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imp: The Unwinding Hours (ex-Aereogramme) + Katerwaul @ The Tunnels, 21st May


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interesting music promotions present

THE UNWINDING HOURS + KATERWAUL

Friday 21st May 2010

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

Doors 8pm

Tickets 6+bf in adv / 8 on door

Available from One-Up Records, Belmont Street, Aberdeen. Phone (01224) 642662 or http://www.ticketweb.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/interestingmusic

http://www.thetunnels.co.uk

the_unwinding_hours_poster_lo-res.jpg

THE UNWINDING HOURS is the new musical project from Craig B and Iain Cook, former members of Glasgow's critically acclaimed and much loved Aereogramme.

Their debut self-titled album is an intensely rewarding experience with the literate flair of the song-writing effortlessly matched by Craig and Iain's musical ambition & creative scope. Avid cineastes, The Unwinding Hours acknowledge the influence of film on their work by taking their name from a reference buried deep within Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

The Unwinding Hours started out as a means for Craig to record some of his songs with the help of Iain after the demise of Aereogramme, but with no plans for a commercial release or to play them live. As Iain grew more excited about the material, The Unwinding Hours became a collaborative project, with a very different character to the material they recorded as part of Aereogramme. The album was written and recorded throughout 2008 and 2009, in Iain's own Alucard Studios on the south side of Glasgow (only the drums were recorded elsewhere, by Paul Savage in Chemikal Undergrounds Chem19). The recording of the album was a leisurely process as Iain was busy with other projects throughout the year so, out of necessity, they only worked on the songs for a few hours a week or fortnight. As Iain says, "There were no expectations or deadlines, so it felt like a really enjoyable and relaxed way of trying out new ideas and seeing if they stuck."

The album opens with the gorgeous slow-burn of Knut: the longest track on the album at just under six minutes, its an elegant exercise in layered sounds and propulsive dynamics. Iain explains that "It was only during the final stages of the mix that we decided to try out vocals on the track and thats when it totally came to life for me and also tied the song in effectively with the rest of the album. I love this one now and I think it's a nice way to start the record." There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone juxtaposes sweet sounding elements like the acoustic guitar and strings with some very unsettling noise elements. The opening suggestion that "something's wrong..." develops gradually until, by the end of the song and the "Let me out of here, my love..." line, the sweetness is completely engulfed by wave after wave of noise, the creeping claustrophobia of a failing relationship.

So we touch on the subject matter that forms the beating heart of the album, something Craig is happy to clarify: The main themes throughout the record are of relationships: some ending, some starting, some going well, some going very, very badly. Traces attempts to capture that powerful, almost drunken, sensation you feel when a relationship is in its infancy; Child deals with the bitter end of another. There is an argument that wreckage (emotional or otherwise) recurs heavily throughout the course of the album: Annie Jane is named after a real shipwreck while the closing track, The Final Hour, emerged from its own period of prolonged upheaval. Initially recorded in a friend's Boston studio during Aereogrammes last tour of the US, The Final Hour demo was conceived with the rain hammering down on a dispiriting, traumatic tour and, as Iain points out, "the original demo definitely reflected that. So much so that I don't think Craig even wanted to listen to the song again let alone put it on the album, but I kept insisting it was a belter and that we should work on it. The refrain that Craig sings in the latter half of the song "I saw you..." is one of my favourite things he has written and I wanted the music to be devastatingly loud and slow."

Delighted with the end product of their recording sessions, Craig and Iain are already talking about starting work on songs for a second album although theres no prospect of altering the leisurely process of evolution thats been so successful for them on their debut. With such a critically acclaimed body of work already behind them with Aereogramme, The Unwinding Hours look set to expand and develop that legacy if their stunning ten track debut is anything to go by.

http://www.theunwindinghours.com

http://www.myspace.com/theunwindinghours

http://www.chemikal.co.uk

KATERWAUL is a 4-piece band from Aberdeen/shire, formed from the ashes of BENCH around three years ago. Theyve released two albums on their own Pessimist Records label - "Prologue" in 2007 and "Here There Is No Why" last summer - and supported the likes of Jeniferever, The Twilight Sad, Amusement Parks On Fire, They Died Too Young and Codes In The Clouds.

"Live, Katerwaul are impassioned unpredictable and at times absorbing. They understand arrangements instinctively and swings from periods of loose and delicately interwoven delayed guitar arpeggios and gentle falsetto, to moments of crashing, distorted bass-and-drum driven chaos. And back again. At times frenzied, at others fragile; Katerwaul know when they should and - crucially - should not live up to their name." (TREND MAGAZINE)

"Soulful crashing loud choruses. Emotional heartfelt interludes... refreshing, honest and vibrant. This is the soundtrack to one of life's greatest movies." (***** ITUNES)

"Beguiling, impassioned and cinematic beauty integrated with fits of sheer sonic anarchy" (THE FLY)

http://www.myspace.com/katerwaulmusic

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Here, have some select Unwinding Hours quotes.

"a devastatingly brilliant listen."

ROCKSOUND [9/10]

"..The Unwinding Hours have taken their sound to new heights on an album that delicately caresses battered hearts."

NME [8/10]

"A truly remarkable new beginning."

THE SKINNY [10/10]

"An assured and excellent debut."

THE LIST [4/5]

"The Unwinding Hours is an album so beguiling, so captivating, so perfect that it cannot - must not - be ignored."

SUNDAY HERALD [RELEASE OF THE WEEK]

You're welcome. :love:

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Aye, bands off by 10.30.

Stupid curfews! I don't get why gigs finish early on Fridays and Saturdays when they are the only nights where people can get a bus after 11, then during the week people have work the next day, we're kept up late and have to splash out on taxis. I know this isn't IMPs fault and it goes for all gigs I just think the general times stink!

EDIT: I just remembered I'm working at 9 next Saturday and this early finish suits me perfectly. I take back my complaint!

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Stupid curfews! I don't get why gigs finish early on Fridays and Saturdays when they are the only nights where people can get a bus after 11, then during the week people have work the next day, we're kept up late and have to splash out on taxis. I know this isn't IMPs fault and it goes for all gigs I just think the general times stink!

It's all about the club nights, innit? Ooonce ooonce.

Nothing we can do about things like that, I'm afraid, unless there is no club scheduled for afterwards. Soz!

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