DAN ARBORISE

Bio:

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ITUNES SINGLE OF THE WEEK - FREE DOWNLOAD
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NEW ALBUM - OF TIDE & TRAIL - ITUNES EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD

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"Quite simply, this album is revelatory & won't be straying far from my stereo for quite some time.... a definite candidate for my album of the year so far" - 8/10 THE MUSIC FIX

"Inventive and mercurial...a quiet gem" - 4/5 UNCUT

"Ethereal, absorbing and unwaveringly charming....enchanting" - BEARDED

"Each Arborise song is a broad canvas, most taking five or more minutes to set the scene and work their magic....spinning a dreamy, ruminative yarn that drifts away in a haze of weightless guitar lines.....Evocative and often strangely moving, it provides a neat twist on the singer-songwriter discipline" - 4/5 MUSICOHM

"Of Tide & Trail should be an album that everybody quotes as legendary and nothing less." - 5/5 GODISINTHETV

"The woozy drone of one man and his guitar may not seem like anything particularly noteworthy, but this is a hugely atmospheric record that’s gently beguiling, with picked acoustic guitar layered to create ambient swathes of sound that engage the head and melt the heart." - 7/10 CLASH

"His songs have a grandeur to match the universality of the lyrical subject matter, which is no mean feat...Elemental" - 4/5 GUITARIST

"“Dan Arborise will drop your jaw with his intricate guitar lines. Then, his voice will bewitch you. Quite how Arborise constructs such a thing, let alone play it, is beyond mortal ken... a little genius and a lot of soul" - The405

"Organic and infused with positivity...A holistic listening experience" - 4.5/5 SUBBACULTCHA

NEW SINGLE OUT 17th AUGUST

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"A spectacular display of folky-blues guitar finger-picking" - THE LIST
"An otherworldy quality that genuinely summons goose bumps....stunning"
- SUBBA-CULTCHA - SINGLE OF THE MONTH
"A swirling combination of finesse and sparkling passion....mesmerising stuff"
- MUSIC DASH

NEW EP - LET ME BE / TAKE HEART IN YOUR HOPE 2009 - OUT NOW

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Described as "John Martyn meets Nick Drake for the 21st century"- The Fly , Dan Arborise juggles evocative songs and never-ending multi-layered acoustic guitar instrumentals, whilst wandering from sea cliff to deep valley… His atmospheric debut album 'Around in Circles' was released in 2006 on Just Music to great acclaim. Live, Dan's tender and haunting voice is the perfect match for his intense,emotive and rhythmic guitar-picking. Expect unusual open tunings, songs that develop into tunes, and tunes that grow into songs, and a beautiful guitar sound that is transformed but never compromised by some amazing electronic guitar effects. Dan's new album 'Of Tide & Trail' is due for release Summer 2009. In difficult times people immerse themselves in the magic of mellow music; in slumberous, sun-spun soundtracks; in collections of exploratory, elegant songs. Summer 2009 is the right time for a record inspired by John Martyn's folk-jazz, Brian Eno's woozy electronica, and the languor of Nick Drake's delicate vocals. Dan Arborise has made this record and called it ‘Of Tide and Trail’.

Dan’s music first emerged in the summer of 2006, with the release of his debut album, ‘Around In Circles’. It was written in an old cottage in the Scottish Borders where he and his wife grew vegetables for sustenance and collected wood for heat. It introduced a songwriter who chose a simple way of living, and whose songs glimmered with the warmth of hearth and home. Made by a nomadic soul born in the jungles of Borneo to Polish parents, this was a soothing record from a man who had found a place to settle after a childhood travelling across continents and a youth spent in London’s endless urban horizons.

But later that year Arborise moved on again, his desire to explore not yet fully quenched. His new home was North Devon, a land of sweeping vistas, steep valleys, crumbling houses and expansive seascapes. He settled there with his wife, young daughter and faithful hound and worked on a farm in exchange for board and lodgings. They spent two years living a yurt on a wooded hillside, with water coming from a well and a wood burner for heat and cooking. In this idyllic and inspiring environment the more adventurous textures of ‘Of Tide and Trail’ slowly took shape.

"There is something meditative about living on the coast, about the sea and the skies and the countryside around it" Arborise begins; "Being on a natural boundary between fundamental elements, earth and water, where one world ends another begins. It inspired me into writing longer, increasingly involved songs, and thinking more about textural qualities of sound."

His guitar playing got more intricate, recalling the styles of Bert Jansch and John Fahey, as we can hear on the extraordinary opening bars of ‘You’ll All Get What’s Coming To You’. He bought a harmonium, and fell in love with the hypnotic drones on which he built tracks like ‘My Dear’. He was also drawn towards the mesmerizing atmospheres conjured by Brian Eno's early ambient works and Robert Fripp’s soundscapes. "Instrumental ‘ambient’ music to me somewhat mirrors the rhythm of living in the country. It fits the idea of the slower lifestyle, rather than a purely unrelenting work ethic, and embodies sentiments that we should perhaps take more notice of in our day-to-day lives."

Nevertheless, ‘Of Tide and Trail's’ lyrics are less about nature, and more about nurture. Tracks like ‘Cries’, a remarkable nine-minute track about a father's experience of a first-born, are, he believes, amongst his most honest songs. "The birth of your child makes you think about the big questions that persist through the ages. I wrote it at four in the morning, with the moonlight flooding through the windows, the boundaries between generations of family, current and past, becoming increasingly blurred."

"It’s the kind of song that could be taken for a rather over-active sentimentality, but for me having a child has been the most magical, awakening & occasionally terrifying experience. It brings forth an emotional purity and intensity which I’ve attempted to capture. There are no platitudes or pretensions to it. It's just how I feel, unadulterated and unadorned."

Other songs on ‘Of Tide and Trail’ travel from driving folk-rock peaks to hushed reflective valleys. ‘Days Even Years’ addresses the passage of time and the inevitability of death, with an incredible tenderness. The spry, jaunty opener, ‘Another Side Of The Sky’, and the clarion call of ‘I Live’, both bristle with unbridled, infectious energy. From the questioning of life in the contemplative lyrics of ‘She Told Me How To Love Her’, to an ode to a growing daughter ‘My Child’, a huge heart beats boldly.

And so after the songs were written and ready, Arborise knew he had to find a different place to record them. His debut had been made amongst the urban sprawl in East London's Cafe Music Studios, with accommodation for artist and producer Jon Hopkins being the floor of the communal lounge. His second came to life in Firefly Studios on the edge of Dartmoor, where Arborise lived in a cabin in the garden. "Every night, after finishing in the studio I'd return to the cabin, and spend my evenings with the weather, of which I experienced all varieties, close outside. Every morning, I'd wake up, go walking on the moor and then return to the studio. I feel I need peace and silence to write, so to also have that to develop my sound on record meant that it flowed quite naturally."

This quietness also inspired his album's most ambitious tracks. Take the epic achievement of ‘Under Your Spell’, 7 minutes and 16 seconds of building guitars, vocals that evoke memories of Tim and Jeff Buckley, and washes of electronics that slowly submerge the listener. Then there is the album's incredible closer, ‘Feet in the Sea, Head In The Stars’. It burns with the soft power of Talk Talk's Desire, before it crests in a wave of intense, psychedelic rhythms. It ends as beautifully as it began, with Arborise telling us "The tide it pulls forever on, back to where we all belong".

When ‘Around In Circles’ took its first breaths, critics called Dan Arborise a folk singer for the 21st century. ‘Of Tide And Trail’ shows his desire to pick up this mantle, wear it with warm, gentle, confidence, and take it much further. ‘Of Tide and Trail’ is filled with positivity for the human beings we are. It is for the tough times we live in, for our hearts and our heads, and for the possibilities of hope. Dan Arborise understands us. Dan Arborise has reached out to us, and given us ‘Of Tide and Trail’.

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.. ALBUM - Around In Circles ..

'John Martyn meets Nick Drake for the 21st century.' THE FLY

'Acoustic guitar hymns to truth and beauty....beguiling.' UNCUT

'But what else marks Devonshire lad Dan Arborise out from a hundred other Nick Drake disciples? Is it his immaculate guitar, setting up shop somewhere between the fearsome playing of folk titan Nic Jones and the freeflowing style of Madagascan picker D'Gary? Is it the perceptive songs, all delivered in a voice that shares Drake's lower register but is noticeably less guarded? Or is it Around In Circles' luminescent production, courtesy of Eno-endorsed Jon Hopkins, that piles slices of guitar high and lets them sparkle and glow like a starry, moon-filled night? Whatever it is, this is a debut album that instantly allows Dan Arborise to pull up a chair alongside the likes of Jose Gonzalez and James Yorkston.' THE WORD

' A masterpiece...A gloriously fine album for the romantic optimists amongst us' BACKLASH

' Hypnotic 21st-century take on John Martyn....The spell that's cast lingers on throughout an impressive debut' GUITARIST

'Delightful,cobbled street acoustics and shoreline melancholy....cast against a canvas of ambient atmospherics....a name for the masses to look for in 2007 for sure' MUSIC WEEK

' Around In Circles weaves a similar enchantment to Five Leaves Left' METRO

' Looking as though he has just stepped out from an early nineties warehouse rave, Mr Arborise is clearly a man of disguise. But never judge a book by its cover, because this novel is well worth a read and has been researched to its fullest, looking at the book of olde, his finger picking styles and lush vocal harmonies make this a modern folk classic...This will make both artist and producer stand out from the rest of the folk ditties knocking around these days' HOODLUM TRIBE

'Ponderous beauty and rich, intimate folky textures..' TUNETRIBE.COM

'Gorgeous, acoustic music.....breathtaking.' ROCK SOUND

' Expert in creating whole new levels of "sombre"' ACOUSTIC

' Arborise has combined intricate guitar playing with songs memorable enough to sing around a campfire' RECORD COLLECTOR

' Around In Circles is awash with sublime melodies delivered by not-as-simple-as-you-think acoustic guitar playing' GUITAR

'Simplicity, delicacy and strong melodies' NEW-NOISE.NET

'Mood and atmosphere are built up over the course of the CD. Around in Circles is perfect Sunday morning music.' SHINDIG!

' Gorgeous, picturesque songs' SWELL MUSIC

.. LIVE ..

'Through a quartet of fragile and haunting songs he captured and captivated an audience who had come to hear him. A seriously talented musician. Definitely one to watch out for.' MAVERICK

' This is music to hush the soul and slow the heartbeat' NORTH DEVON JOURNAL

' One of the Finest new artists i have ever heard ' THE POKEY HOLE

'Arborise wills himself into reverie blending the cadences of voice and silvery guitar.' METRO

'He's dead good.' THE FOREST

'This is beautiful music, beautifully performed.' ASHCROFT ARTS CENTRE

' There's talent here.' THE HERALD

'Dan's silvery melodies elevated the crowd to an entirely different level. He didn't get far before being called for an encore and we were treated to one more mellifluous track before the waft of crowd dissipated contentedly into the cold night air.' PEMBROKESHIRE TV

'Arborise has found a unique voice. Slipping into extended instrumental work-outs, his solos evoke the pastoral sublime or flamenco fire. Conjuring visions of gentle love and nature’s beauty is a hard call on a Glasgow Tuesday, but his personal vision is received with respect tonight. Both technical virtuosity and lyrical sensitivity set him apart from the majority of folk performers. Dan Arborise is a remarkable treat.' THE SKINNY

' Recommended' TIME OUT

' Hotly tipped' LEWES GUITAR FESTIVAL

.. VEGETABLES ..

' Arborise...lives in a barn and grows his own vegetables' SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE

.. IN SUMMARY ..

' I didnt like this, the picture inside the album cover didnt help ' QUERRRRRRANG

' I couldnt stand it. I just didnt think there were any songs there at all. Certainly not enough tweed. ' TWEED

' Self-satisfied.' THE HERALD

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GIGOGRAPHY

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Dan Arborise - official blog site - Archive only - forgot me password!

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Member Since:

September 08, 2005

Members:

Dan Arborise

Influences:

Nick Drake, John Martyn, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Teenage Fanclub, Ozric Tentacles + Family, Jeff Buckley, Gong, Boredoms, King Tubby,SBHOTM, Julian Cope... anything with a groove over 20 mins with analogues....

Sounds Like:

Listen up there, or over here ..

Record Label:

Just Music