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- British Sea Power: Our memories of making Valhalla Dancehall
Yan from the band talks us through his 10 favourite moments …
Listen to Valhalla Dancehall hereFor Valhalla Dancehall, our fifth album, we decided to do things a little differently. The plan was to abandon the professional studio and all its trappings in favour of a more DIY approach. First of all we needed a place – somewhere away from it all where we could experiment freely without interference. So, on the edge of the Sussex downs, not far from the sea, we found an old farmhouse and lived there for what turned out to be an 18-month recording and mixing process. Here are my favourite memories of that time …
1 The battles of Selmeston
The wildlife was spectacular around Selmeston. When we weren't making vast amounts of noise it was almost silent. However, it wasn't exactly a peaceful haven. In fact by feeding them daily with nuts and seeds I created a kind of hotspot of reward and danger for the local animals. The crows and squirrels were often at the centre of this. Wars and battles would take place frequently. It's no wonder that the red squirrel has been ousted by the grey. One day I saw one of these cute grey animals hurling itself over a metre upwards, spinning 360 degrees and launching its razorsharp teeth and claws at an airborne crow much superior in size.
2 Walking
I believe walking is one the most creative and important things a person can do. With no transport, walking a mile to get some eggs or go to the local was the norm. Walking for the sake of it was even better. Dallying through forests or around the local reservoir, it seemed that work and troublesome songs would more or less sort their own problems out.
3 Battling the cold with Mario
In winter things became rather cold. Having never looked after a country property before I neglected several duties such as pre-ordering oil in vast quantity months ahead of time. If nothing else it certainly toughened me up. And in the silence of snowy whiteness, breath extending a metre out in whispy clouds, it was ironic and strange that I could still race against "toker" from somewhere in south America on Wii Mario Kart.
4 Making your own crazy golf course
Gardening was another failure. The house had a huge grassy lawn extending down to a copse of trees. Over the summer this grew wild like a meadow, the grass a metre tall. This gave the mice free rein of the garden in reasonable safety from airborne predators. They loved it. It also meant they could invade the house. I also enjoyed the safety of the long grass and took to European-style sunbathing. It was also possible to strim corridors through the maze/meadow and form a rather elaborate crazy golf course. A darts board nailed to a tree at the bottom finished off the amazing array of garden activities.
5 Everything happening at once
The house and gardens were full of little rooms. When the house was busy several band members could be working simultaneously on different songs. I was painting in the shed one day and decided to take a look about and see what the others were doing. Also outside, but in the pigshed, Neil was singing away. Around the other side Martin was recording while Abi was playing viola in the garden. Inside, Graham was preparing mixes in "the room of doom" and Phil and Woody were goofing around in what sounded like a Blade Runner meets drum workshop scenario. It could be a very busy house.
6 Mice and men
I like mice, and even watched a whole episode of Heartbeat with one. But give them an inch and they'll take a mile. In the end it was total war.
7 The interstellar Sussex downs
The sky at night was truly magnificent due to the total lack of light pollution. Woody would particularly enjoy this sight and point out stars and tell us their names. Meteors were not uncommon and it would become timeless sat out there watching the heavens roll over the Sussex downs.
8 Talking to myself
As mentioned, when it was busy it was a hub of activity for days and weeks, but also weeks could pass without any band members or other people visiting at all. I developed several habits this way such as the yawn that would become a loud animal like roar. Very enjoyable. And I would happily talk to myself without any shame. Nothing too serious, more like "Oooh, shall we have another tea Scott?" or "Lets do some singing!". Basic practical stuff. I didn't make a friend out of a plastic football or anything like that.
9 Valhalla Dancehall
I think there is a link between Valhalla Dancehall – the title of our album – and the isolated house we recorded it in. Timeless, silent and also full of noise and ale. Full of little rooms where anything could be happening. A place of experimentation and mental exploration. Perhaps Valhalla Dancehall is just a glorified farmhouse that sometimes runs out of oil.
10 Omens and Ellis
It was a great place to read without being interrupted. There wasn't much in the way of entertainment so books would be devoured. Even ones I might not have had time for normally, such as the Omen trilogy. I also managed to get through all the JG Ballard books I had missed, Michel Houellebecq, Knut Hamsun, Arthur Miller, the new Brett Easton Ellis and an intimate history of killing by Joanna Bourke.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - British Sea Power – Valhalla Dancehall: Exclusive album stream
Let us know what you think of British Sea Power's latest effort, a pop record inspired by Dadaist poetry and crazy golf
British Sea Power share their memories of making Valhalla DancehallBritish Sea Power are back with another brilliant and slightly baffling album, Valhalla Dancehall, which takes inspiration from – deep breath – vintage Playboy magazines, population control, crazy golf, Dadaist artist Kurt Schwitters, hedonism, nature and "French Hitchcock" Henri-Georges Clouzot. And other stuff, naturally. You can read lead singer Scott "Yan" Wilkinson's memories of making Valhalla Dancehall here – it seems to have involved him spending over a year in a freezing cold barn while watching Heartbeat with mice. And do let us know what you reckon in the comments section below.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street: Booze, promiscuity and punk spirit
It's a drive-time favourite that tackles drink, depression and sex. And it boasts a sax solo that thrilled Slash and a young Julie Burchill. Let's salute Baker Street, one hell of an odd pop song
Baker Street is one of the oddest songs to go top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic and certainly one of the strangest to be played three million times on US radio. Since its release, it has been a mainstay of drive-time playlists, but how many of the jocks who played it so relentlessly over the years have really listened to the lyrics, which speak of booze, depression, promiscuous sex and "people with no soul"? And how many could have known that the seemingly innocuous reference to a "new dawning" alluded to Gerry Rafferty's struggle to extricate himself from his Stealers Wheel record contract and his own battle with alcoholism?
Issued as a single in February 1978, at the height of punk and new wave, Baker Street came from another era – no wonder Julie Burchill, ever contradictory, gave it a glowing review in NME. You could pretty much tell from listening to it that everyone involved in its recording sported a beard. And yet in a way Rafferty was quite "punk" – one of his earlier albums bore the spiky title, Can I Have My Money Back?, while Stealers Wheel's 1973 hit Stuck in the Middle With You was a snotty account of his experiences in the music industry with, as he put it, "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right ..."
And basing a song on a saxophone solo in early 1978 was a none-more-punk gesture. As were the decisions to use that sax solo as the "chorus", and to open the song with it. It is, of course, one of the most recognisable instrumental solos in pop: Slash of Guns N' Roses is alleged to have used it as the basis for his guitar solo on Sweet Child o' Mine, and in 2008 Rolling Stone magazine – perhaps swayed by the phrase "rolling stone" in the lyrics – voted it in their list of top 100 guitar songs.
Baker Street does indeed end with a wail and screech of guitar, but it's the sax part that resonates (played by Raphael Ravenscroft and not, as once cheekily proposed by Stuart Maconie in a bid to create an urban myth, by game-show host Bob Holness). Just ask Matt Groening, who had Lisa Simpson play it in an episode of The Simpsons. And ask all those who rushed to the shops after its success – apparently it led to an unprecedented increase in sales of the instrument, courtesy of legions of wannabe musicians wanting to make some sax-noise themselves. How very DIY. How very punk.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать
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