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WILLK 004CD
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This is a special limited edition handmade Willkommen Records label sampler. The Willkommen Collective is the name given to a group of Brighton, UK-based folk musicians who together make up the groups Shoreline, Sons of Noel and Adrian, The Leisure Society, Moonshine Moonshine, Atlas Crease, Laish Quartet and The Miserable Rich. Influenced by a wide variety of musical traditions, and with the input from such a diverse pool of players, each band in the ever-expanding co-operative has been able to create a truly unique sound with the view to create a self-sufficient musical alliance. The name Willkommen came from the fact that cellist and beard cultivator Will Calderbank happens to play on everyone's music. He also records under the name Atlas Crease and the song featured here, "Four Corners," gives a glimpse into the hushed, idyllic space Mr. Calderbank calls home. Nick Hemming's group The Leisure Society, having debuted on Willkommen Records with their album The Sleeper, displays their winsome chamber pop here with "Pancake Day." Delve into the compilation further and you'll discover Daniel Green's soulful, rustic bonhomie under the name Laish Quartet. One of Willkommen's foremost torchbearers for the British folk tradition is the Sons of Noel and Adrian, the mothership of the Willkommen operation. Here you'll be able to marvel at Jacob Richardson's whistling prowess and city leveling baritone. A Brighton via Rome collaboration between Tom Cowan, the Collective and Beatrice Sanjust Di Teulada, Shoreline deal in sensuous, soft-focus sound worlds. Hamilton Yarns are Willkommen's purveyors of (un)easy-listening esoterica, embraced by the Wire magazine cognoscenti, while The Climbers are something of a Willkommen studio- super-group headed up by Tim West; it's the kind of flawless music cut by Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher out on the Strip in the late '60s, re-imagined in the suburban environs of the South of England. That's just a smattering of the music on the compilation. We hope Willkommen Volume 1 acts as a perfect primer into this highly-touted inclusive scene.
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WILLK 002CD
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This is the heavily-hyped debut full-length album by the UK's The Leisure Society, who virtually have already become household names in the UK. The story of The Leisure Society began in Burton-Upon-Trent when Nick Hemming picked up a guitar and formed a band with Shane Meadows, Paddy Considine and Rich Eaton. Following a year of demos and increasingly bizarre gigs, Shane and Paddy were drawn towards careers in film, leaving Nick to pursue a life of making music. After serving time with Burton's best-known exports The Telescopes (later Unisex), Nick contributed scores to some of Shane's movies under a new moniker, The Leisure Society. Roping in the help of friends from Christian Silva's band, Nick expanded The Leisure Society into a ten-piece, and the result is The Sleeper. Track after track, The Leisure Society deliver hooks that set their work apart from so much of the current UK folk rock revival; three-part vocal harmonies are complimented by lush, restrained strings, and arrangements featuring ukulele, mandolin and banjo, are all given a warm, slick production treatment. Despite their UK roots, several more prominent American influences leap to mind; Wilco, Fleet Foxes, The Webb Brothers and Beechwood Sparks can be heard throughout the record. Album opener "Give Yourself A Fighting Chance" takes its vocal harmonies and delivery straight from Eureka-period Jim O' Rourke. Equally, you could easily imagine "Save It For Someone Who Cares" being performed by Rufus Wainwright. Elsewhere, you can hear a folkier Shins at work, as well as shades of Tim Hardin -- there's sunshine pop, folk-rock and more to be found within; it's the kind of album where each time you play it, your favorite track will change. This is warm, rustic, orchestral folk-rock at its best.
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