The Sleeping Years 'Into Sunlight'

I realised yesterday that for the last week or so, I've been listening exclusively to music that is at least ten years old, or new music by bands I discovered at least ten years ago. This may account for the lack of updates on here. I should mention that my listening has mainly centred around the new Grant Lee Phillips album (and old Grant Lee Buffalo stuff), the new Hope Sandoval album (and old Mazzy Star stuff) and the new Sleeping Years EP (and old Catchers stuff). I seriously need someone to recommend me some new bands that I might like. I can't remember the last time I discovered a really good NEW band.

In any event The Sleeping Years 'Into Sunlight' is single/EP of the week and, for that matter, month. It is out now as a four track single on itunes and out Monday on 7" vinyl. The lead track is probably the most catchy, poppy song that Dale Grundle has put his name too since Catchers' 'Cotton Dress'. Really shimmery, pretty stuff with a flourish of brass at the end that makes it sound grand, its a great song and one deserving of more airplay and attention than it will most likely get.

The b sides are both quiet, slower songs. 'Katherine Cove' is particularly good, sounding dark and mysterious. Sleeping Years' last album 'We're Becoming Islands One By One' was shamefully overlooked in most of last year's 'best album' lists (not mine!), but this single offers hope that their next album is going to be even better.

The Sleeping Years 'Into Sunlight'

So much great music around at the moment. I have to say none of it better than the incredible new Twilight Sad album, which I am still writing a review of, but I was delighted to receive the forthcoming single from The Sleeping Years...

Dale Grundle's new band produced one of the albums of 2008, the new single 'Into Sunlight' is a taster from their forthcoming second album and by the sounds of it, it could be an even better record. 'Into Sunlight' itself is a wonderfully upbeat, joyful pop song with the trademark acoustic guitar, cello and yearning vocals but with a fuller sound and a coda featuring some added trumpet.

B Side 'Katherine Cove' is more stripped down and moody, led by vocal, piano and cello. "I'm so far from God here/ I'm so far from home" sings Grundle.

These two songs both sound as good, if not better than most of 'We're Becoming Islands One By One', the cello in particular sounds really great and mixes so well with Grundle's voice.

The single is out on November 2nd, on vinyl and download. It will actually feature a couple more tracks than I've heard so far, so I'll blog about them when I get the vinyl. In the meantime, The Sleeping Years play an acoustic show at London's Boogaloo, this Wednesday.

Sleeping Years return with new material and UK show

Dale Grundle's The Sleeping Years made one of the finest albums of 2008 in 'We're Becoming Islands One By One', so it is great to hear that new material is on the way.

A brand new single will be released on 7" and download on 2nd November with an album to follow. More news on these when I've heard them!

In equally good news, The Sleeping Years will support The Notwist at London's Union Chapel on December 12. At last, a Sleeping Years gig in London on a Saturday.....

Sleeping Years London gig

Sorry for the lack of updates, followed by lots of updates, like, all at once. We moved house this weekend and I am just returning to sanity/normality and only now is music entering my thoughts again.

Here's something to look forward to though. T&G favourites The Sleeping Years, led by Dale Grundle, are playing at The Borderline in London on 29th April. First I should say that The Borderline is a lovely little venue and I have fond memories of seeing Micah P Hinson and Denison Witmer playing there one summer's night in 2004. TSY aren't headlining, they are supporting someone called Ella Edmondson, who I admit is completely unknown to me, but I shall familiarise myself with her music.

A must-attend gig, just for TSY though!

[update, 5 minutes later.....OK, so she's Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders' daughter!]

Top 10 Albums of the Year

here at last are the T&G top 10 records of the year....and after all the stuff written on here about American bands, the top 3 albums this year are from English, Scottish and Irish artists...

1- Tindersticks ‘The Hungry Saw’

What can I say about this album that I haven’t said already? A creative, vibrant record that is more than a match for any of their wonderful previous albums. In ‘Mother Dear’ it has the most atmospheric, tension filled ballad they have ever written and in ‘Boobar’, the most magical, Spector-ish pop song. Just fantastic. And album of the year.



2- The Twilight Sad ‘Here It Never Snowed, Afterwards It Did’

How do you top making one of the albums of 2007? If you’re the Twilight Sad, you make a mini-album featuring complete re-workings of several songs from that album. ‘Here It Never Snowed…’ took away much of the noise and the pace from the songs, stripping them down and highlighting James Graham’s amazing vocals. Both sounds work equally well and the band are now combining the two sounds at live shows. The album also featured a new song, plus a cover of Daniel Johnston’s ‘Some Things Last A Long Time’. The best new British band to emerge for a decade.

3- The Sleeping Years ‘We’re Becoming Islands, One By One’

Ex-Catchers singer/songwriter Dale Grundle returned in 2008 with this quietly triumphant set of songs about home, memories and heritage. It didn’t get a tenth of the attention it deserved but these are wonderful songs, held together by Grundle’s soothing voice. ‘Macosquin, Coleraine' is one of the songs of the year, a simple arrangement with acousic guitar and handclaps, I can’t stop playing it!


4- Fleet Foxes ‘Fleet Foxes’

A grower. Initially pleasant but unremarkable (the instantly catchy ‘White Winter Hymnal’ apart), the melodies creep up on you and you finding yourself singing them and then wondering what they are. Gorgeous harmonies mixed with old fashioned guitar sounds and of course Robin Pecknold is an amazing singer. How do they top this though?


5- Beck ‘Modern Guilt’

A 33 minute collection of short, sharp bursts of energy. This is a really exciting record that sounds great from start to finish. Highlight is ‘Chemtrails’ which is perhaps the single of the year and sounds amazing played loudly through headphones!


6- Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks ‘Real Emotional Trash’

Most pleasing post-Pavement album from Malkmus. Stunning guitar jams, especially on the title track, which is a complete tour-de-force.


7- The Mountain Goats ‘Heretic Pride’

Really consistent album from John Darnielle and more up-beat than previous offerings. ‘Lovecraft in Brooklyn’ and ‘Sax Rohmer’ are two of the best TMG rockers to date. As ever, lyrically supreme.


8- Jenny Lewis ‘Acid Tongue’

Beautifully produced with plenty of space for each instrument, this is a great old-fashioned sounding record with some gorgeous ballads. Highlight though is the thrilling duet with Elvis Costello.


9- The Dodos ‘Visitor’

Innovative sounds, great use of rhythm and simply some great sing-along songs.


10- American Music Club ‘The Golden Age’

New line-up, a lighter touch and a couple of bona-fide AMC classics (‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘The Dance). A couple of filler tracks too though but this is still more gold from Eitzel.

The T&G 11

TracksandGigs is preparing its 'Album of The Year' list. In advance of this, it has nominated eleven albums to form the 'album of the year' shortlist. Each of these records has given T&G an enormous amount of pleasure this year. The list, in alphabetical order, is...

American Music Club 'The Golden Age'

A few weak tracks here but many strong ones and it features one of Eitzel's most beautiful songs, the incredibly visual and moving 'Sleeping Beauty'

Beck 'Modern Guilt'

Short and sweet, his most cohesive record to date. An exciting, tremendously alive set of songs.

Fleet Foxes 'Fleet Foxes'

Deserving of all the hype. A delicious mix of country, soul, pop and folk. Gorgeous harmonies and a great Summer record.

Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'

Unfairly slated by some, this is a luxurious, rewarding album to listen to. It is also a lovely recording with plenty of space allowed and each instrument given room to breathe.

Micah P Hinson 'Red Empire..'

A warm and inviting country-noir album that is all the better for Hinson finally sounding happy and content.

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks 'Real Emotional Trash'

Just about his best since Pavement. A guitar masterclass and some great songs too.

The Dodos 'Visitor'

Sweet ballads, innovative percussion and great songs. This came from nowhere but will stand the test of time.

The Mountain Goats 'Heretic Pride'

An album of horror, monsters, death and fun from John Darnielle. Some of his best 'loud' songs for years. A really consistent album too.

The Sleeping Years 'We're Becoming Islands, One By One'

Quietly beautiful folk/pop songs from ex-Catchers frontman Dale Grundle.

The Twilight Sad 'Here It Never Snowed...'

Atmospheric mini-album with the band playing in a completely different style from their debut LP. Including  a stunning Daniel Johnston cover.

Tindersticks 'The Hungry Saw'

Unconcerned with the past, this is a fresh, vibrant piece of music that has formed the centre-piece of the band's shows this year. It has left the band rejuvinated and open to all possibilities for the future. A near-perfect 45 minutes.

Full list soon.

Gig Dilemma

Have now got an absolutely awful gig dilemma.

I have tickets for Micah P Hinson at The Scala on November 6th, supported by Retribution Gospel Choir. Was very much looking forward to it, but now I find that Damien Jurado is playing the Union Chapel on the same night and.....The Sleeping Years are supporting.

Have seen Micah a few times but none since the new LP (which I love), have never seen DJ but would like to and have never seen TSY but am absolutely desperate to. Plus Union Chapel is my favourite venue.

Its a nightmare! Any advice?

interview: The Sleeping Years

I'm going to attempt to do some interviews with some of the artists who have made the best albums of the year so far. First up is Dale Grundle from The Sleeping Years. 'We're Becoming Islands One By One' is a TracksandGigs favourite (I'm also really enjoying the EPs, especially a beautiful song called 'Untroubled'), I asked Dale some questions and he gave some really interesting answers so they are reproduced here in full....

T&G- - Catchers were one of TracksandGigs' favourite bands of the 90s. In the days pre-internet, I discovered them by hearing 'Cotton Dress'playing in an indie record shop and asking the staff who it was. Would never happen these days. What are your best memories of Catchers and why did the split happen?

DG- Well, I started Catchers while I was at school so we managed to go from sending crudely recorded demos out to record companies to moving to London, to recording our first singles, right up to touring with well-known bands. We were very young - Alice was about 17 or 18! So at the beginning even just being able to play in London was such a huge thing for us.
One of the moments that stand out for me is the 2nd La Route du Rock Festival that we played in St Malo (in '98). We had played there about 3 or 4 years before just after recording our debut album 'Mute'.In 1998 we had been playing at the Water Rats in London and got a call from our agents in France asking if we would be available to appear at the La Route du Rock as Cornershop had pulled out at the last moment. The line up that year was incredible - Portishead, PJ Harvey, Spiritualized, Yann Tiersen, etc. The only problem for us was that our drummer Peter could not come with us. We decided in the end to gamble and phoned a drummer that our guitarist knew and got him to drive down from Derby to London that night. He had never heard our music before so he spent the journey to France sitting listening to both our albums on a walkman. We ended up being able to sound check just three songs with him and went on to play 9 songs for the very first time with him live to about 7 or 8,000 people. I'm not sure if I would be brave enough to try that now but we did ok!

Catchers had a lot of amazing experiences - we moved to New York and toured from coast to coast, played with people like Dr John, recorded with Robert Kirby. In the end however, as with a lot of bands, priorities began to change for people. We had problems with our label and didn't feel the support was there as much as it had been. Also I had been in a relationship with Alice for a few years which had broken down. Everyone seemed a little exhausted by Catchers and as future plans were being made I looked around and felt it was not right to continue like that.

T&G- - Pretty much everyone I played Catchers songs to liked them but hadnever heard of them until then. 'Beauty Number 3' used to go on all of my 1990s mix-tapes! You seemed to get great press in the UK but never got all that well known. Was that frustrating?

DG- I think it's more frustrating now than it was to us at the time. We had people like Mark Radcliffe playing us on BBC Radio 1 and the music magazines seemed to be behind the records but there were lots of other elements not in place for us. We never had management and we did not have a booking agent for the UK until the 2nd album. So even though we would get good press and radio it was hard to follow it up in the UK. They are good records that I am very proud of. I love the fact that they have have a bit of a cult following but of course it would have been better to sell more copies. The thing I love about Catchers is that we managed to exist within the Brit-pop era but made music that was very out of line with what was happening around us. We came from somewhere very small and quite removed and I think that had a very important influence as to how we saw what we were doing. I am sure our label would have been happier if we had hung out with NME-adored bands but it was never what we were about.

T&G- - I had pretty much given up on hearing music from you again with such a long gap after 'Stooping To Fit'. What did you do post-Catchers and what made you return to music with Sleeping Years?

DG- I kept on writing music but just never released anything or tried to look for another deal. I think I needed time to reassess everything as I had been working as Catchers for about 6 years and didn't really know what else to do. 'Stooping to Fit' was a very difficult album for us to record - the band were not in a very good place at that point. So we all needed a little time to heal. I got a job, read a lot of books and kept my head low. I had some health problems as well which delayed things but really I just needed to step back and figure out what I wanted to do. Eventually my fingers itched to the point where I needed to be playing and everything slowly made sense again.

T&G- - The songs on the EPs and 'We're Becoming Islands...' seem to focus a lot on home and family. Was that a major theme when you wrote the songs?

DG- When I started writing the songs for The Sleeping Years I kept thinking of the line in 'Clocks and clones' - 'old souls all rapt in wonder for the arc of them'. I liked that idea of looking back at a life's journey - about how random the starting point could be. I looked at where I had been born and what my homeland was like and my language and culture.

I am originally from a small village in the country so nature has always featured in some way in my work. I wrote 'Broken Homes' and tried to tie in a sense of the physical to the geographical - 'brittle maps of my ribs bowing...'. I also sent a dictaphone back to my parents and asked them to record themselves talking about their lives and wrote 'Dressed for rain' and 'The lockkeeper's cottage' based on their stories. I felt like I was starting again from the beginning and because of that I needed to try and understand where I came from. 'Macosquin, Coleraine', 'Strays', 'Human Blues', etc all contain elements of the language that I grew up with. Up until this point I had tried to stay away from writing too directly about Northern Ireland. Unlike some of my friends I never read Irish writers as I grew up because I didn't want to be influenced by them. I needed to find my own voice first before I could talk about my home.

T&G- - The two Catchers albums ('Mute' and 'Stooping To Fit') sound quite different to each other and 'We're Becoming Islands...' has more of a folk feel to it. What music are you listening to these days and who are your influences?

DG- I think the Catchers' albums sound differently also because of how the songs were written. I started teaching myself piano around the 2nd album so the songs grew in new ways. The TSY songs were demoed at home on my studio so for the first time I was able to arrange everything myself. The Catchers records could have sounded a lot different though. We had Dave Fridmann lined up to record 'Stooping to fit'. This was before 'Deserters Songs' as I really liked 'See you on the other side' at the time. I was even speaking to him on the phone but then the label ran out of money and could not afford to send us to the states to record with him. Mike Hedges was suggested by Setanta for 'Mute'. I had wanted to go a little more left-field withg our choice of producer.

The last bands that have genuinely excited me have been Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective. I also discovered the Alan Lomax Southern Journey series and Harry Smith's American Folk Anthology while I started writing The Sleeping Years' songs. I listen to a lot of different genres though - I grew up listening to soul music on my mother's side and folk/country on my father's. Vocally I am influenced by people like Mark Hollis - the last two Talk Talk records and his solo album are all stunning. I love Moondog, Ivor Cutler, Can, Captain Beefheart, Low, some of the Anticon artists, Davy Graham, etc.

T&G- - So far, TSY live dates have been mainly one-off gigs. Are there any plans for a tour? I am absolutely devastated that I missed you playingThe Union Chapel, which is my favourite venue. Did you enjoy playing there....and any plans to return?

DG- Yes, I have actually played the Union Chapel three times so far. Once with Catchers (supporting Edwyn Collins), once on my own and once with Michelle. I love playing there - it's such a beautiful venue. I have had a connection with that venue since I came to London. I will be appearing there again this year but it will be for the Arctic Circle Xmas show which will feature me singing to music written by Ted Barnes. It's going to be included on a forthcoming Arctic Circle Xmas EP which will be arranged by Harry Escott and feature a choir and some other artists. Pika Pika (who have created all the TSY artwork) will be involved as well.

T&G- Whats next for TSY? Are you working on new songs at the moment?

DG- We have a lot of shows coming up right until the end of the year (all listed on our myspace page). We will be travelling to Austria and Italy for the very first time and we have a rescheduled trip to Beirut in November.Aside from that I have been recording demos at home for the next album which will hopefully be out some time next year.

Thanks to Dale for taking the time to answer the questions. Sleeping Years play The Social in London on 5th November and TracksandGigs will be in attendance!

Sleeping Years London Gig

TracksandGigs are pleased to announce that the brilliant The Sleeping Years are playing London on Wednesday August 27th.

They are playing a charming looking venue called The Betsey in Farringdon with a band called The Miserable Rich. TSY will be on stage at 8.45. Would be nice to get as many people there as possible for TSY, TracksandGigs would love to see them get a headlining gig at, say, Union Chapel or Bush Hall.

Anyway, tickets are only a fiver and you can get them here
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/34677
venue only holds about 50 people so be quick...

more on The Sleeping Years

very quick mention for a lovely, acoustic version of 'You and Me Against The World' by TracksandGigs favourites The Sleeping Years, which is streaming at their Myspace here...

http://www.myspace.com/thesleepingyears

Can't stop playing the album at the moment.

They are playing a support gig at The Macbeth in London on 22nd July. Am very much hoping for a London headline show soon. Dale?...

songs of the year so far

'Albums of the year' lists should only be produced in December when there has been time for records to sink in and 'mature'. Some records are Summer albums and some are perfect for Winter (such as most Innocence Mission albums), so there will be no decision made on an album of the year here until December and there will be no '....so far' list. However, it seems perfectly fine to do a 'top 5 songs of the year so far' list so here are the five songs that have most pleased TracksandGigs this year. This is of course a personal selection and I would welcome any other picks, just leave a comment...

1. American Music Club 'Sleeping Beauty'

Every new AMC/Eitzel album seems to bring at least one brand new Mark Eitzel classic. 'The Golden Age' contains two or three, but best of all is 'Sleeping Beauty', a song on a par with classics like 'Western Sky' and 'Blue and Grey Shirt'. It takes a special songwriter to write a song this visual and vivid, so that it is impossible to listen to without a picture of the scene forming in your mind. The lyric is heartbreaking and the music fits the words perfectly, building in the right places and the "fly in a jar.." finish where the music builds to almost drown out Eitzel is brilliant. Just superb and the most perfect piece of music TracksandGigs has heard in 2008 so far.

2. Tindersticks 'Boobar'

There are some great songs on the new Tindersticks album but 'Boobar' is just about the best and one of the best things they have ever recorded. Written about searching for something that is lost, Stuart Staples sings this so well, Neil Fraser plays great guitar and is at last at the centre of the song after years of being drowned out by Dickon Hinchcliffe's violin and the Spector-ish call and response vocals are magical.

3. The Sleeping Years 'Macosquin, Coleraine'

It had been too long to wait for a new Dale Grundle record and 'We're Becoming Islands One By One' was worth the wait. This track is the highlight, like many on the album it is a song about home. A simple arrangement, acoustic guitar, handclaps and vocals and a beautiful song.

4. The Twilight Sad 'Some Things Last A Long Time'

The band who can currently do no wrong here recorded this Daniel Johnston cover for their new EP. Stripping the song right down makes James Gordon's vocal sound unbelievably powerful and raw. Powerful and haunting.

5. The Dodos 'Fools'

The Dodos album is a really enjoyable listen. Lots of strumming, harmonies and great percussion. This is the highlight and will probably be used on some advert or BBC intro by the end of the year. Catchy and exciting.

Here's to the second half of 2008 being as good as the first.

The Sleeping Years 'We're Becoming Islands One By One'

For all the attention the Bon Iver album is now receiving, and TracksandGigs gave it a glowing review back in...March, there is nothing revolutionary about it. A man with an acoustic guitar sings songs that a lot of people enjoy listening to and lyrics that appear to be deeply personal manage to be universal at the same time. Justin Vernon has managed to do this very well, plus he has a great story to tell, and that is why he has made one of the albums of the year.

Ten years ago, Irish singer-songwriter Dale Grundle was making equally affecting music with his band the Catchers. Their debut album 'Mute' was a beautiful folk/pop record with ballads and breezy summer pop from a simple guitar/drums/keyboards formula and sung by Dale and his co-vocalist Alice Lemon. They received great reviews but were ignored by the public at large and adored by a loyal fanbase who were never able to quite explain why these apparently simple songs meant so much to them. Follow-up album 'Stooping To Fit', released in 1998, was more of the same but with a slightly harder edge and then that was it. They were gone. Grundle stopped making music completely until now, as he has returned with a new project 'The Sleeping Years', this is their debut album.

In his new band, Dale sings, plays guitar, bass and piano and he is joined by Michelle So on cello and Tom Page on drums. The sound is probably a little more folk and a little less pop than Catchers were. Many of the songs are set around acoustic guitar and vocals and sound more like a singer-songwriter than a band.

'We're Becoming Islands, One By One', it would seem to me, is a record about the passing of time and trying to keep a hold on memories and a feeling of 'home' that has become increasingly difficult in the world we live in. On 'Macosquin, Coleraine', a gorgeous hymn with strong vocals and well-timed handclaps, he sings "And they say they know you, that they grew with you, but you don’t know them at all". 'You and Me Against The World' manages to sound sad and defiant at the same time, with a jaunty melody and a world-weary vocal, in a parallel universe it is being played on the radio every day.

Grundle has crafted a fine album here. His voice is as strong as it ever was with Catchers, full of hope and clarity, his lyrics are superb and touching. It comes as no surprise to learn that a few of the songs were written after conversations with his Mother and Father, there is a feeling of yearning for home and for traditional values throughout the record. This is an old-fashioned record in many ways, the songs are delicate and whereas some artists would have been tempted to add a bit orchestral sound to these brush strokes, Grundle keeps things simple. 'We're Becoming Islands...' is a warm and rewarding listen. There are individual track highlights but it seems wrong to single them out from an album that fits together so well. If you enjoy good songwriting and great singing and melodies, this understated gem is an essential purchase.

Let's hope it gets the credit it deserves.

9.0

'We're Becoming Islands One By One' is out now on Rocket Girl.
for more info visit http://www.sleepingyears.com/

song of the day

Today's 'Song Of The Day' is 'Macosquin, Coleraine' by The Sleeping Years.

The Sleeping Years is the new project from Irish singer-songwriter Dale Grundle who achieved cult staus in the 90s as leader of The Catchers, a criminally ignored indie/folk band who made two marvellous albums and then disappeared. The Catchers made some beautiful music, 'Cotton Dress' was a summer-pop song of very high standing and 'Beauty Number 3' a strange, beguiling folk song. Lyrically, Grundle somewhat resembled Seamus Heaney. Their second LP, 'Stooping To Fit' was released in 1999, full of brass and strings and with a much bigger sound, and then they were gone.

anyway, now Grundle is, to use a tracksandgigs tradition of the last few weeks.....Back! Except now he is called 'The Sleeping Years'. He has an LP out in June called 'We're Becoming Islands One By One' and three limited edition EPs out now. 'Macosquin, Coleraine' is from the EP 'Setting Fire To Sleepy Towns' and will also appear on the album in a different form (hope that is clear). It is a gorgeous, mysterious epic, all handclaps, acoustic guitar and Grundle's wonderful voice.

You can hear music from The Sleeping Years at their myspace, http://www.myspace.com/thesleepingyears

Looking forward to hearing and reviewing the album. hint hint.