Cross Rhythms album review

My new album has been reviewed by Cross Rhythms:

9/10

“To take the time to listen to this album is to take the time to become totally spellbound by it. Where there are albums in your life that you play and listen to without ever really affecting you, this is an album that truly takes over and plays you, with a soulful, intimate sound of longing and despair that many bands of the moment could only aspire to.

The singer has a powerful emotive voice that is effecting on both his own compositions and on cover versions from sources as diverse as Andrew Lloyd-Webber, The Velvet Underground, U2 and, on the classic song which gives the album its title, Steve Taylor.

With an eclectic mix of deeply relaxing, atmospheric backings and more raucous accompaniments, it is clear that Calamateur, otherwise known as Andrew Howie, is a very special talent and it is little wonder that his music is turning heads in the industry.

This is a collection of powerfully honest songs that will compel you to wake up and take stock. Highlight tracks are “I Can Hear Her Breathing”, “Talitha K”, “Wake Up Dead Man” and the haunting title track.”

Is This Music? album review

My new album has been reviewed by Is This Music?.

Here it is:

“So, if Jesus is just a Spanish boy’s name, why have so many dedicated tunes to him – and I’m not just talking the Songs of Praise crew. On this unusual and free-to-download album, Andrew Howie has gathered together versions by some of the more credible Christ songs as well as a few surprises.

The good news first – this is no ‘Saved’ (Bob Dylan’s all-time-low) but there have been stabs at putting JC into a rock context – from Broken Family Band’s Jesus Songs, to Hefner’s wee series of ‘Hymns’ to Alcohol and Cigarettes, as well as Breaking God’s Heart. Hell, even Godspell had its moments.

Calamateur’s homage isn’t all strictly religion either, more examining human nature and faith – so there are originals such as ‘White Light Unknown’ which deals with suicide, and a punked-up ‘Perfect Moment’. However, it’ll be the covers that are of most interest – even if these two are a match for anything else here.

Lloyd Webber’s ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ is well, odd – it’s hard to get round the fact that Howie’s vocals sit where Elaine Paige’s should be, and this takes the communion wafer for most bizarre track here (or indeed, pretty much anywhere). The U2-penned ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ is one of the better ones here, beating Zwan’s ‘Jesus, I’ hands down, while the stripped-back version of the Velvets ‘Jesus’ – not one of the band’s finest moments – doesn’t lend too much to the album apart from a kind of completism and the sense that there’s something here that’s definitely not one from the hymnbook.

It would be too easy, given that Howie has chosen the tunes and arranged them himself, to suggest that his own material is better than that of Bono and American Music Club. But from the blatant pop of ‘Lonely Boy’ which combines gospel and football terrace chant, to the fantastic ‘Talitha K’, Howie himself constantly comes up trumps, putting the covers in the shade. They always say that the devil has the best tunes, but I’m not so sure.

(free download from www.jesusisforlosers.co.uk)”

By Bernhard Bessing

Highland News article

The Highland News recently published this nice article about my new album:

JESUS INSPIRES

SINGER songwriter Andrew Howie isn’t planning to bring down the wrath of God’s loyal followers with new album Jesus Is For Losers. He explained: “It’s named after a song by American singer songwriter Steve Taylor I cover on the album. “I knew it already when I had the idea for the album which was a while ago.”

There’s a real mix of material on the album which majors on his signature quirky, ambient tracks. Alongside his own songs, Andrew has also chosen to include covers of tracks by a wide mix of names – U2’s Wake Up Dead Man, The Velvet Underground’s Jesus, I Don’t Know How To Love Him from the Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Jesus Christ Superstar plus more obscure names such as American Music Club and Zwan featuring Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan.

Beauly-based Andrew or Calamateur, his music persona, explained the idea behind the album. “I suppose Jesus Is For Losers is a fairly provocative song title and people could misunderstand what the album is about. But hopefully they won’t judge it and will dig a little deeper,” said Andrew. “All the songs have got something to do with Jesus.” But it’s not just songs “about Jesus”. As Andrew himself points out writing on his website about the exercise, albums about Jesus don’t have a great track record – he points to Bob Dylan’s Saved or Johnny Cash’s Gospel Road as two that didn’t do their creators any particular favours. His songs and covers look at everything from failure and disillusionment to one boasting a one-night stand with Jesus.

“I had a Christian upbringing and for me it’s important for everyone brought up believing or being taught something to question it, to see for themselves whether it’s true or not. “I’m constantly exploring what I was brought up with. So for the album I chose to explore it through songs I wrote and songs I had discovered.” Where did the exercise take him? “I still believe a lot of what I was brought up to believe,” he revealed. “But I like the idea of having a humble attitude and realising that we don’t know everything and that there are always going to be new questions to ask.

“From the feedback I’ve had through the website, a lot of people seem to have connected with it. It’s nice to know that people are connecting with it because if they couldn’t it would have been a pointless exercise!” He laughed: “I’ve been putting out a couple of tracks at a time and that was meant to happen over weeks, but it’s turned into months!”

As well as officially launching last week the full version of Jesus Is For Losers, in the next few days he’s also set to complete final mixing of his next album recorded down in Glasgow over the last few years. There’s been what he calls a “slow trickle” release of the Jesus album tracks to members on the Calamateur mailing list, though they had to wait till last week for the final three. He’s also very generous to fans who can download Jesus Is For Losers for free with a booklet and artwork included. As Andrew puts it, Jesus Is For Losers is free, but recording isn’t. So anyone who gives a donation will get a bonus fivetrack EP as a thank you.

He explained why he’d chosen to release his album this way: “It can be quite hard to get people’s attention. “Having it to download free is a simple way of doing it when there’s so much music out there that’s self-released. “And with the other album almost finished, doing the Jesus album for free might meanthere will be more interest in the next one from people who’ve got to hear this one! With the next one, I’d like to go the traditional CD route because when you’re playing gigs, you want to have something to sell at the end.”

He warns that the newest album doesn’t even have a title yet and that it may be some time before it actually appears. But these days fans of Calamateur, know the wait is worth it.

Go to www.jesusisforlosers. co.uk to download the album free or donate and pick up the bonus 5-track EP.

rejesus.co.uk

Last week I met up with the lovely Bruce and Sara from rejesus.co.uk.

They were up in this neck of the woods for a small break and also to film me talking at length about my Jesus is for Losers album, as well as playing a few songs from it:

The footage will hopefully be up on the rejesus website soon.

I’ve done the odd interview before but I still find it odd to talk about myself and the stuff I’ve done without being argued with or interrupted like in a real conversation. I kind of liked it…and kind of didn’t. And, as with any situation in which I’ve done a lot of talking, I can think of countless things I wish I’d said differently or just not at all.

Hopefully the editing will merciful….

Jesus is for Losers out today – bonus EP available

Well, it’s taken longer than I expected but my now-complete new album Jesus is for Losers is officially released today.

You can download it for free here:

www.jesusisforlosers.co.uk

I’ve also recorded a 5-track EP of bonus tracks that are available to anyone who clicks the donate button on the website.

The 5 tracks are:

1. I Can Hear Her Breathing (full acoustic version)
2. Lonely Boy (alt. version)
3. White Light Unknown (original 7″ version)
4. I Turned the Tape Over and Wound My Way Back to You
5. The Day Before the Christmas Party

The EP is also available to anyone who has helped promote the album via word-of-mouth, blog….etc. If this is something you think you have done then just get in touch and I’ll give you a link to the EP.

Thanks to everyone who has donated and/or helped so far. It is very much appreciated!

Jesus is for Losers – listeners’ comments

This post is a collection of kind comments people have made about my Jesus is for Losers album so far. Please feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments box below, or email me. I am happy to accept negative comments as well……within reason!

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“…some of the songs on that record are probably some of my favourite things you’ve put out…I love the opening track and how it leads into a brilliant reading of Steve Taylor…”

“…loving Jesus Is For Losers – it’s excellent…”

“…What a great start! Two fantastic tracks. I’ve always loved the Steve Taylor song, and you put a whole other emotional spin on it to the original…”

“…I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your latest song, Jesus is for Losers. It is really really beautiful. With the build-up from calm and serene to an enveloping soundscape that draws images in my head, along with stunning vocals all around, it really hit the spot with me… and you’ve yet again proved you cannot do anything wrong…”

“…I love your version of Jesus is for Losers -it’s a very worthy version to rival the original…”

“…Loving the slow release of the Jesus Is For Losers songs. Keep ‘em coming!”

“…i have been listening to Jesus is for Losers a fair bit recently…White Light Unknown is a brilliant piece of song-writing – I love it!!!!”

“Just wanted to say – JIFL is a great album. I have listened to it a lot over the last few months, and it is good to see it out as a whole. ….keep up the good work.”

“yet again your music is addictive, i can’t stop listening to it.”

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(again, feel free to add your own thoughts on the album by adding a comment to this post or by emailing me.)

Album review in The List

My new album has been reviewed by the Scottish arts and events magazine The List:

Calamateur – Jesus is for Losers

4/5

(self-release)

LO-FI

The world needs mavericks like Calamateur. Holed up somewhere outside Inverness, Andrew Howie has been making a find blend of folk, rock and electronica for almost a decade, with this latest offering typically brimming with invention and considerable skill.

A concept album of sorts featuring covers of songs about Jesus and a handful of original tunes, it’s utterly engaging and heartfelt, from the bluesy stomp of ‘Lonely Boy’ to the heartbreaking cover of ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ from the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. Yes, really. The whole album is available free from www.jesusisforlosers.co.uk, a donation nets you a bonus five-track EP. Do it now.

by Doug Johnstone.

http://www.list.co.uk/article/16020-calamateur-jesus-is-for-losers/

Jesus is for Losers track 11: Wake Up Dead Man

Calamateur – Wake_Up_Dead_Man.mp3

I’ve always liked U2. I realise a lot of people think I shouldn’t…..but I do. I even got into them during what many see as they’re most pompous phase – the Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum era. But I was too young/stupid to see all that stuff and just loved the music.

Pop is seen as one of their worst albums, but I’ve been listening to it again recently and it’s really not that bad, bar 3 or 4 tracks.

Anyway, this is my cover of that album’s last track, Wake Up Dead Man. It’s the last song on my Jesus is for Losers album which, if you haven’t gathered already, you can download for free (including a 9 page digital booklet and artwork) from here:

www.jesusisforlosers.co.uk

The whole album will be up from March 9th, but you can download 8 of the 11 songs on the site just now and pilfer the remaining 3 from this blog.

Jesus is for Losers track 10: Jesus, I

Calamateur – Jesus_I.mp3

My friend Gareth gave me a copy of Zwan’s album not long after it came out a few years ago.

I really liked it, especially the first few tracks, but to hear a song about being persecuted for following Jesus near the end of the album came as a bit of a surprise. I’ve no idea what led Billy Corgan to record this song, which he supposedly found in an old hymn book, but there’s an interesting discussion of it here.

My favourite comment on that page by far is:

“yeah i just don’t like billy no more this album seems too christian… this song is great because of the great drums of jimmy chamberlin and musically is pretty good. but th lyrics are bullcrap”

Genius.

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As an aside, according to Release International:

“The persecution facing Christians is the largest human rights violation issue in today’s world.

According to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith.”

Jesus is for Losers track 9: Talitha K

Calamateur – Talitha_K.mp3

Many years ago, there was a very cool band in Glasgow called Talitha K. That’s a picture of their one and only 7″ release above.

At least one member of the band went on to bigger and better things….I have no idea about the rest.

My song is named after that band, but it’s also about a conversation my friend Richard had one year at Greenbelt with Martyn Joseph about not necessarily having to know about something to experience the benefit of it.

Talitha K originally appeared on my Son of Everyone EP, but I’m much happier with this new version.