Benjamin Shaw | |
---|---|
Genres | Indie, alternative, folk, experimental, lo-fi |
Occupation(s) | Musician, artist |
Labels | Audio Antihero |
Benjamin Shaw is an English-Canadian musician [1] and artist [2] based in Melbourne, Australia. He has recorded for a number of different labels but is a mainstay of Audio Antihero records. [3] He also uses the monickers of Guppy and Megadead.
Benjamin Shaw released his debut EP "I Got the Pox, the Pox is What I Got" in October 2009 on Audio Antihero which saw airplay from BBC 6 Music on the Tom Ravenscroft, [4] Gideon Coe, [5] Steve Lamacq, [6] Jon Holmes [7] and Tom Robinson [8] shows and positive reviews from publications such as The Skinny, [9] The 405, [10] The Music Fix, This Is Fake DIY, [11] Clash Music [12] and The Line of Best Fit who remarked "If you think you've heard the like of Benjamin Shaw before, think again. TLOBF recommended.". [13]
In October 2011 it was announced on sites like Drowned in Sound, [14] Bearded [15] and This Is Fake DIY [16] that he would be releasing first album, There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet. He began promoting the album with a series of sessions for the likes of The Fly, The 405, [17] This Is Fake DIY, [18] Triple R, [19] The Line Of Best Fit, [20] Dandelion Radio [21] and Resonance FM. [22]
The debut LP There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet was released on 21 November to positive reviews. Drowned in Sound called it "superb," [23] Clash Music remarked that Shaw was "an outcast, a loner, a maverick and a freak. All of these are compliments," [24] The Line of Best Fit claimed "you wouldn't want everyone (or anyone else) to sound to like Benjamin Shaw but I'm delighted someone does," [25] Is This Music? awarded it 4/5 and called it "one of the better records of the year" [26] and MusicOMH gave it 4/5 and hailed it as a "truly special album." Album tracks "The Birds Chirp & The Sun Shines" and "Interview" were given multiple plays on the Tom Ravenscroft and Gideon Coe BBC 6 Music shows, as were the album's first single "Somewhere Over the M6" and its B-side "Pig". [27]
Shaw has played around the UK, Europe and Australia [28] with artists such as Darren Hayman, [29] Tom Paley (New Lost City Ramblers), [30] Jack Hayter (Ex-Hefner), [31] Neil Pennycook (Meursault), [32] Extradition Order, Paul Hawkins & The Awkward Silences, Runaround Kids, Little Red and The Owl Service. [33] Shaw has also seen endorsements from Nic Dalton of The Lemonheads. [34]
During a radio interview on 12 August 2012, Audio Antihero founder Jamie Halliday revealed that Benjamin Shaw was working on new material for a future release with the label. [35] The first piece of new material to surface was the "T'ra F'now" instrumental on the Audio Antihero produced "Hüsker Doo-wop" Charity EP to raise money to repair damages to independent music organisations in New York following Hurricane Sandy. [36] [37] [38] [39] Shaw followed up his contribution to this charity EP with "This Christmas (I Just Want to be Left Alone)," a collaborative Christmas single with Fighting Kites to raise money for Shelter, Shaw also directed the music video. [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] The single benefited from critical praise from online press and radio and saw support from Tom Robinson, Bush Radio, Jon Solomon's WPRB show and Rolling Stone. [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54]
On 14 January, it was announced that Benjamin Shaw would releasing a new instrumental record entitled Summer in the Box Room on the Glass Reservoir label in February 2013. [55] [56] Two tracks from the record were premiered by Robert Rotifer on 4FM [57] and GoldFlakePaint praised it as a "special kind of dour musical genius." [58] Tom Ravenscroft also aired tracks from the release on his BBC Radio 6 Music show. [59]
Benjamin Shaw sometimes performs live with Neil Debnam (Fighting Kites/Broken Shoulder) and Kay Ishikawa (Comet Gain) as Benjamin Shaw Band. [60]
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