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[GIG] imp: Vetiver (Fat Cat) + Adrian Crowley @ The Tunnels


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interesting music promotions present

VETIVER (Fat Cat / Gnomonsong) + Adrian Crowley

Saturday 31st May 2008

The Tunnels, Carnegies Brae, Aberdeen, AB10 1BF. Phone (01224) 211121

Doors 7.30pm

Tickets 8+bf in advance / 10 on door

Available from One-Up Records, Belmont Street, Aberdeen. Phone (01224) 642682 or http://www.ticketweb.co.uk

http://www.thetunnels.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/interestingmusic

vetiver__3.jpg

VETIVER

Vetiver are a New-Weird-Americana-Freak-Avant-Chamber-Folk supergroup from San Francisco. With lush, acoustic textures; simple yet charming, effective arrangements; and a core of really strong writing, Vetiver's sound takes influence from a deep well - late-'60s pastoral folk, tropicalia, '70s west coast rock, and much more beyond.

Centred around the delicate voice and guitar playing of chief songwriter Andy Cabic, Vetiver is fleshed out with an ever-changing and hugely talented line up, aided and abetted by some of the finest players in the extended family of cosmic experimentalists Andy finds himself a member of. Previous incarnations have included Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Colm O'Ciosoig (My Bloody Valentine), Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Kevin Barker (Currituck County), Otto Hauser (Espers) and cellist Alissa Anderson.

Since the highly-acclaimed To Find Me Gone LP was released in 2006 (Piccadilly Records Album of the Year, no less) Andy has toured the world extensively and intensively as part of Devendras backing band, plus taken Vetiver out on stints with The Shins, Vashti Bunyan and Bright Eyes, amongst others.

Vetivers new record Thing Of The Past (May 2008 - FatCat/Gnomonsong) is Andy's mixtape to the world - a collection of some of his favorite songs collected from some of his favorite records, with contributions from Vashti Bunyan and Michael Hurley. With an original album also due for completion this Spring, come and see a band totally on top of their game they blew Devendra away at The Lemon Tree last time round, now let them do it to you.

Do not, repeat DO NOT, miss Vetiver, the Bay Area not-folk-but-not-rock outfit whose vocals-guitar-cello-violin live lineup brings an extraordinary air of grace and sway to leader Andy Cabic's strangely ageless, moonlit songs, the kind that Neil Young still writes sometimes. LA Weekly

a dizzyingly euphoric tangle of freaked-out folk and scratchy strings, all twisted sheets and sweaty brows, upside-down trees and wicked flowers. Vetiver is swampy and sublime, a compelling mix of sweet, candlelit laments and jagged hymns. Pitchfork review (Vetiver, 8.3)

the album finds Cabic nudging Vetiver toward the lost canyons of airy West Coast soft-rock and laid-back, country-tinged introspection, all harvested with a dreamy, narcotic warmth and just enough melodic grit to avoid a complete departure off into the twilight. Pitchfork review (To Find Me Gone, 7.3)

http://www.vetiverse.com

http://www.myspace.com/vetiverse

http://www.fat-cat.co.uk

http://www.gnomonsong.com

ADRIAN CROWLEY

Adrian Crowley is a self-taught guitarist from Dublin who sings disparate songs with a deep, gentle voice, and writes touching ballads with a sensitive flair. He was nominated for a Choice Music Award in 2007 (Irelands version of the Mercury Music Prize) for his latest album Long Distance Swimmer.

Adrian has toured extensively with Adem, James Yorkston, Damon & Naomi (ex- Galaxie 500), and Hood. He has also shared the bill with Animal Collective, Jose Gonzalez, The Fence Collective, Arab Strap, Badly Drawn Boy and has recorded with Steve Albini. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Ryan Adams named Crowley one of his favourite underground songwriters.

The minute you hear Adrians soft, woozy monotone crack into song, and reverberate through the speakers, you'll drift away. He plays the electric guitar, rocking it around his waist, and bending the neck to produce a shudderingly ambient and sonorous ringing sound. His music hits you like the fever you get when you come in from the cold, sending your temperature soaring. [Fence Records]

a lo-fi, high-intensity collection of acoustic musings that suggest Van Morrison singing with Red House Painters... Star of the Harbour and Brother at Sea evoke the opiate slow-core of Low or Codeine. [The Guardian]

http://www.myspace.com/adriancrowley

http://www.adriancrowley.com

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latest from the Vetiver camp...

Following a two year absence since their last long-player, Vetiver return with a new album, Thing Of The Past. A set of cover versions of songs by some of band-leader Andy Cabic's favourite artists, the album offers a joyful and intriguing insight into some of the music that has inspired and informed the band, whilst remaking the songs very much in their own image and existing as a stunning and coherent album in its own right.

Produced by Thom Monahan and Cabic, Thing Of The Past was recorded in Spring, 2007 in Sacramento and Los Angeles. The basic tracks (all the guitars, drums and bass and some of the vocals) were recorded live in the studio, with the resultant record clearly showcasing a tight-knit band of talented musicians. As witnesses to their live shows over the past year will attest, this is a group in full mastery of their craft, fluid yet fully aligned, intuitively able to open out or reign in their power as the mood dictates. Featuring core Vetiver members, Andy Cabic (vocals / guitar / banjo), Brent Dunn (bass), Sanders Trippe (guitar / vocals), Otto Hauser (drums / keyboards) and Kevin Barker (guitar/ banjo/ vocals), the album includes contributions from two of Andy's heroes, Vashti Bunyan (who duets on "Sleep A Million Years") and Michael Hurley (who does likewise on his own "Blue Driver"). Other players include "Farmer" Dave Scher (keyboard / pedal steel / melodica); Jason Quever (piano / keyboard); Ben Kunin (sarod); Jonathan Wilson (acoustic guitar); Emma Smith (violin); and vocalists Meara O'Reilly, and Abigail and Lily Chapin.

Cabic explains his thoughts behind preparing for the album: "Though recording an album typically entails making a good many decisions, some complicated, some instinctive, choosing which songs to record this time around happened pretty effortlessly. It was a mixture of a few tunes Vetiver had been performing live alongside others which I loved and thought we would do a decent job interpreting. I wanted to share songs which were favorites of mine and my circle of friends and perform them with a reverence and appreciation for their finer qualities, the lyrical and sonic nuances which keep me returning to them time and again for inspiration."

While they had played a few of these songs live, mostly they went in to the studio with a list of tunes they hoped to try their hand at. From good-time stompers like Hawkwind's "Hurry On Sundown" and Loudon Wainwright III's "The Swimming Song" to the breathtakingly beautiful triptych of songs that runs from Biff Rose's "To Baby" through Ian Matthews' "Road To Ronderlin" and Garland Jeffreys" "Lon Chaney", this is a diverse and harmonious collection. With the album so centered around the lasting resonance of the song, the focus inevitably falls upon Cabic's gorgeously warm, honey-toned vocal, which appears perfectly suited to the material he's gathered. Rather than obvious plundering from the well-worn rock cannon, these are largely overlooked and forgotten tunes (spanning a period from 1967-1973, and mostly by US songwriters) - dusted off, reverently refashioned and given the opportunity to sing again. Though a few of the artists covered are well known (see Hawkwind's "Hurry On Sundown"; Townes Van Zandt's "Standing", Michael Hurley's "Blue Driver", Loudon Wainwright III's "The Swimming Song"), others among them are not, and in selecting and performing these songs, Vetiver have appended enduring versions which are very much their own.

As Cabic comments, "I think this is the best album I've yet to make, in no small part because the songs are so good, but also because I didn't write them, which offered me a useful combination of restraint and freedom in performing them, bringing out the best in myself and the other musicians. It was an experiment in a lot of ways, and it was one of the best experiences I've yet to have recording anything."

Vetiver have played all over the world--from New York City's Carnegie and Town Halls, to the Roundhouse in London and La Trastienda in Buenos Aires, sharing the stage with friends and performers including Devendra Banhart, Juana Molina, Bert Jansch, The Shins, Vashti Bunyan, Bright Eyes, and Joanna Newsom. Currently working on their fourth album, they will be touring the UK and Europe in May and June in support of Thing Of The Past.

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Adrian Crowley biog added...

Adrian Crowley is a self-taught guitarist from Dublin who sings disparate songs with a deep, gentle voice, and writes touching ballads with a sensitive flair. He was nominated for a Choice Music Award in 2007 (Irelands version of the Mercury Music Prize) for his latest album Long Distance Swimmer.

Adrian has toured extensively with Adem, James Yorkston, Damon & Naomi (ex- Galaxie 500), and Hood. He has also shared the bill with Animal Collective, Jose Gonzalez, The Fence Collective, Arab Strap, Badly Drawn Boy and has recorded with Steve Albini. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Ryan Adams named Crowley one of his favourite underground songwriters.

The minute you hear Adrians soft, woozy monotone crack into song, and reverberate through the speakers, you'll drift away. He plays the electric guitar, rocking it around his waist, and bending the neck to produce a shudderingly ambient and sonorous ringing sound. His music hits you like the fever you get when you come in from the cold, sending your temperature soaring. [Fence Records]

a lo-fi, high-intensity collection of acoustic musings that suggest Van Morrison singing with Red House Painters... Star of the Harbour and Brother at Sea evoke the opiate slow-core of Low or Codeine. [The Guardian]

http://www.myspace.com/adriancrowley

http://www.adriancrowley.com

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Adrian will have some kind of string section accompanying him (can you have a one-man string section?) plus Otto from Vetiver / Espers will be adding percussion...

how cool?

very cool!

:love:

May has always been one of my favourite months, what a fantastic way to finish the month off. Adrian was superb with strings down Fifeshire :up:

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Four out of five stars in the Independent for the new Vetiver album...:up:

Album: Vetiver, Thing Of The Past (Fat Cat) - Album Previews, Music Magazine - The Independent

This follow-up to the 2006 album To Find Me Gone is a covers album featuring tracks originally recorded by some of Vetiver leader Andy Cabics favourite artists.

The songs originate from the dustier corners of pop history, particularly the late- Sixties/early-Seventies era of obscure singer-songwriters such as Michael Hurley and Biff Rose. Hurley puts in an appearance on his own jolly truck-driving song Blue Driver, and Vashti Bunyan does likewise on Sleep A Million Years.

Elsewhere, the general tone of songs such as Hook & Ladder and Townes Van Zandt's Standin is akin to The Grateful Dead in their countrified American Beauty phase. By comparison, Hawkwind's "Hurry On Sundown" comes back down to earth with a jolt, re-imagined as a lolloping folk-blues boogie.

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Boomkat review of the new Vetiver album

VETIVER, Thing Of The Past - Boomkat

A new Vetiver album should ordinarily be considered cause for excitement, but this new offering is a collection of covers, which frankly, is bound to stifle interest somewhat. There just seems to be a lot of this sort of thing around at the moment, with Adem having pulled a Ronson as recently as last week. You'd have reason to expect Thing Of The Past to be markedly more interesting than the usual covers record, and it absolutely is.

Frontman Andy Cabic has selected songs culled from sources spanning obscure country records to better known material by Townes Van Zandt and Loudon Wainwright III, calling upon the assistance of Vashti Bunyan (who contributes vocals to 'Sleep A Million Years' (penned by Dia Joyce) and Michael Hurley, whose own 'Blue Driver' gets a rendition towards the end of the LP.

Something that defines Thing Of The Past - and for that matter Vetiver in general - is the kind of dedicated authenticity and old-fashioned craftsmanship that you just don't tend to encounter very often. Thom Monahan's wonderful production is a big factor in achieving that, avoiding the trap of trying to sound retro, and instead casting an inconspicuously classic, vintage finish over the band's expertly rendered interpretations. Vetiver have always existed in a bit of a time capsule, sounding and dressing like they might have been in attendance at The Last Waltz, and their song choices on Thing Of The Past really play to their strengths. Plus, for the most part the selections are sufficiently unheard of to sound fresh and intriguing, forming a perfectly coherent album regardless of the different writers. Recommended.

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