Steve Adey | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Birmingham, England |
Genres | Alternative rock, art rock, avant-garde, experimental rock, folk, baroque pop |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | Grand Harmonium |
Website | steveadey |
Steve Adey (born in Great Barr, Birmingham) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. [1] His music is characterised by slow tempos, minimalist arrangements, underpinned by piano and a rich baritone vocal. As of 2018 Adey has released three studio albums and various EPs and singles.
Adey released his critically well received debut album All Things Real in 2006 through independent record label Grand Harmonium Records. Music journalists often categorise his piano, vocal led songs as folk and singer-songwriter, but also acknowledge a harder, less generic, left of mainstream approach; No Ripcord's Simon Briercliffe writes "His voice is rich and carries on long after it's comfortable, at times far louder and more in your ear than is comfortable, leaving you hanging on every word." [2] Writers generally warmed to the album's introspective songs and well chosen covers. US journal for improvised and progressive music 'Signal to Noise' heralded the album as "haunting folk into straight-up epic territory." [3] Many reviews picked up on the integration of hi-fidelity crossed with a lo fi, homemade approach. Sunday Times critic Mark Edwards: "The secret lies in the gap between Adey’s main influences: on the one hand, the mournful, home-made alt-country of Oldham and Smog; on the other, the pristine atmospheres of the Blue Nile and Talk Talk." [4] Critic Leon McDdermott (Glasgow Herald) writes "Adey channels the spirit of Smog, minus Bill Callahan's caustic take on dysfunctional relationships; elsewhere, there are hints of the late Jeff Buckley's mournful tenderness." [5]
Grand Harmonium released lead single "Find the Way" (31.06.06), containing two new acoustic recordings of "Find the Way" and "Mississippi". Mississippi: Remixed, a download only EP, featuring Kramer, A Marble Calm, Black Sheep and Sweet Billy Pilgrim was released (14.05.07). The Marble Calm remix was also released on 12" vinyl via Tonefloat Records. [6] [7] A limited 7" single and download, "Burning Fields" b/w "Everything in its Right Place" followed in September 2007. [8]
Adey (with full band) played several festivals around Europe in 2007, and in August 2007 headlined his debut UK tour. [9]
In 2010, a new Steve Adey track (excerpt) was featured in an advert for Mercedes-Benz. [10]
A five-song EP entitled These Resurrections was released in May 2011.
A new studio "long player" The Tower of Silence was released in November 2012 to positive critical response. The Tower of Silence made The Sunday Times Album of the Week [11] and Q Magazine cited the album as "beautiful and grandly". MusicOMH garnered the album "a meticulously crafted, sparse and funereally paced soundscape on which every note seems to have to earn its place; an eerie, sweeping soundtrack of grand orchestration." [12]
A new album of covers entitled "Do Me a Kindness" was released on 4 August 2017. The album includes takes on David Bowie, Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, PJ Harvey and more.
All Things Real was recorded between September 2003 and April 2005, at Longformacus Parish Church, and a rented cottage in Longformacus, Scottish Borders. [13] The recording was "fixed" and mastered by Calum Malcolm. [14] The album consists of both original compositions and cover versions of Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" and Will Oldham's "I See a Darkness".
All Things Real was critically well received. Sunday Times journalist Mark Edwards on Shelter from the Storm: "You'd have to be a fool to cover one of Dylan's best-loved songs. Either that, or a singer with the presence — and presence of mind — to slow it right down, exposing the beauty of every syllable." [15]
Ian Mathers from Stylus Magazine : "Never has Dylan's 'creature void of form' sounded so wracked, so stricken". [16]
The album includes the song "Mary Margaret O'Hara", a tribute to the Canadian singer/actress Mary Margaret O'Hara. [17] An initial album recording, featuring choral singers and members of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was abandoned, due to the wrong feel and a less personal sound. [18]
It was announced via Steve's official website over the summer of 2012 that a new album will be available from September as a special LP bundle direct from the artist. An official release was to follow in November through the Grand Harmonium label. Adey worked on The Tower of Silence for several years, mostly mixing and editing early band recordings that were "laid down" in a church. No computers were used and Adey wanted to mix to tape in "an old school" style. [19] "The songs were all written at the piano, but from that point, the direction and possible trajectory could be anything." [20] Each song was approached differently, although the overall sound of the album is seamless and has a continuous mood. A full string section was employed during the initial recording. The sound is more "live" with more emphasis on a stronger "band feel." [14] Album two was recorded, for the most part in a church, using the natural acoustic and room noise.
The album received critical acclaim across the board, including positive reviews from The Sunday Times, Q Magazine and Uncut Magazine, who also included the track "Laughing" on a best of 2012 covermount CD.[ citation needed ]
Writers consistently reference Smog, the Blue Nile and Talk Talk as influences.
In various interviews, Adey has said that the Bonnie Prince Billy, a.k.a. Will Oldham albums I See a Darkness and Master and Everyone are very important and influential records. [21] Also, Oldham's 'I See a Darkness' was covered on All Things Real. Uncut magazine cited that "Adey is clearly in thrall to the folk fatalism of Will "Bonnie Prince Billy" Oldham along with Dylan and the knotty American pre-war minstrels that inspired him." [22] Talk Talk lead man Mark Hollis is a major influence. Hollis released his only solo, eponymous album in 1997. Adey commented the album was "Uncompromising and in a different league." [23]
Adey has previously engineered and mastered recordings for classical labels, recorded various types of music from heavy rock to folk, both in the US where he lived for several years, and his current home city of Edinburgh. He has recorded and self-produced both solo albums All Things Real and The Tower of Silence. [1] [24]
All Things Must Pass is the third studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes the hit singles "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life", as well as songs such as "Isn't It a Pity" and the title track that had been overlooked for inclusion on releases by the Beatles. The album reflects the influence of Harrison's musical activities with artists such as Bob Dylan, the Band, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends and Billy Preston during 1968–70, and his growth as an artist beyond his supporting role to former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. All Things Must Pass introduced Harrison's signature slide guitar sound and the spiritual themes present throughout his subsequent solo work. The original vinyl release consisted of two LPs of songs and a third disc of informal jams titled Apple Jam. Several commentators interpret Barry Feinstein's album cover photo, showing Harrison surrounded by four garden gnomes, as a statement on his independence from the Beatles.
Laughing Stock is the fifth and final studio album by English band Talk Talk, released in 1991. Following their previous release Spirit of Eden (1988), bassist Paul Webb left the group, which reduced Talk Talk to the duo of singer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Hollis and drummer Lee Harris. Talk Talk then acrimoniously left EMI and signed to Polydor, who released the album on their newly revitalised jazz-based Verve Records label. Laughing Stock was recorded at London's Wessex Sound Studios from September 1990 to April 1991 with producer Tim Friese-Greene and engineer Phill Brown.
Time Out of Mind is the thirtieth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 30, 1997, through Columbia Records. It was released as a single CD as well as a double studio album on vinyl, his first since The Basement Tapes in 1975.
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.
I See a Darkness is the sixth album by American musician Will Oldham, released on Palace Records on January 19, 1999, as the first album under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The album features appearances from Bob Arellano, Colin Gagon, Paul Oldham, David Pajo, and Peter Townsend.
Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish folk musician. He released a number of albums under the name Appendix Out and, following the 2001 album The Night Is Advancing, under his own name. Roberts is also known for his frequent collaborations with other musicians and writers, as well as for being a member of the folk supergroup The Furrow Collective.
The Hold Steady is an American rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn, Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (guitar). Noted for their "lyrically dense storytelling," and classic rock influences, the band's narrative-based songs frequently address themes such as drug addiction, religion and redemption, and often feature recurring characters based within the city of Minneapolis.
"Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 17, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, in 1975. It was later anthologized on the compilation album The Essential Bob Dylan in 2000.
Ocean Songs is the fourth major album by Australian rock band Dirty Three, released in March 1998 by Touch and Go Records. It was recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago during August and September 1997. Its cover was designed by guitarist Mick Turner. David Grubbs plays piano and harmonium on some tracks.
This is a list of recordings by American singer and actor Will Oldham.
"She Belongs to Me" is a song by Bob Dylan, and was first released as the second track on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song may be about a former girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, or fellow folk singer Joan Baez, contemporary siren Nico, or Sara Lownds, the woman that Dylan would wed in November 1965.
"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as a single on February 14, 1966, and as the fourth track on his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde in June of that year. The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. It is the narrator's account of a burned-out relationship. It was recorded at Columbia studio A in New York on January 25, 1966, with Dylan and other musicians developing the song through over twenty takes during the session.
"If Not for You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his October 1970 album New Morning. It was issued as the A-side of a single in Europe in early 1971. The song is a love song to Dylan's first wife, Sara Dylan. He recorded it several times in 1970; the session for the released version took place in New York in August. He also recorded the song with George Harrison on May 1, soon after the break-up of the Beatles, a session that attracted much speculation in the music press. The May recording remained unreleased until its inclusion on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 in 1991.
All Things Real is the debut album by English singer-songwriter Steve Adey. The album was released on 6 March 2006 through Grand Harmonium Records. The album comprises original compositions, plus covers of Bob Dylan's Shelter from the Storm and Will Oldham's I See a Darkness.
This is a list of released recordings by English singer, songwriter Steve Adey. To date, Adey has released two studio albums and various EPs and singles.
Sweet Billy Pilgrim are an English genre spanning band, composed of bassist/banjo player Anthony Bishop, guitarist and singer Jana Carpenter, guitarist and singer Tim Elsenburg, and drummer/percussionist Alistair Hamer. Often described as rock, folk rock, folktronica, Americana, alternative, art rock, electronica, pop or prog, they describe their sound as "thrash pastel".
The Tower of Silence is the second studio album by Steve Adey. The album was released in the UK by Grand Harmonium on 26 November 2012.
Olivia Chaney is an English folk singer, pianist, guitarist, harmonium player and songwriter. Her debut solo album, The Longest River, was released on Nonesuch Records in 2015. Her follow-up solo album, Shelter, was released on Nonesuch on 15 June 2018.
Marc Carroll is an Irish musician, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has released 7 albums and 23 singles. He is currently signed to One Little Indian Records, who released his most recent studio album, Love Is All Or Love Is Not At All on 6 November 2015. The label also released remastered and expanded editions of his first 4 albums in February 2014. He has received considerable critical acclaim for his recorded output but has never reached any significant level of mainstream success. The Irish Times newspaper have called him "One of Ireland's great lost songwriters, touched by genius and whose dealings with the music industry have become the stuff of legend", and British rock critic Fred Deller wrote in Mojo Magazine that his work was "deserving of a far wider audience."
"Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was written by Dylan in June 1961, and recorded on April 25, 1962, at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York, produced by John Hammond. It is a humorous talking blues, which Dylan wrote after Noel Stookey gave him a press clipping about how the sale of forged tickets for a Father's Day picnic trip to Bear Mountain State Park had led to overcrowding and injuries.