More photos from the recording sessions at Diversion for our new album The Flat and Paper Sky, including Ben on piano and Wurlitzer and Tom on double / electric bass.

How long is the album going to take to make?

Our new album will be recorded throughout January, mixed and mastered throughout February and March, and will finally be available in September. Because that feels a long way off, we’ll be using this blog to post some ideas about the thinking that’s gone into the album – the lyrics, the music, the recording styles – as well posting some clips of the recording process and some live videos of new songs. If there’s anything particular you’re interested in knowing about, please get in touch and we’ll try and write a blog about it. For now, the first topic will be the album name – The Flat and Paper Sky, and the themes of the album.

Where does the name come from and what is the album about?

‘The Flat and Paper Sky’ comes from an Edith Sitwell poem called “Clowns’ Houses”:

“Beneath the flat and paper sky
The sun, a demon’s eye,
Glowed through the air, that mask of glass;
All wand’ring sounds that pass

Seemed out of tune, as if the light
Were fiddle-strings pulled tight.”

The poem appears in an extended sequence of poems called Facade which was written in the 1920s and set to music by William Walton to general confusion and critical condemnation.  Click here for info. Facade is a work of poetry that rejects literal interpretations, instead expressing its beauty, anger, humour, and insight through the abstract juxtaposition of images and the sounds and rhythms of the words themselves.

The themes negotiated in the poem – writing and memory; the influence of the past on the preset; the power of lust; the corruption of society – are all themes that find their way onto our album. The character ‘Erotis‘, the title of one of the tracks on our album, comes from another poem in Facade called ‘I do like to be beside the seaside’:

“Thetis wrote a treatise noting wheat is sliver like the

         sea; the lovely cheat is sweet as foam; Erotis

         notices that she

                                        Will
                                        Steal
                                        The
Wheat-king’s luggage, like Babel
Before the League of Nations grew”

It doesn’t really matter what this means – just reading the poem aloud is interesting; the way the poem is physically crafted helps a reader negotiate and perform the words.

We want our album to be a bit like this: we don’t want everything to be clear on the first listen, but that people will be intrigued enough to come back for a second, third, fourth listen and keep finding new sounds, new lyrics, and new meanings that excite and entertain them.

Our next post over the weekend will be about the different sounds and genres we’ve been inspired by in writing the album.

Cheers.

Will

DAY 1: Tracking Drums and percussion, played by Jon Ormston.

Anyroad, as most people are probably aware, it’s more or less 20 years since Nirvana’s album Nevermind was released. It was always going to be a problematic anniversary because of the nature of the band – they never thought it was going to be a success, and indeed didn’t want it to be a success in ‘industry’ terms: number of sales, MTV plays,  Billboard charts etc.  Cue a £75 ‘deluxe’ re-release by EMI begetting a bunch of musos talking about Kurt spinning in his grave.

And then there’s the covers. Oh, the covers. James Morrison covered ‘Lithium’ in his recent BBC Live Lounge performance. Miley Cyrus covered ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ a number of times (evidently) in her current South American tour. As did Take That.

Let’s all have a brief pause to splutter, do goldfish impressions, and put our heads in our hands.

Okay. Now let’s think about WHY it makes us angry. I don’t think it’s what they’re actually doing to the music and has much more to do with the nature of Nirvana as a band and their status in the popular consciousness. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is a cracking tune and will get people going at any party or gig. It’s why Nevermind was a massive hit in the first place; and it’s also why Miley and the Take That boys play it at stadium gigs. It’s a stomping, singalong song with an easily mimicable guitar riff and a catchy, repetitive chorus. In other words, it’s a great pop song.

So, after contemplation, I think I can forgive Take That and Miley – they play the song pretty much as it was recorded and it still makes crowds go mental. Sure, they didn’t write it, but they didn’t write any of their other songs either. And Kurt Cobain probably wouldn’t have been happy seeing it, but when was he ever happy?

This isn’t actually a flippant point. Kurt Cobain has been dead for over 15 years. He was depressed and committed suicide, in part due to his anger and frustration at fans and the media misinterpreting or ignoring the political and social views expressed in the songs. To be angry at Miley Cyrus for singing a Nirvana song to a bunch of… well, a bunch of people who’d go to a Miley Cyrus concert, is to claim an ownership of Nirvana’s music which excludes others from being part of it. That would probably piss off KC more than anything else! Though I have no desire to put words in his long-silenced mouth.

Nirvana may not have wanted to be a commercially successful ‘mainstream’ band but they were (or are) precisely because they write songs that people relate to and it makes them feel better to listen to them – no category of people has a monopoly on feeling disaffected and pissed off or in demanding entertainment.

p.s. I forgot to write about the James Morrison cover. It is truly terrible and everyone who was a part of it, from the terrible backing singers, the tambourine player, the idiot at the BBC who commissioned it, and the warbling fuckwit himself, should feel ashamed. I defend his right to play a Nirvana cover, but very much reserve the right to think that said cover is musically hollow, self-serving, and utterly indefensible.

friends you can think of around London and come down on Tues. Thanks!

As well as being a pithy summation of the artistic movement from High-Victorian realism to twentieth century modern- and postmodernism, it also describes, to me at least, the plight of the lyricist. Lyrics are often ‘about’ something and not ‘about’ anything at all at exactly the same time.

It’s a truism that teeters on the edge of cliche to say that there are only a limited number of topics for an artist of any sort to take inspiration from. The vast majority of songs, when it comes down to it, are about love or death. Except for Happy Birthday which sits somewhere in the middle. In most instances then, asking what a song is about is a fairly redundant question. Much more interesting to ask how it deals with the subject, whether it gives fresh insight, finds new words for expressing old ideas, and how it’s narrative is different to every other song you’ve ever heard.

If you know my taste in music or have ever listened to a Feldspar track, you’ll know I’m fairly partial to the ambiguous lyric, the song that demands a second listen because it’s too complex to understand first time round. I’m far more likely to return to a song because there’s a line in it that struck me as original or a metaphor that expresses an idea in a completely new way than because a song ‘speaks to me’ emotionally.

However, and to quote Ruskin again, “it is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated.” There are some truly great songwriters and lyricists who have taken direct, uncomplicated language and elevated it to some of the most beautiful, shocking, and heart-wrenching music ever written. Here’s a selection (in no particular order) of five songs that tackle their subject head on, without recourse to highfalutin metaphors and poetic abstraction, and do it brilliantly.

1) Simon & Garfunkel – ‘Kathy’s Song‘:

“And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true,
I stand alone without belief:
The only truth I know is you.”

Stunning.

2) Loudon Wainwright III – ‘Your Mother and I‘:

I could have picked any one of a number Loudon Wainwright’s characteristically and unapologetically blunt songs, but this is the one, out of all of them, that must have taken the most guts to write, let alone perform. Sure, laying his life and soul completely bare on stage cost him a lot of marriages and made his kids hate him, but it’s still a great song.

3) Edith Piaf – ‘Non, je ne regrette rien‘:

Apparently, this is the most chosen song on Desert Island Discs. Even for those whom the French language is a stranger, the lyrical defiance and refusal to bow to the baggage and hardships of life rings out through Piaf’s performance. I find this song a particularly good antidote to the anodyne festival of pomp and selfishness that is Sinatra’s  My Way.

4) Sinead O’Conner – ‘Nothing Compares 2U‘:

Technically, of course, a Prince song. But Sinead made the song her own with this version and her simple but magnificently honesty video which ends with the famous single teardrop. A brutally stark portrait of the numbing, boring, and terribly sad minutiae of life after losing someone.

5) Queen – ‘We are the Champions‘:

Surely, a song that must  be up there in the top stadium songs of all time. The collective version of Piaf’s singular stand against life’s hardship, it’s a song of tremendous and enduring optimism whose message is so simply and powerfully conveyed that even football fans understand it. Having said that, I wouldn’t argue that Freddy’s outfit in this video is necessarily what a champion should be wearing. Bless him.

Last night we were playing after Tanja Tzarovska, whose voice and arrangements can be heard as soundtrack in the film ‘Troy’, including the end titles duet with Josh Groban (produced by the legendary David Foster), for which she also coached and led the choir for some bits. Pretty cool claim. She performed a stripped down set with just her guitarist to accompany her distinctive voice, beautiful stuff. The highlight for me was her Macedonian folk song which she sang a capella.

We were next up, playing a set sadly without Tom the bassist (it’s all right, I just turned the bass up on my keyboard. I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing). We had a great time, it was a set with high energy in places and pretty sparse sounds in others. Perhaps the highlight was Will making a touching dedication in our song Lady Danger to Bob Dylan in honour of his 70th birthday that day, which he did by singing one of the verses in Dylan style. This was met with rapture and Will is now considering a career move into the stardom of being a sing-a-like. First time we’ve been called a “smiley band”  by a host (note that’s smiley not smelly, though we do smell also) –  I quite like that, as a few of the songs are miserable, so it’s good to balance it out.

Last up and headlining was singer guitarist Rodrigo Brada and his excellent band, some pretty impressive guitarmanship and beautiful harmonies, not to mention a lovely cover (He ain’t heavy). Rod had the audience singing lines back to his him in his own choruses at one point, something that reflects the enthusiastic atmosphere – what a great place. We will be back, so if you missed it this time, don’t miss it next time. We gave out lots of free mini EPs so if you got one of them and found this blog because of it, say hi to us on here or on facebook.

We had a photographer at the gig so stay tuned for some proper pics. In the mean time, see below.

…and just because it was Bob’s birthday, here’s a little treat:

“Feldspar provided one of the most talked about concerts amongst the audience of the first Concert Series. Comprising guitar, vocals, keyboard, cello and kit they held the audience spellbound with a medley of their own songs in a folk-bluesy idiom and bringing out their own CD.”

Ooh get us.

Churches, it turns out, are brilliant for any sort of music that needs space, reverberance and detail – Laura Marling did a tour of English churches a few years back (I caught her live at Salford, Marcus Mumford on drums before Mumford & Sons became huge – before they got together, too, come to think of it…) – it seems to suit our music very nicely. The kind folk of Prestwich were a great crowd, we threw in some classic folk songs for good measure, there’s a little clip below that I filmed on my phone whilst Will was playing, sneakily of course. Thanks to Philip White for booking us again, we’ve been told there’s a chance we’ll be back next year. St Mary’s have a great concert series so you should check out what’s on next if you’re around.

Until then, let me tell you about this gig last night. It was an evening of variety – comedy, music, poetry, dance – in Toynbee Studios in Shoreditch. I know what you’re thinking: pretentious, up-your-bum, nerd glasses, cooler-than-cool, arty nonsense for people who all play synths. Well, you’re quite wrong.

The Jam was one of the best nights we’ve played in a long time. The audience was warm, appreciative, and really willing to get involved with the performances. Audience involvement is a fine line to tread – none at all and it’s like playing in a morgue; too much and it’s like playing in a morgue where everybody’s drunk. But last night, the balance was spot on.

It helped, of course, that all the acts bar none were excellent. It is no mean feat to select fifteen very different but very complimentary acts and make them all work across four hours, and huge amount of credit must go to Poppy Corbett, the event organiser. Jam is a new venture and we certainly wish Poppy all the best in continuing after this great start.

I would like to mention three of the acts who were absolutely superb.

Clever Peter are a comedy troupe who have already garnered significant praise in comedy circles. I don’t move in comedy circles though so had no idea who they were. I’m always nervous about seeing comedians take to the stage, much more so than musicians. Bad music is painful certainly, but watching comedy fail is the most excruciating, eye-clawingly terrible thing to witness. But no such dangers with these guys.  They were clever without being smug, original without being ‘quirky’, and most importantly jaw-achingly funny. What really set them apart was creating, through tight writing and proper acting, believable and sympathetic characters in a very short space of time. So much of the dross that passes for comedy relies on crude archetypes and scatology. Clever Peter are a hugely refreshing change.

Aisling Bea produced the most assured stand-up set I’ve seen at an amateur comedy night ever. I couldn’t help thinking that it shouldn’t work. Surely, she’s too good-looking to be a comic, too thespy to be funny? But no, she was brilliant, delivering a devilishly funny set of one-liners about sex, rape, and incest in such a disconcertingly bright, likeable tone that if you didn’t speak English you would have thought she was discussing sunshine and bunnies. She also got audience participation spot on: I don’t usually like it when comedians pick on audience members. It’s often lazy, cruel, and desperate. Aisling delivered a masterclass in doing it, setting people at ease, ruthlessly controlling the dialogue rather than leaving horrendous pauses, and getting big laughs. The  play she ended her routine with was testament to this: the audience members who ‘acted’ alongside her really rose to the occasion and made what could have been a metatextual disaster into a superb set-piece.

a few dodgey phone pictures of the night

Finally, I couldn’t fail to mention Kate Lucas. She’s such an deliberately unimposing figure on stage that it’s difficult to know what to expect. Well. People are apparently very difficult to shock these days, what with rolling news, wall-to-wall violence, and Justin Bieber. I would especially imagine that a room full of twentysomethings in East London would be more or less unshockable. But Kate managed it with some of the most appalling, and appallingly funny, songs about relationships and modern life I’ve ever heard. She was brilliant. I can’t really say what she said – this is a family site – but I would definitely recommend you Youtube her, then go to a show. Blistering stuff.

So, in all, a great night. We very much enjoyed playing alongside so many great acts and hope Jam becomes an established night. It really deserves to.

Here’s a little video of Aisling Bea’s comedy which I’ve just found for you to enjoy.

The lineup, which is our new outfit and is very very brilliant, is as follows:

Will(vox and guitar) and Ben (piano, harmonies) as ever, with the following talented gentlemen:

Tom West (double bass)

Jon Ormston (Cajon (click here if you don’t know what that is) / percussion)

James Forster (electric guitar / amazing bluesy country noises)

On the recording / producing front we’re working with the altogether awesome man that is Simon Gilbert from Diversion Studios. There’s a bit of info about the studio on independent record label Lojinx’s website here, including a couple of pictures. I love studios. I really love Diversion.

The MUSIC is sounding rich, beautiful, dark, folky, bluesy, country-y, upbeat, downbeat and very Feldspar with genuine songwriting at the core, with beautiful musical arrangements ranging from very sparse and dark quiet niceness to lively, almost country style energy. We absolutely cannot wait to share them with you, but have to wait for now. We’ve got four tracks pretty much done so far. Below are some images for you to see. Don’t forget our gig on 22nd March at The Bedford called After Hours – search for After Hours on facebook or see here for more info.

Here is a little montage of photos taken by me of the recording process. More of other members to come shortly. I like photography and am jealous of people who are really good at it like our good friend Eoghan Brennan, click here to see some examples of his work. He has photographed us in the past and hopefully will again.

Ben

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