Special offer from the Harvest Ministers

Here’s a nice offer from the Harvest Ministers: The next 10 people to order the vinyl version of You Can See Everything From Here will also receive a full colour limited print edition of the album cover (10.5 inches x 10.5 inches) signed by the artist Padraig McCaul. Order at http://theharvestministers.bandcamp.com/music.

New Harvest Ministers Anthology - You Can See Everything From Here - Now Available For Pre-Order!

Artwork by Padraig McCaul

I'm very happy to report: One of my all time faves, the Harvest Ministers - a band I've had the pleasure of working with, and who have recorded for both Sarah Records and Setanta Records, and have been self-releasing material for several years now - have just announced the release of an anthology on May 1st which is now available for pre-order. The album covers their entire career pretty much to date, 1993-2010. For the vinyl-minded there will be an edition of 500 LP's pressed as well. Its hard to believe Will Merriman and his associates have been making music for over 20 years now.

Along with the newly launched Bandcamp page, they've announced two rare shows in Dublin on May 17th & June 7th at Bewleys Theatre. The musicians on the night will be Brian Foley on double bass, Tom Dunne on drums, Padraig McCaul on Piano / Saxophone, Aingeala de Burca on violin and, of course, Will Merriman on vocals & guitar.

‘You Can See Everything From Here’ is a limited vinyl edition release featuring 13 songs while the download has 5 bonus tracks including the previously unreleased ‘Funeral Passing By’.

Original art work is by Irish painter Padraig McCaul and a limited print edition of the front cover is available along with the vinyl.

To buy the vinyl go to theharvestministers.bandcamp.com or download from the usual outlets.

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Shows: Bewleys Theatre Sat 17th May & Sat 7th June - Doors 8.30pm - Admission €15

Stupefied: The Caesar (The Wake / 12 Stars) Playlist

This week's Stupefied Playlist comes courtesy of Glaswegian musician, guitarist Caesar (aka Gerard McInulty), long time leader of a band mostly associated with Factory Records, The Wake, as well as the 12 Stars Theatre Company. A big thanks to Caesar for the list - I love combination of British punk & folk with some indie and American psych & garage thrown in for good measure.  

Similar to the recent playlists by Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio, and Vini Reilly of Durutti Column, I again defer to the head of our Factory Records History Department, Professor John Cooper of Cerysmatic Factory, and his associate, Ian McCartney, for some perspective. Take it away boys:

If Factory was a label that was sometimes almost agoraphobic in its unwillingness to get out there and promote its acts, then it's fair to say that The Wake (during their time on the label) seemed to be a band that, perhaps more than any other, characterised the early-to-mid 80s Factory-era. If you wanted to find this stuff, you had to go looking for it: it sure as hell wasn't going to come looking for you. 

The band's two albums for Factory - Harmony (1983) and Here Comes Everybody (1985) - both got good notice in the contemporary music press, but beyond that, and some inspirational live shows, The Wake were so low-key that you sometimes wondered if a band could be any more mysterious. The music contained in both these discs speaks for itself, though, which was probably the idea. 

A 12" E.P. entitled Something That No One Else Could Bring appeared in 1987, clothed in a sleeve that appeared to depict a lunar landscape. Was this already distant band at its apogee? Then silence, for a long enough time to reasonably assume that The Wake had disappeared for good.

The Wake resurfaced some time later on the Bristol independent label Sarah Records, kicking off with single "Crush the Flowers", then a couple of albums followed - Make It Loud (1991) and Tidal Wave of Hype (1994).  These records sounded more 'indie' (for want of a better word) than the Factory stuff, and were full of great pop melodies and typically imaginative, literate writing.

And that was that. Or was it? A postscript to all this came in the form of A Light Far Out, eighteen years later, in 2012. The world had changed beyond measure in that time. Entire governments had been and gone. But this Glasgow band had remained true to their vision and brought us another fascinating work, another set of colourful melancholy. Another low-key classic.

- Ian McCartney

A Light Far Out CD is available on CD & digitally from LTM Records, and on vinyl from Factory Benelux (purchase here). The Wake are next playing at Indietracks 2013 (Ripley, UK) on Sunday, July 28, at 7:40pm on the outdoor stage.

Visit 12 Stars Theatre Company on Facebook.

The Wake, circa early 80's. Caesar is second from left.

01. Buzzcocks - Hollow Inside

02. X-Ray Spex - Art-I-Ficial

03. The Raincoats - Adventures Close To Home

04. The Pastels - Check My Heart

05. Nico - Le Petit Chevalier

06. Lou Reed - Vanishing Act

07. The Occasional Keepers - The Last Lighthouse Keeper

08. Trembling Blue Stars - The Far Too Simple Beauty

09. BMX Bandits - Little River Of Spring

10. Brian Eno - Sparrowfall 1

11. The Fall - (Birtwistle's) Girl In Shop

12. Stereolab - Neon Beanbag

13. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - A Child's Guide To Good And Evil

14. The Seeds - Evil Hoodoo

15. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Zig Zag Wanderer

16. Nick Drake - Magic - Orchestrated Version 2

17. Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

18. Pentangle - Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

19. The Saints - This Perfect Day

20. Buzzcocks - E.S.P.