 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Anthony Reynolds is a Welsh musician. He has worked as a solo artist and in collaboration with others in his bands Jack and Jacques.
In 1993, Reynolds moved to London where he formed the group Jack, on lead vocals, signing a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music as well as a record deal with independent label Too Pure. [1]
Jack released three full-length albums, the first two of which – Pioneer Soundtracks (1996) and The Jazz Age (1998) – garnered excellent reviews and placed highly in critics' end-of-year polls. Despite the overwhelmingly positive critical reaction and extensive UK and European touring, sales for both records although respectable were ultimately disappointing, and no Jack record would ever make the UK Top 40 single or albums charts.
The third album, The End of the Way It's Always Been , was released on the Les Disques du Crépuscule label. The record featured collaborations with writer/musician Kirk Lake and the American poet and novelist/screenwriter Dan Fante (son of John Fante). An extensive European tour promoted the record. The critical reaction in the UK to the album was less positive than for the first two Jack albums, but the album was markedly successful in France.
Jack also recorded a five-track EP 'La belle et la Discothèque' with ex-Cocteau Twins bassist Simon Raymonde, son of arranger Ivor Raymonde.
During Jack's existence, Reynolds (occasionally with Jack co-writer/lead guitarist Matthew Scott) also recorded two albums and a handful of singles and EPs in his side project Jacques. Both albums were released by Setanta Records.
The first Jacques album, How To Make Love, Vol. 1 (1997) was produced by Momus, featuring a more sparse, experimental sound than Reynolds' work with Jack. Compared to the critical garlands bestowed upon Pioneer Soundtracks, the hastily recorded album (completed in seven days) received mixed reviews.
The second album, To Stars (2000), had more in common with the expansive, orchestral Jack sound and was generally more well-received than its predecessor.
Sales were modest for both Jacques albums, and a planned third album was cancelled midway through recording, when Jacques were dropped by Setanta in 2001.
Reynolds has released three solo full-length albums – Neu York (2004), credited to "anthony", and British Ballads (2007) and A Painter's Life (2019) released under his full name. A footnote to Neu York – (I was born) in prehistoric Spain – was released in 2005 on the Spanish Moonpalace label.
Reynolds has stated that he considers British Ballads to be his "proper" debut solo record. It featured cameos from English writer Colin Wilson, the singer-songwriter and pianist John Howard, ex-Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde, Dot Allison and English folk artist Vashti Bunyan.
The album received some of the best reviews of Reynolds' career, but yet again, with no real radio play and without funds to tour, the sales were disappointing. From the off, Reynolds considered this his "final debut", stating on his Myspace blog that, since the majority of the musicians appearing on British Ballads were session musicians, it was financially impractical to consider recording a new album on the same scale. Despite this he did however release 'A Painter's life' in 2019, featuring Carl Bevan (60Ft Dolls), Richard Glover (Dub War) and Rob Dean (Japan). In 2011 a 2CD compilation 'Life's too Long' was released.
In 2002, immediately after Jack's final concert (in Cardiff) Reynolds attended a Simon Raymonde recording session where Vashti Bunyan was recording her version of a Reynolds song ; 'Just so you know'. This would eventually surface six years later, on the Bees dream of flowers and your meadows summer breath EP.
In 2009 Reynolds also joined a Spanish band, La Muneca de Sal, on lead vocals, contributing some of his own songs. The band performed original material as well as songs from Reynolds' previous projects.
He has collaborated with many other artists, both as a co-composer and producer, including Momus, Colin Wilson, Dan Fante, Vashti Bunyan, Kirk lake, Martin Carr, Dot Allison, Kirk lake, Charlotte Greig and the Italian groups Hollowblue and Marti and the Spanish group Migala. In 2000, he sang with the Moscow Philharmonic on an album by the French film composer Franck Roussel. In 2016 he composed soundtracks to two feature-length films: Open my Eyes and an adaptation of the Colin Wilson novel, Adrift in Soho. The latter was released via Amazon Prime in 2020.
Reynolds has also written five full-length biographies. The first, on the 1960s group The Walker Brothers, was released in the UK and US by Jawbone press in August 2009. The second, a commission by Plexus books, on the singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, was published again in both countries in July that year. In 2011, Leonard Cohen – a remarkable life, Reynolds' biography on Leonard Cohen, was published by Omnibus press. It has since gone on to be published in twelve languages. In 2015 his biography of the band Japan: A foreign place was released via Burning shed followed by 'Cries and Whispers' in 2017 which details the solo careers of all Ex-Japan members. Both these books were translated into Japanese. In 2020 he also edited and contributed to Stephen Holden's 'Adolescent Alternatives' an account of early Japan.
Since 1992, Reynolds has also worked occasionally as a journalist, writing essays and critiques for various magazines in the UK and the US, most notably Stop Smiling magazine, Classic Pop, Shindig and The Sunday Express.
In 2002, Les Disques du Crépuscule published a collection of his lyrics, poetry and prose entitled "These Roses taste like ashes". This was followed by another collection of poetry in 2007 : 'Calling all demons'. Both of these are included in the anthology 'Interior Cities' (selected lyrics - 1995-2020).
He also occasionally acts in short films.
Reynolds was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1971. Since then Reynolds has lived in London, Paris, Shropshire, Spain, and Cardiff.
He currently lives in Wales.
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze.
Richard Jobson is a Scottish filmmaker who also works as a television presenter. He is also known as the singer-songwriter of the band Skids.
Nicholas John Currie, more popularly known under the artist name Momus, is a Scottish musician and writer.
Simon Philip Raymonde is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player with the Scottish band Cocteau Twins from 1983 to 1997.
Winston Tong is an actor, playwright, visual artist, puppeteer, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his vocals in Tuxedomoon and for winning an Obie award in puppetry for Bound Feet in 1978.
Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial. Although they released just one album while together and achieved only moderate success, they have since proved influential on many bands that followed.
Blanco y Negro Records, a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involved with the label.
Jennifer Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. She began her career in the mid-1960s and released a debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. The album sold very few copies and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career. By 2000, her album had acquired a cult following; it was re-released and Bunyan recorded more songs, initiating the second phase of her musical career after a gap of thirty years. She released two more albums, Lookaftering in 2005, and Heartleap in 2014.
Prospect Hummer is an EP by Animal Collective released in May 2005. It is an accompaniment to Sung Tongs.
Anna Domino is an American indie rock artist based in New York and Los Angeles who released several albums for Les Disques du Crepuscule and Factory Records in the 1980s and 1990s. Domino has collaborated with musicians such as Matt Johnson of The The, Stephin Merritt in The Sixths, Blaine L. Reininger and Steven Brown of Tuxedomoon, Virginia Astley, Luc van Acker and Ultramarine. She is also one half of the duo Snakefarm.
Alan Rankine was a Scottish musician and record producer best known as keyboardist and guitarist for rock band the Associates, which he co-founded with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s.
Isabelle Antena is a French singer and songwriter, and founder of the electro-samba group Antena.
Virginia Astley is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980. Her classical training influenced her, as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Although most popular in Asia, most notably Japan, she remains a cult artist in her native England.
Ivor Raymonde was a British musician, songwriter, arranger and actor, best known for his distinctive rock-orchestral arrangements for Dusty Springfield and others in the 1960s.
Jack were a British alternative rock band formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1992. Their orchestral pop was influenced by artists such as Scott Walker, David Bowie and Roxy Music, and drew comparisons to Tindersticks, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Suede and The Divine Comedy. The band attracted a cult following in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, particularly France, but they failed to match the commercial success of their britpop contemporaries. They split in 2002.
Jacques were a British alternative rock band, formed as a side project by Anthony Reynolds and Matthew Scott, singer and guitarist with Jack. They released two albums and several EPs between 1997 and 2001.
"Heaven Sent" is the fourth solo single by the Scottish musician Paul Haig. It was released in the UK on Island Records and licensed through Les Disques du Crépuscule in 1983. It reached a peak of position of number 73 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Never Give Up (Party Party)" is the fifth solo single by the Scottish musician Paul Haig. It was released in the UK on Island Records and licensed through Les Disques du Crépuscule.
Fiona Brice is an English composer, orchestral arranger and violinist.
Blaine Leslie Reininger is an American post-punk, new-wave and alternative pop singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, writer and performer. He is known for being a member of the group Tuxedomoon since 1977 after co-founding it with Steven Brown and, latterly, for a notable music and theatre career, both as a soloist and contributor to other artists' recordings, including the Durutti Column, Snakefinger, Anna Domino, Savage Republic, Paul Haig, William Lee Self's Montanablue project, Devine & Statton and Brown himself.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
