A Decade of Calamateur, Part 5: 2006-2009

Part 1 of this series is here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here.

2006:

The only music I released this year was ‘Sergeant Howie’s Holy Stamina Test‘.

I can’t really remember what inspired me to do it, but I woke up one morning and decided to write and record as much music as I could in that day. I only lasted till 6pm but managed to churn out four and a half songs.

There was a bit of cheating involved – I did overdub and mix at a later date but the basics were all done in one day.

The first track, ‘Bad Architecture’, inspired this nice post. ‘Perfect Moment’ was re-recorded later on for my Jesus is for Losers album, ‘One Good Eye’ featured a sample of the band of the same name (who counted Oldsolar‘s Mark Russell among its members) and the last track ‘This 20th Century’s Troubled Climate’ sampled a yoga instructor over some very Mogwai-inspired music.

You can download the EP here.

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2007:

The other ‘half-a-song’ that I mentioned earlier, which didn’t make it onto ‘Sergeant Howie’s Holy Stamina Test‘, eventually became the track ‘Spring Snow Storm’ which appeared on this album:

‘Calamateur vs Steve Lawson‘ is a collaborative album I made with the bass player and looper Steve Lawson.

(I’ve written a blog post about Steve Lawson before and don’t want to bore you by repeating myself, so if you don’t know who he is you can read more about him here.)

Most of the songs on this album started out as recordings I’d made in my own home studio. I then visited Steve at his home in London where we added his bass parts and made lots of fun noises together. I then took it all home and spent weeks editing and mixing what we’d done.

I’m really proud of this album. It’s definitely one of my more left-field releases but I still think the combination of my quietly-sung acoustic songs mixed with Steve’s ethereal bass makes for some pretty beautiful music, particularly the tracks ‘Wonder’, ‘How Long’ and ‘Endo’.

You can download the album from itunes here.

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2008:

The first music that came out this year that I had a hand in making was a track from Iain Morrison’s album ‘Skimming Stones… Sinking Boats‘.

The track was ‘Folklore & Distant Creed (calamateur remix)’. The original version had appeared on his debut album ‘Empty Beer Bottles and Peat Fire Smoke’ and he asked me to remix it for his new album.

You can buy it here.

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This was the year I also started the slow-trickle release of my album ‘Jesus is for Losers‘, which I’ve written about before on this blog.

Having been raised in a Christian home, and having decided myself to try to follow the teachings of Jesus, I have always had a fascination with songs about him, particularly those that have entered mainstream culture in some way.

I decided to attempt cover versions of a few of these songs and, when I added some re-workings of songs I myself had written about Jesus, I soon had an album’s worth of material.

You can read more about the album on this blog here and you can download the whole thing for FREE here.

Here are a couple of the reviews it got:

“The world needs mavericks like Calamateur….this latest offering is typically brimming with invention and considerable skill…it’s utterly engaging and heartfelt… 4/5.” – The List

“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.” – Is This Music?

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2009:

After I’d put out the last of the songs from ‘Jesus is for Losers’ early in 2009, I also released an EP alongside the album as a thank you for anyone who chose to donate via the Jesus is for Losers website.

The five exclusive songs on this EP are made up of three alternate versions of tracks from the album plus two brand new songs. You can get it here.

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As I wrote in my last post, I had also been spending time recording other musicians and songwriters in my home studio.

The last, and the longest, of these recording projects was with local painter, Allan MacDonald who wrote songs which his sister, Shona, sang. As well as recording the songs, I also played on and co-produced them.

We called ourselves The Trufflehunters and put out our debut album, ‘Signs of Life’, in early 2009.

Again, I’m really proud of this album. In making it I felt like I was stretched more than I ever had been before, both from a recording/production and a playing point of view. It also sounds unlike anything else I’ve ever done.

Some reviews:

“…More admirable ambition. Local trio of singer Shona MacDonald, painter Allan MacDonald and Calamateur’s Andrew Howie have got together to make a richly textured thing of some beauty, inspired by a combination of Highlands folk, plain song, chant and the strict Presbyterian tradition of unaccompanied psalm singing. If you saw Phil Cunningham’s documentary on the history of religious song you’ll recognise some of the roots of what’s going on here, but it’s transformed into a genuinely transcendent whole.” – I.C.A.

“…perseverance is urged…at times they recall the classic early 1970s atmosphere of Fairport Convention – a massive compliment” – Christianity Today

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The next release, and my last of the decade, was Commissions 2008-2009.

As is obvious from the title, this was a collection of songs I’d been asked to write or remix over the previous two years.

The songs include one of the first songs I ever released, the remix (mentioned above) I did for Iain Morrison, a children’s song with the chorus “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather!”, an ambient soundscape inspired by one of the streets in Inverness city centre, a soundtrack for a short film and lastly, a hymn written for a charity appeal DVD.

Again, this is a free download which you can get here.

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And that’s it. A decade over.

Thank you for reading this series of posts. I’ve found the process of writing them really helpful – I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as well.

More soon…

A Decade of Calamateur, Part 4: 2004-2005

Part one of this series is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here.

First of all, thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments. Please keep them coming…

Have a listen to this while you read if you like:

(if nothing appears for you to listen to then click here)

(Calamateur – ‘Half Truth’, from The Old Fox of ’45)

2004:

This year started with me making the difficult decision to leave Oldsolar, the band I’d been in for over 6 years.

There were various reasons for my departure; I was now living nearly 200 miles away from the rest of the band (which had grown from having two members to six) and that obviously didn’t help.

I was also frustrated at us having had some interest from record labels over our new material but that this had, once again, amounted to nothing.

I played my last gig with Oldsolar at the 13th Note in Glasgow, one of our favourite haunts. Here are some pictures from that night:

We had just finished recording a second Oldsolar album – ‘In Every Embrace There is Loneliness’ – just before I left the band. It features some of the best music I have ever been involved in making but the album has, unfortunately, never been released.

You can hear tracks from it at the Oldsolar MySpace page.

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In July I put out my debut album, The Old Fox of ’45.

Rather than being a collection of brand new recordings, ‘The Old Fox…’ was a bit of a rag-tag affair.

The album consisted of an Oldsolar track from days gone by, a couple of songs left over from the ‘Autocity’ sessions, two re-worked songs from the Son of Everyone EP, another two songs recorded for an EP that was never released, and only two songs actually recorded specifically for the album itself.

It’s a pretty noisy, eclectic, badly recorded set of songs but, listening to it again this week for the first time in ages, it still has plenty of moments that make me happy.

It received a few good reviews but this one remains my favourite:

“Based in the Scottish countryside, released on the miniscule Autoclave label, Calamateur’s stunning album is a work of beauty that deserves to make Autoclave very rich people indeed.

What took Snow Patrol’s 3 albums and 4 people to accomplish, Calamateur’s Andrew Howie manages straight off with songs of desolate beauty underpinned with a savage hope.

Shivering, yearning epics, as sublime as his Blue Nile cover is it’s not the best song here by any stretch. Buy it. 8/10″ – John Earls, Planet Sound

(note – Planet Sound was Channel 4’s Teletext page for music news, reviews etc. I have been reading it religiously for at least 15 years. The service sadly came to an end only a few  weeks ago. You can read more about it on The Guardian music blog here. But wait till you’ve finished reading this one first 😉 )

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The next release I was involved in was Deep Peace.

Two of my friends had recently become involved with Trident Ploughshares, a campaign to “disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system in a non-violent, open, peaceful and fully accountable manner”.

My friends had been involved in protests outside the gates of Faslane Naval Base and had both been arrested several times as a result.

Too cowardly to be arrested, but still wanting to make some kind of contribution to the cause, I decided to put together a compilation album, with all the profits from its sales going directly to Trident Ploughshares.

All of the bands involved with Autoclave Records generously contributed tracks for free, as well as Aereogramme, Brahm, Frog Pocket, Spare Snare, Lewis Turner, Apologist, alicebelts and tenyards (the last two being pseudonyms for Oldsolar’s Mark Russell).

All the songs are amazing, as is the artwork by Heather Small. You can buy the CD here.

I feel like I did a pretty good job of putting the album together but, looking back, I can see that I let Trident Ploughshares, and the bands involved, down by not making more of an effort to distribute, advertise and ultimately sell the CD – a lesson I’ve hopefully learned.

Here are some of the reviews it got:

“…that rare artefact, a consistently great compilation. And all profits go to Trident Ploughshares. Buy it and feel good about yourself into the bargain.” – Is This Music?

“The Beauly-based Autoclave label specialise in moments of raw beauty. The 14 bands/artists here overlap and merge and create a coherent album of many highlights. Aereogramme’s ‘Fireworks’, Calamateur’s unexpectedly gutsy ‘Deep Peace’, Brahm, Frog Pocket – pretty much every track! A fine compilation.” – Inverness City Advertiser

“…an ace compilation in aid of a good cause.” – Norman Records

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2005:

There was only one Calamateur release this year: Tiny Pushes Vol.2 (All the Wrong Buttons)

I know I’m biased, but I really like this mini-album. Probably more so than any other Calamateur release I’ve written about so far in this series of blogs.

Filled with samples of second-hand records I’d collected from charity shops over the years, and featuring some short acoustic songs interspersed with bursts of experimental noise, there’s just something about it I still connect with.

A couple of the tracks were played on Radio 3’s Late Junction.

Here are some of the reviews it got:

” A free download, they confidently suggest that you feel guilt at their generosity. Certainly, when my pools coupon comes up, I’ll be sending Autoclave a cheque. 4.5/5.” – Is This Music?

“…the songs, however short, pack a real emotional resonance, and their subtle textures remind me of Low and, at times, recent Hood records. It’s an album which is available free to download, and I can’t complain about that value. Not that this is this some kind of quickly knocked-out freebie, it’s cleanly and nicely put together, reflecting – it would seem – a genuine altruism in trying to share some high quality music with whoever wants to hear it.” – Diskant.net

“…the album is full of uplifting beats, textured samples and heartbreaking simplicity. From the vinyl scratch of the Aphex Twin-influenced opener ‘Upper’, to ‘Nectarine Juice’, an acoustic ambient masterpiece, to the truly stunning electro-acoustic ballads ‘Belong’ and ‘Don’t Understand’, this album exudes confidence and quality in equal measure…there’s more ideas in these two albums than Travis or Franz Ferdinand could muster in a year. 8/10.” – whisperinandhollerin.co.uk

You can download Tiny Pushes Vol.2 here.

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In 2004-2005 I also started to spend some time recording other people in my home studio, something I really enjoyed. The music I worked on was:

Peter Noble – The Glee Man or the Saga Maker?

Mark Jones – Selah

Kenny & Cathil – ‘Songs from the Attic’

(note – I’d hoped to have finished this series of posts by the new year but that obviously didn’t happen! I’ll write more soon….thanks for reading.)

A Decade of Calamateur, Part 2: 2002

Part one of this series is here.

(Calamateur – ‘Driscoll’, from the Autocity EP)

2002:

After the release of ‘White Light Unknown / Inhabit‘ I was approached by a couple of cool little indie labels. One wanted me to record a 7″ single for them and another asked me to record an EP.

This was very exciting news for me and was definitely a step in the direction I wanted to go in. But, after a lot of initial enthusiasm on their part, followed by a lot of waiting around and frustration on mine, it all came to nothing.

So my second release as Calamateur was again self-released and couldn’t have sounded more different to my debut 7″.

The Autocity EP was a collection of four long, and fairly disturbing, sonic soundscapes that dealt with the cheerful subject of car-crashes. Yes, it was only my second release but I was already making concept records!

In the months preceding the recording of these songs a close relative of mine had been involved in a car-crash, a young guy I’d known since early childhood had been killed in a motorcycle accident, and Channel 4 screened a 3-part documentary series about car-crashes (from which I stole much of the spoken word material you can hear on the EP) so I’m guessing all of these played a part in the songwriting process.

I remember one person who listened to the CD and said they felt nauseous by the end of it. Another gave the genius one-word summation – ‘Shite’.

Either way, it was never going to be a chart-topper 🙂

It was, however, played by John Peel again and was also played on Late Junction, Radio 3’s late night, laid back music programme. (note – if you want to get large royalty cheques for very little radio play, write really LONG songs)

Here are some of the reviews it got:

“…4 pulsating tracks on a 3” cd which somehow mimic engine noise, while samples of crash death statistics interplay in a cursory warning on the evils of the automobile…so spooky that it seems it would soundtrack a space shuttle crash…” – Is This Music?

“…a lovely thing to look at…very pretty beautiful sounding stuff and well worth a punt…” – Norman Records

“…beautifully packaged 3″CD…” – Rough Trade

(note: the Autocity EP isn’t available anywhere right now but I’ll try and remedy that soon.)

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Not long after the Autocity EP came out I was asked by Scottish indie music magazine ‘Is This Music?‘ for an exclusive track for their cover-mounted CD.

I chose a track I recorded at the same time as the EP, called ‘Orion’.

(Again, I’ll try and make this available sometime soon. I should also say that all of these songs were recorded using Mark Russell‘s equipment while he was away in the USA for a few months. He generously lent me all of his gear and let me use it as much as I wanted. Thanks Mark.)

You can read the next chapter here.

A Decade of Calamateur, Part 1: 2000-2001

I’ve been reading a lot of end-of-year and end-of-decade lists recently and so thought I’d make one of my own.

I’ve been making music as Calamateur for nearly 10 years now and this is the first in a series of blogs in which I’ll be cataloguing all the music I’ve been involved in making throughout that time.

2000:

The first Calamateur release was the 7″ single ‘White Light Unknown / Inhabit‘, released in early 2000.

It was a pretty lo-fi affair: recorded using Mark Russell’s (of Oldsolar) reel-to-reel 8 track, then mixed to Minidisc (a real no-no!) and, with the whole mastering process by-passed (because I had no idea what it was at the time!), it was then sent off to the Czech Republic to be made into 200 pieces of thick black vinyl.

I really had no idea what I was doing throughout the whole process, but clearly remember the excitement I felt when I opened the newly-arrived cardboard box and found 7″ singles with my music on them inside.

And that was nothing compared to how I felt when I heard John Peel playing the single on his Radio 1 show.

Here are some of the reviews it got:

“…possessing the kind of delicate use of vinyl grooves that deserves one of those sit down and contemplate it all moments in life….trembling as if touched by something altogether magical…” – Losing Today

“…astonishing debut single…” – Jockrock

“…gradually grows into a beguiling, bleary eyed, late night glory. seek it out, great things could follow.”– Track & Field

“…a thing of great beauty…”– The List

(note: I re-recorded ‘White Light Unknown’ for my latest album, Jesus is for Losers. If you want to hear the original 7″ version it’s on the Bonus Tracks EP you can get by donating here.

‘Inhabit’ is on my new ‘Commissions 2008-2009’ EP which you can get here.)

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2001:

In 1997 I met the wonderfully talented Mark Russell and we started making music together.

Using his amazing collection of guitars, synths and samplers we slowly found a sound all of our own and started playing live in and around Glasgow.

After a while we decided on a name, Oldsolar, and with the help of a new independent Scottish record label, Mint Blue Records, put out our debut album, ‘Many Visitors Have Been Gored by Buffalo’ in early 2001.

I’m still hugely proud of this album and of all the music I made with Mark.

Listening to it now brings back a whole host of great memories – recording in Glasgow tenement flats & old church halls, playing live downstairs in the 13th Note, disturbing our neighbours by mixing songs too loud in our Easterhouse flat, and learning loads along the way about music gear, playing live and being in a band. Turns out I wasn’t that good at that last one though….

I don’t think you can actually get a hold of this album anywhere online at the moment but if you give this man an email he might be able to get you a copy.

Here are some of the reviews it got:

“…a thing of real beauty…gorgeous, a million miles away from the tired rock that the west coast sometimes seems happy to churn out.” – The Big Issue

“…a stunner of an album that applies electrodes to the sonic parts others have neglected for too long…a wonderful record…” – The Sunday Times Culture Section

“…very beautiful music which gets more intriguing with every listen…” – The List

“…a frequently beautiful record…” (7/10)– NME

“…this is incredible stuff, the kind of tear inducing drone that would have Coldplay crying into their lager top. It’s also beautifully produced and on evidence of this (their debut album) these two blokes from Glasgow have a lot of dreamy, drony potential…” – Sleaze Nation

You can read the next part of the story here.