Arran Arctic is... Arran Southall, who sings, records, programs, produces and plays acoustic/electric guitar, violin, pedal organ, accordion, concertina, harpsichord, recorder, tin whistle, drums, percussion, metal pipe xylophone, wine glasses, piano and xeremia.
Occasional guests: Kevin Magee - Drums, Hannah Bradley - Vocals, Edvard Brédok - Vocals, Dimitris Bozelos - Programming, The Laurel Tree - Vocals, Zöe Thomas - Vocals, Michelle Howard - Vocals, Charlotte Southall - Vocals, Daniel Hanna - Electric guitar, David Southall - Bhodran.
Influences
Bjork, King Creosote, Iain Archer, Damien Rice, Alanis Morissette, Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, Royksopp, Josh Rouse, Fleetwood Mac, Clannad, Lunasa, Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vetiver, The Knife, Cortney Tidwell, Yoko Kanno, Maaya Sakamoto, Vashti Bunyan, Oakenfold, Amy Winehouse, Patrick Wolf, Songs Of Green Pheasant, Epic45, Camera Obscura, Bright Eyes, Biffy Clyro, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Cat Power, Goldfrapp, Glen Hansard, KT Tunstall, Peaches, PJ Harvey, Reindeer Section, Snow Patrol, Rufus Wainwright, Sigur Ros, Stars, Bat For Lashes, Doves, Feist, Fiona Apple, Asobi Seksu, Mama Cass, Patsy Cline, Cocteau Twins, Bon Iver and Eisley.
Sounds Like
"There are, as you may have noticed, a variety of bands taking on Scottish traditional music and bending it to their own ends. And I’m sure that some, if not all of, Broken Records, The 17th Century, De Rosa, Foxface, er, the entire Fence Collective, have some grounding in the traditional scene.
Some bands’ connections may be more tenuous - but then again, since all rock music stemmed from the blues, it probably doesn’t matter.
Anyway.
Arran Arctic somehow seem to be genuine, though his music is quite far removed from the jigs and reels that many of the current crop of Scots bands seem to be producing. Instead, Arran Southall makes what would work nicely as a soundtrack for a documentary on the wildlife of desolate moors, country roads with only the occasional horse and cart disturbing the tranquility, boats drifting off a millpool-calm coastline. Mixing drones - themselves an ancient sound often appropriated by rather more progressive musicians - and decidedly non-’rock’ instruments like concertina and pedal organ, Arran equally draws comparisons with nu-folk artists like King Creosote and soundscapers such as Sigur Ros. Immerse yourself in his world." - Bernhard Bessing, Is This Music?, www.isthismusic.com
"Picking up the melancholic tag and holding it tight to his chest, Arran Arctic, has created and wonderful and haunting collection of songs on his album “The Boy in Brown”, a rich mixture of folk, drone, electronic flourishes and good old-fashioned songwriting. After the brief and haunting “Lonely Accordian”, the album reveals its depths with the excellent “Origin”, a beautiful song that revolves around the wavering and delicate voice of Arran, the spacious production offering more reasons to love the tune. Moving on “Tight Lipped Lover” begins as a sweet slice of ambience before morphing into a gentle song with aching strings, “A Cold Wind” is enhanced by some excellent vocals courtesy of Hannah Bradley, whilst “widow’s Weed” is a blend of all that has gone before, a fine finale to a wonderful album." - Simon Lewis, Terrascope, www.terrascope.co.uk
"Southall’s intrinsic and touching soft melodies ooze passion and mystique as they wander and weave their way to our ears with a seemingly indefinite end. Upon first listen you’ll stop dead in your tracks, entranced by the sublime structure of the tunes. The hushed vocals breed such a profound tranquility that you wouldn’t be blamed for taking a seat as Southall lulls you into his delicate world." - Lee Levin, Knox Road, www.knoxroad.com
"I see bleak and forlorn coasts, green-grey forests and a fire blazing in welcoming hearths. It looks like a hard life, but one worth living." - Oded, Laughing Evergreens, laughingevergreens.blogspot.com
"On top, he lays his voice like a blanket, guitar bubbling beneath. Lovely inflections as his voice flits between soft and a full falsetto. Loved it. His playing was nicely understated throughout, only with the occasional technical flourish that demonstrated his simple approach was by choice rather than lack of skill. I was quite transfixed" - Out Of The Bedroom, ootb.typepad.com/ootb
"A bit of a weird one... The music he makes is very, very good indeed" - Martin Bate, Music:Response, www.xfmuploaded.co.uk (currently offline)
"Haunting, folky, very much soundtrack music" - Grant Mason, Three From Leith Podcast,
threefromleith.com
You can now purchase 'The Boy In Brown' by Arran Arctic!
The CD package includes: The CD, CD booklet featuring cover art by Clare Martin and original artwork by Arran Arctic and a CD wallet. All this is wrapped up with quality wax paper and sealed with the Arran Arctic seal of approval.
To buy 'The Boy In Brown' CD Package, click the following PayPal button
This will take you to Arran Arctic's 350.com page, where you can buy 'The Boy In Brown' CD Package.
This is because myspace.com no longer allow artists to sell directly from their myspace pages.
If you have any problems or fancy adding the following albums by Arran Arctic to your collection, email Arran Arctic on
arranarctic@hotmail.co.uk
Arran Arctic was originally discovered by a rusting Icelandic whaling ship, floating alone on an iceberg in the Arctic Circle. The shaken crew members enquired as to how he came to be travelling in such a strange way upon the ocean swell. No answers were ever given.
Suffering from amnesia, Arctic began a new life upon the vessel, entertaining the sailors after discovering a penchant for weaving songs and sea shanties long forgotten into modern melodies. His singing voice slowly unveiled a Northern Irish accent, a clue perhaps to his origins. Arctic continues to travel to this day, mysteriously drawn towards the North. As the creaking hull of his ship ploughs through ice sheets, he gives birth to more and more traveller's tales, endlessly searching for the answer to his existence and very personal enigma.
Traveling the Northern extremities of the globe and plagued by a lost past, Arran Arctic and the crew of his ramshackle ocean vessel were set upon by a merciless storm. Losing all control of the aging metal giant, the ship was blown off course and dashed against the craggy rocks of Northern Scotland. Upon awakening he raised his battered head to find his shipmates lost. He had drifted down the Eastern coast to gaze for the first time upon the damp streets of Edinburgh. Taking refuge in an abandoned lighthouse, Arctic stumbled upon another world of musicians, artists and noise-makers. Turning towards the North and armed with a renewed back-to-basics approach to his music, Arctic knew he would have to negotiate this sprawling labyrinth and wondered when he would next set sail.
Here's what some very nice (very biased!) people have said:
Fellow Garageband musician, Blue Light Of Dawn:
"beautiful aching tender vocals over melancholy sevenths...its very real and its exquisite and that is a rare combination...the intimacy is really rare in recorded music...no complaints!" - Blue Light Of Dawn, garageband.com
Photographic collaborator, Clare Martin:
"he is well worth checking out, his sound is fab!!" - Clare Martin, streetshadows.com
Fellow Myspace musician, Guided By Spiders:
"for some reason [his songs] sound really interesting...kind of magical and childlike...[they] have this innocent kind of purity about them, I hear it anyway" - Guided By Spiders, myspace.com/guidedbyspiders
hello arran :) thanks so much for the friend request and accompanying comment... i'm so glad you found me after listening to the curve ball.. it's lovely to know i caught your ears' attention :) your music's absolutely beautiful. really wonderful stuff.. i hope you continue to enjoy my songs, and that you're having a great week x
Yes Arran, I will sort it out soon. Progressing slowly :-) Have tracks to put up, but their not in my posession at the moment. I wrote one of my own!! quite proud of it, did a little demo of it on saturday, still needs some work. Hopfully get back to the studio soon. Be patient!!
I like your videos, was watching them last night. It's nice to see you :-)
Yeah cool. That'll be fun. I'm not gonna play for a couple of months though... as I'm too busy working in the studio right now. But after I've got a few tracks down I'll probably stretch and blearily try some of the new stuff out. So stay in touch. I'll be posting my first finished track (Oathen Grip) up in the next couple of days... It's been a struggle, that one. Your opinion will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the add my friend. Like your stuff. Fiddling along similar lines in a studio right now. I especially like 'Tight Lipped Lover'. Stay in touch.
