And Also The Trees
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| And Also The Trees | |
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 And Also The Trees live in Dortmund, Germany in 1998
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Inkberrow, Worcestershire, England |
| Genre(s) | Post-punk Gothic rock New Wave Blues Surf Rock |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Associated acts | The Cure |
| Website | www.andalsothetrees.co.uk |
| Members | |
| Justin Jones Simon Huw Jones Steven Burrows Paul Hill Ian Jenkins Emer Brizzolara |
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| Former members | |
| Graham Havas Nick Havas |
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And Also The Trees are a goth rock band formed in 1979 in the United Kingdom. They are early forerunners to the Gothic rock genre, amongst others. Media success came to And Also the Trees later in their career.
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[edit] History
And Also The Trees started in the dawn of the 1980s in Inkberrow, a small village in Worcestershire, far in the countryside. The band was inspired by the ideology of the burgeoning post-punk movement, but took its rural roots to heart.
A home demo tape was sent to The Cure which led to a friendship between the two bands. In 1981 And Also The Trees played several shows in support of The Cure's UK tour. Their second demo tape From Under the Hill (1982) was partly co-produced with Robert Smith and Mike Hedges.
Their first two single releases ("Shantell" and "The Secret Sea") and their debut album, simply called And Also The Trees, were produced by The Cure's Laurence Tolhurst and released in 1983. The debut album reflected the tentative post-punk influences.[citation needed] They got the attention of John Peel and were invited to do a session on April 7, 1984 produced by Dale Griffin for broadcast on April 24.
After a second tour with The Cure in 1984, they severed their musical relationship and developed their own sound. The EP A Room Lives In Lucy (1985) introduced the mandolin-like guitar sound which became their trademark for the next few years. Justin Jones in 1985 on the first releases: "I think our musical progression is similar to that of Joy Division's. If you listen to 'Warsaw' and then 'Joy Division', their awareness of atmosphere increases. Creating an ambience is very important."[citation needed]
The critically praised album Virus Meadow (1986), contained artsy, atmospheric instrumentation.[citation needed]
In the same year the band went on their first European tour of which the live album The Evening of the 24th (1987) gives a testimony. Another EP The Critical Distance was released in 1987. The violent nature of the material shows a band fighting their way back to creativity from the first creative block they had endured in the time after the release of Virus Meadow.[citation needed]
And Also The Trees polished and matured the sound they had began with Virus Meadow in the following years. Audible proof can be found in the singles "Shaletown" and "The House of the Heart" and the next album The Millpond Years (1988) which sees the coming of the keyboard producer Mark Tibenham.
This is also true to the highly acclaimed Farewell to the Shade (1989), an album influenced by personal memories and enlightened by poets and painters from the early 19th century. 1989 also saw the single releases of "Lady D'Arbanville", a completely revised Cat Stevens cover of a song the Jones's brothers had grown up with and the French only "Misfortunes" single. These years marked their greatest commercial success.[citation needed] With the last albums and exhaustive touring the band created a strong following all over Europe and also got some attention in Japan. The Paris concert in 1989 where the band was playing in front of a huge audience is remembered as one of the most remarkable moments in the bands career.[citation needed]
In 1990 they changed their management. The following year the band made a US tour and reactivated contact with The Cure which resulted in the U.S.-only release of the EP The Pear Tree featuring a remix by Robert Smith and Mark Saunders.
In 1992 the band released the last album produced by Mark Tibenham called Green is the Sea in which the keyboard was more prominent. New characters embark on ghost ships, across dangerous seas and drifting by new mirages of love and truth. They promoted it with a two-leg European tour including Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and France with many sold-out dates.
A hard nucleus of fans pushed them for a digital remastering of their singles and EPs. So From Horizon to Horizon, a CD collection of primarily single and non-album tracks between 1983-1992, was released.
A new chapter followed in 1993. Elaborated in Cornwall during the tempest of the summer and recorded in front of a wildly furious sea, The Klaxon features an increasing mix of urban moods. Trumpet, acoustic percussions, mandolin and bright sounds dominate, assisted by a Hammond organ. But there's not only urbanisation. The poorly working streetlights then turn into red sunrises, chaotic intersections become green hills, doves circuit the sky and in lace white fields, we cut the violets and smell the perfume of the corn where time has stopped.[citation needed]
1994 sees the band touring which resulted in the release of the live album Le Bataclan and a tour video from the concert in Hamburg.
In 1995 a project called G.O.L. between Justin Jones and Mark Tibenham along with Antonia Reiner resulted in the release of the album Sensations of Tone and the single "Soma Holiday". The album features a cover version of the early And Also The Trees song "There Were No Bounds". Meanwhile Steven and Nick moved to London and Simon to Switzerland.
The band's seventh regular studio album Angelfish (1996) sees the band abandoning the guitar sounds they became synonymous for now mostly using a 1950's guitar sound instead. With an increased interest in different forms of American painting, literature and films the band tried to include these influences in the music to create a British perception of "Americana".
Silver Soul (1998) follows the path of Angelfish using a more heterogeneous approach with more poetry elements present in the lyrics than on the former release and introducing some jazz influences. Silver Soul takes the listener on a musical and lyrical trip through a long deserted street across endless open spaces. References in sound and voice had been made in reviews regarding Nick Cave[1].[citation needed] Silver Soul was the band's first new release on their own label. The band released an EP, Nailed, the same year as well as a video compilation.
After a five year break And Also The Trees released Further From the Truth (2003) recorded in the Worcestershire countryside and co-produced with Matthew Devenish. With Further From the Truth the band left the 1950's sound of the predecessors behind and tried what they felt was natural for them to play.[citation needed] They returned to their trademark rural romanticism imbued with a newly acquired, darker tone.
In 2004 and 2005 And Also The Trees played a few shows at some festivals like the Paleo Festival and the Wave-Gotik-Treffen. They celebrated the 25th anniversary with a Best of 1980-2005 compilation and special shows on a Parisian boat and a celebrated church in Germany.
Live in Geneva (2006) showed the band in action on their Further From The Truth tour as well as some video and film projects. The same year saw the band's singer Simon Jones releasing his collaboration project with Bernard Trontin of the Young Gods called November.
Their Tenth album titled (listen for) The Rag and Bone Man came out in November 2007 with a new member, Ian Jenkins, on double bass. The photos of the artwork were taken by French photographer Jerome Sevrette[2].
[edit] Band members
- Steven Burrows (Bass) 1983-present
- Graham Havas (Bass) 1979-1983
- Nick Havas (Drums) 1979-1997
- Paul Hill (Drums) 1997-present
- Ian Jenkins (Double Bass) 2004-present
- Justin Jones (Guitar) 1979-present
- Simon Huw Jones (Vocals) 1979-present
[edit] Discography
- 1980 - First Demo Cassette
- 1982 - From Under The Hill (Demo-Cassette limited to 200)
- 1983 - Shantell (7)
- 1984 - And Also The Trees (LP/CD)
- 1984 - The Secret Sea (7/12)
- 1985 - A Room Lives in Lucy (12)
- 1986 - Et Aussi Les Arbres (Vinyl)
- 1986 - Virus Meadow (LP/CD)
- 1986 - A Retrospective 1983-1986 (CD)
- 1987 - The Evening of the 24th (LP/CD)
- 1987 - The Critical Distance (12)
- 1987 - Shaletown (7/12)
- 1988 - House of the Heart (7/12/CDS)
- 1988 - The Millpond Years (LP/CD)
- 1989 - Farewell to the Shade (LP/CD)
- 1989 - Lady D'Arbanville (7/12/CDS)
- 1989 - Misfortunes (7)
- 1990 - Boxed Set (of all 7/12)
- 1991 - The Pear Tree (12)
- 1992 - Green Is the Sea (LP/CD)
- 1993 - From Horizon to Horizon (CD)
- 1993 - The Klaxon (LP/CD)
- 1993 - Lyric Book (limited to 300 of which 150 red and 150 green)
- 1994 - Le Bataclan (CD limited to 1000 numbered)
- 1994 - Bielefeld PC 69 1992 (Video VHS PAL)
- 1994 - Hamburg Markthalle 1994 (Video VHS PAL)
- 1996 - Angelfish (CD)
- 1998 - Silver Soul (CD)
- 1998 - Nailed (CDS)
- 1998 - Live 89-98 (Video VHS PAL)
- 2003 - Further From The Truth (CD)
- 2005 - Best of 1980-2005 (CD)
- 2006 - Live in Geneva (DVD limited to 1000 numbered)
- 2007 - (listen for) The Rag and Bone Man (CD)
