MOTHER LONDON (THE LONG SONG) by Siskin Brace

Tom Bloor – Vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, melodica
Leeroy Lugg – Guitars, samples and urban field recordings
With guest artist Wease Eats Cake– Spoken voice and sung vocal choruses

Painting by Jo Bloor 

Mother London (The Long Song)
The main title references the 1988 novel Mother London by Michael Moorcock. Other borrowings, quotations and influences include the opening bars of Percy Faith's Theme From A Summer Place, the poetic works of John Cooper Clarke, the sounds of Walthamstow Street Market, The Clash's punk/reggae  hybridizations, the longer songs of Pink Floyd and of Bob Dylan, certain traditional nursery rhymes, Edmund Spenser, the accumulative folk song Widdicomb Fair, X-Ray Specs, Lionel Bart's Oliver!, Smoky Robinson, Captain Oates, Shakespeare, The Third Man, and many other sources that we've forgotten and/or didn't realise we were ripping off.   

We started work on Mother London in 2012 and completed this final mix in February 2015.  We hope that you enjoy it and that you make it to the end.

MOTHER LONDON (THE LONG SONG) by Siskin Brace

This pared down, acoustic mix is from December 2011. 

LIFT ME UP (AND TAKE ME HOME) by Siskin Brace -  Pared down version

The lyrics for this song were inspired by an unsettling dream that Tom had. Leeroy used an empty blank cd box to make the noises at the beginning of the track. Jennifer Murray devised and played the rather exquisite oboe solo. 

Recorded at home for the song collection FLIGHT in 2010/11. 

Artwork by Joanna Bloor.

To watch the suitably lo-fi video go to  http://www.youtube.com/user/SiskinBrace?feature=mhee

FLY AWAY PETER, FLY AWAY PAUL by Siskin Brace

What begins as cod-flamenco ends in ersatz dub reggae. Written to provide an instrumental conclusion to the Siskin Brace collection NAMES (see www.siskinbrace.co.uk) the track fades out with a ghostly reminder of the opening song, KIT. 

Leeroy came up with the riff, the concept and suggested the kazoos. Tom played all the instruments. 

Recorded in East London, 2012.

The acrylic painting is by Joanna Bloor. 

VIVIAN by Siskin Brace

A burnt-out crime scene officer relates the tale of one murder investigation too many.  ANTHONY is track 7 from the Siskin Brace collection NAMES (see www.siskinbrace.co.uk) Perhaps surprisingly, the lyrics were inspired by Abba's The Day Before You Came. 

The backing vocals are by Elaine Bloor. 

The painting is by Joanna Bloor.

This song was home-recorded in East London, 2012.


ANTHONY by Siskin Brace

CASSANDRA, penultimate track on the story-song collection NAMES (see www.siskinbrace.co.uk) relates a fragment from the tragic life of the legendary princess of Troy, who was gifted with second sight but doomed never to be believed.   

Leeroy plays most of the guitar parts. Tom slaps the back of an acoustic and hits the tambourine, as well as providing a perhaps unlikely-sounding voice for a princess. 

The painting is by Joanna Bloor.

CASSANDRA by Siskin Brace

Odysseus's battle with the Cyclops imagined as a brutal spat between two tramps. 

This song features Thom Pounds on harmonica.

The painting is by Joanna Bloor.



ODYSSEUS by Siskin Brace

Inspired by the Old Testament story but transplanted to the future, a tale of space-age immigrant workers struggling to get by on a harsh, alien planet. 

The cor anglais solo is by Jennifer Murray.

Backing vocals are by Elaine Bloor.

The painting is by Joanna Bloor. 

RUTH is track number 5 from the Siskin Brace collection NAMES, written and recorded at home in East London in 2012. 

RUTH by Siskin Brace

Based on a half-remembered ghost story Tom read as a boy, GERHARDT relates the tale of a homecoming... 

The oboe solo is by Jennifer Murray.

Backing vocals are by Elaine Bloor

The song was recorded at home in east London as part of the Siskin Brace collection NAMES (see www.siskinbrace.co.uk) in 2012.


 

GERHARDT by Siskin Brace

Inspired in part by the folk tale Hansel and Gretel, this was the first piece written for the Siskin Brace 2012 song collection NAMES. 

Recorded at home in east London, 2012. 

The painting is by Joanna Bloor

GRETEL by Siskin Brace

Named after the character Ben Gunn, in Treasure Island, here's a story song about a lone survivor, from Siskin Brace's NAMES collection (see www.siskinbrace.co.uk) The guitar riff and the vocal delivery reveal the curious twin influences of Public Image and John Cooper Clark.

Recorded at home in east London in 2012.

The painting is by Joanna Bloor. 

BENJAMIN by Siskin Brace

This somewhat macabre story-song was inspired by a half-remembered folk tale, It it the song that opens the Siskin Brace collection NAMES (see www.siskinbrace.co.uk ) It's a home recording, made in east London, in 2012. 

The melodeon is played by James Dexter.  

The painting is by Joanna Bloor

KIT by Siskin Brace

Siskin Brace are Tom Bloor and Leeroy Lugg.
See  www.siskinbrace.co.uk  for songs and paintings.
See also
http://soundcloud.com/open-cage here on soundcloud for related tracks. 
For videos see SiskinBrace on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/SiskinBrace?feature=mhee

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