Robert Wyatt, Mew, David Sylvian, Wu-Tang Clan, Adem, Four Tet, Wilco, Nick Cave, Antipop Consortium,Tom Waits, Talk Talk, Gorecki, Blue Nile, Scott Walker, Eno, Joni Mitchell, all things Def Jux, Queen, Efterklang, Angels of Light, Ben Christophers, Slint, Nick Drake, Aphex Twin, Husker Du, Vaughan Williams, Akron/Family, Peter Gabriel
Sounds Like
Adem, Sufjan Stevens, Ben Christophers, Grandaddy, Sparklehorse, James Yorkston, PG Six, Four Tet, Iron and Wine
Tinkering about somewhere between the earthy and the ethereal, Sweet Billy Pilgrim scrape strings and tap away at laptops trying to make beautiful things with steady hands and empty pockets. After the TV flickers out and the credit cards have been declined, and we’re returned to hearts and heads, Tim, Alistair and Anthony would love to be called in as the happy architects of small corners in both. It’s all about the hairs on the back of the neck, they say.
Their debut album was "we just did what happened and no one came", a collection of songs recorded in a warm shed where hope floats and faith taps at the door (sometimes a little too quietly to hear). Mojo magazine awarded it four stars and The Sunday Times called it, ‘a rather special debut’, making the single ‘Stars Spill Out of Cups’ one of their songs of the year. The band were just pleased as punch to find it in the racks of HMV in Watford, sandwiched between The Sweet and Swervedriver.
Since then, they've turned those careful hands to remixing, most notably 'bringing a fierce pop quality' to David Sylvian's 'The Heart Knows Better' for his 'The Good Son vs. the Only Daughter - The Blemish Remixes' project, and adding drum loops and banjos to Steve Adey's 'Mississippi' for a remix EP. Steve Jansen’s ‘Conversation Over’ from the ‘Slope’ album has also fallen victim to their meddlings, Tim also contributing vocals and lyrics to the album for the song ‘Sleepyard’.
Second album, ‘Twice Born Men’ was released on David Sylvian’s Samadhisound label recently, to four star reviews in Mojo and Uncut, and a 5 star 'CD of the Week' in the Sunday Times. Following collaborations with folktronica luminary Adem, Norwegian electronicists Punkt, and successful shows at the Royal Opera House and festivals in Spain and Norway, Sweet Billy Pilgrim are building fires to warm their little musical corner while they wait for planning permission to build their ramshackle beach huts on those tiny, storm-bruised plots inside us all. Should it not be granted – hell… they’re prepared to settle for a gazebo.
About the single:
"Achingly Beautiful." - Shifty Disco
"A lifetime's career may be built upon an original, convincing viewpoint. Stars Spill Out Of Cups suggests that they might be one of those relatively rare bands capable of achieving this." - Colin Buttimer (The Milk Factory)
About the debut album:
"Disturbing and beautiful, layered and arranged with funereal precision." (8/10) - Americana - UK
"...stunning..." (8.5 /10) - *sixeyes
"This calm, pretty folktronica is strange but not difficult: there are choruses here that, if Chris Martin had stumbled across them, would have shifted another million Coldplay albums. A rather special debut." (3/5) - Mark Edwards (Sunday Times)
"Sweet Billy Pilgrim's debut full-length... is something very special." - Thomas Bartlett for Salon.com
"Elsenburg's perfectly shaped songs have the same power as magic realist short stories that sieve the emotions and leave you reduced to jelly." (****) - Mojo Magazine
About second album 'Twice Born Men':
CD of the Week (*****), Sunday Times
"A fascinating antidote to the falsehood and artifice prevalent in current pop music." BBC website.
**** Uncut magazine.
**** Mojo magazine.
"An unassuming thing of minor beauty." The Wire magazine.
I just wanted to drop you a line to say how much I am enjoying listening to the free Podcast (which I have downloaded and am listening to it as I write), I have already checked out Jo Hamilton's site (and bought her cd - which is beautiful) so thanks I'll definitely be checking out the rest too. Hope you'll be doing another podcast at some point. The remix of the brilliant Catherine AD song is mighty fine too - thanks for making it free to download and hopefully giving away these free pieces of work pays off in the end?
Hope you're keeping well.
Enjoy the rest of your tour.
My best wishes.
Penny
PS Ooh I nearly forgot to say great interview at davidsylvian.net by the way.
Dear friends, I am playing a free gig at the beauteous Union Chapel, Islington this Saturday. The sunlight will be streaming through its vaulted windows as Blank Canvas and Arctic Circle present this gig during the blessed daylight hours of 12-2. And yea shall its hallowed interior be filled with all manner of scraping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Let us pray. And then let us go to the pub.
All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber. Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse V
After The Crimson won the myspace featured artist voting of Heaven shall burn, the voting goes into the next round! Stern.de is searching for the best myspace featured artist of the month!
So please take a second and vote again for The Crimson @ www.stern.de !!!
Everyone at indiecater records would like to wish you a happy summer and let you know that there is an indiepop song from the Very Most available to download FREE from our site!
Online Now!
