// Daniel McDonagh // Smoke Fairies

Daniel McDonagh's album is out today; the first recording session was at the tail end of my experience with long covid, a fun experience involving waking up every morning feeling like I'd been run over by a tank and feeling that way all day. I was a bit apprehensive about the session 'cos I thought I might just have to lie on the floor for the whole thing. It was fine though, and I think it actually helped. Give the album a listen.

Smoke Fairies release the latest track off their forthcoming EP, featuring some of my viola drones. Oh, and there's also a gig coming up at Omeara.

I also keep forgetting to share this playlist of stuff I'm currently listening to. Time happens, and time is feeling very unusual at the moment. #ToriesOut #ToriesOut #ToriesOut

New Model Army tour

 Shattercones will be joining the New Model Army tour for a few dates next week.

Ticket links on our Link Tree

 

Shattercones Paper Dress photos

Mike Urban posted some snaps of our show last night at Paper Dress Vintage in Hackney:

 

 

Firestations - Protection Spells

...from the Hash & Brew article:

With trademark intertwined vocals from Mike and Laura, it also features special guest Neil Walsh (Smoke Fairies, Videocean, Shattercones) on viola, as well as a rare, scorched-earth guitar solo (like a frustrated dad going epic in a guitar shop) from the band’s lead guitarist Martin (who is not a dad).

For fans of emotional alt-country - think Sparklehorse, John Cale, Wilco, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Neil Young, Herman Dune, Sharon Van Etten - albeit selectively filtered through refined (repressed) British sensibilities.

Shattercones - In the Bleak Midwinter

 

                                

Hot on the heels of October’s This Septic Isle EP, Shattercones gift us a slab of Christmas cheer(?) with their take on the popular school hymn ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’. Pedal steel guitar floats over a bed of insistent, woozy drones, chugging guitar, deep, pulsing, and a vocal that’s almost as cold as the song title itself. Recorded specially for the Joyzine Advent Calendar, the song is a warped but soothing missive for those who prefer their Christmas tunes with a slice of Brexit canapés and some homemade rocket fuel. It’s also a potent taster for their forthcoming 3rd EP, due next year. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS. LISTEN TO SHATTERCONES!

Download ‘In The Bleak Midwinter‘
Find out more on Shattercones’ official website.

 

Shattercones w/ Maggie the Cat & Naomi in Blue - Paper Dress Vintage - 22nd Feb

 Tickets: bit.ly/sonictonictickets

 

 

 

This Septic Isle EP

This Septic Isle EP is out now. 

 The EP we recorded at 123 with Rob Squarehead has been released into the digital ether by the good folk at Gare Du Nord records. We also released three very different videos for tracks off the EP: 

Butterfly Rom

  

The Man Who Ate Capitalism

  

Say Goodbye

  

 If you'd like to know more about each song there's a great Track by Track piece over on Joyzine. 

 ...and if you're looking for a review, The Other Side Reviews were very nice, and I quote " Infinitely annoyed, frustrated and upset yet oddly beautiful"

Neiltones

The playlist of me playing on songs that are available to listen to on Spotify has been updated, including a couple of new songs off the new Shattercones EP.

Shattercones announce new EP This Septic Isle

Really pleased to announce we will be releasing an EP through Gare Du Nord records in October..

"In 120 mind-boggling seconds these Four Horsemen of the Great Britain Apocalypse
ventilate their frustration and anger about their country. Their sonic fulmination
sounds exactly like the current state of mind of the UK. Chaotic, confused, helpless
and afflicted by what the hell is going on here sentiments.

Here’s the new British anthem…" - Turn Up The Volume

Here's the video:

Shattercones playlist

 

Enable Original Sound

 I was asked to take part in an art series by Sam Walton: 'portraits of musicians performing, silently and internally, music of particular significance to them.' You can watch the resulting bizarreness here.

It also got me thinking about this piece Pensiero by Frank Bridge that I learnt as part of one of my viola grades aaaaaaaaaaaages ago. It was the first piece I had to learn that I didn't view as a bit of a drudge, something to get through to pass an exam, the piece was far removed from the  maths-precision cardboard of Bach, I actually felt something playing it; so cheers Frank for making me not ditch the viola.

Shattercones hit the studio

After a few failed attempts due to lockdown regulations and rubbish employers we finally made it into the studio to do some new recordings, more on that later but there are some photos of the back of my head over on Instagram. Felt good to be back at it making an unholy racket. 

Love on Repeat

I made another Shattercones video, this time mostly using footage of South America shot by Arran Goodchild (Shattercones' drummer/synth lord/drum machine operator / all round lovely man) along with a few bits of heavily treated stock footage and again editing it on the trusty but fiddly app YouCut, it's only fiddly cos I have rubbish thumbs. I actually paid for a couple of add-on 'pro' effects too just to ensure the stock footage looked like it belonged in the same room as the other footage, effectively scuffing it up a bit, sorry horsey. Love on Repeat, a copy of a copy, seeing double, with a horse, not my lovely horse...

The video has already been featured in many corners of the earth, including Canada, The Netherlands and Australia... does the earth even have corners? ...ask the flatearthers.

Oppenheimer video

I made this video using footage I filmed whilst in Cambodia on a Google Pixel 3 using YouCut video maker. We'd just received the final mix for the EP before I went away and the more I started filming short clips of landscapes (just for posterity) the more I could hear the song behind the images and I started shooting specifically with it in mind, it made thematic sense, if I was a twat I'd say the video made itself.  I'm pretty pleased with how it came out though considering it's the first music video I've ever made and I pretty much put it all together on the long arse flight on the way home. For someone as overly critical with everything they do to be 'pretty pleased' must mean something ...I should probably give a credit to Jason Powdrill as it was his seed of an idea that I expanded on, he's probably forgotten about that though. 

Balcony Online Festival

Neiltones

I've added a number of new songs to my playlist on Spotify including the new Shattercones EP of course and a couple of tracks by this great new solo artist from Kent, Daniel McDonagh, where I contributed some suitably creaky viola.

Shattercones - Oppenheimer EP

Oppenheimer, the debut EP by new outfit Shattercones is out now! 

Available for streaming and to purchase on Bandcamp.

Artwork by Serge Najjar.

Shattercones to support New Model Army at The Forum.

Shattercones 'A Cheat' [Margo's Living Room S5 Ep4]

Like our page on Facebook here: /shattercones/