A Pirate's Life For Me
Minotaur Shock, aka David Edwards, is a nice young man from Bristol England. Bristol is a port town, and known for its position on the rivers Frome and Avon, which flow into the Severn, which historically made it second only to London for many years in the amount of trade which passed through it... uh, arr...
Minotaur Shock's music and remixes have been much in demand by Badly Drawn Boy, Andy Votel, Super Furry Animals, and most recently Bloc Party, since Edwards' first full-length album, Chiff-Chaffs and Willow Warblers, was released in 2001. Edwards says he's a big FM rock fan, especially Steely Dan, the Cars and Hall & Oates - cheese yes, (well, mostly just Steely Dan, and a little H&O) but really some of the finest cheese available, AND, I'll say that myself and many others I know love the Halll & Oates. How can you not want to get down when you hear that bassline from "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"? I mean come on.
Anyway, Minotaur Shock's new album is called Maritime, a nod to his fondness for reading about the sea (ie: pirates, and who doesn't love pirate tales?). A handful of the song titles have a seafaring bent to them, such as "(She's In) Dry Dock Now)," but there's not much, audibly, to the record that makes you think directly of pirate ships or fishermen. The album has more in common with other recent acoustic/electronics producers work, like Manitoba/Caribou or Four Tet, than it does with sea shanties - though it could be argued that Minotaur Shock does bear some resemblance to the work of Mancunian fish-and-pies fan Mr. Scruff. Much of Maritime is delicate and soft, bedroom-y even, but there are a few cuts that could even be called "dancefloor friendly" including this song.
Its also a great album to listen to on chill-tinged fall days like we've been having in NYC lately, because there's tinges of melancholy throughout, though most songs have enough of a sweetness to them that it doesn't come across like sad-bastard music.
Maritime came out this summer in the UK, and was finally released a couple of weeks ago by Beggar's/4AD in the US, and as such is available to buy from our pals at Insound or from Amazon - oh, also he's also just released an EP of the first track on the album, "Meusli" which features three new tracks.
There's also word of a mix-CD surfacing... mayhaps you'll hear it on MFR? Stay tuned.