a r t i s t : The Big Eyes Family Players
t i t l e : Do The Musiking
d a t e : 2006
l a b e l : Pickled Egg
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : Aug/2006
t r a c k s : 29
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 100,3 MB
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Big Eyes were formed by James Green in 1999, initially as a
solo experiment, a chance to mess around with acoustic sounds
and to indulge his passion for soundtracks and instrumental
music. The experiment soon progressed and Big Eyes added other
members. Violin was added by Katherine Wood, Mark Rimmer
played guitar and Harmonium, Neil Shumsky on bass and Elodie
Ginsbourg offering spoken-word vocals on some songs.
This line-up created Big Eyes first record, 'Big Eyes Songs',
a mini-album released on Pickled Egg. The record was met with
critical acclaim and gained fans like John Peel, who featured
several of their songs on his Radio One show. The many
complimentary reviews highlighted Big Eyes' love for eastern-
European traditional music, folk and modern classical music.
The next year their follow-up, full-length album 'Clumsy
Music' was released - again on Pickled Egg. A darker affair
and more experimental this time around. This slight change in
style was met with approval by many critics and again they
found their songs gaining much airplay from Peel. Around this
time they gained a percussionist in Andrew Brown, whilst Mark
left the band in late 2001, but not before the band shared a
split 7" with Empress released on Jonathon Whiskey and
finished recording their second full-length album, 'Love Is
Gone Mad', once again on Pickled Egg.
The album marked another progression, keeping the darker
atmosphere of 'Clumsy Music' but embellishing much more on
ideas and structures within the songs (it's the first Big Eyes
release to feature songs over 3 minutes long). Once again the
responce was positive, in particular with a feature in
Sleazenation as well as more airplay and yet more positive
reviews. After a short break where Dave Jaycock joined on
guitar and harmonium duties, the band had another release, the
'I See Creatures' 7" EP, released in March 2003. After a
lengthy break from performing live Big Eyes undertook a short
UK tour with a new, stripped-down line-up of just James and
Dave performing on acoustic guitars, debuting new material and
reworking older tracks. Early in 2004, Big Eyes released 'We
Have No Need For Voices When Our Hearts Can Sing', the last
record to be recorded with the line-up that has played on
previous albums. Future plans for Big Eyes promise to be
eclectic and experimental, the band returning once again to
the core of James Green with many guests new and old. 2004
also saw the release of James' debut solo album, 'Tempers, on
his own Early Winter Recordings label.
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The Big Eyes Family Players 'Do The Musiking' CD
(Pickled Egg Records Egg 61CD)
'Do the Musiking' is an album curated and created by Big Eyes
captain James Green, along with his co-pilot David Jaycock
over the past 3 years. After the last Big Eyes album, 'We Have
No Need for Voices...', they decided to call it a day with the
'group' dynamic, and plough their interests into experimenting
with classical/folk arrangements and collaborating with
artists they admire. The new album, under the moniker 'The Big
Eyes Family Players', is a 29-track album, featuring
contributions from numerous musical talents including James
Yorkston, James William Hindle, Rachel Grimes (RachelÆs),
Jeremy Barnes (A Hawk and A Hacksaw, Bablicon) and Suzy
Mangion (George, and occasionally Piano Magic).
"This pool of talent allows the songs to really take-off and
become fully realised, often taking on a classical persona, no
more so than on 'Die Nacht' which is a gorgeous piece of music
that makes you listen, and is followed by the brief but lovely
'Shanty For Darty'. An almost hallucinatory feel is conjured
up by the drone-folk of 'A Dream Of Fires', which at 3 minutes
20 seconds is one of only three tracks to break the three
minute barrier, meaning that the songs pass by like dreams
half remembered, something which gives the album a magical
feel, the sound of woodlands on a summer day" [The Ptolemaic
Terrascope]
"With this 29 song/78 minute album it seems like Big Eyes -
now The Big Eyes Family Players - set out to quietly astound
and perhaps confound. An album so sprawling, it makes the
Beatles 'White Album' sound downright cohesive; but itÆs also
got something else in common with that album - itÆs almost all
excellent. Woozy Gypsy laments for sleepwalkers, the perfect
theme to a remake of The Third Man, an almost lo-fi gauzy
indie-folk pop squeezing sunshine out of eternity through acts
of melodic compassion. One track sorta reminds me of Alasdair
Roberts. There are some of Cluster's miniature universe
theories, and a moment or two reminiscent of Neu, icicle
windchimes, and warm cool softspoken intimacy. Lots of old
European sorrow, nocturnal jazz grooves, a dash of discordant
angst, and some surrealistic lullabies slowly passing like
elevated Fahey extrapolations meandering down a glacial
riverbed. Some haunted hallucinatory personal folk songs, and
an expansive sense of mystery, of something only partially
revealed, perhaps glimpsed only in passing" [George Parsons,
Dream Magazine]
(http://www.pickled-egg.co.uk/bigeyes.htm)
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01-Golden [02:11]
02-Mr. Laurel's Lapse [04:05]
03-Absolute Endings [03:00]
04-For Gorecki [02:55]
05-Owlet Moth [02:58]
06-Aquatopiate [02:18]
07-For Cognac [02:13]
08-Doreen [02:38]
09-Cookoo Without a Clock [02:39]
10-Prankyar [03:30]
11-Sunday Jacket [03:04]
12-Bobo Square [02:03]
13-I Just Don't Understand [02:22]
14-Ballad of the Blue Lantern [02:53]
15-Bear and Butterfly [02:31]
16-Die Nacht [02:46]
17-Shanty for Darty [01:15]
18-Tresaith [02:07]
19-A Dream of Fires [03:20]
20-Olive [02:45]
21-Going Home [02:04]
22-Lapping [03:03]
23-Eight Wrong Choices [02:41]
24-The Printmaker's Dilemmas [02:49]
25-Cloak [02:46]
26-And As You Ask for Trouble [02:03]
27-The Night Jar [02:51]
28-The Two Men Who Was One [01:51]
29-Diweddglo [02:58]
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76:39 min