Schoolyard Ghosts
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| Schoolyard Ghosts | |||||
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| Studio album by No-Man | |||||
| Released | May 12, 2008 | ||||
| Recorded | August-September 2007, January-March 2008 |
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| Genre | Post-Rock, Art Rock | ||||
| Label | KScope | ||||
| Producer | Tim Bowness, Steven Wilson | ||||
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| No-Man chronology | |||||
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Schoolyard Ghosts is the name of the sixth studio album by British art rock band No-Man.
Released on May 12th, 2008, the album features contributions from Bruce Kaphan (American Music Club, Red House Painters), drummers Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), saxophonist/flautist Theo Travis, and the London Session Orchestra arranged by Dave Stewart (Hatfield and the North, Egg, Stewart and Gaskin etc). In his online diary Tim Bowness mentions that, despite following a difficult year and being typically melancholy in places, the tone of the album is more optimistic than anything the band have done before. He also says "All Sweet Things" and "Truenorth" are perhaps the pinnacle of the band's achievements.[1] A promotional Schoolyard Ghosts microsite was created by the band's label, K-Scope, and featured the video for "Truenorth - Part Two", now featuring the music video for "Wherever There Is Light". No-Man fan site "A Confession" has also created a dedicated Schoolyard Ghosts microsite featuring the video for "Truenorth - Part Two" and album lyrics. The No-Man MySpace page also includes extracts from the album.
The album is available in a regular CD edition and a CD/DVD-A audiophile edition. The CD/DVD-A comes in digipack format with booklet and also features a 5.1 mix of the album, a photo gallery and videos for 3 songs. The first 2000 copies of the album obtained from the No-Man online store came with an exclusive 6 track, 20 minute, bonus disc of alternates and edits. It sold out within 2 weeks of the pre-release announcement.
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[edit] Reception
Reviews for the album have generally been very favourable, with positive responses from reviews and interviews in Classic Rock (UK), Rock Sound (UK), BBC Online (UK), Record Collector (UK), Eclipsed (Germany), Metal Hammer (Germany), Metal Hammer (Poland), Free! (Finland) [2], Rolling Stone (Mexico), Jam (Italy), All Music Guide [3], amongst many other publications.
As of June 1st 2008, the album was #1 in Prog Archives' Member's Albums of the Year chart [4] and #7 in Rate Your Music's reader's albums of 2008.[5]
[edit] Film music
Along with No-Man songs from other albums, "Truenorth Part 3" from Schoolyard Ghosts will be featured in a film by award-winning student film maker Dan Faltz, titled Weak Species, based on the novels and poems of Dennis Cooper.[6]
[edit] Promotion
To promote the album, the band will be playing its first performance for fifteen years at London's Bush Hall on August 29th, 2008.[7] This gig will hopefully be released as part of a prospective No-Man DVD, and there are plans (as yet unconfirmed) for a European mini-tour to follow in December 2008.[8]
[edit] Track listing/Line-up
(Music by No-Man, except "Beautiful Songs You Should Know" (Bowness/Erra) and "Song of the Surf" (No-Man/Murphy). All lyrics by Bowness.)
1. All Sweet Things (6:47)
- Tim Bowness – vocals
- Steven Wilson – piano, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards, glockenspiel, harmony vocals
- Peter Chilvers – samples from ‘surfacing’
2. Beautiful Songs You Should Know (4:26)
- Tim Bowness – vocals
- Steven Wilson - guitars, bass, keyboards
- Colin Edwin – fretless acoustic bass
- Rick Edwards – percussion
- Marianne De Chastelaine – cello
3. Pigeon Drummer (6:18)
- Tim Bowness – vocals, mellotron
- Steven Wilson – keyboards, electric guitars, bass, harp
- Pat Mastelotto – drums, percussion
4. Truenorth (12:48)
- Tim Bowness – vocals, piano (part 1), chime guitars, vocal loops
- Steven Wilson – guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonium, percussion, harmony vocals
- Theo Travis – flute, soprano sax (part 2)
- Fabrice Lefebvre – yang t’chin (part 1)
- Andy Booker – electronic percussion (part 3)
- Strings arranged by Dave Stewart and performed by the London Session Orchestra
5. Wherever There is Light (4:21)
- Tim Bowness – vocals
- Steven Wilson – guitars, mellotron
- Bruce Kaphan – pedal steel guitar
- Theo Travis – flute
6. Song of the Surf (6:12)
- Tim Bowness – vocals
- Steven Wilson – guitars, harp, bass, keyboards
- Pat Mastelotto – drums, percussion
7. Streaming (3:32)
- Tim Bowness – vocals
- Steven Wilson – guitars, keyboards, drum programming
- Bruce Kaphan – e-bow pedal steel guitar
- Pete Morgan – bass
- Andy Booker – drum loop
8. Mixtaped (8:36)
- Tim Bowness – vocals, musical box
- Steven Wilson – guitars, bass, musical box, electric piano, organ
- Theo Travis – flute
- Gavin Harrison - drums
[edit] Bonus material
The original No-Man Store edition featured an exclusive 6 track, 20 minute, bonus disc of alternates and edits.
- Truenorth part 1 - strings (1.50)
- Truenorth part 2 - alternate (3.51)
- Beautiful songs you should know - alternate (4.06)
- Pigeon beater (3.04)
- Song of the surf - alternate (3.49)
- Truenorth part 2 - video edit (4.19)
[edit] External links
- No-Man's Official Website.
- Schoolyard Ghosts microsite at Kscope/Snapper Music.
- "A Confession" - No-Man Fan Site (includes a Schoolyard Ghosts microsite).
- No-Man MySpace Page (includes audio samples from the album).
