Papernut Cambridge - Channel Suite

Humour, emotion, introspection, music biz musings, and a ton of good tunes. Could this be the finest Papernut Cambridge album yet?

 

There’s a track on Papernut Cambridge’s latest album with lyrics that are basically a list of home recording tips. It reminds me of The Timelords’ (KLF) seminal book The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way). While The Manual focussed on artistic approach and finances, Papernut Cambridge’s song ‘Grimston Green Hustle’ zones in on how to achieve a strong coherent sound while making an album – volume levels, limiting, EQ, gain, continuity of sound, mastering, reducing “s” and “t” sounds, track sequencing, keeping happy accidents. It’s invaluable, demystifying advice.

“The Cambridge” has had a changing line-up over its ten-year existence. For this album it’s something of an all-star affair which includes Robert Rotifer, Robert Halcrow, Darren Hayman, Jack Hayter, and of course bandleader/vocalist Ian Button. Not only does band leader Ian Button possess the know-how of navigating a studio, but he also puts it to good use. Channel Suite was released on New Year’s Day and is packed with songs that in a justful world would be clogging up the charts and radio playlists. While the modern world may not always be fair and just, it does allow us to access a wealth of music on a physical format or streaming service of our choosing. With that in mind I urge you to check out Channel Suite. You’ll be in for a treat.

The record kicks off with ‘End of The Downs’, a heartfelt homage to the landscape and countryside near Button’s Folkestone base. Soft wind chimes give way to strident superpop not heard since the likes of Edison Lighthouse were regulars on Top Of The Pops. The track’s joy and optimism are rendered via an uplifting melody and series of key changes. ‘La Cucina’ is a similarly upbeat paean to the joys and trials of creativity. Ostensibly about cooking, it’s really about any creative endeavour, and addresses the rewards along with the constant re-evaluation and dedication they require.

There’s an opportunity to learn something here too - ‘Cassiopeia’ is about the star constellation in the northern sky named after vain queen Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda, in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. (Yes, I did need to look that up on Wikipedia!)

My current favourite song on the album, however, is ‘Trip to America’. Such a journey, (undertaken for pleasure as opposed to business Button tells us in its lyrics), should be a joyful, exciting prospect, but here it’s sung about with a tinge of melancholia. Why that should be we don’t find out, but it’s this unexplained mystery that gives the song its strange power. “I can’t go there now wide-eyed like I did before” sings Button. Maybe it’s about loss of innocence, or loss of wonder. Whatever its subject matter, the song is curiously beguiling.

There are plenty more songs jostling for top spot though - ‘Chez Pascal’ showcases Button knack for sketching out characters. It’s a side of his writing that was given full flight on the recent Toni Tubna album. ‘Cobwebs’ is The Modern Lovers taking a drum machine for a short rejuvenating trip to the sea front. Then there’s ‘Jump in Your Heart’ – the closing catchy pop number complete with whistling. That song alone is enough to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

Pop music – just when you think it’s burnt itself out and can no longer inspire or move you, a record comes along to reaffirm your faith in its powers. Channel Suite is one such record. Humour, emotion, meta-music biz musings, atmospherics, some sadness, some introspection, and a ton of bloody good tunes. It may well be the finest Papernut Cambridge album yet.

 

For this release Papernut Cambridge are... 

Ian Button - vocals, guitar, bass, programming, percussion
Robert Halcrow - bass, baritone horn
Robert Rotifer - guitar, backing vocals
Darren Hayman - electric piano, synths, percussion
Jack Hayter - viola

 

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Papernut Cambridge - Nutlets II 1978-2001

A second volume of covers. Revelations, re-evaluations, and really good left-of-centre pop!

If there's such a thing a a regular reader of this humble blog, they'll be aware that Papernut Cambridge are a big favourite round at our house. And a productive lot they are too. Take their self-penned albums which brim over with warmth and intelligence, or the library music inspired instrumental albums, Mellotron Phase Volumes I & II. There's enough discs there to keep you happy should you ever find yourself on a on a desert island with said records and a record player. If that's not enough for you, you are obviously too fussy and demanding, but fear not, there's always Nutlets 1967-80 which they released in 2015. It's an album of cover versions giving an insight to the band's roots and musical loves. Featuring big melodic hits from the tail-end of the '60s to the beginning of the Thatcher years, it remains a celebration of pop's age of innocence that's sure to please even the most jaded sets of ears.

The good news is they're set to release a follow-up this week. Nutlets II 1978-2001 takes up roughly where Volume I left off. Beginning in the post-punk era what binds all the choices together is not genre but a certain subversive spirit, music that's slightly left-of-centre, says something lyrically, but still adheres to the notion that pop should be fun, and should at very least move you emotionally or physically. Or preferably both.

A lot of the songs you'll be aware of, some perhaps you won't. Some may be your own personal favourites, others may be new to you. You may be indifferent to some of the originals but hearing these covered versions in the context of this collection might give you fresh insight and have you e-evaluating your opinions. The collection draws from the well of post-punk, C86, electro, left-field guitar pop and college rock. Rather then try and re-invent the songs or give them a makeover, the band have pretty much kept to the tempos and styles of the originals, which is refreshing when you've been let down in past by one too many free CDs from Mojo magazine, and they're all imbued with Papernut's inimitable passion.

So what songs to they cover? There's the full tracklisting below but if you'd indulge me for a short while I'll break just a few of the songs down into three highly personalised sections - Really good pop, (songs that I personally know and love), re-evaluations, (stuff I glossed over first time round), and revelations (songs that are new to me).

Really good pop - Who can resist the perfect pop of 'Getting Nowhere Fast' by Girls At Our Best? Ditto Primal Scream's 'Velocity Girl', a dark song wrapped in the sunniest of melodies. Then there's Suede's 'Metal Mickey', a song that pre-dated the onslaught of Britpop and was in hindsight better than all of it. My favourite from this section is Daft Punk's 'Digital Love'. I loved this track from the very first time I heard it, it's instrumentally audacious, catchy, and really great fun.

Re-evaluations – Big Audio Dynamite's 'Medicine Show' scores big here. I kind of passed them over at the time. Something to do with the basic proto sampling, guitars without headstocks, and long coats. I admit now I was wrong and always enjoy hearing them on the radio, all the more so after having heard Papaernut Cambridge cover them here with such brio. Similarly the cover of New Order's 'Bizarre Love Triangle' has sparked a renewed interest in the Mancunian synth-pop band.

Revelations – Topping the list in this section is 'Boil In The Bag Man', a superb song originally by Adam and The Ants, which takes a swipe at the-man-on-the-street. This and covers of songs by Josef K, Psychedelic Furs, ESG and The Only Ones means this album is, for me, as rich in discovery as it is in discs of a more desert island nature. Everything this band has released is highly recommended and this set of covers is no exception. Dive in!

Available on 2LP vinyl or CD.

Full Tracklisting -
WE LOVE YOU (The Psychedelic Furs)
BOIL IN THE BAG MAN (Adam and The Ants)
DID YOU SEE HER (Pink Military)
SPLITTING IN 2 (Alternative TV)
PUBLIC IMAGE (Public Image Ltd)
STARS ARE STARS (Echo and The Bunnymen)
UNITED (Throbbing Gristle)
GETTING NOWHERE FAST (Girls At Our Best)
YOU'RE NO GOOD (ESG)
DEADLY NIGHTSHADE (The Only Ones)
CHANCE MEETING (Josef K)
IN A NUTSHELL (Orange Juice)
VELOCITY GIRL (Primal Scream)
BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE (New Order)
MEDICINE SHOW (Big Audio Dynamite)
SHAMPOO TEARS (Win)
THE KILLING JAR (Siouxsie and The Banshees)
METAL MICKEY (Suede)
STEAL MY SUNSHINE (Len)
DIGITAL LOVE (Daft Punk)

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Papernut Cambridge - Outstairs Instairs

David Essex fronting Lieutenant Pigeon! Papernut Cambridge return with more warm-hearted pop!

Here we are at the mid point of 2018, a strange time in an increasingly strange land. A government in crisis; a civil war in all but name being played out under the ongoing Leave/Remain struggle; Donald Trump popping over to meet the Queen; cloudless skies over a sun-blistered Britain; and perhaps most incredulous of all the England football team doing well at the World Cup. You could not make it up.

Oddly though the feeling round our house is more redolent of the warm glow of an uncomplicated childhood Christmas. This is in no small part thanks to the release of Outstairs Instairs, the latest long-player from Papernut Cambridge. New music from Ian Button and his assembled band-mates is always cause for celebration, more so when it's this accomplished and satisfying.

Papernut Cambridge continue to draw on the early-Seventies for much of their musical ideas, a touch of Ronnie Lane, some gentle glam stomp, a bit of wonky pub piano, some spoof hotel lounge bar music and plenty of warm-hearted pop. The overall effect is akin to David Essex fronting Lieutenant Pigeon.

But don't be fooled into thinking they're simply aping their '70s pop annual heroes. This is more than a Top Of The Pops / Hallmark Records sound-alike. What sets PC apart is that they actually say something in their songs. They have meaning depth and purpose. Outstairs Instairs bristles with emotional intelligence, and finds lead Papernut/songwriter/vocalist Ian Button full of acceptance. Acceptance of the world, along with his place in it. Many of the songs here offer an outlook that celebrates small acts of kindness and how much they're needed when our so-called leaders seem to have lost their moral compass.

Not only does the music hit the mark but as is always the case with PC, they present it in an attractive and interesting way. The vinyl version of Outstairs Instairs plays from the outer edge inwards on side one, and from the centre outwards on side two. Something to do with the inventor/architect Richard Buckminster Fuller and the C60 molecule named after him apparently. (Don't ask me, I'm no scientist!)

As befitting such a large and loose collective, the Gare du Nord Records extended family get involved – Jack Hayter features on viola, with (amongst others) Darren Hayman, Robert Rotifer and Luke Smith also playing various bits and bobs. If you've yet to experience the mighty Papernut, now is the time!

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Papernut Cambridge – Nutlets 1967-80

An aural love letter to pop's last age of innocence. Papernut Cambridge's latest LP pays homage to the soundtrack of their youth.

One album I enjoyed last year was There's No Underground by Papernut Cambridge. A strong LP which mixed suburban sadness with soft psychedelia and '70s glam. It was a record that wore its influences on its sleeve. Those influences are now honoured in the form of 10 cover versions on their latest LP, Nutlets 1967-80.

It's a fan's labour of love. An unashamed sepia-toned trawl through the tracks of one's youth. At first glance it's a disparate selection of tunes but on listening it all makes sense. So what ties all these songs together? Apart from being of the same decade (almost), they all share a melodic inventiveness, invite you to sing along, and have a high feel-good factor.

There are big hits such as Jesamine and Love Grows Where My Rosemary Grows by The Casuals and Edison Lighthouse respectively, along with tracks not so well served by oldies radio stations – Lynsey de Paul's Sugar Me, Alvin Stardust's Jealous Mind and What Ruth Said by Cockney Rebel. The album ends with PC's take on Mikey Dread's 1980 track Rockers Delight. The reggae rhythms slightly at odds with the rest of the album's bittersweet pop, though no less engaging.

The 1980 cut off point is telling. By this time Thatcher was in power, the Cold War was at its height, music was getting increasingly digital, more machine based and somehow colder and less human. And though things wouldn't always stay that way a chapter of pop's history had ended. This album serves as a fitting tribute to those times. Redolent of flared jeans, star jumpers, Angel Delight, Smash instant mash potato and spending pocket money on 7” singles sold from a provincial town's white goods store.

This idea of the 1970s as a golden age of innocence has since proved to be somewhat misguided but this collection proves that the decade did at least have some great tunes. Pop would never be so unashamedly catchy again. Hats off to Papernut Cambridge for highlighting these overlooked gems.

Nutlets 1967-80 is an infectious, highly enjoyable companion piece to There's No Underground, and as with their previous recorded output is available on various formats, each containing different versions and mixes. It will put a spring in your step, a smile on your face, and tunes in your head that won't leave for days. You can't ask for much more than that can you.

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Papernut Cambridge - There's No Underground

Refracted glam meets bubblegum and Brit-pop for a sadness-tinged postcard from the end of the line.

Papernut Cambridge may well be the best ever composite band name for anyone wanting to evoke an aura of Englishness, nostalgia, soft psychedelia and a hint of autumnal melancholia. The right name choice then for a band whose music contains all these things and more.

Papernut Cambridge is the brainchild of one Ian Button, former member of Death In Vegas turned music producer and drummer for Wreckless Eric no less. For this, the band's second long player he's drafted in a loose collective of pals that include former Hefner frontman Darren Hayman, Death In Vegas bandmate Mat Flint and three quarters of the Mary Epworth band.

There's No Underground is an album that only someone of a certain age could have made. In some ways a tribute to the pre-punk '70s, when bubblegum pop and glam-rock ruled the charts and airwaves. A Cloud Fallen Down From The Sky brings to mind Terry Jacks' Seasons In The Sun, Nutflake Social is bubblegum pop that borrows melodically from Rocky Horror's The Time Warp, while Accident's Children takes late-era T Rex as its sonic template those records when Marc was getting turned on to sophisticated New York soul and disco.

A lot of artists and albums have mined this era, Denim's Back In Denim, Vinny Peculiar's Other People Like Me and The Dirtbombs' Ooey Gooey Chewy KaBluey! being just three that spring to mind. What sets There's No Underground apart is that it's no nudge-y in-joke. Although inspired by the pop-tastic early '70s it has a strange suburban sadness running through it. Perhaps due in no small part to it's end-of-the-line geographical genesis. (The album title refers not to some comment on today's musical climate, but to Ian Button's home on the edge of south-east London). For all this the tunes are still as catchy as a keep-net.

There's No Underground is available on a variety of formats (including a triple 7” pack), each containing different mixes and alternate takes. Take your pick! Whichever format you choose you won't be disappointed by the songs.

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