WAYPOINTS #156
16/04/20
"SLIDE INTO RELIVING SEASON"
FEAT: PICTISH TRAIL, V I S I T ▲ T I O N S , A.R. PINEWOOD, SAVAGE MANSION, ROMEO TAYLOR + MORE...
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You may know him as the cuddly island-dwelling cottagecore psych-pop ogre who thinks nothing of using his cute children to help promote his music. But then you don't Pictish Trail like we know Pictish Trail. Because we know there's another side to him. A dark side. Think a McVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuit ™ smeared in a yeast extract based sandwich spread ™, toasted to a crisp and eaten with all of the lights off, naked/erect. That's dark, right? The man is unwell (who even eats the dark chocolate ones?!!!).
You might say that Pictish Trail is – yes we are getting to the point, be patient – 'Double-Sided'. Which just so happens to be the title of the latest single taken from his critically-acclaimed album Thumb World, the mind-bending animated video for which is available to watch and share now. Yes, 'Double-Sided'. Like vinyl records or cassettes. Like a reversible cagoule. Like ALL THE TWO-FACED BACK-STABBERS WHO EVER BETRAYED US YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE (dad).
“This was the last song to be recorded on the album and is about the idea of living a virtual life, a sort of simulation existence," Johnny AKA Pictish 'Biscuit Sicko' Trail explains, of the story behind 'Double-Sided'. "This track is kinda paired with ‘After Life’ from the previous album Future Echoes . It’s about how we present different versions of ourselves online, how we often experiment with how we wish to be perceived by others, and how there’s almost a sense of detachment from responsibility for our behaviour.”
Speaking of "the internet", if you're missing Pictish's BIG HAIRY FACE during lockdown, then know that he has recorded a number of different performances remotely from a bothy on Eigg – one for The Scotsman Sessions, and another for The Social, and yet another one still for The Boileroom. His UK tour has meanwhile be rescheduled as follows, a whole year from now. A whole year! Ugh. Thank fuck for biscuits.
PICTISH TRAIL LIVE: 2021
ALL DATES w/ SAVAGE MANSION
TUE, MAR 23 @ HARE & HOUNDS 2, BIRMINGHAM
WED, MAR 24 @ BOILEROOM, GUILDFORD
THU, MAR 25 @ CLWB IFOR BACH, CARDIFF
FRI, MAR 26 @ LOUISIANA, BRISTOL
SAT, MAR 27 @ OMEARA, LONDON
SUN, MAR 28 @ THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON
TUE, MAR 30 @ BODEGA, NOTTINGHAM
WED, MAR 31 @ TRADES CLUB, HEBDEN BRIDGE
THU, APR 1 @ CLUNY 2, NEWCASTLE
FRI, APR 2 @ GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER
SAT, APR 3 @ BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, LEEDS
THU, APR 8 @ TOLBOOTH, STIRLING
FRI, APR 9 @ BEAT GENERATOR, DUNDEE
SAT, APR 10 @ QUEENS HALL, EDINBURGH
SUN, APR 11 @ THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN
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V I S I T ▲ T I O N S – S2:
AROUND THE TABLE WITH ARTHUR KING
They may look like a gang of mechanics stranded in a countryside lay-by after a heavy dogging session, but don't be fooled: Arthur King are in fact a bunch o' cool dudes out of Los Angeles, America, whom we were very lucky to have come up and stay with us on Eigg, Scotland last summer to record some musics as part of our V I S I T ▲ T I O N S residency project. Which, if you don't know what that is, you can read all about now in an article by proper legit grown-ups newspaper The Guardian. How do you like that dad?!
A revolving collective of musicians, visual artists and filmmakers including Jason Lytle, frontman with alt-rock pioneers Grandaddy, Arthur King arrived on Eigg in the week leading up to our Howlin’ Fling festival in the summer of 2019. They stayed for a week and made a load of weird trippy visuals, some of which was projected onto the side of a house, and a load of weird trippy music, some of which is captured on their V I S I T ▲ T I O N S EP. Let them explain it all for themselves by listening to the latest episodes of the Lost Map Podcast, which include an interview with all the lads including ol' grandaddy himself, Jason Lytle. There's a particularly good bit when Lytle forgets the name of the festival he's at. 10/10, would recommend.
V I S I T ▲ T I O N S series two is a three-part set of special limited-edition releases, written and recorded in residency in splendid isolation and rural seclusion on our island home. The three EPs by Arthur King, Rachel Aggs and Rozi Plain are being released respectively across the course of 2020 on both 12” vinyl (with download) and as a download only, exclusively as part of a subscription service, which can be signed-up to now from just £25. You can listen to a wee sampler o' the Arthur King one here entirely for free now. Right before you sign-up from just £25. |
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Forged deep in a Coloradoan canyon and precision-programmed off the wild west coast of Scotland, A.R. Pinewood is the heartbroken cyber-cowboy you’ve been dreaming of. Fully loaded with a baseline encyclopedia of American musical influences from Abner Jay to Woody Guthrie and Buckweat Zydeco, built with a harmonica for an esophagus, a pitch-perfect auto-tuned voice, double-denim as standard and a strangely human heart, this machine writes classics, every time. Think Gram Parsons meets Sparky’s Magic Piano. Think the missing link between Hank Williams and Cher.
The first release of its kind to be entirely composed by A.I. technology, No Life is A.R Pinewood’s sensational debut album – 10 expertly engineered slices of country-pop perfection guaranteed to put a smile on your face, a tear in your eye and a spur in your heel, set for release on July 3, 2020 on 12” vinyl and via digital services (pre-order now, y'all). The album is preceded by the single ‘Faux Misery’ – an uncomfortably funky fake-sad banger featuring lyrics processed from real-life Facebook posts.
From the emotional pangs of ‘I’m Okay’ to the guitar twangs of ‘Hyperbolic’, No Life is an album you’ll treasure for a lifetime. Loneliness, true love, social media unease, paranormal activity and small business decay are all processed via the Pinewood prism, lassoed and bound-up in unforgettable golden melodies. Yet another classic release from Lost Map Records. Batteries not included.
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APRIL POSTMAP CLUB:
FELL'S 'SIDES A/B' AND 'SIDES C/D'
SIGN UP NOW
While there are various legitimate criticisms that can justifiably be made of yer old pals Lost Map, such as "hey you, you smell of garlic get out of my face" and "badly dressed", we simply will not tolerate any suggestion to the contrary of us being extremely generous/kind. Case in point: subscribers to the PostMap Club this month receive not just their standard two but indeed at least three and perhaps even FOUR – yes, 4 – postcards this month. As in, one less than five/5! Extraordinary!
Two of them come from the talented bastard that is Nicolas Burrows, or as he is also known Fell. That'll be the same guy that brought you last year's cassette EP 'For The Pickling', you know the guy. For his latest project 'Sides' he is aiming to release approximately three hundred thousand thirty four nine hundred and seventy four thousand songs in the next 13 months. That's a lot of songs! Here's Nic to explain:
"I am frequently making lists of whatever songs are floating about in my mind," explains Nic, "on my hard drive or on the unlabeled cassette tapes knocking around in various bags. Some of them were finished a long time ago, some are partly written, some have no lyrics at all, some are just a ten-second idea mumbled into an iPhone on the bus. I don’t know if i’ll ever get to put down all the ideas I have. Time moves on and proper recording opportunities are hard to come by. Things tend to happen slowly in the world of Fell as we navigate families and work and other careers.
"’Sides’ is a long-term project we set ourselves as a band so we always have something to work towards. Each of these tracks were recorded in a couple of hours in the practice room on a Wednesday night, with overdubs done at home. Side D (‘Njumbers’) is the first one done remotely, with everyone recording individual parts as best they can and emailing them over to me for mixing. We’re aiming to make 26 tracks, continuing the side A and B format right up to side Z, and we’ll release two tracks every month."
The first four tracks, 'Sides A/B' and 'Sides C/D' are all included in your April PostMap Club dispatch, along with Pictish Trail's 'Double-Sided'. There's another, mystery release for April TBA. In the meantime, here's a reminder of the benefits of being in the PostMap Club and the two membership tiers:
REGULAR BREW
- (£3 + postage, per month)
- Postcards! At least two collectible PostMap postcards sent to your door at the end of every month – each containing download codes for a mixture of brand new music on Lost Map, alongside a random selection from our archives
- Badge! Plus a new badge for every year of your subscription
- Monthly newsletter! Containing hot goss / farmyard shite
- Discounts! On other Lost Map releases, merchandise and gigs
- Feelgood glow! Help support a plucky young independent record label go about its merry business
GOLD BLEND
- (£5 + postage, per month)
- All of the above except with a bigger badge
- Free plate of continental sandwich meats, cheese, cream crackers, misc. relishes, non-descript clearish liquid.
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