Mark Bacino - Queens English released today!

Recently PPO had the pleasure to interview Mark Bacino about his new album "Queens English".

PPO. It’s been awhile since you’ve graced us with a new album. What took you so long?

MB. Well, I started recording "Queens English" late in 2006 having written about half of it in the years following my last release "The Million Dollar Milkshake" in 2003 and I finally finished the album towards the end of 2008. So when all was said and done it took about two years to make but saying that, I wasn’t recording non-stop during those two years. There was a lot of other stuff going on. I had to finish writing the tunes and I was doing quite a bit of freelance music work on the side. Plus my wife and I had a child in 2005 so we were obviously still in the thick of some hard-core baby duty during this time. It all made for some slow going. I engineered, mixed and played a lot of the tunes myself too so that also added to the sluggish pace. Once the album was in the can, some interest in the record developed with some industry peeps and the project kind of got tangled up in that for about 7 or 8 months, too long a story to go into here, ‘till that whole situation crashed and burned in typical music biz fashion. Coming out on the other side of that and making other release arrangements finds the album finally making it’s way into the world now.

PPO. Can you elucidate about the idea behind the New York theme to the album?

MB. The New York theme sort of just developed organically as the songs presented themselves. I didn’t set out to make a New York themed record and probably didn’t realize that’s where it was going or what it wanted to be ‘till about half way through the writing process. Inadvertently as well, the record turned out to be a very personal one so I suppose the theme makes sense as I’m a New Yorker born and bred. In the years following my last release a lot of changes were happening in my life, leaving Manhattan for the outer-boroughs, settling down and becoming a first time parent. At the same time New York was changing quite a bit as well. Obviously the fall out from 9/11 but also the gentrification and hipster invasions of good portions of the city. All the changes happening within the city itself started to seem like a natural metaphor for the changes happening in my life and vice versa. A mixed bag of melancholy, joy, endings, beginnings, a reassessment of focus and dreams. A lot of those themes started to emerge in the songs so I kind of went with it and it sort of became equal parts my record as well as New York’s record if that makes any sense.

PPO. As a producer do you have a unique mindset for recording your own music as opposed when you do stuff for other artists?

MB. Obviously whether you’re producing a record for yourself or for others you’re still the same person so you pretty much just do what you do, at least that’s the way I am, but when producing for someone else you do have to enforce a certain amount of separation so you can serve the music and the artist’s vision properly. I always have strong opinions when I’m working for other folks but in the end it’s their music, their thing and they have to be happy. I think a lot of producers loose that focus whether they’ll admit it or not. It probably helps that I’ve been on both sides of the glass so to speak, as both artist and producer. Gives me some good perspective. Ideally, if we’ve done it right, at the end of the project everyone’s satisfied – the artist, me and the music.

PPO. As a multi instumentalist do you enjoy the control this gives you in the studio?

MB. It’s always a blast to play everything yourself on a tune, definitely gives you a sense of accomplishment in addition to the control factor you speak of. I’m not gonna lie, I’m definitely a bit of a control freak. That mindset certainly factored heavily into the making of this new album, not so much on the performance side but in terms of the overall sonics of the record. I engineered and mixed a lot of this album myself partly out of convenience but mostly because I was unhappy with the preliminary results I was getting working with other engineers on the project early on. I kind of ended up wasting a lot of time and money before I realized that I really just needed to do most of it myself to get things where I wanted them to be sonically. That said, all control-freakdom aside, I also enjoy the dynamic of working with other musicians and I’m painfully aware of my limitations as a player. I’m never above deferring to the better musician in the room. At the end of the day it’s about serving the song and really no one casually listening probably cares much who played bass or whatever on the track. They’re just listening to the music.

PPO. Can you tell us about how you go about the process of writing songs?

MB. To be honest it’s somewhat of a mysterious process. I rarely find myself sitting down to "write". It kind of just happens when it happens. Mostly when I’m absentmindedly playing guitar or piano or just humming a melody to myself while I’m doing something else totally un-musical. I guess you could liken it to an audio version of doodling. I used to worry that the tunes would stop coming using this method but thankfully they’ve continue to show so I’ve stopped stressing and actually I find that attitude readjustment really helps things along. Patience is key.
In terms of the nuts and bolts, for me, chord changes and/or a melody-line usually come first, then I’ll work on the lyrics. Not a hard and fast rule but that’s generally the case. Once in a while a phrase may strike me and I’ll build the music around that but that’s more the exception not the rule.

PPO. And what are your plans for this album?

MB. No formal plans really other than to enjoy finally having it out and about in the world, sharing it with folks and we’ll obviously play some live shows to help spread the word. It’s been a bit of a long road getting to the release date so just having it available to everyone is pretty awesome. Hopefully people will enjoy and get something positive from the music.

You can listen to the album streaming at markbacino.com

Get it here!

Anderson Council - The Fall Parade - 2006

With their second album, The Fall Parade, New Brunswick, NJ’s The Anderson Council pick up where they left off, driving home British Invasion-style hooks with power, style, and agility. From the opening barrage of “Beautiful” onward, every ringing chord, slamming drum fill, and booming bass run is brought to light by engineer Kurt Reil (The Gripweeds) and his House of Vibes cohorts. Appropriately, singer/songwriter Peter Horvath gleefully raids British vocal traditions (think Ray Davies through Paul Weller and Andy Partridge) the way Mick Jagger once raided our very own. Shuffle this strong lineup of tracks, and you won’t go wrong if you land on the propulsive “Friday’s Girl”, the stomping “Strawberry Smell”, or the loping “What Do You Know?” -CD Baby



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Pugwash - Almond Tea - 1999

Led by vocalist/ songwriter Thomas Walsh, Pugwash has featured an ever-changing cast of supporting players and special guests which has included Andy Partridge & Dave Gregory of XTC (Andy co-writing several tracks), Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Michael Penn, Jason Faulkner, The Section Quartet and Nelson Bragg of The Brian Wilson Band. The band itself consists of the aforementioned Mr. Walsh with Keith Farrell (Mundy, Cathy Davey) and Johnny Boyle (The Frames).
Thomas Walsh is that rare breed of British songwriter capable of writing that melodic gem with an instant hook. Having grown up on steady diet of ELO, Beatles and The Kinks in Dublin, Walsh started Pugwash around 1993 as a vehicle for the pluperfect pop songs he’d begun writing and recording at home.
Upon releasing the Almond Tea, debut in 1999 Pugwash, became an instant cult favourite among Irish and British music critics alike, many of whom nominated Almond Tea, as their album-of-the-year. The Hot Press rated it (only 4 weeks after its release) as one of the Top 30 albums of the Millennium (actually #23, ahead of Suede, Orbital and other outfits of no little renown!) Walsh was quickly deemed one of the most talented songwriters on the contemporary Irish rock scene by many journalists that side of the Atlantic. Pugwash played stand-out headline gigs throughout Ireland receiving rave reviews of their live show that echoed the response given the album. Support gigs included high-profile appearances with Jason Faulkner (Jellyfish), Glen Tilbrook (Squeeze), Cotton Mather, and Martin Stephenson, among many others.



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Beulah - When Your Heartstrings Break - 1999

Beulah's sophomore record is another irresistible addition to the Elephant 6 canon -- artfully texturing its infectious guitar pop melodies with lush strings, woodwinds, and horns (courtesy of no less than 18 guest musicians), When Your Heartstrings Break delivers fully on the promise of the group's debut, Handsome Western States. What sets Beulah apart from their E6 peers is a straightforward pop sensibility that dreamier, more spaced-out counterparts like the Olivia Tremor Control or Elf Power lack -- for all of their flourishes, the 11 tracks which comprise When Your Heartstrings Break are at their core simple love songs; under their ironic surface, Miles Kurosky's lyrics possess a disarming sweetness which perfectly complements his buoyant melodies. Highly recommended. -AMG



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Beathotel - Playing Soulgames - 2007

Named after the famed hotel in the Latin Quarter of Paris, Fredrik, Norbert, Peter & Stefan from hail from Munich! Their music, self produced and released on their own "Dr Evil Records" label, demonstrates their love for classic songwriting, three part harmonies and the unmistakable jangle of Rickenbacker guitars.




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Maple Mars - Starting Over (Again)

Ultra groovy video from the Maple Mars album "Galaxyland". Directed by Mark Helfrich, who has also directed videos for the Dandy Warhols. Shot in Los Angles - February 2010. Cinematographer Paolo Cascio.

Lilys - Precollection - 2003

One of indie's most continually shape-shifting bands, the Lilys perform another quick change on their seventh album, Precollection. However, this transformation feels more like a natural progression than their move away from dream pop to '60s-inspired mod rock a few years previously; this time, Kurt Heasley and company still look to that decade for inspiration, but draw from the delicate, literate side of Love and the Kinks' body of work. The dark, jangly sound of '80s college rock also seems to be an inspiration, hovering around the title track and "365" as though the band were channeling the Church. Most of the rest of Precollection seems to come from a twilight era between 1966 and 1967 that mixes psychedelic, pop, and folk influences. Granted, most of Heasley's work since A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns has its roots firmly planted in this era, but he's never quite combined these influence in this way before, and ironically enough, it's the closest he's come to an original sound in some time. Precollection's breeziest songs fare best: "Will My Lord Be Gardening" -- which, thankfully, isn't quite as precious-sounding as the title implies -- and "Dunes" are equally smart and sweet. However, the album's deeper psychedelic explorations aren't always as rewarding: "Perception Room" is a winner, mixing the droning, dreamy tendencies of Heasley's earlier work with the sparer approach of his later albums, as is "Squares," which turns its heavy Bryan MacLean influences into a positive rather than a negative. "Catherine (let a positive stream...)" and "Meditations on Speed," however, are pleasant but just a little too hazy and unfocused to work completely. Still, while Precollection isn't as stunning as something like Eccsame the Photon Band, it doesn't feel as contrived as some of the work the Lilys did during their mod rock dalliance; fans who have stayed with the band this long will probably find the album a breath of fresh air.-AMG



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The Lackloves - Star City Baby - 2002

The Lackloves' second album, 2002's Star City Baby, is a continuation of the sound of their debut, As Far As You Know, which itself was the logical next step from singer/guitarist Mike Jarvis and bassist Jack Rice's two early-'90s albums with the Blow Pops, two of the most beloved albums of the '90s pop underground. These 11 songs are clearly indebted to all the usual suspects of power pop: the Beatles, Kinks, Hollies, Big Star, Flamin' Groovies, and Squeeze all leap immediately to mind while listening to these 11 jangly and harmony-heavy pop/rock nuggets. But where many bands working this side of the musical street invoke those heavyweights only to remind the listener of how inferior their own efforts are, Jarvis is a gifted songwriter with a knack for creamy-smooth verses and choruses that stick in the listener's head almost immediately. The dreamy "Down Deep" is the album's clear highlight, a song that any member of Badfinger or the Raspberries would have killed to have written. Jarvis even gets away with a song entitled "Molasses Funk," which sounds like one of the Sweet's harder-edged B-sides from their early "'Wig Wam Bam'" days. There is nothing that will change the world on Star City Baby, but it's a terrific frothy summertime pop album. -AMG




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The Afternoons - Rocket Summer - 2005

How do you make a good album with a lasting appeal? Simply take the delicious source from the glorious melodies of US West Coast pop masters The Beach Boys, mix it with the intelligence of David Bowie's masterful seventies compositions, then add the charm of The Kinks and finally add a twist of contemporary spice with the emotional enthusiasms of Belle And Sebastian and there you have it. Oh, and then give it a name. The Afternoons have christened their particular opus Rocket Summer. -musicomh.com



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Ray Wonder - Good Music - 1996

Retro dance music styles, ska, power pop and more surfaces in a high-speed blend on Good Music. The blender is pushed to liquefy and the musical idioms are presented as quickly as they are changed. The band has a half-dozen albums under their belt. Their longevity and dedication shows in their level of achievement. Ray Wonder offers a consistent, double-quick highly practiced delivery along with a fine sense of how much they can get away with. While they hurry us along on the trip, Ray Wonder makes sure melody does not become a straggler left behind. Ray Wonder deserves kudos for satisfying both their desire for speed and their nature as adept pop craftsmen. -AMG



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