PERSON A: "Shut your face!" PERSON B: "No, you shut your face" PERSON A: "No, i think you should shut your face, actually" PERSON B: "Right, well I've just about had enough of you" PERSON A: "Oh, have you? .." PERSON B: "Get out my pub!" etc etc ...
Look, we all love a good barney, don't we? There's nothing better. Curse words flying, voices raised, feet stomped. Do you know what's better than having an argument? It's witnessing someone else having one. A proper shouting match. It's why millions of people tune into Eastenders every week, to watch Cockneys screaming at one another. It's mesmerising.
We expect you'll be similarly transfixed by the new single from another (YES, ANOTHER) new signing to Lost Map Records. Behold, an actual argument, captured in song! Dear assembled, please enjoy the song 'ARGUMENT' by BAS JAN ... (turn it up nice and loud, please).
How amazing is that?! It gets my heart racing every time. So ... who the fresh hell are BAS JAN? Well, they are a London-based experimental post-punk trio built around the remarkable and distinctive voice and songs of multi-instrumentalist and composer Serafina Steer. That's who. We've been huge fans of Serafina for ages, and have been in love with this latest project since it was hatched in 2015.
Following a few self-released singles, and an EP (now deleted), 'Argument' is the first single to be revealed from BAS JAN's forthcoming debut album Yes I Jan, due early 2018 on Lost Map Records. The track was produced by Leo Abrahams, who did a lot o' work on the recent Seamus Fogarty album, dontchaknow? We'll be releasing the track individually as part of our PostMap postcard series at some point soon - but for now, please feel free to share the track above with yer pals.
Named after the Dutch conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader, who was last seen setting out to sail across the Atlantic in 1975, BAS JAN's earliest songs were initially conceived as Serafina Steer solo material, until BAS JAN co-founder members Sarah Anderson and Jenny Moore – both of whom have since moved on – triangulated the whole collaboration and, in 2015, the band was born. Currently joining Serafina in the current incarnation of BAS JAN are violinist, bassist and vocalist Emma Smith and drummer and vocalist Rachel Horwood - both of whom you'll recognise as being Lost Map alumni, playing regularly with Seamus Fogarty and Rozi Plain respectively. OOH.
But let us give you more info on Serafina Steer - she is a vocalist, harpist, bassist and keyboard player who has released three critically-acclaimed solo albums – the latest of which, 2013’s The Moths Are Real was produced by Jarvis Cocker – as well as appearing both live and on record with musicians including Lone Taxidermist, Jon Hopkins, Rozi Plain, John T. Gast, Patrick Wolf, Tunng and John Foxx.
THERE'S MORE NEWS ... we're süper-chuffed that Serafina is one of the latest winners of the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Awards for Artists - the largest prize given to individual artists and composers in the UK. Over the last 20 years or so the awards have played a pivotal role in the careers of many top composers and musicians who don’t make particularly commercial music – from contemporary classical (Anna Meredith) and sound (Chris Watson) to jazz (Shabaka Hutchings) and folk (Eliza Carthy). It's an incredible achievement, and will no doubt play a huge role in getting her music to a wider audience. We, here at Lost Map, are immensely proud to be working on this new BAS JAN music, and we can't wait for you to hear the album!
Serafina was a guest on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone on BBC Radio 6Music over the weekend, where she spoke about the prize, and the music she's currently working on ... have a listen ->
You can catch BAS JAN live, playing at our Lost Map Yule Log Supreme Showcase at Union Chapel in London on Saturday 9th December, between 12noon and 2pm. It's entry by donation, so come down, pay what you can afford, have a cuppa and enjoy!