Edinburgh’s own ‘Song by Toad’ just reviewed my new album here… http://songbytoad.com/2010/01/robin-grey-strangers-with-shoes/
…and I just had my first spin on a german radiostation here… http://trackback.fritz.de/2009/12/26/trb-160-mixtapes/
…and lemonjohn reviewed ‘Strangers With Shoes’ here – http://lemonjohn.blogspot.com/2009/12/robin-grey-strangers-with-shoes.html
“my new favourite song contained within is ‘Women’ by Robin Grey, mainly because he sums up most hip-hop songs that have been made in two sharply written verses beautiful in their simplicity and wit”
Taken from a recent review of the golden hour book on http://www.unpeeled.net/ – you can buy the book and cd from http://forpub.com/store/ – an excellent xmas present for sure – it has been keeping me up at night thanks to some truly great poems and stories within.
Full review….
THE GOLDEN HOUR “Book ii” (Forest Publications)
SOUNDS LIKE?
Well, the book is kind of quiet unless you read it out loud, but the CD sounds like that tent you find in the middle of the madness of one of the larger festivals. You know the tent, the one where you have no idea who any of the people on the stage are, but you find yourself staying there all day just to see who’s on next. The next day you have no idea where that tent is, and don’t want to in case it ruins the magic of the previous day. That’s how it sounds, only on a CD and the names of the people are written in the book attached so you can google them all.
IS IT ANY GOOD?
The Golden Hour is a monthly cabaret night held at The Forest Cafe in Edinburgh which gives space for writers and musicians to mingle and meet and perform to the world. This book and CD is a record of some of the contributors, their poems, stories and songs. I went to The Forest Cafe when I last went to the Fringe and it ended up being the place I hung the most as it seemed to be one of the only places I could shelter from the self congratulating ego wanking that was going on around me, everyone faking smiles that were showing cracks at the edges. I’m not surprised this book and CD is a product of this bastion of warm reality.
WE’LL DO THE CD FIRST
The CD is full of the type of music you expect to hear coming from a small stage, not overly produced and made with instruments that can be easily carried. The sounds and songs that emerge from your speakers are all well crafted and played with obvious passion and hunger, with each track being stamped with an individual personality. With over 20 contributors, including the likes of Billy Liar, Withered hand, Skeleton Bob, Johnny Berliner, Chandra and The Black Diamond Express amongst others( A massive embarrassment of treasures) you may find something you don’t like ( I personally find the Tuberians contribution, ‘Tuberians Have landed’ makes me want to donate my ears to a vivisection lab), but I can almost guarantee that your new favourite song is contained within, waiting to be discovered (with me it is ‘Women’ by Robin Grey, mainly because he sums up most Hip-Hop songs that have been made in two sharply written verses beautiful in their simplicity and wit).
WE’LL DO THE BOOK NOW
Now I have to say that reviewing the book was a task I did not relish. Normally I can do the dishes, or beat off, or sew up the holes in my socks, or get on with any of the other small tasks that fill up my day from waking to unconsciousness whilst listening to the music I’m reviewing, but a book is different. A book is something that requires your complete attention, often silence and an open fire, or a bowel movement. And reading a book that is awful because you have to would be excruciating, but while reading the first story in this compilation, ’When We Were Broke’ by Erika Duffy, all of my fears and worries melted away, in fact everything melted away. It is possibly one of the most beautiful and true stories I have ever read. It’s been a long time since a story has made me choke up. Suffice to say I read on with a relish. Other highlights, which are hard to pick out from a book made up of highlights, include ‘The Birds, Like’ by Phil Harrison, a wickedly captivating tale of told from the point of view of a frustrated bully, and the poem ‘Lunch’ by Aiko Harman, if only because it mentions peanut butter, which in my world is a condiment. Other contributors include Claire Askew, Spencer Thompson, Alan Gillis and Russell Jones, again there are many more for you to discover and enjoy. All in all this collection is a superb little package that you will return to over and over, highly recommended.
REVIEWED BY CHRIS WATSON
Fensepost did a featured artist article on me a few weeks back which I am going to take the liberty of printing below
After last years wonderful EP release, I Love Leonard Cohen, the time has come for London’s Robin Grey to go all out and show why he is truly one of the greatest hidden treasures in the European underground. Hard at work on his sophomore full length release due this fall (follow up to 2007’s Only The Missile), this man seems to be at his best. The transformation of his character is more than impressive. It would certainly not be premature to say that he is at the top of his game.
The charming track “Younger Looking Skin” spills out from his veins like a severed history. He sings to the fools, the damned, and the loved. With every word, every sound composed, he speaks of only the truth on the matters of life that often go unnoticed and the travesties of inadequacies. The most beautiful part of a Robin Grey song is the power of understanding you can feel without actually relate to his experiences at all. Just crack open your finest four dollar wine, and suffer through life with the greatest of ease. Mr. Grey can help you through it all.
Wow. Someone likes my music then. Thanks Ron. The original can be found here – http://www.fensepost.com/main/2009/07/17/robin-grey-feature-artist/
My music has been popping up in some new places on the web the last month… Younger Looking Skin was played on an american internet radio show ShockPop! which is aired on scrubradio.com every Sundays at 5pm.
It was also featured on CD-RWu podcast in Poland here… http://cd-rwu.blogspot.com/2009/07/0037.html.
Most randomly, German online Magazine http://www.chip.de used the track “These Days” in a ScreenCast-Video presenting new Desktop-Technologies which can be seen here: http://www.chip.de/c1_videos/Gnome-3.0-Revolutionaerer-Desktop-Video_37308944.html and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_B7VpIwdiY
‘Only The Missile’ has been reviewed in the latest edition of Fatea Magazine, appearing alongside another review for good friend of mine Sarah MacDougall who has been staying with me whilst on tour here from Canada, which made me happy. You can read it below or on their site alongside all the others here – http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/releases.html.
“There are still people that believe that songs have power, that pens, words, notes and guitars are mightier than the sword, that people still take the time to listen. Robin Grey is just such a person.
In “Only The Missile”, he’s put together a set of ten songs that reflect how society can be viewed and the observation of the life that goes on around him. It’s more personal than some, less political with a big p, but none-the-less sharp and cutting. “The Last Time I Saw David” looks at faith and it’s relationship with religion and how it impacts the individual. It’s deep, but not hard going.”
I did a show in Islington on Monday and was chuffed to find out a nice preview piece had been written in the Camden New Journal – so I am now the proud owner of a nice old fashioned press clipping which says…
“The poetic mastery of Grey’s anti-folk tales is a joy to behold.”
…definately one to post to my Grandma!
Full piece can be found here – http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/031909/music031909_03.html
Last week my album ‘Only The Missile’ received an enthusiastic and insightful review on creative commons music blog Catching The Waves. I have reposted a slightly trimmed review below, if you’d like to read the original in all its full glory please click on the following link: http://soundthefreetrumpet.typepad.com/
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“Only The Missile is a 10-track album that will appeal to lovers of Leonard Cohen, folk music, introspection, pointed lyrics and open hearts.
The album’s transparent mix warms the listener’s ears while giving centre stage to the understated vocals although Robin can be feisty as well as fluffy. Take ‘The Last Time I Saw David’, an unflinching tale about overcoming religious hypocrisy to reach an atheistic/agnostic state of mind, ensures that Robin will not be booking a gig in America’s Bible Belt any time soon. It’s refreshing to hear a heartfelt song that isn’t all: “I wuv ‘oo; ‘oo wuv me.”
Then there’s the soothing lullaby of The Finchley Waltz (play it to any baby and watch them drop off), a quintessentially English response to the terrorist bombings in London on 7/7:
“I daydreamed for hours in the traffic jam
As the good guys and the bad guys stopped play”
I could recommend any track, but I’ll be unoriginal and suggest the opener These Days, an uptempo mandolin and banjo-laden number with a paradoxically slow but optimistic chorus that will get you singing in the bath and, if you’ve suffered because of the credit crunch, because you’ve taken a bath.*
The title track is a toe-tapper with some wailing harmonica – do harmonicas ever do anything else but wail? – and Your Man is another in a seemingly endless supply of huggable love songs. Swan Song and Five (featuring some very welcome ethnic percussion – bongos, tablas, that sort of thing) bring things to a dreamy close – they’re the aural equivalent of a favourite jumper.
Goodness, what a lovely album. It never ceases to amaze me at what talent is lurking in the darker corners of the net. Please think about sending him a little cash, or, failing that, bake him a cake. He likes cake. A lot. Finally, if I may venture a little advice to Mr Grey: tuck your shirt in, young man. This is the internet – we have standards.”
I just got home from the streets of London to discover a truly lovely review from a US blog called fensepost which I have printed in full below as it made my day…
‘Here is an artist that seems to revel in acoustic sweetness. London’s Robin Grey invites you into his coffee shop friendly world on his latest release. “I Love Leonard Cohen” is a five-track EP so splendid Mr. Cohen himself should be more than honored to have such a talented fan. Anyone looking for a fun-filled depressive state, look no further.
Grey reminisces of greater times on the title track “I Love Leonard Cohen”. This is a masterful folk bit paying a strange tribute to anyone with a regretful memory, as well as simple odes to Meat Loaf, Jeff Buckley, R.E.M., and, more so than others, outplayed Weezer CDs. The blindingly smooth “Shakes and Shudders” is a beautiful backdrop while reading Kerouac’s tale of strength defying times at Desolation Peak – calm, beautiful, and a bit resentful of the pretentious normalcy.
Robin Grey will not need to do too much to prove himself an incendiary artist in the world of folk music. His calmly exquisite mannerisms seem to bring you back to a simpler time and place, whenever you want it to be. There is literature in his words. And “I Love Leonard Cohen” is a beautiful story, desperate to be told.’
taken from http://www.fensepost.com/main/?p=1439
I think I may have been tracked down by the biggest Leonard Cohen fan blogger as a result of my last e.p. referencing the great man – ‘I Love Leonard Cohen’.
His feature is a too long to post in full here, so I will leave you to have a look on his site if you fancy a glimpse inside the mind of someone who may even love Leonard Cohen more than me!
http://1heckofaguy.com/2008/12/04/i-love-leonard-cohen-robin-grey-aint-bad-either/
The lovely Sally from the Londonist did a little feature and interview with me which made the front page on 3rd December – causing me to break the record for the most number of people visiting my site in a week. Happy days.
Have a read below and check out www.londonist.com.
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Singer song-writers: a rare breed, and when they’re good, a real treasure. Well, we’ve found a new one for you.
Robin Grey has a lovely fresh approach to the folk genre (although he does seem to wear sandals). He cites Cohen and Dylan as influences, but we can hear a definite echo of the late great Harry Chapin, a growling of Tom Waits and a sweet sprinkle of Don Mclean in the mix. He has a honeyed yet clear voice and his lyrics are arresting. Piano and guitar are joined by unexpected riffs on the banjo, ukulele, and assorted percussive things – although his tunes are pleasingly strum-ti-tum, he keeps us guessing as to where he’s going with it. We like. A lot.
He works cheerily out of a blue-doored studio in Hackney and has just brought out his first album, Only the Missile. We caught up with him to get the lowdown:
When did the music start?
My Grandma will quite happily vouch for my enthusiastic nursery school rendition of ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ though I must confess the memory is a little more hazy for me. I guess music has been with me since way back when.
I only began performing my songs with any degree of gumption in the last year or two after spending a healthy amount of time at the back of the stage wielding a double bass with various bands and singer songwriters.
Do the words come first or the music?
Both, sometimes an old poem fits nicely over a riff and other times a new chord progression inspires a mood and words follow. Likewise some songs write themselves in ten minutes whilst some take a year or more to solidify.
What are you up to right now?
I have just finished recording an e.p. with the wonderful Madelaine Hart, to be released on my creative commons label ‘modifythevan’ next month and am about to start demoing tracks for my next album which will hopefully be recorded in a farm house in Tuscany over Easter and released soon after.
Where do you live in London and why?
I live in a lovely part of Hackney called Shacklewell, sandwiched between Stoke Newington and Dalston. I moved east from Kilburn as the rent was cheap and it was nowhere near a smelly tube line. I don’t think I would want to live anywhere else in London after living here for three years, the food, the people and the amount of green space all around make me very happy.
Is London a good place to be for folk musicians?
I think it is a great place for anyone creative – there is so much to be inspired by round every corner.
Working out how to pay the rent without using up all the energy I need for my music was hard at first but now that puzzle is solved I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Have you ever busked in London?
I used to busk my classical guitar exam pieces in the tunnel between Kings Cross Thameslink and the tube line when I was in sixth form – once I was over my nerves of busking playing in front of the examiners was far less of a problem.
What’s the best London venue for a folksy gig?
I love any venue where I can perform unamplified and that has cake. My favourite place by far is Iktoms at The Liberties Bar in Camden: I have played there twelve times in the last two years. They have lego to play with, penny sweets, colouring in pens and pencils and I am always blown away by at least one of the acts whenever I am there.
The Magpies Nest in Islington also put on amazing shows and the Betsey Trotwood is always a good place to be serenaded too.
Can you think of an unusual venue that should open itself up for gigs?
I would love do a show on the top of a double decker bus driving around central London, perhaps Londonist can help me make this happen!?!
I often play uke whilst on the 243 and have even managed to lead a sing-a-long or two on occasion.
Who else should we be listening to and why?
Ruth Theodore is an amazing talent who taught me a great deal, her album ‘Wormfood’ should be heard by everyone with ears.
I shared a stage with ‘This Is The Kit’ recently, who regularly come over from Paris, and I have nearly worn through the grooves of their brilliant album. I also love Fiona Bevan’s work and my good friend Hugh Coltman has just released his debut album which is ace.
Where can we see you playing next and when?
I am currently hibernating until spring – I have quite a few shows lined up for February and March, details of which are on my website.
What’s your London secret?
The carrot cake at Pogo Café in Hackney rocks my world.
Londonist is going to have strong words with Father Christmas: Robin Grey’s album better be in our stocking or else the mince pies are off.
