New records, new fruits of the 'loon.

It has been a while since our last update. The reason being, well we have been rather busy. 

2015 has been dubbed the year of the Saloon comeback! Ex-members of Saloon have, we hope, three new records out this year, so Loonatics start saving your pennies…(please)….here is the news so far....

RODNEY CROMWELL (Adam)  

Age of Anxiety

The album that I have been tinkering with for about for several years is finally finished. It is very much an extension of sonic area explored with Arthur & Martha (it features Alice / Martha on a couple of tracks too). It is an album of ten songs propelled by hissy analog synths, cheap vocoders, toy instruments, crackly samples, bass riffery and – errr - more analog synths. 

Although the title is a nod to 80's electro (Age of Chance and/or Age of Consent by Bronski Beat) its themes are those of love, loss, grief, paranoia, euphoria in our modern post millennial world of over connection and tribulation That sounds quite ominous - it’s really just a silly indie disco record.  

I’m releasing it under the Rodney Cromwell name – which is a moniker I used once before, during the Saloon days, when I recoded a song Radaghast the Brown for a Lord of the Rings tribute album on Bearos. It is to be released on CD / digital download on 9th March 2015 and distributed by the good people at Cargo Records. The lovely cover was designed by ‘our Matt’. And it will be the first release in five years on the Happy Robots label; hopefully – if we break even – we will be able to put out some more releases (by other bands) in the near future! …oh and you will be able to buy it on our website as well as in the shops and on iTunes.   

Adam

THE LEAF LIBRARY (Matt and Co)  

Daylight Versions

Second album time! We’re halfway through recording another album at Studio Klank in north London – it’s a lovely place, and they’ve even let us build a little shrine on the wall above the mixing desk (the full Happy Robots back catalogue to the first person to name them all...).

It’s all shaping up nicely thanks with tons of guitars, a bit of synth and some piano, lots of drones, some pedal steel and a ride cymbal orchestra all recorded so far. It’ll hopefully feature contributions from some of our mates too including members of The Clientele / Amor de Dias, The Drink, The Left Outsides and Singing Adams. And horns! There are definitely going to be some horns on there too.

The album is called ‘Daylight Versions’ and is inspired by (variously) the sea, commuting, the Suffolk coast, Walthamstow marshes and death. It’ll be out on vinyl via Where It’s At Is Where You Are some point this year. Happy listening.

Matt

That’s all for now. Hopefully more soon. Do get in touch if you need to know any more.  

An audience with Matt Ashton

It has been a few months since the last post - I am getting into bad habits again.

This afternoon, I stumbled upon an interview that Matt did a few months ago with the folks from Readipop . If you are in any way a fan of Saloon, the John Peel show or the Reading band scene in the late 90's / early noughties, then you may might to give it a listen.I for one was interested to get someone else's take on our Festive 50 success, as in 10 years we have never really spoken about it.

I hope all our readers and listeners are having a great summer.

Singing Adams

Currently Matt is the guitarist in Singing Adams who have a new album out called ‘Moves’

The lead singer of Singing Adams is Steven Adams formerly of Hofman, who were quite loud and Pixie-ish and were played a lot by Lamacq in the late 90’s and Broken Family Band who sounded like a Cambridge Herman Dune and were incredibly popular in comparison to any of the rest of us. Personally of his two bands I preferred Hofman but perhaps that is me just being contrary. Saloon played with both of Steve’s previous bands both of which were infinitely more slick, professional, loud, erudite, better dressed and popular than Saloon ever were.

They recently released this video called ‘Dead End’ which is taken from their new album.

To me the repeated two chords sounds vaguely like The Good Life from the second Saloon album. Only faster, and more professional and erudite. 

Even their flipping embedded YouTube video is bigger than the Saloon one.