adrian brown Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) We’re pleased to announce the forthcoming release of our 2nd CD, Disguisings, in which we continue our exploration of popular music through the ages on anglo concertina and recorder. We've posted a teaser video on youtube to promote the CD here, which I hope will be a bit of fun. The new programme is a virtuosic and soulful exploration of tunes and songs that once entertained both princes and peasants alike. There are 16th century English lute and cittern pieces, a French basse dance, Playford tunes and several versions of tunes historically associated with morris dancing. On the song front, there are broadside ballads, a part song, a 16th century smash hit, cockney music hall, and an ‘80’s pop song by Ian Dury. Finally, we’ve not shied away from more classical repertoire – our arrangement of dances as a French Suite, a lute version of The Queen’s Almain and even a 17th century organ Battalia. The title, Disguisings was the name of an entertainment, popular at the English court in the 16th century, which combined dramatic and role-playing elements with music and dance. It also refers to our varied arrangements which dress up the diverse musical source material in new guises. At the moment, we're in the final stages of editing the recordings and I'll report back with a final track-listing in a couple of weeks. But it is due to be released in early December and will be available for pre-order on the Karnatic Lab Records website from mid- November. From January 2015 onwards it will also be available via Amazon, Itunes and CDbaby, although we'll give Spotify a wide berth this time... Adrian Edited November 4, 2014 by aybee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maki Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Beautiful music! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Franch Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I'm looking forward to your notice in mid-November that the site is now ready to accept pre-orders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Well done Adrian! Very nice video, interesting to watch, great music. I´m also looking forward to your new cd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven r. arntson Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Wow, this is great! Thanks for posting. Out of curiosity, is your first CD still available too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Many thanks for your kind comments guys, glad you're looking forward to it... Wow, this is great! Thanks for posting. Out of curiosity, is your first CD still available too? Yes Steven, our first CD Indoors is still available here, but in the USA, you might have it quicker (and cheaper) via Amazon. You can also download it via Itunes, but then you'd miss out on the nice booklet and photos... Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 (edited) Corr!.... more dis-custin dee-lites from the dapper ones eh!! Will be sergestin' eet fer me chrismass stockin den....mate! Edited November 5, 2014 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 Corr!.... more dis-custin dee-lites from the dapper ones eh!! Will be sergestin' eet fer me chrismass stockin den....mate! Hi Geoff, I tried very hard not to sound like Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins, but I was born about 15 miles from the bells of Bow church, so I can't claim to be a real Cockney geezer... More's the pity :-) Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven r. arntson Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I just purchased a download of "Indoors" from CDBaby (whose offices are just a few hours south from me here in Seattle). This is, without a doubt, the best $10 I'm going to spend this month. This CD is a triumph, up to and including the production values, but primarily due to the level of musicianship. I'll also say, since this is afterall a concertina forum, that the use of the concertina is so perfectly integrated into the style that if I wasn't told by the liner notes that it's "inauthentic" I would never have known. The integrity of the musicianship is perfectly attuned to the material, on the level (to my mind) of Segovia playing Bach. Congratulations on this one. I'm looking forward to the next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 A very promising teaser Adrian - I'm very much looking forward to the release of the album! Best wishes to the three of you (is Rufus on one of the recordings again?) Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayman Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 So much has already been said of "Indoors" -- a remarkable album! -- that rather than add more words to its praise I will instead tell you great things about their new album. I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, of course, but I have had the delight of hearing quite a bit of the material in person when Adrian and Susanna visited me this summer. Some cracking good arrangements and medleys, nicely themed material, and historically and lyrically interesting songs that fit right in, too. (At least I hope some of the songs made the album -- I quite enjoyed them live!) And, having talked at some length with Adrian about the process of researching original scores and arranging these pieces (not written with their instrumentation in mind, of course), I can say that the effort and care put into creating their music goes far, far beyond their talented musicianship, and the results of all that work are fantastic. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted November 8, 2014 Author Share Posted November 8, 2014 Wow amazing, thanks! It's comments like these that makes all the hard work worthwhile and I hope our second effort will show signs of improvement... We're back in the studio next week to help with the mixing and mastering, then its off to the factory! The artwork is 90% done, and we're just fiddling around with the final order of the tracks. The whole project has been a much bigger challenge than the last one, and it's very nice now to finally see the end in sight. Steven, if you'd like to read the booklet text for 'Indoors' - send me a p.m. with your e-mail address and I'll mail you a .pdf copy Wolf, Rufus is not on the new recording, but knows all the songs by heart and sings them playing with his lego. I'm hoping he can come to the German meeting with us next March. Thanks again,Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Hey, Adrian- Good to see you and Susanna again, if only on video. The material sounds great. One comment, though, entirely unrelated to the music. One of my anal pet peeves. In the brilliant opening and closing swirls of letters forming the words "Dapper's Delight" and "Disguisings," the apostrophe in "Dapper's Delight" is straight up-and-down, what you'd expect to see in the output of a typewriter (or e-mail) rather than the curved apostrophe that would be more appropriate for typeset or chiseled lettering or any high-quality text presentation. Dapper's (what's in the video) Dapper’s (what would look better) You can make a curved apostrophe on a Mac by typing option - shift - ] or on any computer by using a word processor that automatically incorporates "smart quotes." I just had a quick look at your previous CD cover and your web site and, fortunately, I don't see the problem there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Thanks for pointing that out David - it was just in time for me to check our entire CD booklet and artwork, and weed out any straight apostrophes. I had no idea there was a difference!Latest update is that our artwork is now done, the CD is mastered, it's already at the factory. The final track listing is as follows:1. Castleton Garland Dance or Long Morris ◊ Nobody's Jig 1 and 22. Robin Hood: Thomas Weelkes (1576–1623) ◊ Staines Morris 1, 2 and 33. Now is the Month of Maying: Thomas Morley (1557–1602) ◊ Month of May (Fieldtown Morris)4. Thantik ◊ The Anticke ◊ Les Buffons ◊ Shepherds’ Hey (Signposts, Fieldtown Morris) ◊ Pantalone ◊ Pickelharing5. Tobacco’s but an Indian Weed6. The Antic Dance ◊ Buffoons (Illmington Morris) ◊ The Antic Dance ◊ The Buffoon Dance/John Come Kiss Me Now7. Once I loved a Maiden Fair ◊ Lumps of Pudding8. Dance Suite from Playford’s Apollo’s Banquet: A New Aire ◊ Papse ◊ Bore ◊ Minuet ◊ An Italian Ground9. Bathalia de 6˚ tom: Pedro de Araujo (1662–1705)10. The Female Souldier, or The Virgin Volunteer: Tune by Henry Purcell (1659–1695)11. The Queenes Almayne: Teutscher Dantz ◊ Almande Nonette12. No Man's Jig (Sleight Sword Dance), arr. Cecil Sharp (1859–1924)13. A Great Big Shame (1895): Words by Edgar Bateman, Music by George LeBrun14. There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards: Ian Dury (1942–2000)Tracks 1, 2 and 12 are different historical variations on the Morris processional tune (Winster, Helston etc.) and it's derivatives, whereas tracks 4 and 6 concentrate on the Buffoons/Shepherds' Hey/Gregory Walker melody and ground. Track 3, with the exception of Greensleeves, is possibly the most enduring of all early English songs. Track 5 is an anti-smoking song from the 1620's – not so long after tobacco was introduced to Europe! 7. is an early 17th century Broadside Ballad, the tune of which is a well known from Playford's later Dancing Master publications. Track 8 is an attempt at constructing our own "French suite" from a five tunes in Playford’s Apollo's Banquet (a sort of 17th century "tune a day" book for the violin) Track 9 is our first attempt at an organ piece - a "Battle" fantasy based on the famous 16th century chanson by Clément Janequin: La Bataille de Marignan. 10 is a humorous 17th century Broadside Ballad in the William and Nancy mould, only here, the maid enlists in order to fight the French and give a courageous example to her weaker-minded compatriots! Track 11 is a set of divisions on the theme of The Queen's Almayne, one of the most popular pan-European tunes from the Renaissance period. Track 13 was a big music hall hit for the cockney costermonger Gus Elen in the 1890's. Track 14 was the B side to Dury's first hit Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick from 1978.I use 5 different anglo concertinas on the CD in C/G Bb/F(2) G/D and F/C(low), and Susanna plays matching recorders in 8 sizes.The CD is now available on pre-release on the Karnatic Lab Records site and the latest estimate on the release date is December 8th.Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I´ve just ordered, I´m really looking forward to it. Very cool photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Wow! What an interesting looking Track list..... you have been busy bees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Yeah Geoff, it's been quite a ride this project! Now it's done, rather than sit twiddling my thumbs this weekend, I had a go at part two of our little video mock-doc. I realise I'm probably pushing my luck here, but well, it was a fun thing to do: http://youtu.be/mq9DgxAupD4 Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 So our CD is finally out, 5 days early. The first copies have already been sent and (I promise this will be the last one) we have a new video with extracts from the CD here: (This time, just the music and no blah blah from us…) For the moment the CD is only available via the Karnatic Lab records webshop, but orders received before the 12th of December will be dispatched promptly and should arrive in time for Christmas… The physical CD will shortly be for sale via CDbaby and Amazon, as well as the Button Box in the USA. Digital downloads will start in January, but they don’t include the nice photos and 24-page booklet which gives a lot of information about the tunes, the sources and our approach. Many thanks to all the Cnet members who have already pre-ordered the CD - your copies are already on their way and I hope really you'll enjoy it. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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