"Dissemble" - Burnt Belief

Video for the Burnt Belief track "Dissemble" from the album "Etymology" by Alistair Peck of Human Eye Studio



Best,

Colin

Studio Bass Day - January 18th Ananda Studios

Myself and my good friend and fellow bassist Martin Elliott will be teaming up for a one off Studio Bass Masterclass at Ananda Studios in Cambridge on January 18th 2015.

Martin Elliott

Ananda Studios have hosted some similar events before focussing on guitar and drums, but the idea is to present, in an intimate studio environment, some solid advice, ideas and also to answer questions that will hopefully enlighten, not just bass players but also recording engineers and producers about all the options involved in recording the bass and creating bass parts.

Between the two of us, myself and Martin, whose career has encompassed everything from gigs and sessions with composer Michael Nyman, albums with Gary Numan, numerous West End Musicals as pit musician, as well as the more  "traditional" type session work (orchestral scores, film soundtracks and pop bands), we have had a really diverse range of recording session experiences between us, so we're ideally placed to cover a wide spectrum of questions about how to get the best out of your studio time, your bass and your recording set-up.

It'll be very much a hands-on bass recording workshop covering subjects like:

Tone: how different basses, or different tones from a bass, sit in the mix.

Muting and getting a clean sound.

Reading notes/following a chart.  Chord charts vs notation.

Use of effects, order of effects, and blending effects.

Post processing, use of plug-ins and editing.

Aural skills.

Being consistent and focusing your concentration.

Listening and making creative decisions. Offering opinions and developing judgement.

Creativity, creating basslines and playing appropriately for the setting.

Timing, rhythmic awareness and use of space.

Playing fills.

Common problems, what to watch out for.

..and of course, whatever else the day throws up!

There will inevitably be some discussion about equipment as well, so there will be some information about and also an opportunity to check out some of the tools I use with assistance from EBS, D'Addario and Spector UK and also IK Multimedia.

More details and bios are on the press link below:

http://bit.ly/1vLvLMW

Other links, you can see the studio website here http://anandarecording.co.uk , Martin Elliott has his own website at: http://beachhut.demon.co.uk, and for anyone unfamiliar, my own website is located at www.colinedwin.co.uk

Lastly, of course places are very limited, so booking early is advisable, please contact       info@neilcowlan.com 

Best,

Colin

Obake - December European Dates

See below, trailer for a series of Central European Obake gigs, taking in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, kicking off next week in Kufstein.




More dates are in the works for 2015, check the dates here as they are confirmed, and you can also follow the band on twitter @obakemusic.

The new album, "Mutations" (available on CD, vinyl and all the usual download formats) has been getting some great reviews too, you can read a selection below:

The Quietus

SlowEnd

Rock'n'Reel

Echte Leute

Metal Italia

Echoes and Dust

Angry Metal Guy

The Sleeping Shaman

IyeZine

Sentire Ascoltare

Queens of Steel

You can also read my previous blog posts here and here

Line-up will be Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari on Vocals, Eraldo Bernocchi on Guitar, Yours truly on bass and Jacopo Pierazzuoli (from Morkobot) on drums.

Best,

Colin

Burnt Belief Live Photos

A few shots from the debut Burnt Belief performance at Progtoberfest.

The live material, a selection from all three albums that Jon and myself have made, worked very well in a trio format. We'll be working on doing some more live dates for 2015.

The trio.

Jon Durant

Vinny Sabatino, who also plays on Etymology, on drums.

Thanks to Buster for the pictures.

Best,

Colin

Twinscapes in Italy Poster

Italian poster for the Twinscapes dates - pic.twitter.com/15n5PBxzj5
— Colin Edwin (@ColinEdwinT) November 5, 2014

Upcoming Twinscapes Live Dates.

Below is a list of all the forthcoming gigs and clinics for Twinscapes, in the UK and Italy, I've included links where I have them. Drummer Roberto Gualdi will be joining Lorenzo Feliciati and myself on all the dates.

UK

November 1st  The Islington London, "Wayward Basses" with Steve Lawson and Prescott (see previous post)

Click here for tickets.

Italy

November 7th  Prog Exhibition Milan

November 21st Clinic @ CPM Music Institute (Milan) Via Privato Elio Reguzzoni, 15 Milano

November 22 Clinic   @ Turin Lizard School ore 16 al Punto Rec di Via Gressoney 29/B Torino

November  23rd Groovehouse Music Concert and Clinic @Il Melo ONLUS
Via Magenta 3-21013 Gallarate (VA)

November 24th Clinic @ Saint Louis Music College followed by concert at Planet Club Rome Via del Commercio, 36, 00154 Roma (with Luca Spagnoletti)

November 25th Clinic and concert in Firenze details TBC

November 26th Concert at La Salumera della Musica, Via Antonio Pasinetti 4, 20141 Milano (0256807350)

Best,

Colin

"Etymology" Out Next Week.

Etymology is streaming in full at the link below for a very limited time:

http://prog.teamrock.com/news/2014-10-16/burnt-belief-give-etymology-insight

You can also read Jon Durant's track by track thoughts. My previous posts about the album can be found here and here.

Best,

Colin

Twinscapes - Live in Milan

Twinscapes will be doing a set in Milan on November 7th, see above, and this date will be followed later in November with a series of shows, ( Including Rome and Firenze) and also a few clinics, details of which I'll post up here soon.

Roberto Gualdi will be joining us on drums for all the dates, including London on the 1st November.

Best,

Colin

Burnt Belief - Precis

Below, from the Alchemy Records Soundcloud page, "Precis" pre-release of a full track from "Etymology":



More info on Popmatters, the album can be pre-ordered here or here.

Best,

Colin

Wayward Basses Night in London in November

See below, the poster for the "Wayward Basses" evening coming up in November.

I first became aware of Kev Hopper's unique, quirky and engaging bass style through his work with the band Stump in the '80's. It's amazing to me that I first saw them on TV's "The Tube", you can knock the 1980's all you like (deservedly so at times for sure), but at least then, odd, unusual bands and artists could get sometimes get through the mire of tacky commercial pop and be seen on mainstream TV, I can't think of any equivalent today.

I've followed Kev's post Stump output, and his music is always really original, offbeat, fun and inspiring, especially the album "Spoombung" which, as well as being a really adventurous listen, shows off some great sonic possibilities of the bass guitar.

Kev will be playing with his great new trio called Prescott,  featuring drummer Frank Byng (of Snorkel, another band well worth checking out)  and polymath keyboard player Rhodri Marsden.

Solo bass experimentalist, serial collaborator and looping expert Steve Lawson will also be playing a set. To pick a random example of his work, this version of REM's "Orange Crush" below illustrates Steve's ability to really develop and expand a familiar theme into something completely new and engrossing:

....he's incredibly prolific, so a trip to his website is going to be more up to date than anything I can say.

A Facebook Event page for the gig can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1455971618023694/

….and Ticket information can be found here:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/288870

…...and you can read more about the gig on the Bass Guitar Magazine website if you click here.

…..all set for a great night. I am really looking forward to it.

Best,

Colin

PS Twinscapes will also be playing London's Match and Fuse Festival on October 4th, please see my previous post here.

Etymology - Tracklisting and Pre Order Information, and bonus tracks.

My upcoming collaborative album with Jon Durant, Eytmology is now up for pre-order on burning shed here or via Jon Durant's own website here.

Release/Shipping date will be October 20th (21st in the USA)

Also available at all the usual outlets of course:  iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon etc

As a small incentive for those who might like to support us directly as individuals, the first 200 copies shipped through Jon Durant's webshop or Burning Shed will come with a download code which gives access to "Etymology Bonus", in the form of five other tunes:

1) Charlatan - Burnt Belief (Bonus track from the Etymology sessions, featuring Vinny Sabatino on Drums)
2) Plural -  a new version of a tune I contributed to the Mick Karn benefit compilation album "A Show of Love Respect and Grace" back in 2010.
3) Behind Stone Walls - Jon Durant (from his album "Brief Light" features Vinny Sabatino on percussion and Tony Levin on Stick)
4) Tears Trickle Down - Jon Durant (from "Silent Extinction Beyond the Zero" feat. Tony Levin on electric upright Bass)
5) Clock Dismay - a previously unreleased track of mine.


Full track listing and timings for the album are below:

1 Chromatique - 7.12
2 Dissemble - 4.36
3 Precis - 5.13
4 Hraunfossar - 6.39
5 Convergence - 5.22
6 Rivulet - 7.06
7 White Keys - 6.02.
8 Not Indifferent - 11.40
9 Hover - 5.22
10 Chimera - 6.37
11 Squall - 6.01

…..and the official press release can be found here.

My thanks go out to our guests, drummers Vinny Sabatino, Dean McCormick and Jose DuQue and violinist Steve Bingham, also Randy Roos at Squam Sound in New Hampshire for mixing and mastering.



We'll also be previewing a couple of full length tracks very soon….

Colin

Twinscapes Live in London at the Vortex October 4th

Twinscapes will be appearing at the Vortex in London on October the 4th.

This performance is part of the Match and Fuse Festival, please see the Match and Fuse website for more info, there's a whole host of great bands from all over Europe.

Tickets are available on this link.

Drummer Roberto Gualdi, who appeared in the album will be joining myself and Lorenzo Feliciati to expand the line up to a trio, and this is the first in a series of dates we'll be doing in the UK and Italy over this coming autumn.

More info soon….

Best,

Colin

Obake Press Release and Touring in December

I'll be touring in Europe with Obake in December, dates confirmed so far can be found here  and more will be added in due course. You can also track the dates as they come in by following the link below:

http://www.bandsintown.com/Obake

Official Press Release:

"M" is the latest track to be released from Obake's upcoming second album, Mutations, which will be released via Rare Noise Records this October. Like a number of the new album tracks, it begins with a familiar sound, a thick, sludge- like groove recalling numerous titans of the Southern Rock scene, however it soon breaks down all conventions with a game-changing unsettling vocal interlude which segues into mind-boggling progressive rock, replete with minor chords and epic crescendos. It is songs like this that go a long way to show how Obake take their influences and create something that is uniquely their own.

Obake are Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (vocals, piano, electronics), Eraldo Bernocchi (guitar, electronics), Balazs Pandi (drums) and Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree - bass). This second album arrives at the place where the energies of metal fuse with ambient electronica, jazz, and noise with the precision of math-rock and the groove of blues. Obake's sound harks back to the dawn of hard-rock, drawing upon a variety of influences from Sunn 0))), Popul Vuh, Ashra Tempel as much as Slayer, Tool, Melvins and Coil. Obake are made all the more distinctive by the fluid lyrical delivery and musings of a commanding operatic voice.

Imposing in its darkness, encompassing in its beauty and ever powerful, Obake have lost none of their might since the release of their debut, if anything, they are more captivating now than ever before.

Mutations was recorded by Daniel Sandor at Metropol Studio in Budapest, produced and mixed by Eraldo Bernocchi and Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari at The Place in Tuscany and mastered by Michael Fossenkemper at Turtletone Studio - NYC. 

Lastly, for a flavour of the upcoming album "Mutations" due in October,  here's "M":

Holga Split Camera

I experimented a little with a Holga split camera on a recent trip to Berlin:

Funkturm

                                                 Mausoleum and Statues Charlottenburg

Alexanderplatz

Interview with Indian Music Mug

To read a recent interview with myself talking to Indian Music Mug, a website from India, please click here

Best,

Colin

The Untrained Artist Again

Latest "network picture" from the Untrained Artist "Multi Coloured Mountain" felt tip pen on canvas:

Etymology Preview

See below, a short youtube preview trailer for Etymlogy, which is  the forthcoming album from Burnt Belief, i.e. myself and guitarist Jon Durant.

This is the third album I have worked on with Jon, (...not including his marvellous work on Astarta/Edwin, which is yet to see the light of day). To me, the new album is a big development of our earlier sound and I really feel we have improved our past work and also brought out the best in each other, which is really what I hope for in any collaboration.

Jon and I decided to move on from the previous combinations of either electronics plus live percussion, or just percussion, in order to have a more full on (….and perhaps more overtly "rock") sound with the addition of drums, so joining us across the course of the album's 11 tracks are three very different drummers; firstly an old friend of mine in the shape of Dean McCormick, secondly Vinny Sabatino, who also drummed on some of Jon's previous solo material (well worth hearing!) and lastly a very sensitive performance from Jose Duque on "Rivulet" perhaps the album's most delicate tune.

We were searching also for an additional soloist to join us and found a truly great "voice" in the shape of violinist Steve Bingham who added just the right levels of sophistication and atmosphere.

Hard to choose which slices to serve up as a taster, but hopefully the trailer below shows the breadth of sounds and moods across the album….due October 21st, pre-order now at burning shed by clicking here



Bye for now,

Colin

Obake - "Mutations"

The "Fallen Angel" cover image below, by Petulia Mattioli, is taken from the forthcoming second album "Mutations" by Obake, due this coming October via Rarenoise.

I had been a big listener of their first album, and after hearing some of the early work in progress tracks from "Mutations" I couldn't resist the chance to step into their intense cauldron of sonic energy.

I have contributed bass to the majority of the tracks on the new album, making a lot of use of my down tuned Spector Euro 435LX, aided and abetted by various EBS distortion FX, like the FuzzMo, MultiDrive, Valvedrive etc.  perhaps some of my most furious bass sounds to date.

You can hear the results on this album preview track Seven Rotted Globes:

In due course, I'll be joining Eraldo Bernocchi, Balazs Pandi and Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari for some live dates later this year. Check out the tour dates on the band website here, and for those on Facebook, the FB page can be found here.

More news soon…….

Colin

Burnt Belief II - Etymology, Cover Image

See above, cover image (photo by Jon Durant) for Burnt Belief's second album, Etymology, which is due in October on Alchemy.

I think it's a logical development and evolution from our first album, more details and audio samples to follow…

Read more about the first album here and here.

Colin

Random Noise Generator

It's been 10 years since the Random Noise Generator album, and it's something I still regularly get asked about.

We had a really good time making the album, although in retrospect perhaps the fun element of our hanging out and just enjoying ourselves together is the reason why, despite recording a (so far unreleased) follow up album, hours of playing together and developing the music didn't get much further.



It often seems to me that "messing about", without any thought of a goal or an end result, can sometimes be a really beneficial process, the journey being more important than the destination and all that.
Whilst working with RNG, I certainly refined a few ideas in my approach to the bass, and looked to do things that were outside of my regular playing style at the time, such as extreme down tuning, blending different distortion effects, use of a pick etc, all things that I've now assimilated into my normal approach if the situation calls for it.
Moreover, simply jamming for hours at high volumes in our small studio space on a regular basis was something I really looked forward to.
The low budget, self produced recording process was a great learning curve involving a lot of limitations that we needed to work around, and we also experimented with a lot of remix ideas too, although there's only one which made it to release as a bonus track on the CD:



I am not really one for the rearview mirror, but  recently, listening to the album again after a long time without even thinking about it, led me to reconnect with RJ (RNG vocalist) and we've been working together on some of my instrumental pieces, in a completely different (ie. less metal) context to create some new, more song based material.

Very soon, I'll be uploading a few of these new tracks to my download page here:

http://music.thirdvessel.com

…..hopefully a full album will appear at some point…

For now, if you are in the mood for it, Demeath still stands up pretty well 10 years later I think.

Best,

Colin

Recordings

Two very different albums featuring yours truly on bass are both released this month.

On the left and in front, cool packaging (...by creative vandal Nick Egan) on the new album Dr Jekyll and Mrs Hyde by my friend Paul Mex.

Paul made a couple of albums in the early '80's before moving into a successful music production career, and this new album is a revisitation of sorts to his punk roots. 

I worked with Paul many years ago on an obscure poetry and music crossover project entitled Sensual Assassins and subsequently Paul has also lent his mastering ears to several of my solo projects including Endless Tapes, Ex-Wise Heads and my first solo album Third Vessel.

I am playing a selection of basses across the tracks and enjoyed fitting into the DIY punk ethos vibe, enhanced also by guitar from (Ex-Dr Feelgood) guitarist Gordon Russell.

On the right my copy of the new Tim Bowness album, out now, and already picking up some great reviews, I'll be participating in live shows in support of Tim's release, see previous blog here.

Bye for now,

Colin

Spanish Bass Magazine Interview

There's a recent interview (In Spanish) with me in the current issue of the downloadable magazine "Bajos et Bajistas", please click the image below to visit the site:

Spring is Here.

Always a seasonal sign, appearance of The Green Man.

I am not sure if I have my legends mixed up but maybe he's been sacrificed by now, to ensure a good harvest in the future…..

Taken with my Fisheye 2 camera….

Henry Fool live - ticket information

I'll be joining Henry Fool and Tim Bowness for some gigs over the summer, (see previous post here)

Please follow the link below to see the most current Henry Fool/Tim Bowness live information:

http://www.henryfool.com/tour.php

Tickets for the London and Maltby shows can also be bought via burning shed if you click here and here.

So far, one European date has been confirmed in the Netherlands (...see poster below, ticket link is here), but more are set to follow, I am told:

Twinscapes Reviews and Press.

I've been very pleased with the good reception that the Twinscapes album has been receiving, so below is a selection of reviews from the www and a few magazine ones which I have been sent too:

Avant Music News

All About Jazz

Something Else

Igloo Mag

Critical Jazz

Bass Musician Magazine

Jazz Weekly

Jazz da Gama

Progressive Aspect

HorseBits

The Needs

Jazz Chill

Marlbank

About

.....and some from Italy:

Opento

Audiofollia

Ocanera

Musicoff

Contrasuoni

Sentireascoltare

Sound36

iyezine

Storia della Musica

Rockgarage

Romasuona  - includes an interview with Lorenzo Feliciati.

and Poland:

Artrock

..and Germany.

Also some magazine reviews:

Lastly, as well as my soundcloud sampler, there's a couple of full tracks streaming on the Rarenoise jukebox here.

Best,

Colin

Cosmograf

Another recent guest spot, I am playing bass (...and also a little bit of atmospheric ebow) on a couple of tracks on the new album by Robin Armstrong's Cosmograf project, which is out very soon.

You can hear a track in full below, I used my Spector USA fretless for this one:



Best,

Colin

Recent Guest Recordings.

A couple of recent things, I always enjoy finding different contexts to play bass in and two things I've been involved recently couldn't be more different, but linked by intensity and individuality, and perhaps a few shared influences.

Firstly, I am playing mainly fretless bass (….a little upright too) on Tim Bowness's forthcoming album 'Abandonded Dancehall Dreams'.
Some of these tracks will also form part of the live repertoire for the Henry Fool/ Bowness dates this coming summer, which I am very much looking forward to.

Tim's album is coming out next month in a few different formats (coloured vinyl, CD etc) and the usual pre-orders are happening here:

Secondly, equally intense but in a completely different way, below is another track I have completed for Matthew Richard's "Dancing for Architecture" project:



Best,

Colin

Henry Fool Live Dates.

I'll be joining Henry Fool and Tim Bowness for some live dates over the summer, with a couple of dates being a double bill with a set of material from Tim's upcoming solo album "Abandoned Dancehall Dreams" - to which I have also contributed some fretless bass. No doubt there will also be a few other Tim Bowness related tunes in the live set…..

Please see the Henry Fool website, or the Tim Bowness homepage or click here for the press release, venue, ticket and other information.

Recording sessions are also being planned over the summer, so I hope there will be some new recorded output before the end of the year.

Best,

Colin

Astarta/Edwin track for compilation album

I am sure it will come as no surprise to say that my ongoing collaborative project with Ukrainian vocal duo Astarta has been held up by the chaotic events taking place in Ukraine over the last few months.

Work on the album (...and hopefully plans for further live performances too) should recommence soon, but in the meantime, we are happy to donate one of the completed tracks to a fund-raising compilation album to benefit EuroMaidan SOS, an organisation which is helping the victims and families of those killed during the recent protests in Kiev.

Please check this Facebook event page for more about the release, featuring acts from all over Europe:

https://www.facebook.com/events/618570681562266/

You can read organiser Mich Rozek's eloquent statement about what the compilation hopes to achieve, please note that there's no political message, purely a desire to improve the lot of those affected by the crisis.

The track we are donating is called "Kalina", which is arranged around an existing folk melody, originating from the Sumy region of present day Ukraine, and is sung in the local dialect, I am led to believe it's closer to the Russian language than Ukrainian.

The lyrical content concerns the Guelder Rose (or viburnum opulus for any horticulturalists..), which as well as being a national emblem, much used in folk art, embroidery etc, also has a symbolic meaning in the pagan traditions of the area, connected with the birth of the universe,  feminine beauty and also blood and family ties.

As well as the beguiling vocals of Astarta (Yulia Malyarenko and Inna Kovtun), "Kalina" also features my  "Burnt Belief buddy" Jon Durant joining us on guitar and the marvellous Pat Mastelotto is on drums.

Anyway, please follow the link below to purchase the album:



I'd like to encourage anyone who feels moved to support the album to also hit the share button.

Also, those inclined can visit the new Astarta/Edwin Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/astarta.edwin

…..which will hopefully be updated before too long...

Best,

Colin

I've got a fuzzbox….

Something of note perhaps for the gear savvy…

I've recently become a heavy user of the EBS FuzzMo pedal, it got a serious workout during the sessions for the next Metallic Taste of Blood album.

I've found it very useful not only for distorted, brutal bass sounds, but also for making ambient, textural and lead sounds in conjunction with a delay and either an ebow or a volume pedal.

Anyone interested can check out a selection of samples I made with the FuzzMo on the EBS blog page

Best,

Colin

Endless Tapes - The First Shows.

Last month saw my collaborative project Endless Tapes play live for the first time.

Alessandro Pedretti and myself brought in two other musicians to help us bring the music from a purely studio creation to something living, breathing and most importantly, capable of evolution.

We were very happy to have the input of Corrado Saija and Nicola Panteghini (keyboards and guitar respectively) who did a great job making sense of what we gave them to work with, helping us to make the live concerts, not simply a static rendition of previously recorded music, but an interacting group entity,  enabling us all to explore the tunes, stretch out, improvise and create something with the possibility to be spontaneously built on from performance to performance, which is exactly what I'd hoped to achieve with the Endless Tapes material.

Although an ideal warm up and road test, our short series of gigs was over far too soon.
For a taste,  there's a little montage of lo-fi "found footage" from the performances over on my youtube channel:





Anyone familiar with the track Terminal 2 from the Endless Tapes debut EP will be able to compare the way the material expanded in a live environment by listening to this extended live version, a desk recording, on my Soundcloud page:




Finally, we now have a pre-order set up for Endless Tapes T-shirts, featuring the cover image to the EP and available in Blue or Black, shipping date is set for early May.
Please click the pictures below to order:

Best,

Colin

Twinscapes out now

The Twinscapes album is out now, from all the usual outlets and of course Burning Shed and the Rarenoise store.
Please check shipping dates, as the vinyl is scheduled to go out after the CD version, due to a longer manufacturing time.

You can now hear two complete tracks from the album streaming from the Rarenoise Jukebox here:


 

or following this link:  https://www.rarenoiserecords.com/jukebox/twinscapes/twinscapes/

See also my previous Blogs here and here.

See above, Lorenzo Feliciati and I will be at the London Bass Guitar Show on Saturday March 1st, performing a set and then talking about our approach to playing together.

Best,

Colin

More Simulacra

Looking uncannily like an elephant to me, this rock with seaweed snapped in late August…..

Fisheye photos from Prague.

Fisheye Prague, a set on Flickr.

A set of photos on my Flickr page, taken in Prague last month whilst recording with Metallic Taste of Blood.

Colin