the occasional keepers
ltm catalogue

The Occasional Keepers comprise Bobby Wratten (The Field Mice, Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars) together with Caesar and Carolyn Allen (The Wake), plus guests. Both albums were produced by the Keepers with Ian Catt.


THE BEAUTY OF THE EMPTY VESSEL (LTMCD 2439) £10
First instalment from an ongoing collaboration between Bobby, Caesar and Carolyn, featuring guest appearances from Beth Arzy (Aberdeen, Trembling Blue Stars) and Michael Hiscock (Field Mice). The album features a meditative, minimalist mix of guitars, keyboards, echoing drums and male and female vocals, set against the background hummings of real places and real times. The songs incorporate a variety of styles, to produce a highly personal synthesis of neo-folk, experimental pop, dissonance, electronics and improvisation. All ten new tracks were recorded and produced by Ian Catt (St Etienne) in April 2005. Full tracklist: The Bracken, Rose-Scented Fire, J. Carpenter Kid, Of Nightingales, Concrete Music, In Quiet Isolation, Desire, North Sea Rig, The Crackle of Debris, The Last Lighthouse Keeper.

Reviews: "While it's a logical follow-on from the musicians' other work (a Sarah supergroup?), Beauty exists on its own just fine. Often it's a matter of the smallest touches having the greatest impact, thus Caesar's melodica floating over the moody ambient collage intro on Concrete Music, or the rich electric guitar melody for In Quiet Isolation - measured, beautiful and living up to the song title" (All Music Guide, 08/05); "Lovely bubble bath pop and slo-mo waltz" (BBC Ceefax, 09/05); "The Occasional Keepers reference the past but are just as concerned with the modern day world. Combining a foreground of acoustic guitars and shy downbeat vocals with background field recordings, the formula is shown to best effect on Rose Scented Fire, The Crackle of Debris and the instrumental finale, The Last Lighthouse Keeper, all of which possess a compelling layer of eeriness. Little easy-on-the-ear jangle pop, but in its place there's a much greater appreciation of atmosphere and texture" (Leonard's Lair, 08/05); "An album of intriguing and often magical avant-pop, with sound experiments in texture and light coalescing around crystalline guitars and pitter-patter drum machines. The whole album is, as the title suggests, a study in minimalism that veers from the abstract to the figurative in accomplished sweeps. Esoteric, elegiac and essential" (Tangents, 09/05); "Though much less loud than Sigur Ros, fans of that band will enjoy the dreamy feel of this album as well. For that fact, Kendra Smith will love it too, and the album works excellently when just played and enjoyed" (Gullbuy, 09/05); "Yes, Beauty holds introspection dear to its heart, but embraces experimentalism to a degree many wouldn't have predicted from three people heavily involved in the more sensitive sounds emanating from the British underground in the 80s and early 90s. Concrete Music and In Quiet Isolation effectively form the album's central section. The former is Eno-ish and still only gradually announces itself from its field-recording intro. It takes in the most minimal of melodic signposts (a lonely piano tinkles, a single bell tolls, Caesar's melodica flows in and out) and is so frail it barely counts as 'otherworldly'. In Quiet Isolation, meanwhile, could easily be the album's title - sparser than sparse, with a chiming electric guitar leading the way" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 10/05); "A 'supergroup' more in the vein of This Mortal Coil than CSNY, the trio mix together quiet acoustic guitars, keyboards and assorted field recordings with male and female vocals in a mix of gentle ballads and swirling instrumentals" (Exclaim! 10/05); "Un bien bel album triste comme un galion enfoui qu'on visiterait emerveille, le coeur leger de le savoir si bien conserve. A conseiller aux amoureux des grands paysages sonores... et aux fans de Sarah Records!" (PopNews, 11/05)


TRUE NORTH (LTMCD 2511) £10
The second Keepers album was recorded in February 2008, and again produced by the band with Ian Catt. Retaining plenty of acoustic, reflective elements from the previous record, True North adds experimental, song-based pop touches to great effect. Beth Arzy (Aberdeen/TBS) also guests, while Caesar and Carolyn revisit their own illustrious past on the track Factory Records. Full tracklist: If the Ravens Leave, The Cricket Laced Midnight, Town of 85 Lights, Leave the Secret There Forever, The Life of the Fields, Factory Records, I've Realized, Snow and Feathers, Elsinore, A Distant Piano on a Foggy Night.

Reviews: "In the last twenty years lots of fads & fashions have had a dalliance with generations of indie kids but the purity of soul on offer from The Occasional Keepers new album is even greater than I can recall back then. This is Bobby's collaboration with Caesar & Carolyn from Scots legends The Wake who were the fragile Northern siblings of New Order on Factory. So I can truly say this second offering from them is a total gem. Without space to elaborate on individual tracks, all I can reveal is that it unfolds like a brittle flower, full of wistful synths, longing vocals, sweet guitars, purring bass lines & fantastic songs. Absolutely the perfect distillation of both bands, this is a more realized & satisfying listen than I could imagine, ranking alongside the best stuff from either band. Organic electronics combined with long patented touches make this a mature, melancholic masterwork. Mmm! LTM are doing the alternative community a great service in unearthing forgotten gems from this spectrum (which forms the flatbed of my musical heart!) and also pushing the sound forward with fresh treats such as this.....so they're a label with absolute mastery & pedigree in my eyes! So just buy this CD and melt" (Norman Records, 04/2008); "Unsurprisingly it's luxurious pop all the way, varying in tempo from ambient to the gently giddy. Classier than any twee meeting of minds. If they get too earnest at points, the sharp heart that lurks in their poignant acoustics makes them one to keep" (Planet Sound (BBC Teletext), 04/2008); "Very decent follow up to their 2005 debut. True North is far more immediate than its predecessor, with yes, a more New Order mid-80s manchester feel to the songs - not surprising at all, considering the imput of Caesar and Carolyn from Factory legends The Wake. If the Ravens Leave is an excellent opener, especially when they crash in the bass, while the final Bobby song (A Distant Piano on a Foggy Night) evokes experimental-era OMD, as Carolyn reads the shipping news over electonic static and beats. Great. As a whole, True North betters Empty Vessel, and the record is driven (as always) by Ian Catt`s excellent production. 4 out of 5" (Rate Your Music, 04/2008); "Opening track If the Ravens Leave curls up in the hearth-warmed electronics and bedsit earnestness that have been the hallmarks of Wratten's groups, overseen here by Saint Etienne producer/multi-instrumentalist Ian Catt. Wratten murmuringly describes the birds' departure "beneath the moon's glow," as minimal guitar stabs, sustained synth chords, and programmed beats - accompanied eventually by chiming guitars and, later, a skeletal bass line - evoke a cozy intimacy. It's the middle of a long night, the middle of a long day, and the radio weather report butts up against the stereo's Stardust as Wratten envisions kingdoms falling. Twee is a humble kingdom, for sure, but one that has managed to quietly piss off hostile attackers for multiple generations of bands now" (Pitchfork, 05/2008); "In their 1980's pomp both The Wake and The Field Mice made wistful innocent-sounding music which promised romance and melancholy in equal measure. So when members of both bands chose to collaborate in 2005, Bobby Wratten, Caesar and Caroline Allen duly delivered an album of music for sensitive souls. The follow-up is dispatched in much the same manner with a smattering of light electronica again bringing their style bang up to date. As an opening, If The Ravens Leave sums up all that was good about both bands; the happy/sad tune delivered in comforting tones. Town Of 85 Lights and I've Realized are essentially a return to The Wake circa 1990 when they moved from Factory to Sarah Records; their music becoming lighter. Not quite as light as the Allen-sung The Life Of The Fields, though, which is as tender as a snowflake. In a further nod to their pasts, there's time for an ambient/experimental homage to Factory Records, whilst Snow And Feathers has a definite Durutti Column feel. Yet the real highlight for me is Leave The Secret There Forever - everything about it is subtle and beautiful, from the insistent bass and the light guitar jangle to the shimmering keyboards and Wratten's confiding vocals. It beats the similarly dreamlike Elsinore in to a close second. Taken as a whole, True North stays true to the musicians' pasts and proves that - even though they've embraced modern production techniques - their music can still be heartfelt and touching" (Leonard's Lair, 05/2008); "Having made a lovely splash with their debut The Beauty of the Empty Vessel, the Occasional Keepers return with True North, showing that what might have initially seemed like a one-off now appears to be a regular concern. With an unchanged lineup from before - Bobby Wratten, Caesar and Carolyn Allen, plus Beth Arzy on guest vocals and Ian Catt handling all production and engineering - the trio's ten songs on True North follow pretty directly in the vein of the debut. It's a bit simplistic to say that any indie-pop/Sarah Records freak will automatically love this album, perhaps, but it's a bit hard to hear how they couldn't; if all participants involved aren't going to produce anything surprising at this stage of the game, there's an elegant, perfect detail to the whole album that makes it a straightforward continuation of where they've been. Opening track If the Ravens Leave, perhaps referring to the legend about said birds who live in the Tower of London, sets the tone of understated and contemplative melodies and speak-singing, and from there it's a basic but beautifully effective formula of soft but precise beats, calm electric guitars and background textures supporting everything else. What ultimately makes this all work so well, though, is the way that tension is used - the sense of everything winding itself up to a breaking point on The Cricket Laced Midnight, Arzy's calm but still slightly forlorn sounding vocal turn on The Life of the Fields, a folky confection that works surprisingly well. Two of the most intriguing efforts: the stately drone hooks of Town of 85 Lights, which could almost be a tribute to Sonic Boom's style on the Spectrum album, and Factory Records, presumably a tribute to the legendary label as well as its deceased founder Tony Wilson, but done as an instrumental rather than a retrospective story, Caesar's melodica providing an elegaic air for the stately piece" (All Music Guide, 05/2008); "If you drift north long enough, you'll get pretty cold, but then before you know it you'll start to feel warm again" (Pitchfork, 08/2008)

Go to The Occasional Keepers biography
Go to The Field Mice catalog
Go to The Wake catalog
Go to Northern Picture Library catalog

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