Marcus O'Dair

Last updated

Marcus O'Dair is an English writer, musician/manager, broadcaster and lecturer. He is most notable for his work as part of the band Grasscut, described by Clash magazine as "genuinely daring electronica artists". [1] He is also notable for his 2015 biography of musician Robert Wyatt, a book described in the London Review of Books as "fascinating". [2]

Contents

Career

O'Dair works as both a music lecturer and journalist. [3] He is also the author of Different Every Time: the Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt, [4] which was published by Serpent's Tail [5] and features a foreword by Jonathan Coe. [6] The book was described by The Guardian as "exhaustive and affectionate", [7] and as a "meticulous and vivid account". [7] He co-compiled the accompanying compilation, released by Domino Records. [8]

As a writer, he has written for publications including The Guardian [9] and the Financial Times . [10]

O'Dair is a regular studio guest on The Freakzone (BBC 6 Music) with Stuart Maconie, [11] and in 2015 recorded an essay about swimming in the Lake District for BBC Radio 3. [12]

Along with the songwriter Andrew Phillips, O'Dair is one half of Grasscut, who have previously released two albums on Ninja Tune (1 Inch: 1/2 Mile [13] and Unearth [14] ) and a third on Lo Recordings, 2015's Everyone Was A Bird. [15] The band have been described as building their reputation on "writing about situations and places, rather than standard pop songs", [16] with The Quietus reviewing Everyone Was A Bird as "that rare slab of post-rock that uses the genre's textures and general ethos of exploration to create new sounds instead of rehashing old ones". [15]

O'Dair is also a lecturer in Popular Music at Middlesex University. [17]

In 2016 O'Dair co-authored a report on the use of blockchain technology within the music industry titled Music On The Blockchain. [18]

Related Research Articles

The Canterbury scene was a musical scene centred around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational style that blended elements of jazz, rock, and psychedelia.

Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt is an English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming paraplegic following an accidental fall from a window in 1973, which led him to abandon band work, explore other instruments, and begin a forty-year solo career.

Stuart Maconie

Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark Radcliffe, he hosts its weekend breakfast show which broadcasts from the BBC's MediaCityUK in Salford. The pair had previously presented an evening show on BBC Radio 2 and the weekday afternoon show for BBC Radio 6 Music.

The Wilde Flowers

The Wilde Flowers were an English psychedelic rock band from Canterbury, Kent. Formed in 1964, the group originally featured lead vocalist Kevin Ayers, lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Brian Hopper, rhythm guitarist Richard Sinclair, bassist Hugh Hopper and drummer Robert Wyatt. Despite not releasing any material during their brief three-year tenure, the band are generally considered to be the originators of the Canterbury scene. After their breakup in 1969, the group's members went on to form numerous key bands within the scene, including Soft Machine, Caravan and Camel.

Woodrow Wyatt

Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford was a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch. For the last twenty years of his life, he was chairman of the state betting organisation The Tote.

<i>The End of an Ear</i> 1970 studio album by Robert Wyatt

The End of an Ear is the debut solo album by Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt.

<i>Rock Bottom</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Robert Wyatt

Rock Bottom is the second solo album by former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt. It was released on 26 July 1974 by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason, and was recorded following a 1973 accident which left Wyatt a paraplegic. He enlisted musicians including Ivor Cutler, Hugh Hopper, Richard Sinclair, Laurie Allan, Mike Oldfield and Fred Frith in the recording.

Michael Roland Ratledge is a British musician. A part of the Canterbury scene, he was a founding member of Soft Machine. He was the last founding member to leave the group, doing so in 1976.

Laurie Allan is an English drummer, best known for stints in Delivery and Gong.

These New Puritans

These New Puritans are an English music group/band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett and his twin brother George Barnett. Multi-instrumentalist Thomas Hein was an active member of TNP between 2006 and 2016; keyboardist Sophie Sleigh-Johnson was active between 2006 and 2010. They have recorded four studio albums: Beat Pyramid (2008), Hidden (2010), Field of Reeds (2013) and Inside the Rose (2019).

The Wyatt family included several of the major English architects across the 18th and 19th centuries and a significant 18th century inventor, John Wyatt, the eldest son of John Wyatt.

Mary Epworth

Mary Epworth is an English singer, songwriter, and composer.

Heritage Orchestra

TheHeritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded by Chris Wheeler and Jules Buckley. They perform mainstream, cult, experimental and popular music. The orchestra, which ranges between 25 and 65 members, has performed internationally in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Emirates Palace, and Hollywood Bowl, and tours throughout the UK to major concert halls and large-scale arenas, including The O2 Arena in London.

Anna Calvi

Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her accolades include three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Award nomination, and a European Border Breakers Award. She has been noted by some critics as a virtuoso guitarist, as well as for her powerful, wide-ranging operatic contralto voice and sometimes androgynous stage appearance.

<i>Diamond Mine</i> (King Creosote and Jon Hopkins album) 2011 studio album by King Creosote and Jon Hopkins

Diamond Mine is a collaborative studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter King Creosote and English electronica musician Jon Hopkins, released on 28 March 2011 through Domino Records. Inspired by the East Neuk of Fife, the album combines Creosote's songs with field recordings by Hopkins. Upon release, Creosote stated: "I really don't know what to do next, because, in some ways, I'm at that peak. I don't know where to go from here." The album was subsequently followed by the EP, Honest Words in September 2011, and the double a-side single, "John Taylor's Month Away"/"Missionary" in February 2012. A deluxe version of the album, titled Diamond Mine , was released in 2012.

Grasscut

Grasscut are a musical group featuring composer/producer Andrew Phillips and musician/writer Marcus O'Dair. Phillips writes and produces all Grasscut music; he also sings and plays various instruments including guitar and keyboards. O'Dair manages the act and contributes keyboards and double bass. They are based in Brighton, England.

Fat White Family

Fat White Family are an English rock band, formed in 2011 in Peckham, South London.

<i>Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974</i> 2005 live album by Robert Wyatt & Friends

Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974 is a 2005 live album by English progressive rock musician Robert Wyatt, documenting a concert on that date at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The concert took place the year after Wyatt had fallen from a fourth-storey window and become paralysed from the waist down. Since the accident, Wyatt has used a wheelchair. The concert remains Wyatt's first and only live performance as a headlining solo artist.

Honor Ellen Wyatt was an English journalist and radio presenter, known for her association with Barbara Pym, Robert Graves and Laura Riding as well as for her own work. She was the mother of the actor Julian Glover and the musician Robert Wyatt.

References

  1. ↑ Cullen, Miguel. "Ones To Watch: Grasscut". Clash. Clash. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Harding, Jeremy (20 November 2014). "Short Cuts". London Review of Books. London Review of Books. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Delingpole, James. "Double vision". The Spectator. The Spectator. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. ↑ O'Dair, Marcus (9 July 2015). Different Every Time: The Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt. London: Serpent's Tail. ISBN   9781846687600.
  5. ↑ "Different Every Time: The Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt". Serpent's Tail. Serpent's Tail. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Different Every Time". Allen & Unwin. Allen & Unwin. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 Penman, Ian. "Different Every Time: The Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt by Marcus O'Dair – review". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "ROBERT WYATT – DIFFERENT EVERY TIME – 17TH NOVEMBER 2014". Domino Record Company. Domino Record Company. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Guadian – Marcus O'Dair". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "I'm enjoying myself with words". The Financial Times. The Financial Times. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "Stuart Maconie's Freakier Zone". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "Marcus O'Dair – Swimming Stories". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Grasscut 1 Inch / ½ Mile Review". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Grasscut – Unearth (Review)". Indie London. Indie London. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  15. 1 2 Brusse, Bryan. "Reviews, Grasscut – Everyone Was A Bird". The Quietus. The Quietus.
  16. ↑ "Grasscut – Everyone Was a Bird (Lo Recordings) – Review". god is in the tv. god is in the tv. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "Marcus O'Dair". Middlesex University. Middlesex University. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  18. ↑ Ward, Rich. "Interview: Music on the Blockchain – Marcus O'Dair". 11 is louder than 10. 11 is louder than 10. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.