jon

Glad it arrived so quickly! I think Gary missed his calling as a postie. There's another wee review up at http://ghostsmut.wordpress.com/

Really enjoying this. Teaparties sounds like it fits perfectly into the tradition of good Scottish indie pop (that's meant as a compliment, I hope it sounds like one!). There's an 80s vibe in parts, but something intangibly Scottish about it all. Well done guys, this is grand.

There were, but we sold out. We might do a short run repress later in the year if it looks like there would be a demand, but for now it's up for free download on Bandcamp!

Those of you who love owning actual, real-life cds should pay a visit to http://curators.bigcartel.com/ where you can now buy yourself a copy of "The Cold In The Walls" and have it posted straight to your door. SERVICE.

"North Star" is on Jim Gellatly's latest podcast: http://www.mixcloud.com/jimgellatly/jim-gellatlys-new-music-episode-226/

We've got a couple of bits of press so far too: http://cvwnews.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/the-gentlemen-of-rock/ http://www.dailydischord.com/curators-the-cold-in-the-walls/ We also got a review from Japan which, after a good deal of translation-based fun, reads as follows: If a band is asked to analyse themselves and they describe themselves as melodic indie-punk rock, well, that'll probably be your common?melodic indie-punk rock band. But if they have to add "if pushed" and further add "plus a preoccupation with minor chords", then, it'll be more than likely... Curators! When Curators were formed in 2008, Eejit Records introduced them to Japanese readers by using this Japanese expression "Bunkei" whose direct translation would be "of liberal arts, of humanities or of art" but which actually implies something in contrast to macho, physical type of natures. We were bold enough then to insist that Curators were a "Bunkei" ,i.e., "liberal-arty" punk rock band. Well, we might change our mind...at least a bit... now that we were lucky enough to have a sneak preview of Curators forthcoming record, "The Cold In The Walls", which is to be released on Anti-Manifesto in March. They seem to have jumped out of dark-lit nooks and crannies of old Edinburgh onto a sundrenched green field of (we dare say) Highland! (They do sound very Scottish even with sunshine, not really tropical, OK?) Let's wish we can persuade the band to play at the foot of Ben Nevis someday. Thousands of us surround the band and sing along to every single song under the blue sky. Free our emotion and just sing sing and sing! Let us tell you how the first and second track, for example, played upon our heartstrings at the first listen: "Sunk" begins with Gary's powerful voice and that is mind-boggling enough (the first time we heard Gary sing!) but what what what? We want to jump and dance to a Curator's song? That's a pleasant surprise, isn't it? Oh, wait. We now hear a familiar Curator riff, yeah, that's our good old Curator! and we just can't help smiling --- when MACHO Curators suddenly raid ARTY Curators! Oh hang on, now deep powerful voice is being backed up by arty beautiful chorus, WOW! And then... back is that Curators' trademark riff in an ever dramatic manner. The same riff as that at the start but totally in a different context. Oh what a catharsis! There are good old Curators in the record as well and we do love how they create intense emotional roller coaster in a song dramatically and with a hint of fragility. However, what we hear in this latest offering from the band is more than that. They cleverly avoid a mistake of overproduction in this record and bring their vocal harmonies to the fore. Above all, we think Gary's vocal has brought them quite something in that his powerful voice supports well the former solo vocalist and now co-vocalist, Jon's long time endeavour in searching the very best format for the band. If you feel your teenage years are long gone, then you know well that holding your determination for more than a decade is actually one of the hardest things. Well, Jon and Curators show us there are things only achievable to those who manage to do so.

High praise indeed! Cheers. We went for the six songs precisely because we wanted it to feel like a coherent record. The other stuff we had didn't quite fit (although annoyingly the newest song we've just finished would have fitted in perfectly!), so we decided that it was best to have fewer songs and work on them as a whole rather than try to shoehorn in more. As for the production etc, there is a lot less than on the first record. We decamped to a half-built studio in rural Perthshire and battered out the basics live, then overdubbed extra guitars and stuff then and there. We did the vocals and a wee bit of synth back in Edinburgh, but we were consciously trying to, I don't know, "Pinkerton it up a bit", if you know what I mean. That sounds wanky, but we didn't want to be so bombastic this time - I think it's a record that rewards repeated listenings, especially with headphones on!

We will! You can currently download the first record for free from Bandcamp, so you can replace that purchase for nada

Cheers guys! We're working on a launch night and a few gigs to go along with it - more news when we have some.

They will indeed! We'll be doing the usual digital stuff, but we're setting up a shop for the actual cds and tshirts etc. Hopefully there won't be too much of a wait.

Thanks for the feedback! We're getting better at reining it in when it needs to be done - I reckon it makes the noisier moments better. This is definitely my favourite thing we've done so far. As for singing, there are three of us who sing now so the rule is: you write it, you sing it. Since the last record, I have qualified as a teacher and have been working pretty much flat out ever since, hence only contributing a third of the songs here, unlike the first record. Having said that, the newest post TCITW song that we've just finished is one of mine and there are a couple more in the pipeline. Third record? Easy... [EDIT] Oops, I should have added that you can now download the first record for free from Bandcamp [/EDIT]

Ladies and gents, it is with great pride that we can finally let you hear our "difficult second record". Although it won't be available to buy for a week or two yet (along with our first ever tshirts!), you can now stream "The Cold In The Walls" in its entirety at http://curators.bandcamp.com/ There's also a review up at http://www.dailydischord.com/curators-the-cold-in-the-walls/ We're really proud of it, and we would appreciate it enormously if you would share this if you can. We want as many people as possible to hear our songs and, as we do everything ourselves through Anti-Manifesto, every little bit of word of mouth counts. Thanks to everyone involved, and we hope you like what you hear. x

"Valvey pish"? Uh-oh...

Leith is a great place, but also one of contrast with a bit of a gulf between the affluent and the poverty-stricken, although both usually live on the same street. It's very different to Edinburgh in as much as it has its own community and identity. I've lived here since 2003 and I love it. Also, great boozers. I must say though, I'd never describe it as "gap yearish"! This is not Camden ;-)

Cheers, man! I should say, it is all live but the studio was so wee that poor old Rob and his keys are round the corner out of shot. I'm sure that sort of thing happened to Thin Lizzy all the time.

Hi folks, When I'm not pulling my hair out mixing the new Curators record, I sometimes have time to muck about with mates and make a racket. As a result, a few of us veterans of 90sDundee school bands got together a few weekends ago with the intent of recording some no-frills, fun rock and roll music without any pretensions, expectations or indeed rehearsals as an exercise in nostalgia as much as anything else. In the end, we spent 4 hours in a tiny wee studio in Leith, drank a lot of beer, had a blast and recorded three rough demos, the first of which I gingerly present below. Were we ever to actually gig, it would be rather good fun, but equally underprepared!

This is, hands down, my favourite thread title ever.

In case I forget to post tomorrow, here's to the nearly 10,000 tickets we've sold for Tannadice tomorrow and here's to showing the Huns exactly what their "boycott" is worth.

Part of ST's conditions were apparently that the new manager moves to or around Dundee. Interesting to see if that's the case here. Nevertheless, a good appointment, and if he ends up being a wage thief, at least that wage is less than half of Houston's.

I'm pretty happy with McNamara's appointment. A good, young manager who can work on a budget.

As if I don't have enough electrics already, I picked one of these up at Christmas:

Was the "Chris or Dave Officer" who just had a question read out on Stargazing Live the same one who posts here?