Fancy Barrel, by Aidan Smith

Fancy Barrel

by Aidan Smith

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Fancy Barrel via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Aeroplanes, Pigs etc. 02:21	buy track
2.	The Cuckold 02:57	buy track
3.	Alone, Askew 03:17	buy track
4.	Love Song (With Aneurysm) 03:33	buy track
5.	Everytime I Lean I Fall Asleep 03:56	buy track
6.	Jam Will Suffice 03:25	buy track
7.	Mantra #1 01:32	buy track
8.	Song for Manchester 01:57	buy track
9.	Vaudeville 03:08	buy track
10.	Words Waltz Like Flies 03:21	buy track
11.	Bert's Violent Rage 02:39	buy track
12.	Donkey Blood 02:18	buy track
13.	Everything Is Boring 02:40	buy track
14.	Basslines & Shapes 05:05	buy track
15.	Everybody Thinks I'm A Millionaire 03:09	buy track

about

“Fancy Barrel is a vaudevillian pot-pourri of Macca melodies, sly wit and artful arrangements, often recalling the kaleidoscopic joy of Harry Nilsson's late '60s output. Subsequent spins reveal a warped logic to avant-lounge odysseys ‘Bert's Violent Rage’ and ‘Basslines and Shapes’, while ‘The Cuckold's trumpet and accordion lilt cradles a doomed narrative that would make Randy Newman proud.”
- 4/5 MOJO, November 2005

“There's a hint of 'Abbey Road'-era Beatles on the accordion'n'brass-backed 'The Cuckold' while 'Everytime I Lean I Fall Asleep' shows that Smith can do James Taylor-ish acoustic love songs too. The oddball, tea-fixated 'Jam Will Suffice', however, will have you wondering if Smith has a dog called Gromit and invents rabbit-catching devices for fun. Whatever the truth, 'Fancy Barrel' is a right little cracker.”
- 8/10 NME, December 2005

"Manchester has a habit of producing people like Aidan Smith; outwardly upbeat and with a serious ear for melody, then dipped in that special something which instils it all with a melancholy that never nudges into the realms of angst. Although Badly Drawn Boy comparisons are inevitable, a better musical yard-stick is Jim Noir, sharing as they do a sweetly naïve take on the tribulations of everyday life. Opening with 'Aeroplanes, Pigs etc.' Smith treats us to a flourish of horns and Ennio Morricone bubble-gum melodies that perfectly season his gentle vocal style, a weapon he uses on 'The Cuckold' to sugar a bitter tale of suicide ("he tried so hard to close the wound every time she went..."). Elsewhere, Smith serenades his hometown on 'Song For Manchester', explores the territory currently being mined by the Fence Collective on 'Bert's Violent Rage', whilst 'Everybody Thinks I'm a Millionaire' stakes a claim to being the song Elliot Smith would have written were he from Salford. Brilliant."
- BOOMKAT

credits

released October 17, 2005

All songs written by Aidan Smith

Guitars, piano, keyboards, harmonica, concertina, bass guitar on 1, 2 and 7, drums on 13 and various other bits and bobs by Aidan Smith
Bass and electric bass guitar by Paul Blakesley
Drums on 1, 4, 6, 10 and 11 by Brian Edwards
Drums on 2 and 7 by Danny Wilkinson
All cornet and right-speaker guitar on 3 by Rick Tomlinson
Trombone on 1 and 13 by Joe Stephenson
Cello by Semay Wu
Storytelling on 11 by Anselm Burke
Flute on 5 by Bernard Moss
Backing singing on 1 by Julie McLarnon
Handclaps on 15 by Kara Leckenby

Produced and Engineered by
Julie McLarnon at Analogue Catalogue
Mastered by Martin Giles at Alchemy Soho

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about

Analogue Catalogue UK

Analogue Catalogue is a small indie label and a big studio complex formed by Julie McLarnon in 2000.

The label went to sleep in 2008 and reawoke in 2019 with the release of an award nominated single by indie riff masters Buí.

2020 will see the Analogue Catalogue records return to full power with the release of Aoife Wolf's epic debut single, more from Buí and gems from the back catalogue. ... more

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