this shite ain't Dr hook am reporting a few of yous

Taken from the album,

Ben Taylor
‘Another Run Around The Sun’

Ben Taylor is a young man with impeccable credentials. He grew up in a musical environment second to none. With Carly Simon for a mother and James Taylor as father, a career in the family business beckoned.
An accomplished performer who’s fresh from touring Europe with Tracy Chapman, the 29 year-old singer/songwriter steps into the main frame with his new CD ‘Another Run Around The Sun’ on Independiente, October 30th. Preceded by the ‘Lady Magic EP’ on September 25th, this is the perfect time to discover an impressive talent in waiting.

Featuring 11 melody-laden tracks, all infused with an unflinching lyrical honesty, ‘Another Run Around The Sun’ is Ben’s most definitive, earthy work to date. Recorded in London’s RAK studios, it was produced by both Kevin Bacon & Jonathan Quarmby and explores an acoustic, stripped-down sound. His aching vocals strike an uncanny resemblance to that of his father’s, but with songs that explore recurring themes of “love and loss”, this is pure Ben Taylor – his own man. 

“This album is a natural progression of who I am and what I’ve been through,” he explains. “I wanted to make a record that I could tour by myself if I had to - something I could live with night after night. That’s how I feel about it, because it’s honest. There wasn’t a whole lot of me in some of my earlier recordings, but this one is entirely me. It’s the most self-accepting thing I’ve ever done.” 
Highlights of the LP – his 2nd, and first to be released in the UK - include the intensity of ‘Digest’ – an emotionally strong, dynamic song, the immaculate acoustics of ‘I’ll Be Fine’, the irresistible hook of opener ‘Nothing I Can Do’ and the lusciously wry cynicism of ‘Love’. Naturally, this level of public intimacy means each song wears his hear on its sleeve.

“For the most part they’re all hard to sing. A lot of the phrasing and the melodies are difficult, but on an emotional level I get choked up if I remember what I’m singing about. Although saying that, most of the time it’s a case of Dr Theatre - however sick you are, Dr Theatre will take care of it by the time you get on stage.” he observes.
                                                                                                          P.T.O
“I wrote most of the songs when I was out on the road, but I did 3 or 4 in the in the studio,” he comments. “That’s the best way to do it. It’s impossible to be prolific and distracted if you want to finish songs. You need to take your moments of inspiration and lock yourself in a room with them.”

Influenced by a variety of artists that include Paul McCartney, Donovan and Cat Stevens, his sound blends stark originality with ambling folk, rock and soul. Encouraged and inspired by his parents, he began performing live 5 years ago and has already toured to critical acclaim.

“They’ve both influenced me equally in very different ways,” says Ben. . “I learned the guitar by teaching myself how to play my Dad’s sound. He’s the one who really, truly taught me about music, but when I started writing songs my Mom helped me in a different way.”

Although his lineage may garner attention, it’s only Ben himself who can deliver his sound. “The main thing connections like that does is actually very positive. It turns people’s heads and gets you attention, but you really need to be prepared with something worth listening too. Right now, I feel ready.” 

Ben Taylor - Digest

“One Way Mirror”

Unlike most of the tracks on the LP, “One Way Mirror” was recorded well into the sessions for the LP. Dave Eringa (producer) heard the riff whilst we were messing around between takes of another song and insisted that we do something with it. Lo and behold we had the first track for the LP, complete with a scathing set of lyrics

Conor McGloin (Guitar) and Tom Marshall (bass) 

Kinesis - One Way Mirror

Taken from the album 'When It Hits You Feel No Pain'.

Is Northern soul the coolest music ever? Probably. It’s hard to explain the passion and dedication of the Northern soul obsessive. The lengths you’ll go to find that rare seven inch. Every scarce seven inch is in itself an education in music, in music history and in making music. Oisin Lunny has more than enough of them. “It’s the only music that can make you dance and can make you cry at the same time,” says Oisin, soon to be much better known as First Born.  For as Firstborn he has delivered an eclectic album which marries the emotion of Northern Soul with the darkness of urban life, creating a melange of hip-hop breaks, soul vocals and techno sensibilities.


NME: “The kind of record that Massive Attack would no doubt love to return with"

MUZIK: “One of the most fearsome explorations of the dark side of the soul you’ll have heard – 5/5”

I-D MARCH 2001 "former Marxman Oisin Lunny hits on a winning formula and keeps on running"

TOUCH MARCH 01 " It's the Gothic head-fuck funk that David Holmes never managed"

BLUES & SOUL "quality all the way"

FACE : "An essential messy-night-out odyssey...plain ol' stomping".


Firstborn - I Close My Eyes (Feat: Linda Clifford)

Firstborn - Lay This Burden Down

Taken from the album 'When It Hits You Feel No Pain'.

Is Northern soul the coolest music ever? Probably. It’s hard to explain the passion and dedication of the Northern soul obsessive. The lengths you’ll go to find that rare seven inch. Every scarce seven inch is in itself an education in music, in music history and in making music. Oisin Lunny has more than enough of them. “It’s the only music that can make you dance and can make you cry at the same time,” says Oisin, soon to be much better known as First Born.  For as Firstborn he has delivered an eclectic album which marries the emotion of Northern Soul with the darkness of urban life, creating a melange of hip-hop breaks, soul vocals and techno sensibilities.


NME: “The kind of record that Massive Attack would no doubt love to return with"

MUZIK: “One of the most fearsome explorations of the dark side of the soul you’ll have heard – 5/5”

I-D MARCH 2001 "former Marxman Oisin Lunny hits on a winning formula and keeps on running"

TOUCH MARCH 01 " It's the Gothic head-fuck funk that David Holmes never managed"

BLUES & SOUL "quality all the way"

FACE : "An essential messy-night-out odyssey...plain ol' stomping".

Firstborn - Miracles (Feat: Mary Love-Comer)

Firstborn - The Mood Club

Taken from the album 'The Magic Treehouse'.



Ooberman - Shorley Wall

Taken from the album 'Tears From A Willow'.

Ooberman - Tears From A Willow

Taken from the album 'The Magic Treehouse'.

Ooberman - Bees

Ooberman - Blossoms Falling

Blackbud have played over 250 gigs...been given the nod of approval by Jimmy Page… toured the UK and Europe and shared the bill with the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow, The Bees, Editors, 22-20s, Hope Of The States,  Babyshambles ….been taken under the wings of Youth, David Bottrill and Michael Eavis…been picked up by Fierce Panda…signed to Independiente….had a song in a Hollywood film….a Zane Lowe session and single of the week.  Quite a start for a band just into their twenties….

This young West Country trio have a sound as prodigious as their self-made achievements. Bold, epic, soulful, emotional, intense, uplifting: Blackbud do all of these, then top it off with the soaring voice of Joe Taylor. Musically, their collective backgrounds in college bands has forged a solid but imaginative foundation upon which Taylor (guitars), Adam Newton (bass) and Sam Nadel (drums) are building big-sky rock music and becoming (as described by David Sinclair in The Times) “truly an epic band in the making”.

‘Hearing Jimi Hendrix started me wanting to play,’ says Taylor, a naturally gifted guitarist able to conjure staggering sounds from his instrument. ‘I started off having classical lessons then I learnt on my own. Then a new teacher taught me how to pay Nirvana. That got me into playing guitar for *songs* rather than style. But I still study classical and flamenco. We draw from a lot of styles of music.’

Taylor, Nadel and Newton met at school in Wiltshire. ‘It was very music-oriented,’ says Nadel. ‘We did workshops in different kinds of world music,’ says Sam. ‘The first time we played together was at college, playing jazz. That experience rubbed off on us – as soon as we met properly and started playing, we played blues, jazz and funk because that’s what we knew. That helped us stand out when we first started doing gigs.’

Deciding to form a band in December 2002, their work ethic was immediately apparent. They secured a residency in a local pub. ‘They let us do two-hour gigs’ says Taylor, ‘mostly covers, Hendrix, Bob Marley and Stevie Ray Vaughan, learning to play with each other through playing the greats over and over again. Newton: ‘That was the first in the long line of corners of pubs.’

Over the following 18 months, Blackbud gigged and gigged all over the West Country and across the UK . Even when they were struggling with exam pressure their rock’n’roll zeal saw them still playing up to three gigs a week. Songs began pouring out of Taylor, and they recorded three demo CDs.

By summer 2004  and following capacity crowds at Glastonbury Festival appearances on the New and Avalon stages, word of mouth on Blackbud and their fanbase reached the ears of London record labels. Taylor: ‘We didn’t approach anyone. At that point we had no intention of looking for a record deal – we hadn’t sent any demos to record companies. People came to us”. And indeed they did…literally. It was important the band felt, that any interested parties visit them on their home turf, an experience, recalls Nadel, that proved somewhat surreal as a steady stream of record executives ‘sped along little country lanes to my house to see us play in my shed”.

After a tour of Spain with Hope Of The States (booked on the spot after a Spanish promoter heard their demo) Blackbud eventually decided to release a one-off single with Fierce Panda, as bands from Coldplay to Keane via Idlewild had done before them. ‘Livewire EP’, recorded at Rockfield in Wales, was a taster of what was to come: the title track was a sinuous, funk-flavoured tune dreamt up by Taylor after he’d come back from a Middle Eastern holiday.

‘I wanted to write something that had a groove to it,’ says this naturally explosive guitarist, ‘and this rhythm and melody just appeared, fitting together. It all tends to come all in one go, the music and the words in one stream of poetry.’

In terms of their long-term aspirations, Blackbud opted to avoid the major label offers and sign with Independiente, a label with a proven track record for recognising a band’s long term potential and thus giving Blackbud the time to grow and develop.

May 2005 and Blackbud squirreled themselves away in Olympic Studios in south-west London with Youth, the legendary producer who, most recently, was at the helm for the comeback album of 2004, Embrace’s Out Of Nothing. Says Nadel: ‘…for a very laidback guy he gets a lot done – he’s a hard taskmaster and very inspiring.’

The first three songs the band recorded with Youth comprised their first full release in November 2005, The Heartbeat EP.  Lead track ‘Heartbeat’ an intense, boiling song with a huge, squealing climax; ‘Steal Away’, a bridging song between Radiohead’s The Bends and OK Computer; ‘Corner Of The World’, a measured, intense ballad. ‘They’re all emotional songs,’ says Taylor, still young enough to feel diffident about describing the personal detail and shape of his own music, ‘powerful and heavy, or delicately crafted.’  Radio One’s Zane Lowe was quick to pick up on the band, making the ep ‘single of the week’ and inviting the band to record a live session.  ‘That was a big moment for us’, says Nadel. ‘I had listened to his show for a long time and now we were on it. It made things very real’. Jo Whiley followed suit giving the band their first daytime play on Radio One.

Blackbud - Heartbeat

Independiente Records formed in 1997, releasing records for seminal artists such as Travis, Embrace, Tinariwen, So Solid Crew, and Martina-Topley Bird. The label has seen a considerable amount of success throughout the late 90's and early 00's with critically acclaimed albums such as "The Man Who" by Travis, which became the 25th biggest selling album in the UK after its release.

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Ben Taylor - Digest

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