News
EP Review in the Latest Edition of Monolith Cocktail
A fantastically good review of my debut EP 'The Loneliest Cowboy' in the latest edition of Monolith Cocktail. I especially like the "a lost classic that could easily become something of a cult." bit.
"Self-confessed daydreamer, musician and producer Daniel Hirst, uses an alter ego pulled straight from the disturbed esoteric mind of David Lynch. The man from another place appears in some of the more perplexing scenes from 'Twin Peaks', most memorably the walking backwards, cryptic clue dropping dwarf sequence, which leads to the eventual determining of the central character - Laura Palmer's killer. Nothing on this 5 track EP quite matches the dark macabre tones and atmosphere of Lynch, instead we are treated to a warm glowing diaphanous soundtrack, purpose made for a film that never existed, yet feels so familiar.
'The Loneliest Cowboy' is all about invoking a certain welcoming nostalgia, which adheres to a re-appraisal in some of the themes found in the movies of wild west director titans like John Ford, Huston and Howard Hawks. With the strange liquid like cowboy illustration on the EP's front cover - that draws comparisons to the Beach Boys 'Surf's Up' album, which features the world weary red Indian image based on the famous sculptor 'End Of The Trail' by James Earle Fraser - and the earnest photographs of a woodpile and old fashioned stove, Hirts projects a respectful affinity to the old west and the high plains of 'The Searchers' evocative landscapes.
All these instrumentals maintain a lingering and touching leitmotif throughout, one that can encompass the sounds and feel of Bacharach, Wilson and Morricone, without falling into the pratfalls of mere indulgence and parody. No, Hirst cleverly transcends all his influences to produce a lost classic that could easily become something of a cult. The title track waltzes along to sepia coloured images of late 19th century compatriots acting out a jaunty, but tragic, knock about story - ala 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'.Trombones, or, French horns declare ethereal choral announcements of quite moving proportions; whilst plucked banjos and felicity performed piano make for a gentle opening theme tune.
'A Recluse Goes Ice Skating' perfectly encapsulates its title well on this enchanting glockenspiel led canter through a minor melodrama based opus. Soft, delicate and almost whimsical in parts, this pulchritude song often throws up assiduous moments of reflection and thought. Haunting horns stir up visions of the unforgiving frontier, with sustained percussion, harpsichord and tingling xylophone on the mysteriously entitled 'IYS'.Both this song and the next, 'Guess Who's Back In Town', could be lost excerpts from Brian Wilson's 'Smile', with the redolent comforting story telling of Americas past through the sweeping lush tones, respondent to the descriptive melodies found in the tales of his most masterful work.
The final track 'Spelunking (Part 1)' - an American term for potholing - changes the mood entirely with its up-tempo move towards a poppier version of French troubadours Air, during their '1000htz' period, as drum breaks and driving bass enter the fray for the first and only time. Deft Fender Rhodes tones and space like aquatic duck sounds emerge from a dream sequence, played by a flowering harp, intro before settling into a breaks filled lament, that includes the main EP's refrain delivered in an almost electro French pop like manner. Hirst delivers a poetic tribute to some lost age, rich in the spoils of past film soundtrack maestros, whilst flirting with the big central themes envisioned by the greats, such as John Sturges and George Roy Hill, in all the best western movies.
Somehow a guy from Scotland manages to compose the theme tune to the now long disappeared essence and frontier history of America. "
Video on 'This is Pop Music' Blog
Thanks to Eric at the excellent 'This is Pop Music' blog for posting a nice little write of my music and the video for 'IYS' here.
"The greatest thing that I listened to last year was The Loneliest Cowboy EP, the debut release from The Man From Another Place; brain-child of Scottish composer Daniel Hirst. I really love The Loneliest Cowboy EP so much that I listen to it for inspiration when it comes time for me to start recording my own music. It really is like every band that I love combined into one simple package. It has the compositional skill of a Heavy Blinkers song with the catchiness of a Beach Boys tune, without any vocals, which, in my opinion leaves room for you to ponder on the meaning of the songs with just your own imagination as reference. The video stars Ron Smith and Abbra Smallwood and is directed by Justin Hannah, a director from Lexington, KY. The description of the video reads "Alone in the darkness, a man is haunted by a memory, warm, shimmering and beautiful". I couldn't agree more, so I am happy to share his first of what I know will be several, music videos"
Now on Facebook
I've finally got round to getting myself on Facebook. I've just started so I don't have many friends just now so please come and 'like' me at
http://www.facebook.com/themanfromanotherplace
Great Write Up On Eardumsmusic.com.
Thanks to Knut at eardrumsmusic.com for nice write up of my music and for posting the video of "I Y S" on his excellent website.
"The Man From Another place is a Scottish one-man band who plays really nice orchestral pop with obvious influences from Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach and also people like Sean O'Hagan and his The High Llamas. The Man From Another Place has released one ep, "The Loneliest Cowboy EP", which you can order from his myspace page. One of the songs on the ep is called "I Y S", and you can watch the new video for it here. The video has been shot and directed by film maker Justin Hannah. Get the ep if you like it, it's really good!"
On Manicbaby.com
There is now an official page at manicbaby.com for the video of my track "I Y S".
http://www.manicbaby.com/films/iys/index.html
I should also say a big thanks to the multi-talented film maker Justin Hannah for his hard work. Also a big thanks actor Ron Smith and actress Abbra Smallwood for their fantastic performances in the video.
The video is now online at:
YouTube
Facebook
Dailymotion
Vimeo (the best quality one)
"Alone in the darkness, a man is haunted by a memory, warm, shimmering and beautiful"
Brand New Video Directed by Justin Hannah!
My first ever video is now online. It has been shot and directed by the excellent film maker Justin Hannah. It is now online at various video websites such as YouTube, Vimeo etc and at Justin's own website Manicbaby.com
Recording Finished and Some Radio.
I think I've pretty much finished the majority of the recording for my next EP. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be get started on mixing it. I'm not an expert mixing engineer so I usually find this part the hardest.
Also thanks to Arnie at Radio Bremen in Germany for playing my remix of The Brigadiers "The Insomnia' a few times on his excellent radio show.
Also thanks to the fine people at WTUL in the United States for playing tracks from my debut EP "The Loneliest Cowboy".
Popshifter.com Review.
Much thanks to John at Popshifter.com for a very nice review of the my Debut EP 'The loneliest cowboy' in the March/April edition
"The Man From Another Place -The Loneliest Cowboy EP
By John Lane
There's something a-brewing in Scotland, and aye, I believe it has the whiff of genius. (Macbeth, Scotland, witches reference-anyone? Bueller?)
The Man From Another Place (a.k.a. Dan Hirst) has proven himself to perhaps be the next incarnation of Burt Bacharach, providing five cinematic tunes on his debut EP that defy the listener to not daydream or soul-search. The title itself, The Loneliest Cowboy, hints at its instrumental-only air, suggesting a mute cowboy who wistfully ambles along with his ol' horse and lets the music in his head do the talking while visualizing sweeping country vistas.
TMFAP himself dubs his music "soundtrack music to a lost film," which is appropriate as his melodies conjure up a combination of Morricone/Tati/Ford; more directly, there's a musical kinship to Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, where convention is turned on its head.
The EP opens with the sweepingly glorious "The Loneliest Cowboy," featuring panoramic horn and orchestral sounds, which blissfully engulf the listener. This is the kind of track that separates the craftsman from the dabbler. (The photograph of chopped lumber on the back sleeve clues us into the fact that TMFAP is in fact, a craftsman.)
Turning landscapes around, TMFAP follows with "A Recluse Goes Ice Skating," its shimmering wintry beauty suggesting Vince Guaraldi/Charlie-Brown-Christmas except perhaps a bit older and wiser.
The remaining tracks ("IYS," "Guess Who's Back In Town," and "Spelunking [Part 1]") all have their unique charms. These songs as a whole demand attention, albeit in a subtle and sublime way.
My only regret about this smashing debut is that A) the film does not exist and B) that this is only an EP instead of a full-length album. Other than that, The Man From Another Place is poised to take his rightful position among new artists that definitely need to be heard. To listen to or purchase the EP and to find out more about The Man From Another Place, check out the band's website or MySpace page."
Excellent Review of Remix and Another Good EP Review!
I'm bit 'caught up' in making my next EP, so as usual I'm bit behind with everything. So thanks to Mark at the The Sunday Experience for a very nice review of The Man From Another Place remix of the Brigadiers excellent track 'The Insomnia'
"The Man From Another Place "The Insomnia" (remix).
About time. Any self respecting lover of all things Wilson, Gibb, the Heartstrings, Nilsson et al should already be in possession of a copy of his debut "loneliest cowboy" EP - it is without fear of overstatement both exquisite and endearing. However I think we may have made something of the man from another place's melodic kinship to Brighton's own pop alchemist the Brigadier. And so it was with much joy to find Scotland's answer to Bacharach tweaking the tenderly tailored and timeless treats of Matt Williams who just to put the record straight we owe a huge apology to because following a small write up on his work a year or so ago he did in fact send over his two self released full lengths for review - which alas - though much loved didn't make it to print. Left to the devices of TMFAP the Brigadier's "the insomnia" is summarily teased and tinkered by a sweetly radiant and snoozing minimalist touch, a bit like imagining Vorhaus' White Noise chilled and churchlike being summoned to recode the Beach Boys finest and most introspectively yearning moments into a lounge lulling lovelorn celestial recital. Perfect"
Also much thanks to the very nice folks at Daggerzine in the US for a very nice review of my debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy'. Which I should add is still available to buy here (CD) or through ITunes/Amazon(MP3 Download).
Brand New Remix! The Brigadier - The Insomnia (TMFAP Remix)
My remix of an excellent track by Power Pop songwriter The Brigadier is now up on my MySpace player. The original track 'The Insonmia' is taken from his excellent "Time Is a Wound" album. Which I may add is available from his website. Coincidently the first time I heard the original song it was about 2am in the morning and I couldn't sleep.
EP Review in Exclaim!
Another EP Review this time from Exclaim! Canada's Music Authority. It is a bit critical of me sounding a bit too like Brian Wilson or The High Llamas but that is a big compliment to me so I'm fine with it!
"The Man From Another Place - 'The Loneliest Cowboy EP'
(by Michael Edwards)
Taking his name from a character in cult television show Twin Peaks, The Man From Another Place is not the first to fall under the spell of Smile-era Beach Boys, and won't be the last. He doesn't try to disguise it either when it comes to his debut EP. The Loneliest Cowboy is a nicely put together collection of instrumentals that owes such a huge debt to Brian Wilson and the High Llamas that it could actually be by either. Perhaps that is the ultimate compliment, but it's also the biggest issue with the EP: we've heard it all before. The title track is a wonderful journey into his world of soundtracks for lost movies, with layers of piano, horns and banjo; it acts as the perfect opener, but the four other songs don't take listeners anywhere more appealing or vastly different. It's definitely beautifully arranged and executed, but hardly original or revolutionary, although there's no denying its appeal."
Great write up on Popgeist.com!
Thanks to Nick at Popgeist.com for an excellent write up of my music. Reminds me I really should find my copy of the 'O Lucky Man' soundtrack which has gone missing into the chaos that is my CD collection.
"The Charming Beauty of The Man From Another Place
Over here at Popgeist Towers, we are big fans of Twin Peaks. We were exposed to David Lynch's surreal and cult television series upon its first airing back in 1990 (first time round, hipster alert). At the time we were still in short shorts, didn't have a clue what was going on and was scared shitless. Some things never change. The main cause of our anguish was from a character in the series called "The man from another place." He was quite possibly the scariest midget of all time.
Anyway, we digress. The Man From Another Place is also a one man music project based out of Edinburgh. He is fast gaining search engine optimization juice from the other man from another place. What a bizarre parallel universe we inhabit. Our discovery of him was on one of those beautifully serendipitous moments of discovery, which if used effecitvely the internet can provide. His music has a beautiful Bacharach-esque quality, is mostly instrumental and brings to mind some of the High Llamas and Field Music's finest moments. Even better, parts resemble Alan Price's soundtrack of O Lucky Man - one of Popgeist's favourite ever films and soundtracks. The O Lucky Man-esque quality is best displayed on The Loneliest Cowboy.
The Man From Another Place's Debut EP is available to buy now. We highly recommend that you buy it. It's probably going to end up being one of those oddities that slips people by first time round and ends up selling for a few hundred quid on ebay when the artist reaches greater acclaims."
Another Debut EP Review and Some More Radio.
Thanks to Russ at Russell's Reviews for reviewing my debut CD The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy EP'.
"The tracks here suggest they were written as incidental music for a film and as such seem a little weird as stand alone pieces. They are mainly tinkling little piano pieces. Its an interesting listen but I'd much rather hear them in a context such as that. They have some wonderful titles including A Recluse Goes Ice Skating, Iys and The Loneliest Cowboy. The High Llamas are an obvious comparison, the way they melded Beach Boys harmonies into something brittle and pretty. Guess Who's Back In Town is like said band doing a Christmas record, while Spelunking (Part 1) takes the same template and robotically funks it up. An interesting little EP."
Also thanks to Jeff at KDHX in St. Louis for playing my track 'The Loneliest Cowboy' on his radio program 'Afternoon Delight'. He played my track right after a Brian Wilson one and then followed it with an Elvis Presley one. Coincidently I learned a useless fact about Elvis today, his favourite aftershave was Brut.
EP Gets A Good Review From Canada's Premier Music Website CHARTattack.com
Another good review for my debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy'. This time from Canada's premier music website CHARTattack.com. I welcome all comparisons to Daft Punk as their first two albums were a huge influence on me.
"It would seem Edinburgh, Scotland's Daniel Hirst did indeed name himself after the creepy little person from Twin Peaks. One of his top MySpace friends is the David Lynch Foundation For Consciousness-Based Education And World Peace.
Rather fittingly, these five instrumental tracks would be the perfect backdrop for a weird, circus-like dream. "Guess Who's Back In Town" sounds like a cross between Jenny Omnichord and Saint Dirt Elementary School. Album closer "Spelunking (Part 1)," might be the lovechild of Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger" and Air's "Kelly Watch The Stars." The title track does sound like the theme song of a lonely cowboy crossing the desert, but its playfulness betrays the standard cowboy image. Perhaps a rodeo clown riding a horse across the desert? The Loneliest Cowboy is an interesting debut"EP makes two different 'Top 10 of 2009' charts
Thanks to Otis Fodder from the excellent band The Bran Flakes for playing The Man From Another Place track 'Guess Who's Back In Town' on his radio show 'The Friendly Persuasion'. Which features (in his own words) "the spinning styles of exotica, lounge, plunderphonics, spoken word, electronic, noise, phonography, ambient, international, library, product, outsider, incredibly strange, and pop. Sounds you will not hear on your boring top-40 commercial radio station". It features on The Friendly Persuasion #238 and can be heard at www.otisfodder.com.
Also The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy EP' made the top ten in the best EPs of 2009 in both the Hands and Arms Records and Series Two Records yearly charts!Another Good EP review.
Another good review for my debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy' from the website www.americana-uk.com.
I especially like the "waltzes into your ear throwing triple lutzes " bit. Thanks to David!
"describes himself as musician/producer/daydreamer and all those three facets are on display on these five short intriguing pieces. The title track is the sound of a wistful Western daydream with billowing horns, the rhythmic clip of the piano and with lazy banjo and vibes all it needs is Randolph Scott resting on his pommel looking at the high country and thinking about what could have been. Then the perfectly titled 'A Recluse Goes Ice-Skating' waltzes into your ear throwing triple lutzes to cover the slow glide of a shy man.
These are perfect soundtracks for widescreen short films: 'IYS' opens whole vistas, a slow trot into Monument Valley, a revisiting of classic westerns before spaghetti was on the menu and changed the tone to knowing. 'Spelunking (Part 1)' however is different - it introduces a whole new grammar of synthesised beats and rhythm in the place of melancholy melody; the banjo reappears as do the aching horns from the 'Loneliest Cowboy' to close with a kind of lament for the space cowboy."
Some French Distribution and Some More Radio Play.
If you live in France and you would like to purchase a CD copy of my EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy EP'. You can now purchase it from the fantastic Paris based independent music shop Hand and Arms records.
http://handsandarms.com/supplier.php?id_supplier=556 Also thanks to Arnie at Radio Bremen in Germany for playing my track 'The Loneliest Cowboy' on his show - which I believe was a round up of some of the amazing music released this year!Excellent EP review from subba-cultcha.com
A short but extremely complementary review from the excellent website subba-cultcha.com in their December Singles/EPs reviews for my EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy'. Any review that compares my music with Burt Bacharach and mentions the song 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' is a big, big compliment to me. I would like to add that I am available to score 'Amelie II' if they make it :)
"MAN FROM ANOTHER PLACE - THE LONELIEST COWBOY
Pianos are the new guitars, man. Burt Bacharach would be proud of this unintentional amalgam of "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" and "The look of love". Instrumental charmingness that would make for a brilliant score to Amelie II (CM)"
Another Good EP Review & Some More Radio Play!
A very nice review of The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy' EP from Losing Today magazine. Thanks to Mark the editor!
"The Man from another place - 'the loneliest cowboy' EP (meerkat). The much anticipated debut from the mysteriously named the Man from Another Place whose real identity I'm sure we've managed to reveal in a previous despatches though for now we'll settle for Dan of Edinburgh. We first stumbled across TMFAP while doing a spot research on 88 tapes way back sometime last year - in fact there have been frequent sightings of TMFAP in these pages since - mainly due to the fact that we here are positively smitten by the stuff. Best described as a porch lit moonshine swigging get together of Oddfellows Casino, Go Team, Mike Post, L'Augmentation, the Heartstrings (check out the rather out of step and out of time 'guess who's back in time' - simply exquisite) and Morricone types with Burt Bacharach as their host. Better still the author himself described the aural odyssey within as 'soundtrack music from a lost film'. listening to the five tracks featured 'the loneliest cowboy' there's a sense of being awash by a veritable cornucopia of styles and moods, one minute it's the souring reflective nature of Post's most memorable TV themes, the next extensions of Morricone's playfulness as revealed via his soundtrack for the Spaghetti western epic 'once upon a time in the west' specifically the scenes featuring 'Jason Robards' 'Cheyenne' character - none more so is this the case than on the flotillas of inebriated banjos that find themselves lolloping with crisp lazy eyed mischief across the title cut abridged with the winter-esque brush strokes of sighing brass fanfares much nodding in the direction of Brighton's much admired Oddfellow Casino's debut full length. Elsewhere there's the sweetly bitter swansong reprise like lilts of the Post meets Ronald Binge's 'sailing by' or the gorgeously smoked library sound lull of the marimba drenched 'IYS' to send you into untold chilled raptures. All said our current favourite moment (it changing each and every time we hear these tracks) is the parting 'Spelunking (part 1)' which finds itself operating in worlds previously advanced by Stereolab in their 'dots and loops' phase albeit as previously noted in past appraisals given a tightly grooved Studio 54 facelift and then tweaked by a flirty Giorgio Moroder. And with that there's not a lot more I can say other than to recommend you get this into your life as soon as. Joint single of the missive. Any questions. Thought not. www.themanfromanotherplace.com "
Also thanks to Sher at Homegrown Radio in New Jersey and Jonny Mambo at WCOM in North Carolina for both playing 'The Loneliest Cowboy' EP on their radio shows.
EP Makes The Best Of This Week's Releases In Organ Magazine
My Debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy' was featured in the best of this week's single releases in Organ Magazine.
"THE MAN FROM ANOTHER PLACE - The Loneliest Cowboy EP (self release) - Pleasant tunes, soothing, filmy, melodic instrumental pieces, touches of Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson - the quality of it all, the same sense of melodic adventure, rather than any obvious sound-alike reference... Rather gorgeous actually, all quietly restrained and accomplished orchestral brightness. Tingling and alive, five fine tracks, all of them as food as each other and everything just right in every way - www.themanfromanotherplace.com"
Note From The High Llamas.
I got a nice little note from Sean O' Hagan of The High Llamas. Someone whose music has had a big influence on me. Especially their 'Beet Maize & Corn' album which is my favourite.
"Beautiful music . Life in Edinburgh must be good enough to produce these smiling sounds . Hi from the Llamas"
Debut EP On The Radio.
'The Loneliest Cowboy' and 'IYS' from my debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy' were featured on one of my favourite radio shows last night. Thanks to Arnie at Radio Bremen in Germany! You can listen to his excellent show 'Zeiglers wunderbare Welt des Pop' here.
Debut EP Released
I am pleased to announce the release of my debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy' on the excellent Meerkat Label. It contains five tracks, slightly different versions from the tracks you can hear on my MySpace page. The mixes have generally been improved and a few extra bits were added. It was professionally mastered by Dave Blackman who did a fantastic job. It is available as a limited edition CD from my website and as an MP3 download from both ITunes and Amazon.
The limited edition CD obviously sounds a lot better than the MP3 version and you also get the chance to hear the EP as I intended it to sound with pretty much no gaps in between the tracks. The limited edition CD also contains some nice new artwork by me.
You can purchase the CD and the MP3 downloads here!
Debut EP To Be Released On Monday!
I am pleased to announce the release of my debut EP The Man From Another Place 'The Loneliest Cowboy'. It is going to be released next Monday (October 19th). It will be available to buy as a limited edition CD or as an MP3 download from Itunes and Amazon. Finally got my hands on the finished CD today. It was professionally mastered by Dave Blackman who did a fantastic job. The CDs were then reproduced from a glass master and I have to say the finished product sounds great. Here is a few low quality photos I took with my phone.
It's Finally Finished - I Have The Master!
After months of messing around, doing new mixes, writing new sections, scrapping pretty much most of the new sections and generally getting distracted by things going on in my personal life. I finally finished my Debut EP. At the weekend, I received the Master Copy from my Mastering Engineer.
Morricone Youth Radio Show
I forgot to say thanks to Devon at East Village Radio in New York for featuring The Man From Another Place track ‘a recluse goes ice skating’ again on his excellent Morricone Youth Radio Show a couple of weekends ago. You can check out his show here!
Me, Me, Me - A Short Film.
Last Week I got a chance to see the short film "Me, Me, Me"which features two The Man From Another Place tracks as inter-scene scoring ('Mr. Hill' and 'The Girl Who Can'). It is excellent short comedy film by writer/director Geraldine Geraghty. It has been entered into a few film festivals around the world. It has so far has been accepted into Palm Springs (June 23rd- June 29th) and it is being shown at the Short Film Corner at Cannes which I believe is happening right about now. So if it ends up at a film festival near you go check it out!
Very Nice Review!
Thanks to Christopher at the excellent 'Even In The Future Nothing Works' blog for a nice review of The Man From Another Place's Demo EP. You can read it here!
"Reminds me a lot of Belle and Sebastian, Kings Of Convenience, Todd Rundgren, retro sounding Josh Rouse... and to top it off these are just instrumentals. Some can put in an album that has the lyrics with music and they will say something like hey this would sound much better if you left it with music only. Would be neat to see another side of this band to see how this stuff with sound with vocals and if it didn't turn out the best they could leave them without. Either way this is a masterpiece that is catchy and pleasant and leaves you nodding your head in excitement and undoubtedly wanting more. It is fair to say i haven't quite heard an album like this in my life. The experience reminds me of when i first discovered Kings of Convenience while being much younger or the first time i heard Sondre Lerche. I am very ecstatic and amazed at this masterpiece. "
On the radio in Germany...
Thanks to Arnie at Radio Bremen in Germany for featuring The Man From Another Place song 'Mr Hill' on his radio show 'Zeiglers wunderbare Welt des Pop' last night. He plays some really good music - you can view the playlist and listen to the show here!
On the radio in New York...
Thanks to Devon at East Village Radio in New York for featuring The Man From Another Place track ‘a recluse goes ice skating’ on his excellent Morricone Youth Radio Show. He plays a cool mix of soundtrack music both old and new. You can listen here!
'Mr Hill' on the radio!
Thanks to Liam at Different Class Radio for playing The Man From Another Place track ‘Mr Hill’. He has a cool radio show where he plays a whole mix of stuff. Check it out here!
New Song - 'Mr. Hill'
I have uploaded a new song on The Man From Another Place myspace player i've just finished, it's called 'Mr Hill'. It's also going to be appearing briefly in a short film (more details to follow). Have a listen and leave some feedback if you fancy!
Podcast Action.....
Thanks to Steve at Dalecast for featuring The Man From Another Place track ‘the loneliest cowboy’ in his latest podcast - Episode 531 (It also appears in Episode 516 & 518). You can listen here!
In the pipeline.
Just finished an instrumental remix of a track titled ‘Hollywood Parties’ for the French artist Jean Emmanuel Deluxe. The track will hopefully be released on the excellent French label ‘Martyrs of Pop’ later this year. Some of music of mine will be appearing 'briefly' in a short film entitled ‘ME, ME, ME’. The film made by writer/director Geraldine Geraghty is being entered into various film festivals around the world – more details to follow.
Demo EP first review.
The Man From Another Place's demo EP has been reviewed on the excellent 'This is Pop Music' blog. Thanks to Eric! You can read it here!
"In 1990 there existed a television drama called Twin Peaks. In that show was a character called The Man From Another Place. However, after the show's cancellation in 1992 many years have gone by, but that doesn't mean this obscure bit of television knowledge has gone completely forgotten. Just recently a musician from Scotland has released his first EP, The Loneliest Cowboy, under the name The Man From Another Place. What resides inside this 5 song, 16 minute EP is an exploration of the styles of some of the great pop composers of the 20th (and even 21st century). Clearly evident in TMFAP's music is the influence of Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson in their prime. Not to say that the songs are not unique in their style, but TMFAP isn't afraid to show his appreciation for the classics. He describes his songs as "Soundtrack Music To A Lost Film" and I think that is both a good explanation of the premise for the EP, but also a visual guide. The music really could be put to film, as the piano chords repeatedly belt out a melody in a relaxed 4/4 tempo, strings and horns play a melody over it creating complex sounds that are both beautiful and intriguing. The Loneliest Cowboy brings tons of ambition and a well needed new face to the world of orchestrated pop. This EP is on par with all of the best pop albums I've ever heard (including SMiLE and The Night And I Are Still So Young). With such a great EP, I hope The Man From Another Place can release a full length album with this much enthusiasm and creativity. I recommend this highly."
Demo EP on the radio.
Some of The Man From Another Place's demo EP was played on the radio last night in Germany, Thanks again to Arnie.
First Review!
The Man From Another Place's first review. Thanks to Mark, editor of 'Losing Today' indie music magazine!
"http://www.myspace.com/themanfromanotherplace - stumbled upon this while researching stuff about the '88 tapes' set on Kesh, absolutely gorgeous, based somewhere in Edinburgh the mysterious the man from another place applies the same deft pristine melodic caress to his craft as a certain Brighton musician known as the Brigadier. Four gem like treats feature here, amid the irrefutable affection for Bacharach and Van Dyke Parks best served we feel on the sophisticatedly smoked 'iys' there's some crafty nods laid in the general direction of Morricone especially on 'the loneliest cowboy' which sumptuously adopts the stylised individualistic character scores applied to the chief protagonists of 'once upon a time in the west' in this case notably Jason Robards 'Cheyenne'- inebriated banjos, slyly twinkling noire-ish arrangements all bedecked with an affecting and alluring porch lit prettiness - how can you resist. 'Spelunking part 1' is lavishly decorated with a tasty cosmic disco wrap much reminiscent of 'dots and loops' era Stereolab albeit spruced and tweaked by a mellowing Giorgio Moroder while 'a recluse goes ice skating' is as the tin says, just close your eyes and the image you get is undeniably the genteel floorshow of soft sheens of beguiling gliding pirouettes arcing among airy tear stained 60's styled kitchen sink montages. 'Nuff said - more please."
About
The Man From Another Place is the musical pseudonym of the Edinburgh based musician/producer/composer known to his friends as Dan.
His first official release is an E.P. entitled 'The Loneliest Cowboy'
What People Are Saying!
"I believe it has the whiff of genius"
- Popshifter.com
"a lost classic that could easily become something of a cult"
- Monolith Cocktail
"We highly recommend that you buy it. It's probably going to end up being one of those oddities that slips people by first time round and ends up selling for a few hundred quid on ebay when the artist reaches greater acclaims."
- Popgeist.com
"there's not a lot more I can say other than to recommend you get this into your life as soon as"
- Losing Today Magazine
"Wow."
- Kramer (Record Producer - Daniel Johnston, Robert Wyatt, Ween, Palace Brothers & many more)
"Beautiful music. Life in Edinburgh must be good enough to produce these smiling sounds "
- Sean O' Hagan (The High Llamas)
"Really cool stuff"
- Eric Matthews (Composer, musician, artist and record producer - Sub Pop Records etc. etc.)
"'The cowboy' it's great"
- Edwyn Collins (Singer/Songwriter & Orange Juice)
"you stand out against a backdrop of relentlessly mediocre and uninspired sea of music peddlers..."
- Amy (Fan)