Here’s your chance to get a sneaky listen to some of our new material on Tuesday 13th April in Belfast. We’ll be playing a few new songs acoustically as well as letting people hear some of the recordings off our new album. There’s a chance to ask us questions and give your opinions about the new songs. It’s free in and we’ll be giving away copies of our previous album to the first 10 people in!
It starts at 7pm in the Oh Yeah Building and runs until around 9.30pm, places are limited so please come early!
So…. the new songs have had a bit of airplay by now! Rigsy and Paul at ATL have played both tracks as has Rory McConnell on Radio 1 and Stephen McCauley on BBC radio Foyle! Thanks guys! We’re very grateful for the support.
Most recently we’ve featured on the Sentric Music podcast along with loads of other great unsigned acts so please take some time to check it out:)
We’ve just done a podcast for Smalltown America records. As well as featuring some great music from Three Tales, Robyn G Shiels, Clown Parlour and the National, it also has two brand new songs from us.
The songs are called ‘Judicial Duel‘ and ‘More than This‘ and they give a good indication of the new direction we’re taking with album two. Contrary to what some people have thought we are not (or never were) planning to turn into an alt-country act. The new stuff is however less synthy and a bit heavier than the first album.
‘Judicial Duel’ is a bit more snarly and guitar laden than our older stuff. ‘More than This’ is almost like two songs in one and lasts nearly 6mins. I hope you enjoy both!
Opinions are like arses, so they say… instead of bitching about other lists i’ve just come up with my top 50 albums of the decade. I would be surprised if anyone agreed with it!
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Arcade Fire – Funeral (2005)
Sufjan Stevens – Come on feel the Illinoise (2005)
The National – Alligator (2005)
Eels – Daisies of the Galaxy (2000)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)
Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump (2000)
Interpol – Turn on the Bright lights (2002)
National – Boxer (2007)
The Unicorns – Who will cut our hair when we are gone? (2003)
The Strokes – is this it (2001)
Mercury Rev – All is Dream (2001)
Flaming Lips – Yoshimi battles the pink robots (2002)
Sigur Ros – Ágætis byrjun (2000)
Beirut – Flying club cup (2007)
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (2007)
Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
Stars – Set yourself on fire (2004)
Air – Talkie Walkie (2004)
Daft Punk – Discovery (2001)
Beirut – Gulag Orkestar (2006)
Devendra Banhart – Niño Rojo (2004)
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (2007)
White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot it in People (2003)
TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain (2007)
Antony and the Johnsons – I am a bird now (2005)
Interpol – Antics (2004)
SFA - Phantom Power (2003)
The Postal Service – Give Up (2003)
Weezer – Green Album (2001)
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (2008)
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (2005)
Devotchka – How it ends (2004)
Fourtet – Rounds (2003)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell (2003)
Bon Iver – For Emma Long ago (2008)
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008)
Beck – sea change (2002)
Vitalic – Ok Cowboy (2005)
Emiliana Torrini – Me and Armini (2008)
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)
Brian Wilson – Smile (2004)
Soulwax – Nite Versions (2005)
Royksopp – Melody AM (2001)
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)
Smog – A river ain’t too much to love (2005)
Final Fantasy – He Poos clouds (2006)
Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances (2008)
I’ve raved and raved to anyone willing to listen (not many people to be fair) about the Three Tales debut album. Its sobering, its uplifting, its one of my favourite albums of the last few years and its Northern Irish.
Anyways, I’m not here to talk about three tales debut album, but rather their brand new EP – the brilliantly titled ‘The Hidden Possibilities in All Things.’ Its a slight departure from the debut album (maybe more pavement/wilco/Lemonheads than Will Oldham this time) but all the ingredients that made it so brilliant are there. Ben McAuley’s voice has its trademarked understated whisper with that sibilance that I loved so much on the album. This isn’t a review so suffice it to say that I love it.
The EP has three songs and the whole thing clocks in at under 8mins. Ben has decided to forgo the usual pleading for sales pitch that all of us other local bands have to go through in favour of putting it out as a free download. You can get if from the Three Tales Bandcamp site.
I really can’t recommend this band highly enough. Ben, I hate you you hatefully talented and charming man.
Today was a great day. A great day with shitty weather. A very drenched Will McConnell landed on my doorstep with a head full of exciting ideas.
Will is the man behind Bandwidth Films. Some of you may have seen his work for us – he did our wonderful evening angels video (above) as well as our Acoustic Valentines session. He’s also done a truck load of work with other bands from NI and his work is always fantastic.
Anyways, Will’s idea this time around is to record some NI bands performing Christmas songs for a seasonal bandwidth podcast. And coincidence being my middle name (not really…) I had a song written (without words) that we had rejected from the new album on the grounds of its sounding ‘too Christmasy.’
I don’t know what it is that makes this song sound like a Christmas song – Will thinks its the drums – but it just does. So, lyrics have been drafted and I’ll finish it off next week. Its tentatively called ‘Too Much Christmas’ and we’ll hopefully have a lovely video for it soon. With sparklers in it. And hopefully fake snow…
It is with a heaving dollop of glum that we have to announce that Dave Frecknall, our beloved Guitarist STROKE bassist STROKE vocalist STROKE keyboardist has had to leave the band. Dave, the man of a million faces, all of which are super cheery wants to concentrate on his own brand of electro-pop loveliness releasing under the name Nakatomi Towers. We all love and miss Dave but wish him the absolute best in the future… and if you haven’t done so already, you’d be a complete nincompoop if you didn’t immediately check out his music.
Things are not all glum though. The JBs album is almost ready to enter mixing stages with Ruairi recording his violin parts (there’s a lot of them) and the wonderful Katie Richardson gracing us with her fabulous vocal skills. Excitement in buckets. We also have not one, but two new faces that will be replacing the irreplaceable Dave but more about those two rapscallions in the next update…
“I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a… fraid”
An update in how album no.2 is progressing is long overdue I guess!
Last Sunday we supported the mighty DeVotchKa in Belfast and used it as an opportunity to try out some new tracks. All in all our set had 1 old track and 5 new ones. It was daunting and we probably weren’t at our tightest but the crowds reaction and general feedback was great:)
This weekend I have taken 9 tracks back to my parents house in Castlederg (a tiny town in NIreland) and have been making myself sick listening over and over. Only got here yesterday but already want to get back to my studio to work on the tracks… I reckon the album will be ready for mixing around the start of November…. that is if i don’t go crazy and scrap all the new songs like i did in May!!!!
What’s in a name? Bono said that Ham Sandwich isn’t a good name for a band. Bono also gave his own band the punsome title ‘U2′ thus ensuring I will always have ample amounts of salt ready for the pinching anytime he speaks his mind about band names…
Until yesterday I too was unsure about the name Ham Sandwich. I had heard this band which wrote clever, heartfelt and deliciously melodic rock but had a name I would associate more with a whimsical and cutesy indie band… Yesterday however we played support for them in Dublin and everything fell into place.
Podge McNamee took to stage dressed like in a pair of sparkly trousers so loud that Marc Bolan sat up in his grave. His frentic and aggressive guitar playing and Roddy Drew meets Matt Berninger vocal contrasting with some of the best stage banter this side of the comedy store. Niamh Farrell is loaded with sass and sex appeal and skips past the obvious Karen O comparisons to offer something altogether more interesting and real than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs NYC-cool posturing.
The band as a whole are well oiled and well able and just like a ham sandwich they are straight forward, yet undeniably satisfying. They deserve their plaudits. They deserve your attention.
