The Eastern Swell

Last updated

The Eastern Swell
Origin Edinburgh, Scotland
Genres psychedelic folk
Years active2014-2019
LabelsStereogram Recordings
MembersLainie Urquhart
Chris Reeve
Neil Collman
Andy Glover

The Eastern Swell were a Scottish psychedelic folk band based in Edinburgh, consisting of Lainie Urquhart (vocals, tambourine), Chris Reeve (vocals, guitar), Neil Collman (vocals, bass) and Andy Glover (drums). They have been generally described as prog-folk but utilised a variety of genres and styles, with Gus Ironside writing in Louder than War that their "accomplished debut captures an air of pastoral unease reminiscent of Jackie Leven’s below-the-radar debut album, the lost acid-folk masterpiece, ‘Control’". [1] They were signed to Edinburgh's Stereogram Recordings, run by Jeremy Thoms of The Cathode Ray and Innes Reekie, one of the producers of Big Gold Dream.

Originally called Lainie & the Crows and described by The Skinny (magazine) as a "rootsy modern-retro outfit laced with country-tinged harmonies, rockabilly twangs, sweet Appalachian blues and the occasional laid-back heartbreaker", [2] the band supported folk rock acts such as Jon Allen (musician) at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. [3]

Adding a British folk rock and Progressive folk element to their sound, the band changed their name to The Eastern Swell. [4] Their debut album, 'One Day, A Flood', was recorded with Pete Harvey from Modern Studies (band) and was released on 16 September 2016. The album was described by The Scotsman as “blissful, burnished reveries...a pleasing patchouli oil-scented blend of prog rock, pastoral folk and psych soul”. [5] The album also garnered a review in the Scottish Daily Express on 20 October 2016 which stated; "The sound is steeped in the '70s but still manages to sound current [...] If you can imagine a mix of Fairport Convention, Jefferson Airplane and Syd Barrett-era Floyd, it might sound like this." [6] Louder Than War called it “A rather magical album, and definitely one of the finest releases of 2016”. [7] Writing in the online editorial 'Is this Music?', Roy Moller gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5 and made reference to Crosby, Stills & Nash (album) and the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle. [8]

The band continued to play live, supporting psychedelic rock band Trembling Bells [9] and went on to release a second album, ‘Hand Rolled Halo’, on 16 November 2018. Writing in the March 2019 issue of Prog (magazine), Grant Moon stated that the album had a “deeply pleasing sense of tradition [...] rich in harmonic ideas and pastoral tones”. [10] Penny Black Music described it as “Musically complex and lyrically rewarding” and said “it is a consistently compelling experience from a band who have taken the influences of the past and then done something original and new with it”. [11] Writing in The Scotsman, Fiona Shepherd called it “timeless and seamless" with the band "embellishing the psych folk and prog rock of opening track Miles From Home with a bright horn break straight out of the Burt Bacharach songbook, applying western swing fiddle and trad jazz trumpet to the scurry of Zeitgeist and offering a sensitive psychedelic reading of folk standard Blackwaterside, which showcases Chris Reeve’s guitar playing as much as Lainie Urquhart’s storytelling.". [12] In a further positive review for KLOF Magazine Ken Abrams stated that it was “An impressive album, blending the traditional folk of artists like Sandy Denny, Bert Jansch, and the Richard & Linda Thompson, with more contemporary sounds from alt-folk artists like Ryley Walker" [13]

Related Research Articles

Neo-progressive rock is a subgenre of progressive rock developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the genre have continued to record and tour.

Psychedelic folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bardo Pond</span> American psychedelic rock band

Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger, Clint Takeda and Jason Kourkounis (drums). Bardo Pond's music is often classified as space rock, acid rock, post-rock, shoegazing, noise or psychedelic rock. Some Bardo Pond album titles have been derived from the names of esoteric psychedelic substances. Their sound has been likened to Pink Floyd, Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine amongst others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Braithwaite</span> Scottish musician

Stuart Leslie Braithwaite is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter. He is the guitarist of post-rock band Mogwai, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums. He is also a member of the British alternative rock supergroups Minor Victories and Silver Moth. He has used the name Plasmatron in the credits of Mogwai's debut album Mogwai Young Team, as a social media handle, and as the name of his signature guitar pedal.

The Skinny is a monthly free magazine distributed in venues throughout the cities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland. Founded in 2005, the magazine features interviews and articles on music, art, film, comedy and other aspects of culture across Scotland and beyond.

Magic Carpet was a pioneering British psychedelic folk band of musicians that first appeared in the early 1970s.

<i>This Is What Makes Us</i> 2007 studio album by Foxface

This Is What Makes Us is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band Foxface. It was released on 5 November 2007 on Gargleblast Records.

<i>People Like Me</i> (album) 2009 studio album by Alyth

People Like Me is a studio album by Scottish traditional singer Alyth, and is also her second studio album. The album features much of Alyth's live band, as well as her partner and members of Scottish folk band Lau. The album features fewer songs in Gaelic than her previous album and collaborations. It was recorded in both Ireland and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Over the Wall (band)</span>

Over The Wall was a pop-rock-folk band based in Glasgow, Scotland. The outfit consisted of multi-instrumentalists Ben Hillman and Gavin Prentice, a line-up which remained unaltered after its 2006 formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sparrow and the Workshop</span> Scottish rock band

Sparrow and the Workshop were an indie three-piece based in Glasgow, consisting of the Belfast-born, Chicago-raised Jill O'Sullivan, Welshman Nick Packer and Scotsman Gregor Donaldson. The band's debut album Crystals Fall was released by Distiller Records in 2010 to critical acclaim, with the likes of Drowned in Sound and Clash Magazine awarding the album 9/10. The band was notable for their use of harmonies and bastardized instruments/FX pedals and they have been compared to bands as varied as Jefferson Airplane, Talking Heads and Black Sabbath.

<i>One Man Army</i> (Kassidy album) 2012 studio album by Kassidy

One Man Army is the second album by Scottish alternative folk rock band Kassidy. The album was released on 27 September 2012 through Mercury Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arc Iris</span> American indie rock band

Arc Iris is an American indie rock band from Providence, Rhode Island, United States, that began in 2012 as a solo project of Jocie Adams, formerly a member of The Low Anthem. Arc Iris has had several lineup changes since their inception and have since settled on a trio that is the nucleus of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenorio Miller (keyboards), Ray Belli (drums). They have released five albums and toured internationally.

The Drink is an English odd dark folk pop band based in London, England. Made up of Dearbhla Minogue, David Stewart and Daniel Fordham, they formed in late 2012 when Dearbhla recruited Daniel and David after their former band Fighting Kites split as she had got to know them whilst living above their rehearsal space. Their first record, Company, was released in 2014. The group's second album Capital was released in November 2015. The album received praise from The Guardian and The Line of Best Fit and was supported with session for Marc Riley on BBC Radio 6 Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">False Advertising (band)</span> UK-based band

False Advertising are a British three-piece alternative rock group from Manchester and Oxford, England.

<i>Day of the Lone Wolf</i> 2006 studio album by Astrid Williamson

Day of the Lone Wolf is the third album from singer-songwriter Astrid Williamson which she also produced. The album title refers to the date of her birth, which is known as the Day of the Lone Wolf in the astrological book, The Secret Language Of Birthdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Moller</span> Musical artist

Roy Moller is a Scottish singer, songwriter and poet. He was born in Edinburgh in 1963; his parents were from Toronto in Canada, and he was adopted soon after birth. His early musical influences included Elvis Presley, Joy Division, The Fall, Ivor Cutler and David Bowie. He attended Trinity Academy, then moved to Glasgow where he studied English at the University of Strathclyde. While there, he won the Keith Wright Poetry Competition.

<i>Sounds Recorded by Steve Albini</i> 2018 studio album by Spare Snare

Sounds is the 13th album by Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, record and engineered by Steve Albini and released in 2018.

Bryan M. Ferguson is a Scottish filmmaker and music video director, best known for his music videos for artists such as Garbage, Alice Glass, Ladytron, Arab Strap and Boy Harsher.

<i>A Big Bad Beautiful Noise</i> 2017 studio album by the Godfathers

A Big Bad Beautiful Noise is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Godfathers. It was released on 10 February 2017 on their own Godfathers Recordings label and distributed by Cargo in Europe and Metropolis in the US. It marks the first Godfathers album without bassist Chris Coyne, and the only album to feature the lineup of singer Peter Coyne with new members Steve Crittall (guitar), Mauro Venegas (guitar), Darren Birch (bass), and Tim James (drums).

<i>Youth Culture Forever</i> 2014 studio album by Paws

Youth Culture Forever is the second album by Scottish band Paws. It was released on 2 June 2014 on FatCat Records.

References

  1. ↑ Ironside, Gus (17 September 2016). "The Eastern Swell: One Day, A Flood- album review". louderthanwar.com/. Louder Than War. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Lainie and the Crows (King Eider and The Jellyman's Daughter)". www.theskinny.co.uk. The Skinny. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  3. ↑ "Jon Allen (Lainie & The Crows) Past event at King Tut's". www.theskinny.co.uk. The Skinny. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  4. ↑ Clarkson, John. "Chris Reeve, the main songwriter with Edinburgh alternative-based group the Eastern Swell, speaks to John Clarkson about his band's debut album, 'One Day, A Flood'". pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Penny Black Music. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  5. ↑ Walton, Ken. "Album reviews: Nick Cave, Wilco, Shakin' Stevens, The Eastern Swell". www.scotsman.com. Scotsman. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  6. ↑ Scottish Daily Express - Print Press Release. "The Eastern Swell' One Day". www.stereogramrecordings.co.uk. Stereogram Recordings. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  7. ↑ Ironside, Gus (17 September 2016). "The Eastern Swell: One Day, A Flood- album review". louderthanwar.com/. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  8. ↑ Moller, Roy. "THE EASTERN SWELL One Day, A Flood". www.isthismusic.com. Is This Music.
  9. ↑ Sneaky Petes (15 June 2016). "TREMBLING BELLS, BIG HOGG, THE EASTERN SWELL". www.sneakypetes.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Moon, Grant (5 March 2019). "The Musical Box: And Last But Not Least". Prog Magazine (96): 109.
  11. ↑ Clarkson, John. "The Eastern Swell – Hand Rolled Halo". pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Penny Black Music. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  12. ↑ Shepherd, Fiona. "Album reviews: Jools Holland & Marc Almond, Mumford & Sons, Mark Knopfler, The Eastern Swell". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  13. ↑ Abrams, Ken (5 December 2018). "The Eastern Swell: Hand Rolled Halo". klofmag.com. KLOF. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
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.