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A CASA VERDE : TERRY DE CASTRO'S FANTASTIC SOLO ALBUM IS OUT NOW

SUMMER TOUR UPDATE : NEWS ABOUT OUR CONCERTS AND DJ SETS

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS : CINERAMA LIVE ALBUMS NOW AVAILABLE

A CASA VERDE : TERRY DE CASTRO'S FANTASTIC SOLO ALBUM OUT NOW

Wedding Present bass player Terry de Castro’s debut solo album is out now on Scopitones. On it, she takes a novel approach… one that is especially charming and, well... curious. She’s chosen to take a wonderfully unusual course and recorded an album comprised entirely of cover versions, but these are not necessarily well-known songs by famous artists. Each songwriter on A Casa Verde is a personal friend and musical collaborator of Terry's. The record comes with elaborate sleeve notes delineating the stories, alliances and histories of all the artists and her connections to them, placing each song into it’s unique context, thus strengthening the overall coherence and concept of the album.

It’s a deliberately understated exercise. There is a warm, inviting humility in the basic premise of devoting a record to the telling of stories by your friends, and it informs the entire endeavour, setting a tone of intimacy and empathy. Each song is a story unto itself, and all of the songs hang together in a vivid and illuminating way.

Nationality comes into play here as well: A Casa Verde is replete with the intrinsically soothing and unmistakably American strains of steel guitar and banjo, among other instruments. de Castro’s maturity as an artist is apparent from the first track, as she adapts “Dalliance” by The Wedding Present, readily making it her own by layering pedal-steel and acoustic guitars. It’s a wry, subtly arch choice to launch this particular solo debut.

In one of the album’s highlights, de Castro strikes a darker tone with “East St. O’Neill” by Hank Starrs. With a deceptively languid start and sparkling imagery, it builds slowly, on a theme of murder and sorrow, rising on the strength of rousing chord changes that are disturbingly catchy, given the subject matter.

As the record progresses, a rich array of styles and subjects take their spin across the dance floor. “The Sun Is Always Sweetest” by Dean Hawksley is a bittersweet Country-tinged waltz. Two tracks by Astrid Williamson (from Goya Dress, of which Terry was also a member); “Glorious” and “To Love You,” are swirling torch songs. The authors also include Mike Chylinski (Drugstore), Simone White (Audi’s ‘Beep Beep’ song), Johnny Daukes (Eurotrash), and Paul Hiraga (Downpilot). de Castro does an expert job of filtering their material through her own self-assured aesthetic, while directing an outstanding band in the process.

A Casa Verde is an unpretentious, lovingly assembled pop record; a simple collection of songs. But as a project, the record hangs together in a positively conceptual way, one that vivifies de Castro’s life, and the lives of her friends.

Early reviews:

 "A low key delight (8/10)" [NME], "I like de Castro's voice a lot" [Pennyblack Music"]

Terry will be celebrating the release of this album by playing concerts in the UK supporting The Wedding Present in this month and on her own in July. Please see below for further details...

SUMMER TOUR UPDATE ; MORE NEWS ABOUT CONCERTS AND DJ SETS

The Wedding Present have added a couple more Spanish appearances to what has become their July 2009 "European festival mini-tour". Firstly they will be appearing at the Cultura Quente Festival near Vigo on July 11th and then they will be playing at The Contemporary Art Gallery in Sevilla on 23 July, two days before their appearance at Contempopranea in Alburquerque, also in Spain. As previously announced, in between these dates they will be appearing at the Melt Festival in Grafenhainichen, Germany on July 18th.

And now a "David Gedge The DJ" update! David will be DJ-ing at The Opera Quarter Bar on Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London from 9PM until 10:30 on Wednesday 5 August [Admission Free] and also in Putney, Bristol and Brighton as part of Terry de Castro’s solo UK tour in July.

There is a full list of forthcoming concerts and DJ appearances in the "LIVE 2009" section below.

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS : CINERAMA LIVE ALBUMS NOW AVAILABLE

Scopitones are pleased to announce that both of our official Cinerama live albums: “Live In Los Angeles” TONE CD 009 [originally released in 2002] & “Live In Belfast” TONE CD 015 [originally released in 2003] are now available for digital download. The CD versions of both these titles are now out of print. For the complete track listings please see below.

Live in Los Angeles : Film / 146 Degrees / Superman / Honey Rider / Your Time Starts Now / Après Ski / Lollobrigida / Dance, Girl, Dance / Heels / Because I'm Beautiful / Hard, Fast And Beautiful / Your Charms / Wow

Live in Belfast : Bewitched / 146 Degrees / Careless / Get Up And Go / Kansas / Cat Girl Tights / It’s A Gas / Starry Eyed / Corduroy / Your Time Starts Now / Quick, Before It Melts / Octopussy / And When She Was Bad / Brassneck / Wow / Health And Efficiency

LIVE 2009 : 

WEDDING PRESENT & TERRY DE CASTRO CONCERTS

DAVID GEDGE DJ SLOTS

JUNE

19 : Northampton, UK - The Wedding Present perform at The Roadmender [with Terry de Castro]

20 : Plymouth, UK - The Wedding Present perform at The Hippo [with Terry de Castro]

21 : Exeter, UK - The Wedding Present perform at The Phoenix [with Terry de Castro and The Sonix] in support of 'Music Against Domestic Abuse'

JULY

3 : London, UK - Terry de Castro performs at The Putney Half Moon [with Decoration and The Container Drivers, followed by a DJ set from David Gedge]

4 : Bristol, UK - Terry de Castro performs at Big Pink Cake at The Mother's Ruin [with The Beatnik Filmstars, followed by a DJ set from David Gedge]

5 : Brighton, UK - Terry de Castro performs at The Latest Musicbar [with Astrid Williamson, followed by a DJ set from David Gedge]

11 : Vigo, E - The Wedding Present perform at the Cultura Quente Festival

18 : Grafenhainichen, D - The Wedding Present perform at The Melt! Festival [The Wedding Present's only appearance in Germany in 2009]

23 : Sevilla, E - The Wedding Present perform at Nocturama at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo

25 : Albuquerque, E -  The Wedding Present perform at The Contempopranea Festival

AUGUST

5 : London, UK - David Gedge DJ Set at The Opera Quarter Bar, Covent Garden

22 : Brighton, UK - The Wedding Present headline their very own 'At The Edge Of The Sea' Festival at Concorde 2 [more bands to be announced shortly]. Please note that this event runs from 3PM until 10PM and for those people wishing to travel from London, there are trains back until 11:37 PM.

OCTOBER

23 : Waterford, IRL - The Imagine Festival at Electric Avenue [The Wedding Present's only appearance in Ireland in 2009]

Please note that, aside from these shows, neither The Wedding Present, David Gedge nor Terry de Castro intend to tour extensively in 2009, although one-off appearances are always possible. With any concert dates there can always be last minute changes… so please check with the venue before making travelling arrangements.

AND FINALLY...

For those readers in the U.S.A. and Canada who could swear they've heard a Wedding Present track on a TV commercial... yes, a section of The Wedding Present's Interstate 5 [taken from the 2005 album “Take Fountain”] was used in a 60-second television advertisement by GM Motors.

Enjoy the ride! [Quite literally]