'Code Blue' live...
David Garside is a rare bird in 2008. Working squarely in the tradition of his ‘classic’ rock, pop & soul influences (McCartney, Joni Mitchell, The Beach Boys, Nick Drake, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Dexys…), not in the superficial way of so many ’singer-songwriters’ & ‘indie’ hopefuls, but fully absorbing them, understanding them, and forging a strong, distinctive voice of his own out of all of that…
Since his first release back in 2001 his musical personality has always been clear. He always knew who he was and what he was doing, he always did it well, and he’s got steadily better and more unique with each subsequent record…
After daliances with various bands in Leeds, London & his native Birmingham, David’s first release was the ‘Clockwatching’ EP in 2001 on his own Crockett Records label, followed in 2004 by his debut LP, ‘Take Control’, then ‘Half The Man: A Paul McCartney Tribute’ in 2006, the ‘Mr Wise’ EP in 2007 and his new LP for 2008: 'Modern Mediaeval'…
Those with any affection for the songs of Paul McCartney should investigate ‘Half The Man’, David’s (When I’m) 64-th birthday present to perhaps his biggest musical hero, inspired by the discovery that he would be turning exactly half Macca’s age only a few days away from the ex-Beatle’s birthday. Featuring faultlessly tasteful stripped-down arrangements of mainly obscure solo and Wings songs, with just acoustic guitar or piano, and cello as accompaniment, he gets to the heart of these largely overshadowed tunes, and makes a persuasive case for their re-appraisal…
One direction that he’s particularly blossomed in recently is his arrangements. The ‘Mr Wise’ EP gave us a taster of the new album and the full LP more than lives up to that promise. You’ll go a long way to find anyone who works with strings as well as David in the context of a 3 or 4 minute pop song, not just as an extra layer, but completely integrating them into his sound. Combine this with crisp soul style horn charts, acoustic picking, piano, vibes, jazz-inflected drums…and we get everything from Brian Wilson orchestrations to sparser chamber pieces and Zombies style psychedelic road-trips. All held together with real soulful singing and a consistently engaging lyrical turn of phrase…
David's new album 'Modern Mediaeval' was officially released on June 16 and is available on CD, heavyweight vinyl and download.
SHOP
Postage costs are £1 for CDs (£2 outside UK) and £2 for LPs (£4 outside UK). This is included when you are taken to the Paypal cart.
Half the Man and Take Control are also available from www.cdbaby.com and most digital download sites. You will soon be able to buy Modern Mediaeval in these ways.All releases (including Modern Mediaeval download) are also available from www.frizzrecords.com.
To purchase my new album Modern Mediaeval at £8.99, click on the 'add to cart' link below to order through Paypal.
