. . . They are all highlights this issue but just miss Single of the Fortnight (5/5), an accolade which goes instead to the consistently excellent FOUND ‘The Fidelities EP’ (Fence Records / Aufgeladen Und Bereit) is a masterstroke of utterly compelling lof-fi electronica, whe you can even shake your toosh to. If The Beta Band and Hot Chip became co-joined in a mistake riddled genetic experiment they might ot be much to look at, but they’d probably sound a lot like his Edinburgh fivesome, and that is no bad thing indeed. (Camilla Pia)

Thanks Camilla – not too sure what to make of the refernce to a botched scientic experiment but otherwise a very nice review!

The Edinburgh electro-funk-folk quartet have produced a special download album where people can choose what they pay for it. They are, in effect, “doing a Radiohead” – a rather brave move given that they are by no means as famous (or rich) as the Oxford band.

“Yeah, I mean everyone is going to start doing that,” laughs bassist Tommy Perlman. “Everyone is going to do it at least once. It’s actually working really well – not one person who’s bought it so far has paid the minimum.”

As well as raising the cash to go, the band are also arranging the travelling logistics such as visas and accommodation. “It’s an undertaking, but it’s a validation, in a sense, for all the hard work we’ve been doing for over two years. To be invited to play at this really prestigious showcase, it makes us really proud,” Tommy comments, sounding both tired and animated. Taking on this project themselves utterly suits them though: from the band’s finger-in-every-pie attitude (record labels, installations, art, robot building), to the DIY ethic of the music, arranging mundane things like flights is just another story for the grandkids.

It’s the first time the band have played in America and, having only played outside the UK for the first time in December, Tommy admits they are a little unsettled. “It’s difficult to gauge the reaction of a new crowd,” he says. “We’re nervous and excited. It’s great to get out and play to a different crowd, but at the same time, a bit nerve-wracking to break out of the comfort zone. We played a few gigs in Germany; the crowd were amazing, enjoying our banter, heckling us.”

Their brand of vagrant, droll electropop, with Ziggy Campbell’s unapologetic Scottish croon meandering in between various household bleeps, blips and bangs, is bound to attract attention. As will playing alongside bands such as Primal Scream and Glasvegas. Tommy quietly says: “I think the fact that you’re Scottish just makes people want to come and check you out.” It’s a comment that encapsulates all that is right about the music scene in Scotland at the moment – it has never been stronger. I confess to being a little obsessed by the ridiculously infectious forthcoming EP track ‘Let Fidelity Break’ and Tommy laughs. “Yeah we’re hoping that one will get the crowd,” he says. I’m pretty sure it will. So listen up, drink, drink, drink, and fall into sync with these gleeful Edinburgh boys.

No one could ever accuse FOUND of being lazy or doing things the easy way. Take their imminent jaunt to SXSW, for example: aside from a small grant from the Scottish Arts Council, they are funding the trip themselves.

Words by : Claire Gilligan

]]> http://foundtheband.com/reviews/clash-mag-ones-to-watc/feed/ 0 http://foundtheband.com/reviews/scotsman-cover-stars/ http://foundtheband.com/reviews/scotsman-cover-stars/#comments Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:00:09 +0000 found http://foundtheband.com/?p=403
We’re the cover stars of The Scotsman’s Crituqe magazine today. Andrew Eaton has written a very nice piece about the healthy state of the Edinburgh music scene and decided to feature us as the number one band to see. Thanks Andrew!

This is what it looks like:

You can read the whole feature on The Scotsman site here.

But here’s a little extract . . .

“Ten essential Edinburgh bands

1 Found

What are Found, exactly? Sometimes they’re a pop band, whose winning blend of electronica, space rock and samples recalls the Beta Band with a dash of Bowie and Brian Eno. Sometimes they make art projects – they met at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen – and are as likely to be making sound installations at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden, or inventing a robot band (their next project, to be unveiled later this year) as they are playing at T in the Park. Sometimes they combine the two, staging visually striking live events. It’s a rare combination, and has won them a diverse and growing audience. AE”

Read it on the NOTW site here, read it below, read it and weep.

By Tim Barr, 21/02/2009

RADIOHEAD tried pay-what-you-please for In Rainbows, but now indie mavericks Found are trying out pay-our-fare-please for their new LP.

The Edinburgh-based band have been booked for an official showcase at next month’s South By Southwest festival in Texas.

Getting there might prove to be a problem though, since they’re SKINT.

So the five-piece — who were behind last year’s This Mess We Keep Reshaping album — have decided to put their heads together. And frontman Ziggy Campbell explained: “We think we’ve come up with a great fundraising scheme.

“We’ve compiled a download-only album called Snarebrained that people can buy from our website.

“They can pay as little as £2.50 or as much as £49, depending on what they think we’re worth. The proceeds will help us pay for flights, beers, steaks and maybe some Mexican hookers…”

But the band — who are set to release the new Fidelities EP on Fife’s Fence Records next month — also have another money-spinning idea up their sleeves. They’re in the process of creating a ROBOT band.

And they reckon it could be the next step in the evolution of pop.
Ziggy added: “Our ultimate aim is to replace bands like Coldplay and The Killers with machines.

“Our prototype was inspired by old player-pianos and music boxes.

“But what makes Cybraphon different is that it will be affected by reviews of its performances in the same way a real band would be by getting good or bad press.”

The brainbox band have now hired a computer science boffin to come up with the technology that will allow Cybraphon to “read” reviews over the internet.

Ziggy added: “We’re hoping to have the prototype built by August. Once that’s done we’re hoping we’ll get interest from the major record companies.

“The big advantage is that, unlike Chris Martin, Cybraphon doesn’t need to be paid record royalties.

“But hopefully we’ll make sure any spare cash gets paid into our bank accounts…we’re sick of being broke.”

VOODOO ROOMS, EDINBURGH
OVER The Wall are a likeable Glasgow electropop duo possibly doomed to obscurity by their cavalier disregard of the pop rules. On stage Ben Hillman and Gav Prentice place their keyboards facing each other (and away from the audience), dress in what appear to be the only clean clothes they could find, grin chirpily during their saddest songs, indulge in inappropriate guitar solos, and generally behave as if they are performing in their bedrooms rather than to paying punters. They get away with it, mostly, because their songs – the euphoric Thurso in particular – are often terrific.

Given that their lyrics are about snooker and keyboards going to heaven, though, they’re a band you will either love or roll your eyes at.

Edinburgh’s Found, by contrast, both look and sound more and more like a band ready for proper success.Having started out as an experiment by three art school students, they’ve mutated into a fully fledged, hugely confident five-piece live band who, on Thursday night, opened their set with a straightforward (for them) country rock song. It’s still the sonic quirks that make them stand out, though – like the samples on Some Fracas Of A Sissy, or the electronic bleeping and tweeting on Reshaping, blended with live instruments in a way that seemed effortless. They’re off to Texas next month to play at the annual South by Southwest showcase; they’ve earned it.

Read the article on The Scotsman website.

It feels like rasping Found frontman Ziggy, the drinking man’s Paolo Nutini, scrawled this inappropriately acerbic anti-love ballad to an unsuitable girlfriend at the arse-end of a long, desperate session. Comparisons with fellow morning-after melancholists Arab Strap are inevitable, but Found’s freeform approach to composition and a bottomless music-box of inspiration give them an unexpectedly optimistic humour. Based on their patchwork of seemingly misplaced strums, beeps and clattering drums, You’re Really Quite The Catch sees them reshuffling divergent ideas into their most coherently catchy and approachable work yet. Take notice – Found have found their sound, and it’s really quite the catch.

Read the review on The Skinny website.

Here’s what they had to say:

FOUND This Mess We Keep Reshaping (Fence)
More handcrafted delights from King Creosote’s cottage-industry label

Both band name and album title are spot on. Like musical beachcombers, Edinburgh quintet Found take full advantage of whatever washes up on their shore that’s capable of making a noise and build up a delightfully wonky collage of sound with their haul. It’s an approach that bears particularly juicy fruit – the combination of the experimental with a keen ear for a simple, to-the-quick melody making them sound not unlike their label boss King Creosote holed up in a studio with Brian Eno. Electronic burps and gurgles frame singer Ziggy Campbell’s fractured Caledonian vowels as he delivers the kind of word play that the Creosote one would be proud of. “We’re off, we’re on, we’re off,” he records of You’re Really Quite The Catch “We’re off on one, we’re off we’re done.” Don’t allow any dalliance you might have with this lot to be anything like as fleeting. NIGE TASSELL

“Theirs is an ever-evolving musical voyage gliding somewhere between The Earliers’ psychedelic pulse, Arab Strap’s woozy wonder-pop and an explosion in an Indie vinyl pressing plant.” Clash

“Lead singer Ziggy Campbell’s introspective patter and crisp tone guide you through the musical undergrowth. Along the way there are frolicsome tubas (‘Some Fracas of a Sissy’), serenading mandolins (‘Gifted’), and a sampler versus distortion pedal catfight (‘Reshaping’), showcasing the experimental terrain that now defines nu folk.” Observer Music Monthly

“Brilliant … fantastic circuit-bleepy-bloppy” Huw Stephens, Radio One

“Unpredictable, noisy, melodic, daft, electronic-art-pop.” The Skinny

“A grown-up, slick sonic treat, and surely – especially now that it comes with the Fence seal of approval – this could be the album that opens them up to a wider audience.” The List

“This is modern psychedelia that owes little to the music of the 60s and everything to the present and future . . . This Mess is full of the kind of cut and paste, lo-fi treats you would associate with the likes of Super Furry Animals and FOUND have made an album which reflects both the bleak winters of Scotland and the uplifting warmth in the hearts of the people.” Is This Music