Stars, The Shins, Stars of Track and Field, Feist, Kings of Convenience, Postal Service, Arcade Fire, Fleetwood Mac, Whitest Boy Alive, Bright Eyes, Willy Mason, Simon and Garfunkel, Belle and Sebastian, Midlake, Cherry Ghost, Ryan Adams, Richard Ashcroft Prefab Sprout, Beautiful South
Sounds Like
"soothing tones and harmonies draw a gentle furrow that's easy to ease into" - NARC 2008
"if theres any sort of reference point for Simpleswan it falls somewhere between the experimentalism of New Yorks anti-folk scene and traditional English Acoustica.
"Though terafull lyricism underpins their bittersweet pop, the groups warm instrumentation and misty romaticism are undeniable charming."
Simpleswans acoustic wizardry finds them sitting snugly somewhere between the likes of Midlake and Shack" - METRO 2008
Lead by quietly charismatic lead vocalist Chris Anderson, the four piece create some damn fine acoustic pop. Coming across like a warmer, more romantic Turin Brakes, the cool harmonies between Anderson and Aissa Tyley recall Paddy MacAloon and Wendy Smith in Prefab Sprout. The lyrics are lush and heartfelt; the melodies underpinned by occasional touches of electric bass and harmonica. Exquisite.(SHAM 2008)
"There a good choice and pack an alt-folk punch" (Steve Lamaq BBC Radio 2)
Simpleswan, with solid acoustic guitar, homespun songs and fine harmony vocals (Northern Echo Oct 2009)
Simpleswan - Alternative Folk Pop Fantastica xxx
A Male Female Duo from Newcastle upon Tyne
"Borne out of a chance meeting while performing as solo artists on the same bill at The Forth, Tyneside-based boy-girl combo Simpleswan specialise in beautifully understated acoustica that owes a hefty debt of gratitude to Erlend Oye’s Kings Of Convenience. Here’s what the duo had to say for themselves when Toonwaves caught up with them after they’d just polished off a top dhansak at Khan’s in Heaton.
How?
Chris - “Me and Aissa were playing on the same bill in The Forth pub a couple of years ago doing our own solo stuff. We spotted something in each other’s performances that we thought would work well together.”
Who?
Aissa - “Simpleswan’s a bit of a mixed bag really in the fact that Chris writes the music and lyrics and then together we blend acoustic guitars, our vocals, and bits of piano keyboard and percussion to make the tunes what they are. This is the core of Simpleswan. However, we often work with other musicians to add other layers to the music.”
What?
Chris - “We normally receive comparisons to Prefab Sprout, Beautiful South, Kings of Convenience, Fleetwood Mac, Stars.”
Why?
Chris - “We want to record an album that captures the integrity of our live performances. We’ve already approached this in several ways and reckon we’re getting closer to achieving this.”
Where?
Find them on MySpace and Facebook."
I got wires crossed thinking that lazarus was playing sat gone. got there and looked a total tit. nevamind. Im playing at heaton perk on 5th nov if you's fancy popin down.?
Hello SIMPLESWAN. Here's what's happening on Saturday 25th July at The Red Rooms...
£4/£3NUS 8pm - 11pm
FOLLOWED BY...
This SATURDAY at Newcastles best Back Alley ClubNight!
Expect to hear a charmingly random selection, including the likes of the following.
MGMT, The Specials, Prince, The Kinks, Crystal Castles, David Bowie, Prodigy, Blur, Hot Chip, The Smiths, Daft Punk, The Cure, Friendly Fires, The Beatles, Human League, Led Zep, The Clash, Oasis, Depeche Mode, The Streets, Stevie Wonder, Kasabian, Sister Sledge, CSS, Beastie Boys, Kings Of Leon, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Calvin Harris, The Stone Roses, Green Day, Jay Z, Duran Duran, T Rex, Detroit Social Club, James Brown, AC/DC, Shiny Toy Guns, The Who, The Chemical Bros., Maximo Park, ABC, Chic, Roxy Music, Blondie, Supergrass, Adam & The Ants, Queen, The Coral, Bloc Party, Justice, Tom Jones, Mystery Jets, Pulp, MIA, The Libertines, De La Soul, The Cribs, Erasure, Primal Scream, Curtis Mayfield, Snoop Dogg, Girls Aloud, Jimi Hendrix, Gossip, Verve, Joy Division, The Jam, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, Pink Floyd, Kanye West, The Charlatans, The Supremes, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads...
PLEASE NOTE NEW REVENGE PRICES: £3 b4 11.30 £5 after £4 NUS/Guestlist
Drinks from £2.00
REDROOMS is situated above The Blackett Arms, near Grainger Market, Monument.
Hello Simpleswan, the Polite Room is on this Sunday eve. That's right, yes, Sunday. And it's at the Bridge Hotel you say? Interesting. Starts 7.30 and only costs three pounds to get in? Excellent. And that money goes to the Parkinson's society as well! Wow. AND there's loads of cool musicians and poets performing? Man. I want to go... ps but only if there's a raffle.pps, there IS a raffle... life is so sweet.
Penny Century hail from Östersund, a town in northern Sweden renowned for, er... not an awful lot, until now. After releasing four EPs, Between A Hundred Lies, their debut full length offering, is an exceptional and inspired collection of intelligent and, frankly, mature song writing, delighting with its uplifting melodies and the heavenly voice of Julia Hanberg. Demonstrating a canny knack for composing songs that combine elements of 60s girl groups and new wave pop (a la Blondie and The Pretenders), they're also smart enough to add effective brass, with an occasional touch of violin and banjo too, that helps propel their bright, infectious sound skywards. Absolute pop perfection.
The perfect soundtrack to a later afternoon picnic - Here Comes The Flood Absolute pop perfection - Rock and Reel Make a little room in your heart for them - 17 Seconds
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