Roundup

Just one review this week, as Susan, aka madvinyl, at Progressive Music Planet gives us her take on A Map in Fragments: an impressive 9/10, and a simple exhortation to "go listen". Can't argue with that!

The Trunk 4/2/2018: State of the Elephant, Spring 2018

Spring is about to spring, and it's time for another State of the Elephant Address. It's been about three months since the last edition and plenty has been happening since then, so let's get you all up to speed...

New and Next

A Map in Fragments is out! Hooray! Grab your copy now, physical or digital, from the webstore right here, or, as always, you can stream the whole thing for free to try before you buy. (And, if Charlie Cawood's virtuoso guitar skills win you over, why not check out some of the other things he's done with BEM?)

We've got one album up for preorder at the moment: Close to Vapour, from international prog duo Fractal Mirror. One track from this chill-yet-sophisticated album is available already on the preorder page, and you can get more of a vertical-slice preview from this short video for a better feel of the whole package. Close to Vapour releases on February 23rd, less than three weeks away - preorder now to make sure you get it as soon as possible.

Also counting down to release is The Euphoric. The third full-length album from Rushden math-rockers The Fierce And The Dead is hotly anticipated, bringing you another face-melting blast of their signature guitar blend. Preorders start on March 5th ahead of a May 18th release, but, if you just can't wait for that, the first single from The Euphoric, 'Truck', is available now, and you can watch the slick, retro-inspired music video over at the PROG Magazine website here. Give it a spin!

Looking a little further ahead, we'll have more details for you in the weeks to come regarding two other hot releases we've got in the pipeline. Experimental rockers Reformat have their album The Singularity coming out very soon, and this time there are not one but two singles to check out already: 'Astrograms', available from the webstore, and 'Vectrex', only on YouTube. Or, y'know, right here.

And we've more new music on the way from BEM alumni Mothertongue, too - anyone who heard their previous album, Unsongs, will attest to their lyrical genius, and, from what we've heard of the album so far, it's a worthy follow-up to their previous work. Again, keep your eyes on our social media for more details to come very, very soon.

Even beyond that, we've got a busy 2018 ahead of us, but let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Live Shows

If you got your copy of A Map in Fragments recently, you'll be delighted to know that Tonochrome have a live show coming up next month! March 7th will see them play alongside Demons of Ruby Mae and Daniels Goldseal at the Sebright Arms over in Hackney. Tickets are just £8 apiece in advance, a fantastic deal for three bands in one night, and we highly recommend that you pop along and take a look. All things being equal, the Elephants themselves will be in attendance - do check in on Facebook if you're going to be there too.

If you find yourself a little further west than London, though, don't fear - Schnauser has your back. They're bringing their joyously chaotic brand of psychedelic prog to Bristol later this very month for a headline show at The Grain Barge on Febrary 22nd. Tickets for this one are even more of a steal - four English pounds each. That's almost too good a deal. Again, there's more information over at the Facebook page.

Way into the future, you can catch The Far Meadow in Southampton this September, and we'll have more gigs to announce as soon as we have the deets... but we shall cross those bridges when we come to them. Once again, keep your eyes peeled.

Review Roundup

Reviews are rolling in for A Map in Fragments. Phil Lively of The Progressive Aspect was caught off-balance - but "that is a good thing" - by the tight structures and sharp edges, ultimately praising an album that "isn't hard to listen to, but it isn't easy to quantify". Meanwhile, Emma Roebuck enjoys the "maturity and restraint", and reckons that "the Delinquent Pachyderm has a real standout album here". (Note to self: discuss possible name change with management. - Ed.)

Meanwhile, the Classic Rock Society offers us their take on Murder and Parliament, which we'll let you all digest yourselves...

Catch you next week!