What does it sound like?:
So here’s a new album from Otherish, a bunch of musicians from somewhere like Bristol and Belfast, loosely a bunch of pals. Echoes in their friendships from days of The Moonflowers and other aligned bands. A happy bunch who have been described as loving just the act of being a band. They’re not trying to change the world or get rich – though they deserve to do both – they are trying to have fun making music and then share it in a way that lets them continue the process because it’s a great thing to be able to do.
All of that innocent simplicity is reflected in the joyous nature of their sounds. Where do I start to describe their music? Do you value thoughtful and intriguing lyrics? Do you like occasional whimsy and fun? Do you enjoy careful experimentation? Are you more inclined to listen to warm, honest, human songs rather than a screeching din of electricity? Do you fall for organic songs? Do you admire a fearless wander to the edges of conventionality? Do you recognise craft when you see it?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above you will find things to like herein. Look, there’s an oblique echo of The Divine Comedy! Over there is the ghost of Kevin Ayers at his mischievous best!
What does it all *mean*?
This marvellous cottage industry of quaint musicality has already produced a debut album, trippy and complex as it is, that properly delighted me a year or two back, and their Bandcamp presence reveals a number of other delights to explore. Now there’s this new collection of works with which to tickle your neurons.
Goes well with…
All sorts of nice breads, good quality pickles and artisan cheeses.
Release Date:
Out now!
Might suit people who like…
Discerning souls will have no problems enjoying this delightful, imaginative romp.
https://otherish1.bandcamp.com/
Sold – I bought the previous Otherish offering (and got a note of thanks, the Book of Otherish, and a bonus track from Francis Kane).
And I’ve just spent 20 minutes trying to find it because it was mis-filed.
Very much enjoyed that one, so expecting similar with this – thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Francis kindly a similar thing for me. I was most impressed. Beats the dodgers, doesn’t it?
F Kane O’Kane is a very interesting fellow, an erudite conversationalist, humanitarian and fiercely unshowy don’t-mention-the-degrees intellectual. (He’ll be aghast that I’ve even said that!) I only met him for the first time a few weeks ago, at his invitation. His vision – the whole Otherish vision – is pure artistry and friendship, gentle whimsy and dreams of better days, which you’ve spotted very well, Vulpmeister. 🙂
I’ve got myself a copy (thanks @colin-h) of what the rascals call a ‘Tangible Object Disc Edition’ – they recognise that there are those of us who want a thing we can touch and load into our CD players, thank goodness. It’s pretty marvellous, easily as interesting and complicated as the debut; you should indeed invest. I think, being a person of this place, you will find that there is much to enjoy and admire within its little tiny silver pits.
1:46 of bliss…
Is there a Moonflowers connection in more than just style? I loved the Moonflowers, both live and on record. A really wonderful experience – great musicians having a laugh. It was sad when they stopped, I think related to the death of one of their members (possibly the drummer, who seemed to be funkier than Reni).
I’ll ask Kane O’Kane next time he’s in touch.
An extract from ‘The Book of Otherish’ explains some historical detail:
“From a Bristol point of view, Otherish is a kind of 2020 re-grouping of Pop God comrades. Bristol was one of the two cities where the Otherish album was recorded. (The album) Otherish was produced in North Belfast by Ludwig O’Neill. O ’Neill, Kane, Ronan Maguire and Bradley brothers, Mark and Paul, are all from a generation who grew up together in that part of the city formerly known as ‘The Murder Mile’ (a stretch of a main road and adjoining streets in North Belfast). Kane, the Bradleys and Maguire ended up in Bristol, where they formed the band ‘Me’ with old friend George Claridge (originally from Winchester). Ludwig O’Neill fronted Northern Irish band ‘The Bush Turkeys’. From a Belfast point of view, the roots of Otherish are on the Antrim Road.
In the early 1990s, young Bristol swirled with creativity. Banksy blossomed. Several record labels thrived in the city. Pop God Records was the brainchild of The Moonflowers leader, Sean O’Neill, and the label’s first manager was Belfast ex-Me comrade, Ronan Maguire. A popular culture and events magazine, Venue, reporting right across the arts, was widely read. Bristol was a cultural melting pot in which Me were labelled ‘Anglo-Irish pop visionaries’ in a city of many other curious blends. In the summer, tens of thousands of Bristol people would go to a huge community festival in the open air of The Ashton Court Estate, just across the Suspension Bridge. Venue published an annual poll listing the top 5 bands voted for by readers. The Moonflowers and Me, two Pop God bands, featured often in that list in that era, with Me even topping the poll in 1993 (ironically despite The Moonflowers, Me’s closest friends, being generally the more popular of the two bands). They and other Pop God friends collaborated creatively and chaotically, ‘living the dream’, as Liam Yeates, Pop God artist and painter, put it in a conversation in 2017. There were some big shows, some ridiculous interactions with the national media, tours in Europe, America and Japan, but their time was not to last. By 1996 the Pop God label and the two bands, Me and The Moonflowers, had rather disappeared (the former vanished completely, the latter, intermittently). They departed just as the internet was dawning, leaving behind a limited online presence (particularly the un-Googleable ‘Me’). Some went on to build interesting careers in music, others did other things, lives were lived, and some are no longer with us.”
The Book goes on to provide some links for further exploration “if you are interested to find out more about the roots of Otherish, the people involved, the music they made in the past, and some of what they are doing now”.
I recommend that you visit their Bandcamp page, invest and explore!
Despite being un-Googleable, ‘Crows Nightingales SHOCK: The Best of Me 1991-95’ appeared on CD last year. I recommend it – the DNA to Otherish is clear and abundant!
This from the Bristol Archive Records website adds some more cross-fertilisation info:
“Originally called ‘Me Fertile’, the band was formed in Durham by Francis Kane (a sometime-member of Belfast’s THE LOW SPARK) and George Claridge. An early line-up included FIVE BOYS and BIG ELECTRIC PLC drummer BILL REID and keyboardist CHRIS BURRELL but the real ME career began when Kane and Claridge relocated to Bristol where several of the North Belfast bands of the early-eighties had encamped. There they formed a line-up with keyboardist RONAN MAGUIRE, drummer MARK BRADLEY (both formerly of Bristol-based THE RELUCTORS and Befast-based GUILTY ACHIEVEMENTS) and Mark’s brother PAUL BRADLEY, (ex-member of several Belfast bands including THE LOW SPARK and REFLEX ACTION).
‘Me’ started out competing in Battle of the Bands competitions, recording and writing dozens of songs which they released locally on cassette EP’s while flirting with major-label interest. But after independently releasing a 12″ EP ‘WAKE UP’ in 1991, they hooked up with Bristol nudist legends THE MOONFLOWERS, both of them deciding to eschew major-label involvement. So it was ME became part of the legendary Bristol POPGOD label whose records, bands and events dominated Bristol immediately prior to the Trip Hop era. The band had now arrived at its classic line-up, losing Ronan Maguire (except for occasional guest returns) and adding Bristol one-man band SCOOPER on keyboards, JASON COLLINS on bass and dancers MICHELLE GASKELL and BETHAN WHITE.
Highly active all over the UK, and with excurions out to Eastern Europe and even further, ME played gigs and festivals, formed supergroups and clubs with other Popgod activists and generally improved the life of the nation, getting busy on Radio 1 with sessions and on record with singles including ‘WORLD PEACE NOW’, ‘VICTIMS OF TESTOSTERONE’ and ’21ST CENTURY FOSSILS’
This line-up released two albums on Popgod, the classic ‘HARMONISE OR DIE’ winning critical acclaim in 1993 in the national music tabloids and the second, a double set, ‘FECUND HAUNTS’ taking them to foreign deals under which selections from the first two albums would be repackaged as ‘HARMONISE OR HAUNT’ (1996). By this time the band had split, scattering singer Francis as far as China while brothers Mark and Paul stayed on the Bristol scene in jazz-mutants THE ORGANELLES and George released a solo album, ‘GIVEN THINGS’.
Occasional events (weddings, funerals, bar-mitzvahs) have seen the band reform for one-off gigs, usually without prior rehearsal and always upping their live reputation which remains second to none among the roster of Bristol’s once and future legends.”
Splendid!