Synth Pop
Photograph by: Jamie Fry
(synthpop, progrockpicnic, waspsynth, waspsynthesizer, arpsynthesizer, emssynthi, synth, synthesis, synthtopia, synthesizersanctum, strangeworldofsynths, jamiefryphotography, bobpetesarah, saintetienne)
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November 30, 2020 Synth Pop Photograph by: Jamie Fry (synthpop, progrockpicnic, waspsynth, waspsynthesizer, arpsynthesizer, emssynthi, synth, synthesis, synthtopia, synthesizersanctum, strangeworldofsynths, jamiefryphotography, bobpetesarah, saintetienne) |
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November 29, 2020 Sensationellt Saint Etienne! Photograph: Sofia Muuller (stockholm, sweden, hultsfred, hultsfredfestival, hultsfredfestivalen, popmagazine, saintetienne, sarahcracknell, bobpetesarah, andreslokko, ninetiesstyle, featherboa, popmusic, purepop) |
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November 28, 2020 (Three Photos) Tea & Symphony Tea & Symphony is a compilation album compiled by Bob Stanley for Ace Records. When psychedelia had run its course in Britain, the predominant trend was to get hairier, heavier and more long-winded. Some reverted to the pure blues boom of the mid-60s, with Fleetwood Mac leading the way, some toughened up, forging the first wave of heavy metal, some loosened up, bringing jazz and folk into the equation and creating what would become known as progressive rock, others found solace in the rural sloth of the Band. Many musicians, however, were still hung up on the trappings of psychedelia's homegrown strain, having found a musical home in its mournful evocations of Victoriana, its village green gentility, its nods to the pleasures of suburbia and its church bells softly chiming. As the advent of the singer-songwriter offered another possible avenue for these refuseniks, a new brand of pop was discernible - the English baroque sound. It made great use of string quartets, woodwind, and summer-into-autumn melancholy. This was a sound informed by the Zombies Odessey And Oracle, the weighty chamber pop of the Bee Gees and Scott Walker, with a contemporary dash of Crosby, Stills & Nash harmony; it would survive as a viable format until surprisingly late, with some tracks on this compilation nudging the mid-70s. The urtexts had all been Paul McCartney's: the bereft strings of Eleanor Rigby, the buttoned-up, parlour arrangement of For No One, Your Mother Should Know's sepia nostalgia and insistent piano, the entire acoustic corner of The White Album. Just add harpsichord and a cor anglais to the mix, and there it was. The first Tea & Symphony collection was released in 2007 on the Sanctuary label. The first official compilation of its kind, it was partly inspired by the groundbreaking, European-based Fading Yellow series which, since the turn of the new century, had been feeding and informing pop-hungry 60s/70s fans looking for something a little more melodic than Comus or Leafhound. Unfortunately, the sudden demise of the record company meant Tea & Symphony hardly made it into the shops. This compilation has four tracks in common with its ancient ancestor. To the delight of people who thought the mine was exhausted, previously undiscovered gems by artists such as Matthew Bones, Erasmus Chorum and Les Payne continue to be unearthed. Here are 23 of the genre's finest moments. Make yourself a pot of tea, find yourself a comfy armchair, place a ginger cat on your lap, and sit back - Bob Stanley (tea&symphony, bobstanley, rockin-bob, acerecords, compilationalbum, outnow, featuring, baroquesounds, baroruenroll, by, raybrooks, mikebatt, colinblunstone, sunchariot, billkenwright, cliffordtward) |
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November 27, 2020 Time Out (timeout, timeoutlondon, timeoutstudentguide, studentguide, julieemery, 1993, sarahcracknell, saintetienne, londonbelongstome, archwaypeople, highgateroadincident, primrosehill, parliamenthill, hystericglamour, bobpetesarah) |
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November 26, 2020 We Are Saint Etienne Disco SaintEtienneDisco.com is a Discography website for all the Saint Etienne fanatics. The site was launched by Josh Anger in 2002 and built on the foundation of nineties fan sites Saint Etienne Heaven and Tokyo Skyline - the original pioneers. Over the past 18 years 200+ fans from around the world have collaborated to update and build up the current 1000 page 2020 version of the fansite. Started as simply a discography of Saint Etienne releases the site has morphed to include a thirty year timeline, maps, linkages, biographies, photos and even a gallery of Saint Etienne Lovers Unite member cards (is your card on the list?). Do you want to get involved? Do you have something to share (photos, information, ideas)? Get in touch with the Disco through the website or the various Saint Etienne Disco social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). (saintetienneband, wearesaintetiennedisco, saintetiennedisco, sarahcracknelldisco, bobpetesarah, bobstanley, petewiggs, sarahcracknell, discography, collaborate, inclusive, getinvolved) |
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November 25, 2020 (Three Photos) Spring- 7 Inch Single This seven inch single came free with advance orders of Robin Turner's amazing new book Believe In Magic - Heavenly Recordings the first 30 years. A little bird tells us there are still a few copies available in the Heavenly Bandcamp store - but be quick they won't be there for long. (spring, spring7, springseveninchsingle, saintetienne, heavenlyrecordings, HVN555, believeinmagic, thefirst30years, robinturner, paulkellyfilm, bobpetesarah, foxbasealpha, unreleasedrecording) |
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November 24, 2020 Cool Kids Of Death Photograph: Jamie Fry (jimfry77) (saintetienne, bobpetesarah, coolkidsofdeath, tigerbay, ontheshore, marblelions, urbanclearway, jamiefryphotography, superserious, bobstanley, petewiggs, sarahcracknell) |
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November 23, 2020 We miss playing live and are looking forward to playing new songs for you next year. Sarah Cracknell - November 2020 (sarahcracknell, saintetienne, liveperformance, liveanddangerous, subcouture, babydolldress, swatch, swatchwatch, bobpetesarah, 2021tour, newsearlynextyear) |
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November 22, 2020 (Five Photos) You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone Released this day in 1993 (itwastwentysevenyearsagotoday, youneedamessofhelptostandalone, saintetienne, earlysinglesandbsides, compilation, 1997, heavenlyrecordings, HVNLP7, beachboys, jamiefryphotography, jeffbarrettsleevenotes, bobpetesarah) |
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November 21, 2020 Continental Continental was a Japanese only album released in 1997 and is now available to stream on Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music. Photography: Martin Magentorn (continental, saintetienne, l'appereill-photo, japanonlyrelease, 1997, nowavailableon, spotify, applemusic, deezer, bobpetesarah, martinmagentorn, malmo) |
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November 20, 2020 Sub Pop Artwork by: Phantom Industries (subpop, subpopposter, subpoprecords, SP435, goodhumor, USrelease, 1998, poster, posterart, saintetienne, bobpetesarah) |
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November 19, 2020 (Two Photos) Today's Special I'm pretty sure these were taken in a cafe called Mario's Cafe in Fulham. I went back to find it a couple of years later and it had already gone. The bloke was definitely the cafe owner - he does look like a film extra from a New York 60s film! (bobpetesarah, saintetienne, caff, cafe, cafesociety, theteamsthatmeetincaffs, marioscafe, sotough, todaysspecial, acigaretteacupofteaabun, greasyspoon, fancyacuppamrs) |
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November 18, 2020 Tokyo 1997 (sarahcracknell, saintetienne, tokyo, japan, 1997, midcentuarymodern, midcenturyfurniture, midcentuarychairs, bubblechair, christiandaninos, vernerpanton, charleseames, arnejacobsen)) |
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November 17, 2020 (Three Photos) More Words And Music Is available to pre order today. As previously mentioned, we're not setting an on-sale time for the pre-sale but simply ask that if you're interested please head to the shop here - follow the link in the bio or visit https://saintetienne.greedbag.com - at some point in the next 12-14 hours and we're sure you'll be able to bag a copy. If the shop appears out of stock at first please try back later. Each album ordered will come with a free Chistmas card - CD EP (with cover photography by Alasdair McLellan) that includes three brand new Saint Etienne recordings. Stock is due to arrive on December 1st and - with luck - will ship immediately there after. (morewordsandmusic, fanclubrelease, foreignoffice, FO015, 1000colouredvinyl, 500blackvinyl, coverartby, dorothy-UK, songmap, paulkellyfilm, xmas2020, cardandCD, freewitheveryorder, withphotographyby, alasdairmclellan, bobpetesarah, saintetienne) |
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November 16, 2020 1993 (sarahcracknell, saintetienne, gspotmagazine, gspot, injapan, 1993, tokyo, hystericglamour, hys-shibuya-store, andrewweatherall, darrenemerson, sasha, bobpetesarah) |
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November 15, 2020 Dartmouth Park Road Taken in me and Bob's flat in Tufnell Park - the days when we were literally rolling in money... about 25 quids worth. Pete Wiggs - November 2020 Photograph: by Joe Dilworth (darmouthparkroad, tufnellpark, london, 1990, bobstanley, petewiggs, saintetienne, cash, cashmoney, onlylovecanbreakyourheart, joedilworth, lamentforcement) |
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November 14, 2020 (Three Photos) Saturday Boy Our 2019 Record Store Day release - but can you name the teams? (saturdayboy, youdontownme, recordstoreday, seveninchsingle, 45rpm, shawnlee, shawnlee63, needhamsound, augustusloban, kerokerobonito, heavenlyrecordings, HVN488) |
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November 13, 2020 Bowling - Berlin 1999 Photograph by Rachael Cassells (berlin, 1999, bowling, bowlingalley, soundofwater, howweusedtolive, dontbackdown, justalittleovercome, latemorning, bobpetesarah, saintetienne) |
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November 12, 2020 More Words And Music Hello everyone Well, it's that time of year when we ring up our local pressing plant and ask if they might be able to put us on their Christmas list. This year we'll be pressing that long deleted US-only bonus disc More Words And Music on 12 inch vinyl. When we did the new deluxe CD earlier this year, it did feel like a shame that oddities like Solid Gold, Racing Car and Your Valentine hadn't made it onto vinyl. So here they are! Exactly as it was released in 2012 but now on beautiful clear vinyl with green, yellow and black splatter effect to match the main album, or for purists an even more limited black vinyl edition. Both versions include a download code. Sleeve design comes courtesy of Paul Kelly and of course features the Phil Skegg/Dorothy song map. A companion album to the record the Guardian's Michael Hann considers our best ever. As there's nothing new on the record, anyone who buys a copy will also receive our Christmas 2020 CD-stroke-Christmas card. This contains three brand new recordings: Access To All Alone, Toot Baldon and Wish Park. Not actual Christmas bangers, as this didn't really feel like the year for our Shaky tribute, but all three are exclusive songs. Sleeve photography is by Alasdair McLellan and the EP was produced by Gus Bousfield of Bradford legends Gurgles, and we think you'll like it. Pre-sales start next Tuesday November 17th but to avoid the usual site crash we'ree not going to set an onsale time. We're certain however that anyone arriving at our online shop at: https://saintetienne.greedbag.com during the 17th will be able to bag a copy with the free card/CD EP. Lots of love Bob, Pete and Sarah xxx (morewordsandmusic, christmasrelease, fanclubrelease, nexttuesday, limitededition, colourvinyl, 1000clearsplatter, 500blackvinyl, foreignoffice, FO015, freeCD, christmascard, FO016, dorothy-uk, wearedorothy, paulkellyfilm, bobpetesarah, saintetienne, happychristmas) |
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November 11, 2020 Goaaaaaaaaal! Photograph: Mary Scanlon (sarahcracknell, worldcup94, usa94, footballworldcup, ireland, irelandkit, highheeltrainer, highheelboots, highheelsneekers, football, adidas, adidaskit, maryscanlon, maryscanlonphoto) |
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November 10, 2020 Teaser ad for this year's Christmas release. Announcement this Thursday. (foreignoffice, FO015, FO016, fanclubalbum, limitededition, colouredvinyl, vinyl, cd, newsonthursday, christmas, christmasrelease, willdropnextweek, standbyforaction) |
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November 9, 2020 (Two Photos) Sail On Sailor Looking forward to calmer seas ahead. These were shot by Joe Dilworth aboard a house boat mored on the Thames that belonged to one his friends. Happy times indeed! Sarah Cracknell - November 2020 (houseboat, riverthames, london, calmseas, sailonsailor, happytimes, bobpetesarah, saintetienne) |
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November 8, 2020 Sarah Cracknell - Malmo 1997 Photograph: Martin Magentorn (sarahcracknell, saintetienne, malmo, sweden, continental, eu, martinmagentorn, bobpetesarah) |
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November 7, 2020 Legends Of Rock I've always slightly dreaded this photo resurfacing, as strangling David Bowie is not a good look! Neither is my jumper-hair. I think I was attacking the rock establishment that this rather naff location the rock circus in Piccadilly Circus represented. I like to think I would have been shaking the 70s Bowie's hand or perhaps supplicating in front of him. Not long after this we stayed in a hotel in Sweden (I think) that featured its own highly amusing wax museum - I'm hoping photos of that will be unearthed soon. Pete Wiggs - November 2020 Photograph by: Alistair Inge (legendsofrock, therockcircus, piccadilly, london, voxmagazine, davidbowie, marcbolan, glamrock, plustheawful, ericcrapton, photoshoot, bobpetesarah, saintetienne) |
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November 6, 2020 (5 Photos) Believe In Magic We were excited to see a finished copy of Robin Turner's excellent new book Believe In Magic this week. It charts the history of our spiritual home, Heavenly Recordings, from it's inception thirty years ago to the present day and Robin has captured the label's incredible story beautifully. The layout and design come courtesy of Paul Kelly and we think those who've pre-ordered a copy (with free Saint Etienne 7 Inch) from our online shop are going to be really pleased. The book is officially released this coming Thursday and we're hoping orders will start shipping then. The current lockdown situation here in the UK will slow those being processed a little bit but please bear with us. Our shop is sold out of the Saint Etienne 7 Inch edition but you may find copies at Drift in Totnes or Piccadilly in Manchester and we believe the Heavenly shop still has copies with the Working Mens Club 7 Inch here: Website Believe in Magic!! (heavenlyrecordings, 30years, heavenly30, jeffbarrett, saintetienne, manicstreetpreachers, magicnumbers, floweredup, doves, bethorton, edharcourt, thevines, chai, mattiel, toy, confidenceman, katyjpearson, workingmensclub, dotallison, theorielles, qtee, unloved) |
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November 5, 2020 Sound Of Water This shot was taken in a cinema in Greenwich around the time we recorded Sound Of Water. That was recorded in a former piano factory in Berlin. Unlike Bowie, we rented an apartment in a fancy part of West Berlin with big French windows, with a small yard out the back where I remember us listening to the World Service over breakfast. Bob Stanley - November 2020 Photograph by:Eva Vermandel (soundofwater, evavermandel, theplaceatdawn, dontbackdown, sycamore, heartfailed, boyiscrying, berlin, torococorot, to-rococo-rot, casiovintage-eu, the-casio-collector, saintetienne, bobpetesarah) |
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November 4, 2020 What's New Pussycat? (tigerbay, vox, voxmagazine, likeamotorway, marblelions, hugmysoul, ontheshore, davidwhittaker, sharanelson, stephenduffy, sarahcracknell, bobpetesarah, saintetienne) |
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November 3, 2020 (Three Photos) Pete Wiggs - How We Used To Live Paul Kelly's excellent artwork for the vinyl edition of my soundtrack to the film How We Used To Live from Heavenly Films, which was a kind of cinematic poem about London lives crafted from archive footage hung around a lyrical narrative from Bob Stanley and Travis Elborough. The film covers a period from the early 1950s to the late 1970s and flits between eras in a non-linear way. So my approach was to not tie the music to specific times but to take elements from film, library and tv music from across those decades along with found sound and field recordings to hopefully make something timeless. A lot of the footage came from government funded sources for promoting Britain overseas and so came with upbeat, patriotic and fussy music, I wanted to do something more subtle to allow the beauty of the images and dialogue to shine through. Bob's wonderful sleevenotes, on the second photo, explain more about the project. Pete Wiggs - November 2020 Cover artwork by: Paul Kelly (petewiggs, soundtrackalbum, ost, howweusedtolive, paulkellyfilm, paulkelly, bobstanley, rocking-bob, traviselborough, ianmcshane, bfi, britishfilminstitute, heavenlyfilms, heavenlyfilms-official) |
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November 2, 2020 (Three Photos) Anymore - Goldie Both of these singles (Swedish and UK releases) were taken from my first solo album Lipslide. The two songs were written in Portugal, along with the majority of the record, with my two friends Johnny Male and Guy Batson. We rented a little house in the middle of nowhere to write and spent most evenings in the only restaurant in walking distance called the Casa Do Frango, or House Of Chicken. Only to be told towards the end of our stay they had to close because they'd run out of chicken Sarah Cracknell - November 2020 Photography by: Paul Kelly (sarahcracknell, cdsingles, cdsingle, cd, anymore, goldie, lipslide, soloalbum, johnnymale, herrmadonna, guybatson, stevenhauge, paulkelly, paulkellyfilm, virginrecords, sweden, saintetienne) |
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November 1, 2020 (Two Photos) Yeah Yeah Yeah I wrote Match Day with Paul Kelly - at least, I wrote an intro and we collected a lot of football programmes - but Yeah Yeah Yeah was a lot more work. There is more in it about the Gene Vincent, Marshall Jefferson and the Bee Gees than there is about Queen, so it might not be a set text. But I'm quite proud that I managed to purge a lot of odd pop theories from my head. Yeah Yeah Yeah was published by Faber & Faber in 2013. I started working on the prequel a year later and I'm just getting close to finishing it. Duke Ellington gets more space than Queen, you'll be pleased to hear Bob Stanley - November 2020 (yeahyeahyeah, thestoryofmodernpop, bobstanley, rocking-bob, faberandfaber, faberbooks, fabersocial, thestoryofpop, thehistoryofpop, popmusic, popbooks, musicbook, jeremydeller, caitlinmoran) |
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