10×10:08 – Malcolm Middleton // River of Slime

10″ Split EP with CDR.

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Malcolm Middleton

“Vinyl 10 Malc?:

My friend Gav (aka OnTheFly) who runs De-Fence Records asked a few months back if I’d be interested in doing a split 10″ for his label. I said ‘yes’.

It was initially going to be as HDBA but that didn’t work out so I decided to go with a couple of recent songs I’d written over the summer. They don’t seem to fit anywhere else so voila, the 3 songs will be fitted onto one side of a 10″ and youíll be able to get hold of a copy soon.

It was recently made SINGLE OF THE WEEK by The List magazine (thanks!), albeit jointly with a couple of old jazz bozos”.

“But The List is thrilled to reunite Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton for Joint Single of the Month. Moffat’s outstanding tryst with Bill Wells continues apace with the ‘Cruel Summer’ EP (*****, Chemikal Underground) which allies their stifled-jazz take on Bananarama with a brand-new lovelorn serenade and a Hallowe’en dog-collar fantasy, while Malcolm Middleton lavishes us with a series of deadpan, gorgeous, down-home odes on ’10×10:08′(*****, De-Fence), an excellent split EP with FOUND’s electro-deviant River of Slime.” – The List

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River of Slime

It took a while for us to get a hold of RoS tracks and it’ll probably take us longer to get a biog from him.

So for now all I’ll say is that Kev Sim, one third of Edinburgh’s FOUND (10X10:04) is a busy man. When he’s not writing and touring with FOUND, he’s out tearing it up with River of Slime. River of Slime’s weapon of choice is the fully-loaded MPC1000 sampler, and play it well he does. It’s all about playing live, nothing’s pre-sequenced and there’s not a laptop in sight.

For 10X10:08 we’ve got a selection of five tracks recorded live, and mixed exclusively for De-Fence.

F3NC3 R⅓CORDS’ CHART RUSE  is a new series of 7″ EP’s, showcasing Fence Records talent established and new.

The series will consist of 3 EP’s on 7″ vinyl (to be played at 33⅓rpm), released over the space of about 6 months.

Each E.P. will collect 3 songs by an artist, as well as a remix by a Fence Collective member.  They will initially be released on 7” vinyl only, but will also come with a means of downloading the tracks.  HOWEVER, in inimitable Fence-styleee, the download codes will not become active until a certain amount of copies have sold!

As if that wasn’t perverse enough … not all of the tracks will be downloadable, either!   The remix on each EP will stay vinyl only, until such time as we decide to compile them all, digitally.  OOH.

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SUBSCRIPTION

If you subscribe, or subscribe on someone’s behalf, we will send out 3 different E.P.’s over the course of 6 months.  You’ll also be put on a special mailing list that will entitle you to cheaper tickets for EP launch shows, other Fence gigs, and discounts on select releases over that period.

Subscription to the 3 E.P. set costs just £18 – and that is INCLUSIVE OF POSTAGE! (Postage is added for those outside the UK).

We’re wanting to keep details of the whole series a surprise – even the artwork! – but we can reveal that the first EP in the series is by Withered Hand and features a remix by King Creosote.  It is due for release on February 3rd, 2012.

Fresh from their Scottish tour, the King & Kids have got a brand new collaborative single for your ears – the 11th title in our Secret7 series!

The A-side, Creosote-penned ‘Homerun And A Vow’, is a reworking of an unreleased track given an rollicking rock-stomp twist by the Canaverals.

Kate Canaveral takes the lead vocal on the flip-side ‘Nowhere Near Half Done’ – a sugary slice of jangly-indie goodness, reminiscent of The Raincoats, with Creosote on 80′s synth duty.

This single comes on 7inch vinyl, which you can purchase on this page.  However, you can also purchase the ‘T-Shirt Tour Bundle’ – where you get a T-shirt AND a download code along with your copy of the vinyl. (T-shirt bundle available in men sizes AND skinny fit).

YOU CAN BUY THIS ALBUM NOW, FOR JUST £12.99
- Album ONLY AVAILABLE on 12″ vinyl LP, with a FREE Compact Disc copy inside!

THE SHIVERS are a rock-pop group, based out of Queens, New York, comprising the exceptional talents of Keith Zarriello (lead vocals, guitar) and Jo Schornikow (vocals, keys/organ).

Keith is your typical East Coast American tortured neurotic / love-lorn romantic, and part time estate-agent;  Jo, your typical Australian travelling dreamer, virtuoso keyboard player, and part time church-organist.  Together, they’ve created one of the most beautifully compelling albums you’re likely to hear all year: MORE.

MORE is The Shivers’ sixth album, and first with Fence – indeed, with any label in UK – and is their strongest, most focussed collection of songs yet.

The duo travelled over to the UK in 2010 with their drummer friend Tom Raysmith, and recorded straight to tape at Analogue Catalogue – an all analogue studio, in Manchester. The album was taken back over the Atlantic, mixed by Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo), and mastered to tape by Joe Lambert (Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, Deerhunter) – the band proudly declairing on the sleeve notes “no computers were used in the recording, mixing or mastering of this record”.

To maintain this non-digital feel and ethic, Fence have pressed the album on vinyl LP (ensuring that every copy comes with a CD, incase you don’t have a turntable!).

Although recorded in Manchester, MORE is very much rooted in New York City – Keith’s delivery steeped in the spirit of classic songwriters from his hometown and the surrounding scene, spread over the last 5 decades. From the Springsteen-sway of ‘Irrational Love’, and The Strokes-fuelled punch of ‘Used To Be’, to the biting Cohen-esque balladry of ‘Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars’, and the Dylan-soaked drawl of ‘More’; an emotional integrity and personality is preserved, infused with a reverence that never once strays into pastiche.

In much the same way as the band sought to capture a pure, untouched recording, at its core, this is an album of love songs that each possess an undeniable sincerity of expression and feeling. Frustration, lust, anger, relief, bitterness and yearning all exist in their separate guises across ten tracks – with Keith’s performance suitably volatile throughout.

Jo (who is pictured on the album’s sleeve) compliments Keith’s passion with arrangements that provide a rich warmth and gritty confidence to MORE – taking care not to overwhelm the songs. Her feel for balance and symmetry is apparent as soon as the needle drops, with both sides of vinyl opening with instrumentals; ‘My Mouth Is For My Love’ mirrors a melodic theme from album closer ‘More’; side B opens with ‘Two Solitudes’, an atmospheric organ-led coda to the previous side’s ‘Love Is In The Air’.

Honest, considered, and heartfelt – such is the nature of MORE, in both recording and performance, you’ll agree that it sounds and feels timeless.

12″ VINYL, which comes packaged with CD

Over the past 12 months, Edinburgh-based indie poppers Kid Canaveral have worked harder than any other band in the country – touring at every available opportunity, saving up all their pennies to play SxSW, and in the process building up a loyal troup of sing-along fans on the back of their thrilling debut album, SHOUTING At Wildlife.  Amongst those fans are Fence Records label bosses, The Pictish Trail and King Creosote - who invited the band to play prominent slots at their most recent Away Game and Home Game festivals.

The band have now signed to Fence Records, and, from today, we’re taking pre-orders on the new vinyl re-pressing of their debut.

Across twelve tracks, the band showcase the breadth of their indie-rock and DIY-pop songwriting skills – proving that they are not just a throng of catchy A-sides, but are also kings and queens of the slow-burner.  Here, harmonies soar as well as settle – and whispered middle-eights are every bit as captivating as wailing guitar feedback.

The songs on SHOUTING At Wildlife have been remastered for this vinyl pressing by Reuben Taylor (James Yorkston & The Athletes) – and they have never sounded better.   And, on the matt-finished outer sleeve of the vinyl, the fantastic artwork by Eve McConnachie really comes to life – larger, bolder, lovelier.

Don’t have a record player?  Don’t worry!  The vinyl comes with a copy of the CD, with all the tracks on there.

“Shouting At Wildlife is a thrilling, uplifting and generally all-round spiffing combination of indie-pop skills, lyrical wit, and choruses sung through smiles.”   THE SKINNY **** (4 stars)

“This debut is packed with singalong melodies, frisky jangles and a real sense of purpose, with ‘Left and Right’ and the joyous ‘Smash Hits’ reminiscent of the best bits of Bis or The Shop Assistants. A jubilant and skillful racket.” THE LIST **** (4 stars)

Repressed on CD – on sale throughout February

Over the past 12 months, Edinburgh-based indie poppers Kid Canaveral have worked harder than any other band in the country – touring at every available opportunity, saving up all their pennies to play SxSW, and in the process building up a loyal troup of sing-along fans on the back of their thrilling debut album, SHOUTING At Wildlife.  Amongst those fans are Fence Records label bosses, The Pictish Trail and King Creosote - who invited the band to play prominent slots at their most recent Away Game and Home Game festivals.

Across twelve tracks, the band showcase the breadth of their indie-rock and DIY-pop songwriting skills – proving that they are not just a throng of catchy A-sides, but are also kings and queens of the slow-burner.  Here, harmonies soar as well as settle – and whispered middle-eights are every bit as captivating as wailing guitar feedback.

“Shouting At Wildlife is a thrilling, uplifting and generally all-round spiffing combination of indie-pop skills, lyrical wit, and choruses sung through smiles.”  THE SKINNY **** (4 stars)

“This debut is packed with singalong melodies, frisky jangles and a real sense of purpose, with ‘Left and Right’ and the joyous ‘Smash Hits’ reminiscent of the best bits of Bis or The Shop Assistants. A jubilant and skillful racket.” THE LIST **** (4 stars)

* RELEASED ON 12″ VINYL – AND EACH COPY COMES WITH A CD OF ALL THE TRACKS!

* ON GENERAL RELEASE FROM JANUARY 3rd, 2011 – PRICED AT £10.99!

In December 2009, The Pictish Trail partook in a project devised by his pal, stand-up comic Josie Long, entitled ‘100 Days To Make Me A Better Person’.  PT set himself the task of writing and recording a new song every day, across 100 days – a task which he failed miserably.  Nevertheless, the project did give birth to 50 brand new songs, all of which are assembled on In Rooms.  Given the quantity of material, one might assume this album would be a gargantuan multi-disc collector’s set, of Magnetic Fields’ proportions.  However, each of PT’s new songs are precisely 30 seconds in length – thus, the album clocks in at exactly 25 minutes.  Which fits perfectly over two sides of vinyl, playing at 45rpm.  Yum.

Drawing inspiration from Beck’s Stereopathicsoulmanure, Lone Pigeon’s 28 Secret Tracks and Hot Chip’s Made In The Dark, the album is purposefully a collection of disparate styles and themes – that can be enjoyed as an album from start to finish, but also as a randomised jumble.  As such, each copy of the vinyl comes with a compact disc, individually hand-stamped and numbered with its very own customised tracklisting.

Songs were recorded over 3 months, from a bedroom in Cellardyke, Fife and from a well-ventilated basement in Connecticut, USA.  They were listened to extensively on train journeys going back and forth to London, and they were expertly mastered in Edinburgh by Reuben Taylor (James Yorkston & The Athletes). Artwork was, as ever, put together by illustrator-extraordinaire Christian Ward.

Here be one of the finest nuggets in the Fence back catalogue, lovingly buffed up by Domino Records, and pressed on 12″ vinyl for Record Store Day 2011.

Here’s what we said on it’s original release back in 2000:

Fence has a box containing dozens of The Lone Pigeon’s four track tapes, and this collection just happened to come out of the box first. LG III, beavering away in his East Neuk studio, made them sound as best he could, and as The Pidge was off on his travels, had no titles for the songs. Two years later, The Pidge posted a full track list on his own website.  Which no longer exists.

This is an extremely limited item, so we suggest buying now without really thinking about it.

Featuring lyrics and vocals from King Creosote sung over musical backdrops arranged and recorded by Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine is a genuine labour of love, recorded over a number of years without the pressure of deadlines, whenever Jon and KC could get together.

The album, featuring instrumental moments as affecting as the lyrical, consists of newly interpreted obscure delights picked out from 20 years of King Creosote’s treasure chest of a back catalogue. Intended to be heard as a single experience, Diamond Mine produces a near classical suite of emotion ranging from cracked despair to patched-up euphoria. Described by King Creosote as a ‘soundtrack to a romanticised version of a life lived in a scottish coastal village’, the record weaves in slices of Fife life, bike wheels, spring tides, tea cups and café chatter to produce a beautiful, unique and timeless album.

The lead track off of Flick The Vs gets the remix treatment from London producer, Bullion.

Then the remix gets a remix by King Creosote, on the B side.