who / what is gravenhurst? (December 2014 edit -- RIP Nick Talbot)

not that sure. i have heard that its crap though.

Twee IDM it is not.

From http://www.silentagerecords.co.uk/gravenhurst/

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'Black Holes in the Sand', a mini album of all new material will be released November 1st. It features six tracks and clocks in at over half an hour.

'Black Holes in the Sand' marks a significant progression for Gravenhurst. The sonic elements of 'Flashlight Seasons' have been magnified, the undercurrent of lyrical dread intensified, yet the title track is more immediate and approachable than anything on the previous album. Typical methods of emotional manipulation - pedal steel; harmonica - have been completely abandoned and replaced with squealing feedback, crashing drums, distorted organs and extended droning passages.

‘Still Water', a beautiful, strange song evoking images of lost civilisations and cultural entropy, quickly collapses into a Velvets-inspired wig-out complete with shredding Telecasters, tambourines and shaky Moe Tucker percussion. The ruralist elements of the previous album are stretched to breaking point with the epic, Jansch-esque 'Flowers in Her Hair', then turned on their head with a transgressive cover of Hüsker Dü's 'Diane', reinterpreting a punk classic as a folk murder ballad.
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I can't flipping wait, meself.

http://www.poptones.co.uk/interviews/qod_nick_talbot_gravenhurst.htm

The opening track on Flashlight Seasons begins and already I’m reaching for the liner notes. Is this really the hot new talent on Warp? I check again – yes it states quite clearly “Warp Records 2004”. So…this must be a different Warp Records than the Sheffield label that brought such electronic staples as Aphex Twin, Autechre and Boards of Canada to the fore, right? Wrong.

So no—no robo-drill cut-up mayhem, no samples of next door’s dogs fucking, no post-rock algorithms and no three-hour re-contextualised ambient workouts. Instead a mere sapling of an acoustic guitar picks its way through the first bars of “Tunnels” and then a broken voice is heard to murmur “1, 2, 3, 4”.

Said voice belongs to West Country singer/songwriter Nick Talbot, a man who would have made Nick Drake look like Henry Rollins on an intravenous steroid drip. A DIY approach to recording and mastering means he doesn’t need to leave his bedroom and y’know, do exercise and nasty rough things like that. Recently joined by drummer Dave Collingwood and multi-instrumentalist Paul Nash, Talbot specialises in haunting pastoral acoustica that hangs in the air and chills you like the softest of autumn breezes.

But why am I so surprised that such a record exists on Warp? After all, the label has been releasing “rock” albums by acts such as Tortoise, Broadcast and Vincent Gallo for ages, so it should follow that Flashlight Seasons be released about now. And yet it doesn’t. Whereas the latter three acts fit in with the, errr... “warped” sensibilities of Warp, Gravenhurst are all roll-neck sweaters and sensible haircuts—gentle folk balladry for the Audi generation. There is little here to mess with your head, and while the music isn’t exactly AOR, there is a pervading feeling that this could have been recorded out of the Beautiful South on one of his darker days.

It’s a bit of a shame that more wasn’t made of these songs, though. Talbot is by-and-large a talented songwriter, evoking ghostly Dickensian images of twilight encounters and early-morning mischief in the English woodland, but the minimal production is not as liberating as he may lead himself to believe. Each track features Nick’s light falsetto vocal backed by fingerpicked guitar, a smattering of synth-work and the very gentlest of drumming. As a self-confessed maximalist, I’d like to have seen these spectral tales taken to another level—I want a full orchestra, backing choir and an accompanying DVD documentary of brutal killings on the moors. As it happens, Gravenhurst’s current musical approach does little to hide the fact that it’s all, well, rather wussy to be honest.

My major complaint is Talbot’s voice, a reed-thin nasal whine that cuts through the atmospheric synths and does little to evoke the true sentiment of his songs. “The Diver”, an otherwise excellent track, is destroyed by Nick’s earnest simpering to the point where every in-breath sounds like a nail on a chalkboard. The wussiness ensues, and I find myself having to rewind on track 3, “I Turn My Face to the Forest Floor”, because he actually sings the words “murdering fuckhead” to unintentionally hilarious results.

However, there are points where Gravenhurst come into their own. “Damage II” features some especially pretty guitar work, breaking from the rather monotone strum’n’pick of the rest of the album. Elsewhere, the instrumentation on “Bluebeard” hints at what Gravenhurst will likely achieve on later outings, a slight production that builds and builds around whimsical synths and harmonica.

Everything on Flashlight Seasons is well-meant, but it just lacks that certain punch that will take the band into the darkly romantic world they wish to inhabit. Perhaps with Talbot’s newly-joined bandmates, and a little more cash at their disposal, the songs will come into their own. Till then, mucking around with 8-tracks won’t cut the mustard for Gravenhurst’s vision.

Grant out of Massive Attack born in Brislington, you can't get much more famous Bristle than that (even if it is South Of The River). Shall I mention Gary Clail?

i chased for interview/lunch hour pint .. but never heard back

Would you like a dash of, ooh... Mogwai with your Simon & Garfunkel, sir?

A rather splendid sliver of krautyfolknoisepop. "The Velvet Cell" is bloody gorgeous. Yeah, "See my Friends" maybe goes on a bit too long for what it is, but still, the rest of it is pretty fine.

I've seen them three times in the last six months and they really are a super live band. They have a great, propulsive drummer, and they move from big noise wig-outs with all the pedals on eleven to beautiful minimal melancholia at the drop of a hat.

The new album has a couple of really great tracks: the single (http://youtube.com/watch?v=8dJJl1n1Zqc -- terrible video, all their videos are terrible) and the cover of Farewell, Farewell by Fairport. Latter in particular sounds great and can be streamed on Bleep: http://bleep.com/?bleep=WARP157D. UK/Europe tour starts in a couple of weeks.

I picked up Distant Buildings a few years back, bcz of the Kinks cover "See My Friends" being used in climactic scene of the second season of Veronica Mars...only listened to that one song...only tonight am I giving it the full listen it deserves...I hear a lot of Donovan in here as well as S&G...the album is undeniably padded out..."Velvet Cell" is one of the stronger songs, but the reprise is kinda pointless...right now I'm listening to "Song from Under the Arches" I kinda like it, but I've never rly listened to Mogwai before, so I suspect I'm prolley a little more surprised & thilled by the outta-nowhere psych-noise portions than I rly oughta be...

it's nice but I'm not sure how much I like it. prhaps if my stonerhood went from "non-practising" to "full-fledged" I wd dig it more.

there are lots of days when this is my favourite band.

First album in 5 years out at the end of the month.

I'm excited anyway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U4n5NG3VgAg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4n5NG3VgAg

Astonished by the cruel hand of fate -- just this Monday Warp rereleased some of his oldest albums as well as previously unreleased songs. Today they have just announced that he has passed on:

http://warp.net/records/gravenhurst/nick-talbot/

"We are shocked and saddened to share the news that Nick Talbot aka Gravenhurst has passed away aged 37. An immensely talented singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and journalist, he will be hugely missed. Nick's family and friends request privacy at this difficult time"
- Warp Records

"I am utterly devastated to confirm that Nick Talbot, also known under the performing name Gravenhurst, has passed away aged 37. The finest, most extraordinary and inspirational songwriter, singer and performer, and a remarkable producer and journalist, Nick’s work has deeply affected so many people all over the world. Outstandingly intelligent, compassionate, fascinating and witty, Nick was the dearest friend and his absence brings indescribable sorrow"
- Michelle Hilborne, Manager

Shit this is horrible, the last two albums are so great and usually get a lot of play in my house around this time of year.

He was due to be touring the UK this week...

ugh, what a bummer! RIP.

damn, "The Diver" is a great song. I loved Flashlight Sessions but it seemed to come from someplace dark.

Lovely post at the Quietus, where he often wrote:

http://thequietus.com/articles/16843-gravenhurst-nick-talbot-rip

wow this is just awful, I knew him slightly from my Bristol days. A really interesting guy and Gravenhurst were/are sorely under-rated.

not the biggest fan tbh but fuck, this is some sad news

right in the middle of a tour too by the looks of it

or on the eve of one at least

Wow. Just listened to a remix he did that was released the other day. Hadn't really thought of him in ages, either. I am a little shocked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7ykBvsyfAI

i did love this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVSnLEzdfg

What happened?

i don't think that's been disclosed

it hasn't

he was an incredibly smart guy. i didn't know him very well, but i did make him laugh once with a joke about aubrey beardsley and i remember being very proud.

:(

what the hell happened? this is awful. those gravenhurst albums were very overlooked.

this is a great cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QfuAbJSMK8

RIP

didn't know him at all really but going on the few glimpses I got of him outside of the music he released, he was genuinely insightful and on point about stuff. never heard anything but good things about him

he also did a very funny cartoon about William Bennett from Whitehouse going to the cinema

That's sad to hear. Listening to the Velvet Cell (reprise) right now.

RIP

Fucking fuck.

Massive Gravenhurst fan and was going to see him next week in Bristol. Genuinely shocked and saddened by this news.

RIP Nick

still fuck

http://www.bristol247.com/channel/culture/music/news/nick-talbot-aka-gravenhurst-dies-bristol

thanks caek, that was a nice piece

http://tellingfrombirdstoll.tumblr.com/post/104410032846/farewell-farewell-remembering-nick-talbot

RIP.

I think there needs to be some kind of official word on how he died. It's very unusual for the cause of death of any kind of well-known person not to be made public. RIP.

genuine question : why does it matter how he died ?

if the family want to keep the detail to themselves, then who are we to demand the information.

indeed

there doesn't 'need' to be an official word on how he died.

Well, a death (like a birth) is not a private matter but a public matter. A death certificate, for example, is a publicly available document.

He wasn't a particularly well-known person and no one needs to know how he died just because they liked his music, the wishes of the family are more important here.

seriously

Really lovely extended pair of remembrances here at The Quietus:

http://thequietus.com/articles/16895-nick-talbot-obituary

A few weeks ago in a stupidly intransigent fit of depression I wiped 100,000 or so email conversations from my gmail account at random and even though the action initially felt liberating it soon revealed itself to be a mistake. And then last week when I received the utterly unwelcome news of Nick’s death, it revealed itself to be colossal mistake. I’d had hundreds of lengthy email exchanges with him about all kinds of subjects… subjects that he talked about with ease, wit and eloquence, whether they were concerning politics, comics, philosophy, pirate radio stations, tobacco, architecture, synth pop, psychogeography or depression. As odd as it sounds he could talk beautifully about depression - perhaps the flattest and most featureless of subjects there is to discuss. And so I found myself thinking just yesterday, ‘I’m depressed because my friend has just died and I can’t even go back and read the illuminating conversations we had about depression on email because I’ve deleted all of them. And I did that because I was depressed. Nick is the only person I know who would appreciate the irony of this. He’d find it really funny. I should drop him a line and...’

And of course I can’t. And so it goes. And so it goes.

Of course what makes it worse, is an email from Nick wasn’t just an email. It was a letter. It was correspondence. He was an epistolarian of uncommon skill. Had he been born in a slightly different age, anyone who received letters from Nick would have kept them in a sturdy wooden box, tied carefully with string or ribbon, waiting for the day - when the time was right - for them to be read and savoured and pored over again. Nick put more effort into writing an email than a lot of people put into most things they do in life, myself included. In a over-cluttered, hyper-stimulated existence, an email from Nick was the only thing in my weekly routine that demanded I shut down all the other windows on my desktop, turn off facebook and twitter, turn my music off and concentrate on what he had to say. He both demanded and deserved, your entire attention, no matter how busy you were. And this is not to say that I think Nick was a man out of step with his time I really don’t think he was at all; I just think he had brought some old values along with him on a modern trip.

Two beautiful pieces.
It's a shame that I never got to see Gravenhurst live, it sounds like he was such a nice guy.
John Doran should consider editing 'The Collected Emails of Nick Talbot' (maybe as the next Quietus book?) - it's definitely something I would read.

i knew i had seen gravenhurst live, but i could not recall why/where/when.
this thread cleared the fug ..
(note to self : record more live experiences on ILM as they help the grey cells reconnect)
and yes, that tQ piece is very special.
i never met nick, and have only a fraction of his catalogue, but damn, i welled up several times reading that.

TO UNDERSTAND THE KILLER
I MUST BECOME THE KILLER

I caress where my lover once lay by my side
Before I turned inwards
And forced her to fly.

Listening to The Western Lands. Damn what a record. It's probably grubby to ask but did a cause of death ever come out for Nick?

I always assumed suicide but what do I know