MySpace
myspace music my music  featured playlists  top artists  music videos  karaoke  shows  forums 


MySpace.com | rss | sign in
The Monroe Transfer



Last Updated: 12/22/2009

Send Message
Instant Message
Email to a Friend
Subscribe

Status: Single
City: London
Country: UK
Signup Date: 9/4/2005

Blog Archive
[Older      Newer]
 /  / 
Saturday, November 21, 2009 

Category: Music
Up to now, all the music we've released has been engineered & mixed by Ed & Nick. After recording I dreamt I was a hammer... we'd been finding it increasingly hard to find the time and space to work on it on our own. So, with the support of Organ Grinder Records (who'll be releasing Trials early in 2010), we booked in a few days at the lovely Cowshed Studios. 

Rehearsing 'Goodbye, faithful kingdom!' for recording the next day...

If you're thinking of paying to go into a studio, our main piece of advice would be to have rehearsed a lot in the days running up to your recording. We booked a room at The Premises for an entire day before we were due to go in, so we could work on the trickier parts of the music; we also had a pretty precise plan of how we wanted to record (which, as it turns out, may have caused a few problems in the mixing stage), which meant that everyone knew how much we had to get done in the remaining time. It's always good to have everyone on the same page...

Ed and Susie get their rock on

So, our original plan was to record some of the instruments for all the songs at Cowshed, take these recordings away and do the requisite string parts, overdubs, mixing etc in our usual way (at home, in whatever studio space we could find, etc). After the first couple of days, though, we were so happy with how things were going that it made more sense to spend a little more time at Cowshed and get the vast majority of the recording done there.
   

We seemed to be playing pretty well, which was encouraging- a lot of us get very nervous when it comes time to record, which can make things...interesting. As it happened, we seemed to be doing well- the recording of 6 alarms that you'll hear on the record was the first take, recorded live, with all of us in the same room (and Wendy, of course- you'll hear more about her later).

 
Currently listening:
Other Truths
By Do Make Say Think
Release date: 2009-10-19
3:20 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, November 05, 2009 

Current mood:  tired
Just a quick one- we're extraordinarily excited to be playing the beautiful Union Chapel this Saturday, courtesy of Daylight Music.  Door are at midday, and entrance is entirely free- we'd recommend coming along early, finding a good pew and grabbing a coffee and a bacon sandwich from the cafe downstairs...

Sam Sallon (12.05) 
Heligoland (12.45)
The Monroe Transfer (13.25)

As we may have mentioned, we've recently finished our new album, and we'll be playing some not-previously-heard material from our upcoming release; we honestly can't think of a more wonderful venue to play, and we'd love it if you could come along to join us.  See you there...
Currently listening:
92982
By William Basinski
Release date: 2009-04-20
9:39 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 

Current mood:  tired
Category: Music
So, it seems only appropriate that we let you know about another...

Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom!
Tuesday 3rd November
The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street


Animal Hospital is Kevin Micka's one-man musical recording/performance entity. He has consistently toured the United States and completed 2 European tours throughout France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Iceland. Within the last 4 years Micka has continued writing and releasing several additional tracks on various compilations around the world. Animal Hospital has won followers from all corners of the music world, earning himself spots on tours with bands as diverse as Beirut, Neptune, and the tech-grind metal group The Great Redneck Hope (not to mention a recurring role as bumper music on Boston's NPR station).

During performances, Micka buries himself in a pile of electronics-shelves of effects, mixing consoles, amps and delay units-while patiently constructing a layered nest of loops consisting of live drum beats, guitar chords, scrapes, chucks, chimes, and melodies resulting in anything from more conventional songs to meticulously crafted ambient movements on to full on improvisation.

“listening to Animal Hospital reminds me of watching Andy Goldsworthy build his nature-based art pieces in the excellent film about his work, Rivers and Tides.  Tonally, Micka's knack for organically combining electronics and acoustics, while always staying attentive to rhythm, puts his latest album, Memory, in the realm of artists like the Books, Tortoise, and some of the Kranky roster.” – Pitchfork



The Monroe Transfer are a 7-piece group, making beautifully detailed and passionately executed instrumental music on a variety of instruments.

The band are due to release a full length album entitled Trials in January 2010 on Organ Grinder Records:

"At their most beautiful they’re able to lightly brush the places that so few other instrumental acts can...it’s exciting when a band that features not a single singer is able to take you away to someplace other than the here and now on fabulous waves of orchestral sound. The Monroe Transfer, at their most beautiful, are that band." - Drowned in Sound
Initially formed as a two-piece in 2004, Fuzzy Lights create haunted, visceral music that pulls and tugs at its moorings. As well as touring the UK as guests of Young God Records’ Mi & L’au, they have shared the stage with Jack Rose, Vetiver and MV&EE amongst others. Hard to pigeonhole, as they combine both folk purity and psychedelic noise with echoes of more traditional blues/Americana, their reverb-soaked, semi-improvised music is now collected on their debut album ‘A Distant Voice’.

"...just perfect for deliciously gloomy days when you want the atmosphere to be reflectively beautiful." Plan B

"A Distant Voice is dense music that pulls at tiny crevices in your soul, slowly unfolding before you." Line of Best Fit



Currently listening:
Passio - Arvo Pärt
By Arvo Pärt
Release date: 1988-10-10
7:46 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Saturday, May 23, 2009 
Good evening, all.  To celebrate a week in the studio, recording material for our new album, we're having an all-day Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom! festival at The Macbeth this Sunday 24th May, which will include live bands, affordable art on display, BBQ and DJs.  It should be a great day, not least because the Monday is a Bank Holiday- there's really no excuse for not staying late and enjoying yourself.

Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom!
Bank holiday summer festival!


from 4pm, 24th May @ The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, London


£6 advance from We Got Tickets / £8 on the door


Doors @ 4pm (bands ‘til midnight, DJs ‘til 2am)

Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom! brings you a bank holiday extravaganza: 9 bands, a BBQ on the roof terrace, art from Consumer Revolt and DJs.

featuring:


AGASKODO TELIVEREK
London based four-piece who produce a unique mashed-up style of guitar based music which they call "Psycho Goulash", combining Dick Dale-esque guitar riffagewith manic electronic beats and screeching vocals. They have extensively toured the UK & Europe playing alongside acts like Les Georges Leningrad, Trencher, DAT Politics, J.G. Thirlwell, Max Tundra, Rolo Tomassi, Lightning Bolt, and also been playing together with Damo Suzuki (Can) as part of his neverending tour.
"Agaskodo Teliverek are weird, they make frantic, electronic guitar concoctions, wear matching body hugging football uniforms... all of these things, however, somehow combine to create a super cool of-the-wall dream team of fun." DAZED & CONFUSED

NAPOLEON IIIRD
The Beach boys in Mr Wilson’s sandpit, wrestling with John Cage's baby boy who is currently learning to play the trumpet.
"One of the most visionary artists in the world today." - Drowned In Sound
"A genius-in waiting... pop music at its most original." – Ragged Words

THE MONROE TRANSFER
7 piece modern classical instrumentalists.
“The Monroe Transfer demand to be absorbed by candlelight, with a phial of absinthe on the side.” – The Metro (One To Watch)

SPINMASTER PLANTPOT
Rock n roll poet.
“He's the best fucking thing i've seen in ages. violent and hilarious acapella.” – emoware.org

FIREWORKS NIGHT
Theatrical folk-noir sextet.
"A dizzyingly talented dash-cutting ensemble” – Drowned In Sound

LIME HEADED DOG
Plan B endorsed avant-pop from ex-Good Shoes man Joel Cox. Currently on the look out for a tuba player.
“discordant-yet-melodic sounds that place them firmly on the out-there side of conventional” - Clash Music

WE YES YOU NO
Experimental pop
“‘Dream In Motion’ is a timeless wonder” – Rob Da Bank

ED SEED (THE MULES)
Solo set from the pub step band currently putting finishing touches to album no. 2.
“happy punk... cool and catchy” - Gigwise

TEMBA
They are the acid monks

Art from Consumer Revolt

DJs MT Danzfloor, SoundsXP, Gi Lo, V-V, Tulip,,, and more

Currently listening:
Black Sea
By Fennesz
Release date: 2008-12-08
3:31 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, May 03, 2009 

Category: Music

Apologies for the lack of updates recently- we’ve all been busy as hell, working on new recordings (about which more very soon…) 


In the meantime, we’ll be playing our regular slot at Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom! this Tuesday for Thomas Truax’s David-Lynch-inspired album launch.


“Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom! is refreshingly different” - Subba-Cultcha

Tickets available here…


THOMAS TRUAX 

Thomas Truax is a New Yorker currently residing in London. He’s a singer-songwriter and inventor of strange self-made instruments like his now legendary ‘Hornicator’ and motorized mechanical drum machines including new ‘Mother Superior’. He employs these as well as traditional instruments in exceptionally crafted, witty and often touching songs. His activities have been documented in two feature-length films: ‘Instrumental’, from director Gabe Shalom (US, 2005) and Adam Clitheroe’s ‘One Man In The Band’ (UK, 2008). With three acclaimed full length albums under his belt: ‘Full Moon Over Wowtown’(2004), ‘Audio Addiction’(2005), and ‘Why Dogs Howl at the Moon’ (2007) Thomas took a break from near-constant touring and work on a nearly completed fourth original album to concentrate instead on an album of cover songs from the films of David Lynch. 

Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom! are informed that Thomas Truax will be doing a Lynch-themed show at The Macbeth, which might feature a backwards-speaking dancing dwarf!

“A cranium pouring with genuine innovation. Imaginative, out-there, rich in content.” - Plan B
“Inventive and Romantic” -TimeOut
“Beguilingly Bizarre” –Uncut

 

THE MONROE TRANSFER

“The Monroe Transfer demand to be absorbed by candlelight, with a phial of absinthe on the side.” – Metro (One To Watch) 

 

GNOMES OF ZURICH 

Two piece dirty blues and punked up rock put through a mincer and turned into a riotous mess of danceable beats, incomprehensable noise and beautiful, soaring melodies. Featuring Ben Walker (of Sidearm and Good Luck Fox fame) and Andy Clydesdale of the Audio Massage empire.

Currently reading:
Bad Science
By Ben Goldacre
3:22 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, April 12, 2009 

Category: Music
As you might expect from a 20 minute piece of music, it's hard to find publications willing to review our latest offering.  A few kind blogs and magazines have gone above and beyond, and we're very proud to be able to show you a few words about us...
Clash Music
A stunning, sumptuous, symphonic ‘single’, ‘I Dreamt…’ is twenty minutes of escapist elegance, underpinned by the truest instrumental drama. Suffice to say it’s the least typical single in this round up, taking a cue or two from the post-rock magnificence of Japan’s Mono but building to the kind of heart-melting crescendos that are solely reserved for the most euphoric of skin-tingling live experiences. Its elements of motif repetition may offer a nod to kraut influences, but this is far grander than any revivalist fodder, pointing to a future where classical facets sit pretty alongside accessible ‘pop’, relatively speaking, superstructures. The release comes with a bonus DVD, too, featuring an animated film. All told, a pretty essential package.

The Line of Best Fit
London is a funny old place. It’s a true cultural melting pot of greedy bankers and illegal immigrants, artists and vagabonds, and a healthy dose of depravity and opulence. You can find anything and everything there, and sometimes the Capital’s domineering presence can give birth to a true gem, as is the case with seven piece Londoners, The Monroe Transfer. ‘I Dreamt…’ is a slow boiler of a song. It paces itself, never meticulously, but like a finely crafted Hitchcock shot. It teases and builds, exercising the imagination to a point where the song begins to write itself in your head. A slowly drawn violin melody toys with the listener throughout the track. It patiently goes from sweet and innocent to a much more sinister, shocking sound that creates a journey of emotions that can leave you feeling sorrow or joy at every one of its slight twists. Halfway through and a shift in tone is brought about by Dave O’Brien’s resounding double bass. Drums suddenly make their presence known, and a staccato guitar riff is injected creating a sense of panic and forbearing. Really, it’s token post-rock fare – start slow, build it up gradually, before exploding into a crescendo of noise and rage which overwhelms the listener. I should be bored of it, I should find it formulaic and tedious, but every single time I listen to the piece I’m drawn in, falling completely head over heels for it despite its obvious patterns. Just like a couple completely infatuated with eachother will overlook the fact that every human follows the same blueprint, there’s still something special that makes that person unique and special to them. Don’t be alarmed, I’m not recommending that you start sleeping with the delicate packaging of ‘I Dreamt…’ but I do think the album has something that, despite its reliance on classic post-rock structures, make it a wonderful listening experience. There’s no denying it – The Monroe Transfer’s seventh release is a beautiful piece of work, and is exactly what the seminal Godspeed You! Black Emperor might be doing today if the word hiatus hadn’t been invented. Their attitude (they believe, rightfully, that DIY doesn’t have to mean badly made) is remarkable, and we need more of it in this world.
88%
The Daily Growl
...a new piece of music that laughs in the face of record-releasing convention. Is it a single? An EP? A mini-album? The answer is none and maybe all of these. I Dreamt I Was a Hammer and Everything Was Glass is a one track, 19-minute instrumental epic from The Monroe Transfer, smartly presented in a handmade cardboard CD sleeve. Like the sleeve, the music inside is carefully and skillfully crafted by people who clearly love what they’re doing. The CD is accompanied by a DVD which contains an animated video which tries to offer a visual interpretation of the sounds using photo collage and drawings. From that you won’t be expecting anything flashy or fast moving. Like the music, the visuals are simple, yet powerful and they take time to slowly unfold, telling the story of… well, I’m not sure what exactly the story is. But I don’t think that matters. Like the music, it’s a piece of art to be experienced, not understood. And if it’s a little strange, that’s OK too.
Subba Cultcha
Instrumental magic that will leave you on cloud nine
The music that accompanies the skill and craft of the handmade presentation sleeve is produced in such a way that will both intrigue and capture your imagination. With it’s meticulously constructed music, and simply empowering overtones, ‘The Monroe Transfer’ have smashed this album into a million shiny pieces, each one reflecting small segments of brilliance in every thinkable direction. Without a singer in sight, this orchestral, instrumental masterpiece grabs your attention with its flowing melody and may even leave you speechless when the twenty minutes of adulation ends.The excitement doesn’t end here however, as hidden away inside the sleeve is a bonus DVD which holds within it an animated video by Gemma Burditt which was a year in the making. The only way to describe the album is sheer genius at its best.
In Amusia

The Monroe Transfer's 15 minute post-rock epic 'I Dreamt I Was a Hammer and Everything Was Glass' bears celestial arrangements and sense of grand scale; spidery bass creeping over mournful strings and resonant double bass, building purposefully to an almighty crescendo. Their sound can seem pretty retro at times, mirroring as it does the late 90s/early-00s output of Constellation Records, but this is an EP of genuinely, noticeably high quality; the flawless musicianship and austere sound palette lends itself to their sense of relentless, creeping drama. It would be nice to hear The Monroe Transfer stretch themselves sonically in future, but perhaps it wouldn't suit them to do so; for now, this is a fittingly weighty summation.
Currently watching:
Freaks [1932] - Tod Browning / MGM Classic
7:57 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, April 05, 2009 

Category: Music

The time has come when we, finally, will be having a launch gig for I dreamt I was a hammer & everything was glass.  Next Tuesdy 7th April, at the Macbeth, we will be joined by the Dead Rat Orchestra and we will be playing an extra special set, including the first performance of a brand new piece, and also accompanying a screening of Gemma Burditt's animated film for I dreamt I was a hammer... 

As if that weren't enough, the first 50 people through the door will each receive a specially pressed CD of rare, old, ridiculous and otherwise-unavailable pieces from the vaults of The Monroe Transfer. 


Thanks for your support, as ever.  Hope to see you down there...

Ed, Neil, nick, Nicole, Pete, Rhiannon & Susie
xoxox

Currently listening:
Noble Beast
By Andrew Bird
Release date: 2009-02-02
10:24 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, March 05, 2009 

Current mood:  excited
We're featured in The Metro today in their 'One To Watch' section!  

Oh, and tickets are on sale now for our single launch at The Macbeth - April 7th -  only £4! click here


TMT
x
2:31 PM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, March 01, 2009 

Category: Music




Something we’ve been working on since the beginning of the year is a particularly exciting new project- The Bird’s Eye Film Festival have commissioned us to write a new score for Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1929 classic silent film Pandora’s Box.

We’re very excited about the work we’ve done so far- due to the restricted space of the cinema, only 5 of us are able to work on the show and, as a result, we’re breaking out as many instruments as we can, and doing our level best to vary things over the course of 2 hours.  As well as violin, ‘cello, double bass, drums and guitar, we’ll be playing musical saw, toy organ, glockenspiel, prepared recordings and all manner of percussion- we’ve found some interesting sounds coming from an old wok, for instance…

We’ll be performing this newly-written score live, accompanying a screening of the film at…

BFI SouthBank

Wednesday 11th March 2009

For tickets, visit the BFI website.  And be quick, it looks like they’re selling well.

For videos, photos and more information about the festival, follow some of these links…

Bird’s Eye View on Facebook

Bird’s Eye View on MySpace

Bird’s Eye View on Bebo

Bird’s Eye View videos on Daily Motion

Bird’s Eye View Videos on YouTube

Bird’s Eye View photos on Flickr

tmt
xoxox

11:39 PM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Saturday, January 10, 2009 

Category: Music
If you downloaded Joy and Silent Night at some point in December, thank you very much.  We're very glad that they seem to be enjoyed, and numerous blogs and other organs of music dissemination seem to have picked up on them; it's very nice to see our music being recommended by people we don't know, and who have nothing to gain from it.

With that in mind, here's a particularly effervescent review from Losing Today...

'hate to stick my neck out at such an early point in the proceedings but frankly this runs away with the award for best moment(s) of the seasonal selections. we must admit to not having the faintest idea who the Monroe Transfer are though on the evidence of this selected brace of offerings we’re minded to make it our new year quest to track the blighters down. At eleven minutes in length we are betting that you’ll never hear a better rendition of ‘silent night’ done in a droning psych post rock vibe in your life, an absolutely jaw dropping experience - resonating opines, caressing string arrangements, glazes of shimmering hazes, monumental swathes of grandeur and spectral dimples all serviced with a hugely glacial wide screen aspect that’s as cavernous as it is colossal - step aside Sigur Ros - utterly breathtaking. Not to be outdone the twelve and a half minute ‘joy’ is the star attraction here - makes no bones about that. A transfixing spectacle of noir orchestral atmospherics, bleakly beautiful, both pensive and brooding and darkly vivid as though the scarred romance of Black Heart Procession and the unbridled passion of GSYBE had somehow been tethered and teased into some senses enrapturing supernatural symphony by a minimalist minded Sakamoto where amid the arcing alleyways of forlorn shadows the momentary parting of the unfurling tear stained drama evaporates to reveal cresting hazes of brief euphoria - absolute crushing stuff - we need to hear more and soon.'

We're humbled by such words.  Thanks for them.  We'll be back soon, hopefully with news of new recordings and work of film soundtracks.  In the meantime, Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom! draws nigh once again; hope to see you down there...


tmt
xoxox
7:32 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate