We are a duo from Brighton and the Isle Of Wight who remix, write, produce and compose music for bands, commercial projects, films and our own amusement.
Of late we have both gone our separate ways but continue to work on the odd project.
Recently we finished a soundtrack for a independent short movie by the London director Jack Laurence, this should be screened at the end of the year.
Also we start work on another short titled 'Scotch Corner' this month, you can see our progress on the wordpress blog http://scotchcorner.wordpress.com/.
Recently I have become a full time writer for various blogs and magazines including Brighton Source, The Recommender blog, London's brand new arts/culture magazine Fault, Manchester based mag and blog Same Teens and for my very own blog Monolith Cocktail.
For details you can visit my own Myspace profile http://www.myspace.com/dominicvalvona.
My very own blog features in depth and interesting articles on both new bands and old, we feature a lot of underground music like Krautrock and soundtracks as well as featuring new LPs.
http://monolithcocktail.wordpress.com/
http://monolithcocktail.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html
You can also read it here if you subscribe to my blog on Holy Calibre site.
Writing examples:-
ESBEN AND THE WITCH
Esben and the witch are an esoteric immersed three piece from Brighton whose sounds are those of the macabre via some Victorian Spiritualist meeting, seated at this seance is Scott Walker, Thom Yorke, and Siouxsie Sioux who raise the spirits of William Blake and Danish fairy tales, which is where their name comes from.
THE FIERY FURNACES
Purveyors of awkward indie pop the Fiery Furnaces return to our shores to showcase their fine new album ‘I’m Going Away’. Expect the usual chaotic riffs and shoehorning of references but this time round with a more soft and laidback pace as brother and sister Friedbergers go all Carpenters on us, I jest of course.
WHITE DENIM
A lot of reviews have already garbled on about the disjointedness and multitude of ideas thrown into the incredible thirty-five minute record, which is all true and apparent but theirs a much more refined and melodic approach to this LP.
In fact its much more subtle and calm than ‘WorkOut Holiday’, they’ve also moved on into a late Sixties/early Seventies feel though they still rock out in the vain of Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Overall it’s more subdued and dare I say a little safer.
SUNSET RUBDOWN
Sounding somewhere between his more famous alter ego and at times The Walkmen and The Psychedelic Furs, this LP is full of interesting and creative moments that encapsulate a feeling of accomplishment and manages to show that he has more strings to his bow than we originally thought.
Though it features only eight tracks, each one is like a mini opera that features numerous tempo and directional changes, going from all out indie rock to polka to quirky eighties leftfield pop, a multitude of styles that never stray from being both highly engaging and entertaining.
The songs verge on the descriptive and poetic, which paint pictures of love lost and gained through a modern day style fairytales telling that uses a plethora of different animals as analogies, such as swans, nightingales and horses. Sometimes the storytelling moves towards the ambiguous, though it’s always delivered honestly and doesn’t come across as pretentious, in fact it’s not a million miles away from ‘At Mount Zoomer’ which also featured some literately reading up skills if you wanted to get the most out of it.
FEEDBACK FROM BANDS (See what they say about my writing).
Holy Fuck –
Awesome, thanks for sending that along!
The Mummers –
thats wonderful, thanks!
Raissa
Esben & The Witch -
Dominic... this is wonderful!
You've understood completely what we are trying to create and explore.
We are strong admirers of william blake, scott walker, thom yorke, bjork, cocteau twins, & werner horzog to name but a few, so to have these people mentioned alongside our name is amazing.
White Denim -
wow dominic. thanks so much for writing this. i am truly honored. please keep in touch. we will gladly keep you informed on our progress in the studio. hope to run into you this fall when we visit. until then all the best, james petralli
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump –
Wow amazing, you are a great writer and we are very flattered! Thanks so much! xxx
Dominic Valvona
Influences
Shuco playing our remix of Lazerbicth 'Do Me Wrong' at the Festus 2008:-
Enjoy......
Pylon track 'Field Studies' used on Ark Music/Art festival promotion.
Hope you like........
Pylon track 'Darko' used on Mirrorball promotion.
Enjoy...............
Greetings. I just wanted to thank you for your continued support and invite you to have a first listen on myspace to the tracks off the new EP "Monster & Minstrel" due out later this month. Bright stars to you! Ahmond
MONOLITH COCKTAIL 011 - Themselves, Legends Of Benin, Ergo Phizmiz and Amon Duul II mega feature on Made In Germany (Major influence on Kasabians last album).
Our NEW release - Junk Dancer EP is OUT NOW on Louis Osbourne's label MIJA RECORDINGS @ Beatport
Early support coming from Stephan Bodzin, James Zabiela, Joris Voorn, Smokin Jo, Mistress Barbara, Richie Hawtin, Slam, Phil Kieran, Yousef, 2000 and One, Dan Ghenacia, Gregor Tresher and many more.
Our song 'Yellow Suit' is on the first FRIEND VOTE Indie Top 100 Chart on this week. Maybe our friends can help us get no 1 for Monday. Vote for AMYCANBE at http://www.myspace.com/indietop100 Until again, all the best, Amycanbe
Yes!!! We are in PEACE, compilation for Amnesty International out next January, along with other great names. See our blog section for infos. Cheers!!
Online Now!
.
..
