Leafcutter John profile picture

Leafcutter John

The Forest And The Sea Out Now

About Me

Alice and I doing it at Sonic Acts XII, Amsterdam

..

More Guitar Progress - The soundbox is closed & cats love woodwork, they come gather round every time i work.


New Project for 2007

Over the new year period i became a little obsessed with the idea of making a guitar. I’m not sure exactly how this came to be but it did and my tiny bedroom studio has transformed into a workshop complete with bench, tools and lots of wood dust. Here is my progress so far [click images for larger view]



The album is in the shops NOW!

I Want to say a big, big, BIG Thank you to the lovely people who have been coming to the concerts so far! I don’t think i have ever enjoyed giging so much.

The Forest And The Sea Launch Gig - London, ICA.


The Forest And The Sea Launch Gig - Berlin, Zentrale Randlage


PRESS

Plan B

"One rarely finds a record with so much brave beauty as Leafcutter John’s second [it’s actually my 4th L.J.] album, the forest and the sea. Brave for its transgression, both musically and historically."

"This record is all the best cadences of folk combined with all the best parts of sampling and processing - togther they render a whole new form."

Ralph Cowling

TimeOut London

"Alongside Aphex Twin and Bogdan Raczynski – he’s one of the UK’s most fearlessly inventive electronicists and a member of fêted avant jazzers Polar Bear. His fourth solo LP is a striking hybrid of pastoral songcraft, glitch, field recordings and traditional Greek instrumentation that goes far beyond ‘folktronica’, running the gamut of moods from sweetly mournful to darkly malevolent."

Sharon O’Connell

Play Louder

"For while his name might conjure up the pastoral in a distinctly old-fashioned sense, Leafcutter John’s great success on ’The Forest And The Sea’ is to blend traditional sounds and vocals that cry forth from the ordinary folk long past, with mastery of technology and laptop proficiency. And it’s a journey, too, not just an escape from the urban jungle, but a progress of learning, adventure, and discovery."

Luke Turner

Urban Pollution

"By the sounds of The Forest and the Sea, Leafcutter John has just begun to create his best work yet. It is an unexpected, but pleasantly delightful curve ball and proves Burton is more than a trendy scenester, if there was ever any doubt to begin with. This record will likely appeal to a wide variety of listeners, with only the most purist of Burton’s experimental electronic fans turning up their nose to this accomplished work from a talented and capable artist."

Jerry Long

BBC Collective

"Whereas other artists operating under the folktronica guise often tip too far towards acoustic traditionalism, the Leafcutter matches his bard-like couplets with perfectly married sample matter, stretching his captured sounds into gently distorted shapes."

Martin Longley

Organ Magazine (Album of the week)

"Another must check album then (sorry), beautifully refined warm treats to get lost in for hours and hours and hours (fine album artwork as well)."

The Wire

"If there is such a genre [folktronica], he is the best possible exponent"

David Stubbs

Latest news at LeafcutterJohn.com


My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/2/2005
Band Website: leafcutterjohn.com
Band Members: Studio: Leafcutter John. Live: Leafcutter John (vocals, electronics, guitar, toys), Simon Bookish (vocals), Alice Grant (vocals). And sometimes Seb Rochford (drums), Joe Zietlin (cello)
Influences: Not all influences but also people i like right now:Queen, Bernard Parmigiani, ELO , Pavement, Greg Davis, Simon Bookish, Venetian Snares, Sanso-Xtro, Nina Simone, Will Oldham, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Keith Fullerton Whitman, The Microphones, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Kylie (around 2004), Bishi, Pierre Schaeffer, Vincent Epplay, Sebastian Roux, Beck, Radiohead, Un caddie renversé dans l'herbe, Chevron, etc etc etc.
Sounds Like: Every track i do sounds exactly like a combination of: Queen, Bernard Parmigiani, ELO , Pavement, Greg Davis, Simon Bookish, Venetian Snares, Sanso-Xtro, Nina Simone, Will Oldham, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Keith Fullerton Whitman, The Microphones, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Kylie (around 2004), Bishi, Pierre Schaeffer, Vincent Epplay, Sebastian Roux, Beck, Radiohead, Un caddie renversé dans l'herbe, Chevron, etc etc etc.
Record Label: Staubgold, Planet Mu, Schematic, Tigerbeat6, XL
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Forest of Spades Strings Of Consciousness Leafcutter Remake

I just finished a remix (actually turned into more of a remake) for Philippe Petit who is the man behind the French Bip-Hop label The band is 'Strings Of Consciousness' and the track is called 'Forest...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:15:00 PST

My Kingdom for a nice Toy Piano!

I really would like of these or one of these Schoenhut made toy pianos. After a whole morning searching it seems absolutely no one sells them in the UK - if you know where i can get one without payi...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:33:00 PST

IMPORTANT! Contacting me.

I just lost a load of messages from my Myspace inbox so from now on if you are contacting me regarding something important or if you really want a response from me please contact me here: http://leafc...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:11:00 PST

I can't quite believe It...

'Forest of no return' Curtain call. Photo: with kind permission Diamond GeyserWell as you can see i did manage to get a song together for the Jarvis Cocker & Hal Wilner's 'Forest of no return' eve...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:31:00 PST

Soundtrap II Opening 12th June / Performance 7th July

SOUNDTRAP II @ Beaconsfield Art Space. It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the opening of my first ever solo art show. For Soundtrap II, I have transformed Beaconsfield's acoustically live Upp...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:57:00 PST

Forester Music software Now For PC!!!

What are you waiting for go and download it!Leafcutterjohn.comEasy,j x.
Posted by Leafcutter John on Sun, 06 May 2007 06:21:00 PST

New Leafcutter Website

It had to happen, my webiste has turned into a blog, so i probably won't be posting here much more. If you feel like swinging by and saying you are more than welcome. I have news, music, and software ...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 07:25:00 PST

New Leafcutter Audio Software

Hello,If you have access to a Mac OSX machine (non Core Duo) you might beinterested in a new Audio Application i have just made.It's called Forester and with it you can create compositions andre-mixes...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Wed, 05 Jul 2006 02:54:00 PST

TWO NEW SONGS - For Mike, Keren, & Alex

A little while ago i was asked to do a spot on the radio, my usual singers could not make it so instead of trying to do my new album material on my own i wanted to try something a little different. I ...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:38:00 PST

1234

I just reaalised that i have 1234 friends - Of course they are not all real friends, but i can't help being a little bit surprised abut the number of people that have wanted to add me since december l...
Posted by Leafcutter John on Tue, 18 Apr 2006 03:34:00 PST