The culmination of two years studio graft....
Borrowed from Pitchfork.....
An Oscar-nominated Hollywood heartthrob and his best friend round up a bunch of instruments-- some of which they don't know how to play-- and a massive children's choir and make a concept album about the supernatural. Seems like a recipe for disaster, right? Guess again. Meet Dead Man's Bones, a collaboration between actors Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson, The Believer, The Notebook) and Zach Shields.
The duo plan to release their debut album, Never Let a Lack of Talent Get You Down, on their own label, Werewolf Heart, this summer. You might have seen their MySpace page, or a video for their song "In the Room Where You Sleep" floating around the web recently. In the clip, Gosling and Shields lead a bunch of kids, all dressed in Halloween costumes, through a spare acoustic lament. It's creepy and catchy. It sounds like a middle school assembly gone goth. And it's pretty damn good.
As far as celebrity music projects go, the quality level on this one is a lot closer to She & Him than, say, Joaquin Phoenix's rap career. While listening to tracks from the Dead Man's Bones album at the office, I've been asked by co-workers if I'm listening to Bryan Ferry or something by the Arcade Fire. No lie. Earlier this week, Gosling and Shields gave Pitchfork their first-ever interview about Dead Man's Bones.
The pair were nervous and excited to talk about the band, and they seem genuinely committed to the project, which is a labor-intensive D.I.Y. undertaking. As Gosling put it, "We've worked on it solid for two years. I made a couple movies because I had to, but this is all we do."
Gosling and Shields met in 2005; Gosling was dating actress Rachel McAdams (his co-star in The Notebook) and Shields was dating her sister Kayleen. "Zach was wearing high heels when I first met him, and we were forced to live in the same house on the first day," Gosling explained, laughing. "I thought, 'Who is this guy, what am I going to do with this character?' And then I thought, 'Well, I guess we'll start a band.'"
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An Oscar-nominated Hollywood heartthrob and his best friend round up a bunch of instruments-- some of which they don't know how to play-- and a massive children's choir and make a concept album about the supernatural. Seems like a recipe for disaster, right? Guess again. Meet Dead Man's Bones, a collaboration between actors Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson, The Believer, The Notebook) and Zach Shields.
The duo plan to release their debut album, Never Let a Lack of Talent Get You Down, on their own label, Werewolf Heart, this summer. You might have seen their MySpace page, or a video for their song "In the Room Where You Sleep" floating around the web recently. In the clip, Gosling and Shields lead a bunch of kids, all dressed in Halloween costumes, through a spare acoustic lament. It's creepy and catchy. It sounds like a middle school assembly gone goth. And it's pretty damn good.
As far as celebrity music projects go, the quality level on this one is a lot closer to She & Him than, say, Joaquin Phoenix's rap career. While listening to tracks from the Dead Man's Bones album at the office, I've been asked by co-workers if I'm listening to Bryan Ferry or something by the Arcade Fire. No lie. Earlier this week, Gosling and Shields gave Pitchfork their first-ever interview about Dead Man's Bones.
The pair were nervous and excited to talk about the band, and they seem genuinely committed to the project, which is a labor-intensive D.I.Y. undertaking. As Gosling put it, "We've worked on it solid for two years. I made a couple movies because I had to, but this is all we do."
Gosling and Shields met in 2005; Gosling was dating actress Rachel McAdams (his co-star in The Notebook) and Shields was dating her sister Kayleen. "Zach was wearing high heels when I first met him, and we were forced to live in the same house on the first day," Gosling explained, laughing. "I thought, 'Who is this guy, what am I going to do with this character?' And then I thought, 'Well, I guess we'll start a band.'"
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Bruise is the coming together of Yorkshire-born Isobel Morris who found her voice in Alaska, and long-time session drummer and music experimentalist Jim Kimberly. Morris brings a varied and cracked vocal style to the duo, equally capable of honeyed tones or hard-edged rock-tinged sounds. Kimberly veers between a supporting role in vocal showcases, where a minimal style leaves well alone, and song-building which rises to a crescendo of samples, beats and additional vocals.
There are traces of pop in some of their music, although the land of gritty, sometimes rowdy, folk seems to be their happiest territory. A recent gig at Climate Camp on Blackheath, London, burst with energy to the delight of a crowd with heads filled with the economics of climate change, the possibilities of direct action and the dilemmas of fostering behaviour change. A weary and challenging audience, no mistake, and local band Bruise did a job they may well be proud of. Like so many good musicians, they understand the difference between the need to goad live audiences into life with a gratifying racket, and the desire to be soothed when sitting at home contemplating the mysteries of human existence.
It has been a busy week, so for a musical antidote here is ‘Silvertown’, which tells a story of a recently demolished part of East London where Bruise once lived, named after the owner of a rubber factory. It borrows some of the best from artists such as Suzanne Vega and Joni Mitchell, complete with snappy, unexpected lyrics, a dynamic rhythm and wistfully affectionate tones. It’s the musical equivalent of someone you love bringing you a coffee and a chocolate croissant in bed on a sunny weekend morning, and that’s never bad.
Just for kicks, this week’s video is Mark Knopfler’s take on the same part of the same town. ‘Silvertown Blues’, live in Munich, a retro-shock number just in case we are ever accused of being too predictable.
Bruise is the coming together of Yorkshire-born Isobel Morris who found her voice in Alaska, and long-time session drummer and music experimentalist Jim Kimberly. Morris brings a varied and cracked vocal style to the duo, equally capable of honeyed tones or hard-edged rock-tinged sounds. Kimberly veers between a supporting role in vocal showcases, where a minimal style leaves well alone, and song-building which rises to a crescendo of samples, beats and additional vocals.
There are traces of pop in some of their music, although the land of gritty, sometimes rowdy, folk seems to be their happiest territory. A recent gig at Climate Camp on Blackheath, London, burst with energy to the delight of a crowd with heads filled with the economics of climate change, the possibilities of direct action and the dilemmas of fostering behaviour change. A weary and challenging audience, no mistake, and local band Bruise did a job they may well be proud of. Like so many good musicians, they understand the difference between the need to goad live audiences into life with a gratifying racket, and the desire to be soothed when sitting at home contemplating the mysteries of human existence.
It has been a busy week, so for a musical antidote here is ‘Silvertown’, which tells a story of a recently demolished part of East London where Bruise once lived, named after the owner of a rubber factory. It borrows some of the best from artists such as Suzanne Vega and Joni Mitchell, complete with snappy, unexpected lyrics, a dynamic rhythm and wistfully affectionate tones. It’s the musical equivalent of someone you love bringing you a coffee and a chocolate croissant in bed on a sunny weekend morning, and that’s never bad.
Just for kicks, this week’s video is Mark Knopfler’s take on the same part of the same town. ‘Silvertown Blues’, live in Munich, a retro-shock number just in case we are ever accused of being too predictable.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Daniel Cross runs Record-Play, he set it up around 7 years ago and thinks music is for hippies.Dan Garber... East London promoter, impresario, general man about town and champion of the world.
We have made this weekly new music bulletin to introduce you to some of the best breaking new bands we have found from going to gigs, browsing around the internet, reading music press or from demo's sent.
ABOUT RECORD-PLAY
We are a music consultancy that supports brands, film makers, ad agencies and producers in finding and licensing music for their productions. We also develop content and design music based marketing plans for brand application. Our clients include some of the biggest high street brands and most respected directors in the industry, check out showreel for more info.ABOUT THE MUSIC HUB
In conjunction with some of the world's best indie labels, we have launched the Music Hub. A fixed rate, one stop sourcing and licensing resource.Collaborating labels include: Tirk, Sunday Best, Illicit, Breakin' Bread, Altered Vibes, People in the Sky, Nuphonic, 5mm, Splank, Central Control and more. If you are looking for high quality independent music that can be licensed immediately at a low fixed rate then visit the site.