on a spring day in the 5th arrondissement, i had the honor of creating & learning & recording with @nadine_khouri & @crowonafence ! at the arènes de lutèce they played an acoustic version of “box of echoes,” the final song from nadine’s wonderful album “another life” ! the rain came down and we searched for a café to sit & talk. nearby the rue mouffetard we chatted & drank some tea while adrian sketched the surrounding scenery + humans. adrian also showed us the ernest hemingway house nearby. it felt so special collaborating with nadine & adrian in the historic heart of paris ! (full video is on youtube)
it’s a rainy day in London…but todays Dispatch was recorded earlier this month on the 1/3 days the sun graced us this spring. And I am over the moon to have shared 2 glorious hours with the most brilliant @crowonafence . We talked about a lot - mainly bird watching.
The playlist is updated - link in bio 🐦⬛ (thank you for all 100 of you that follow this playlist - I really appreciate you) if you’re not on this bandwagon do join
This month we have tracks by @tiny_ruins@nadine_khouri@teishi@brigidmaepower and many many more…out tonight on @sohoradio 22:00-00:00 and perfect for a rainy wed evening x
thank you @christianveitch for producing :) patience and photos 🙏
Easter 2001, I travelled to Chicago to make an album with this man: Steve Albini. My dear friends and band mates Kate Ellis and Thomas Haugh came with me We arrived at his studio Electrical Audio, a couple of days early so we could settle in and relax before getting down to work. There were rooms there for us. I paced around a lot, pretty nervous and wondering if I was in fact ready for such a plunge. I remember sitting in the diner down the street from the studio staring at the menu and gazing out the window not quite believing I was about to record with this absolute legend.
The morning of the first day’s recording was suddenly upon me. I hadn’t been sleeping much since landing in O’ Hare and remember pacing around the studio at 6am, observing the clear morning light when all was quiet . A while later after having breakfast in that same diner off Rockwell Street , Kate , Tom and I set up in the live room to practice. I was told by one of the staff that Steve would probably emerge around late morning / noon and to just get comfortable. (Steve had come to say hi the day before as I was hovering in the doorway of my room. But I had been awkward and quiet. He was in the middle of finishing up another session )
Then as we were running through a song , a figure in a grey boiler-suit appeared on the metal stairs leading from the door to the control room. We all turned our heads and looked up Then with his hands in his pockets he addressed us chirpily : “ Don’t mind me , keep going, sounds great”
We recorded and mixed ‘When You Are Here You Are Family’ in five days .
All my worries were dispelled in those first moments on that first morning. Steve was kind, funny, incredibly smart, brilliant and brotherly.
Out today on @dimple.discs …the latest single from the illustrious @byohammer project. The White Birds’ - the haunting, poem by a lovestruck WB Yeats, that I set to music.
And this from the @byohammer desk :
The Song
On 3 May 2024, we release a new single, ‘The White Birds’, by Adrian Crowley. The release is part of a new Bring Your Own Hammer series where we ask composers, singers and musicians to interpret the work of Irish writers from the nineteenth century (1789-1920). ‘The White Birds’ was written by W.B. Yeats in 1891. On 4 August he accompanied Maud Gonne to Howth and, three days later, on 7 August, he sent her the poem. He was in love, she remained unattainable. Crowley offers a beautiful song of longing and a melancholy reflection on love and loss.
This song was released today as part of the @side4collective project - steered by my old pal and collaborator, Dave Hingerty.
Dave played drums on my album ‘Some Blue Morning’
This fine single ‘Four Letters’ by @sacredanimals sees me making an appearance as backing vocalist, adding some contrast to a soaring vocal melody.
Released on @amsrecordsofficial
And available in those streaming places .
