Paul G. Smyth profile picture

Paul G. Smyth

About Me


NEW RELEASES


PAUL G. SMYTH | Descenders | CDR (2009)
€10


BOYS OF SUMMER | Pharaoh | CDR (2009)
Available from ceremonialdeath(at)gmail.com and BOLD LUMP
PAUL G. SMYTH | For Christina Carter | 3" CDR (2008)
This is a re-release of the track that first appeared on Foxglove’s Wailing Bones Vol. 9, which is now long sold out.
Available from PAULGSMYTH.COM and ROAD
THE JIMMY CAKE | Spectre & Crown | CD (2008)
Available from ROAD and TOWER RECORDS
"... unforgettable ... an extraordinary blossoming ... Clarinets, pianos and strings billow out over 54 sublime minutes of what is their best work yet."
****
The Ticket / Irish Times

"A rich and spectacular comeback album, this is The Jimmy Cake’s crowning achievement."
****
Sunday Business Post

"This record is simply a work of extreme orchestral splendour."
****
Sunday Tribune

"It'd take at least 5 years to produce something as accomplished and inventive as this!"
****1/2
Hot Press

"An indelible chronicle of nine musicians contributing to a singular and necessary vision"
State
"... it has been worth the wait, as Spectre & Crown is easily their finest work to date. From the opening piano chord of Red Tony, to the final note of Last Breath, The Jimmy Cake hardly put a foot wrong."
Totally Dublin
"Spectre & Crown is The Jimmy Cake's most arresting album to date."
Sunday Times
"By turns minimalistic and multi-layered, Spectre & Crown has moments of astonishing beauty. There are plenty of captivating tracks too - soaring and emotive."
****
Day & Night / Irish Independent

"... one of the most coherent, beautiful albums of the year so far."
entertainment.ie
"I cannot convey how enjoyable Spectre & Crown is."
brainwashed.com
"The album is a moving, sweepingly beautiful, orchestral epic with nine life-enhancing tracks of such diversity and scope that it’s hard to fathom that just nine people made it. ... few records will reach the heights that this royally brilliant piece of work reaches. An instant and longterm classic."
Westmeath Examiner
Paul G. Smyth (b.1976) is a musician, artist and designer, based in Dublin. A member of 9-piece band The Jimmy Cake (described by the Irish Times as "the most powerful musical force in Ireland"), Smyth is also Ireland's foremost free-improvising pianist. After studying fine-art painting in the National College of Art + Design, Smyth toured with New York free-jazz veteran Charles Gayle, and since then has played with such luminaries as Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Keiji Haino, Barry Guy, John Russell, Chris Corsano and Damo Suzuki, been a featured composer in the National Concert Hall, written music for theatre, and performed in 17 countries. Most recently, Smyth was invited by Russell to perform at Fête Quaqua in London, where he worked with John Butcher, Lol Coxhill, Max Eastley, Roger Turner, Hannah Marshall, Chris Burn, Bill Hsu, Dylan Bates, Jean Bordé and Ute Wassermann, as well as Russell himself. This has led to a duo with English cellist Hannah Marshall, and the formation of a new trio with Marshall and percussionist Mark Sanders.
Smyth was a co-founding member of the artist-run collective The Whispering Gallery, which was set up for the promotion of new music from both Ireland and abroad.
Other activity has included a Postgraduate Diploma in Music & Media Technologies from Trinity College, Dublin, an exhibition of works on paper in Roundstone, Connemara, and the premiere of electroacoustic work, 'The Dry Land', at the Sligo New Music Festival. He has also just released 'Spectre & Crown', the new album by The Jimmy Cake, to critical acclaim. Smyth also makes electronic music under the name Most Haunted and as a member of Boys Of Summer.
PAULGSMYTH.COM | [email protected]
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
Paul G. Smyth | Protect Yrself From Ghosts | [Nysha] (2003)
Paul G. Smyth | The Anaesthetic | [Deserted Village] (2005)
Paul G. Smyth | Holy Thursday | [Slow Loris / Nysha] (2006)
Paul G. Smyth | For Christina Carter | [Nysha] (2008)
Paul G. Smyth | Descenders | [Nysha] (2009)
Paul G. Smyth & Simon O'Connor | Winteriser | [Nysha] (2009)
Boys Of Summer | Pharaoh | [Munitions Family] (2009)
The Jimmy Cake | Dublin Gone. Everybody Dead. | [Pilatus] (2002)
The Jimmy Cake | Superlady | [Pilatus] (2003)
The Jimmy Cake / Domotic | split 12 | [Earsugar] (2004)
The Jimmy Cake | Spectre & Crown | [Pilatus] (2008)
David Kitt | The Big Romance | [Blanco y Negro] (2001)
David Kitt | Not Fade Away | [Rough Trade] (2006)
Luka Bloom | Eleven Songs | [Big Sky] (2008)
Know Your Enemy | Entropy | [Nysha] (2000)
V/A | Orang-Utan | [Goppa] (2002) (w/ The Jimmy Cake)
V/A | Grain | [DotDotDot Music] (2003)
V/A | Other Voices - Songs From A Room 2 | [RTE] (2004) (w/ The Jimmy Cake)
V/A | Wailing Bones Vol. 9 | [Foxglove] (2006)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/12/2005
Band Website: PAULGSMYTH.COM
Band Members:


Sounds Like:
Ireland's darkest jewel
JMI (The Journal of Music in Ireland), Vol. 8 No. 1, Jan-Feb 2008

considerable gifts as an improvisor ... a genuinely cathartic listening experience ... such fuck-you intensity
The Wire

Paul G. Smyth's 'Descenders' was a true example of the art of improvisation,
using the most contemporary musical resources to produce something concentrated, absorbing and energizing

JMI (The Journal of Music in Ireland), Vol. 7 No. 1, Jan-Feb 2007

Smyth is the kind of talent that deserves every encouragement
Derek Bailey

... somewhere between classic noir and H.P. Lovecraft
Brainwashed.com

DYLAN BATES violin | HANNAH MARSHALL cello | PAUL G. SMYTH piano

19 August 2008 | Fête Quaqua @ The Vortex, London
Filmed by Helen Petts

CHRIS BURN trumpet | PAUL G. SMYTH piano | BILL HSU laptop

17 August 2008 | Fête Quaqua @ The Vortex, London
Filmed by Helen Petts

Record Label: Nysha | Pilatus | Deserted Village | Slow Loris
Type of Label: Unsigned

My Blog

CD REVIEW: THE WIRE: October 2008

The WireIssue 296, Oct 2008Outer Limits Keith MolinéCD Review: For Christina Carter"A 33CD reissue of an 18 minute piece that originally appeared on a Foxglove label compilation, this showcases Irish ...
Posted by on Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:11:00 GMT

FEATURE ARTICLE: JMI: May / June 2008

JMIVolume 8, Number 3May / Jun 2008Feature Article: Be Careful Of The Mark You MakeBenedict Schlepper-ConnollyBenedict Schlepper-Connolly talks to Paul G. Smyth, improvising pianist and keyboard playe...
Posted by on Tue, 13 May 2008 02:55:00 GMT

Synaptic Snaps | 2005

Imixed media on paper, 2005, 12" x 9"IImixed media on paper, 2005, 29.7cm x 21cmIIImixed media on paper, 2005, 11" x 9" IVmixed media on paper, 2005, 11" x 9" Vmixed media on paper, 2005, 29.7cm x 21c...
Posted by on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:56:00 GMT