Reviews

Il primo album ufficiale dei Sanguine Hum (ex-Joff Winks Band) è un EP live scaricabile presso il sito Troopers For Sound e lo si può ascoltare nella sua interezza in streaming qui. I Sanguine Hum (il cui vero esordio è previsto nell’estate 2010) proseguono il percorso degli Antique Seeking Nuns di Joff Winks e Matt Baber che in questo EP propongono due pezzi tratti dal repertorio degli ASN e un vecchio inedito intitolato Car Factory.

LORENZO BARBAGLI

Light and joyful this is not. If you’re after carefree escapism don’t look in the direction of Nunbient One, brainchild of Joff Winks and Matt Baber, founding members of Antique Seeking Nuns and Joff Winks Band.

This 7 track debut album, described as an ambient/electro-acoustic exploration of textures and rhythms often with a highly cinematic and evocative end result, holds as much darkness and foreboding as any recent business bulletin. As the title suggests, the duo believe the future for our species isn’t looking too rosy, and set about setting this apocalyptic vision to music.

Influenced by the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Continuum the album conveys the idea that we are currently standing on the edge of a cultural abyss with sinister gusto. Featuring field recordings of whatever happened to be going on outside the studio (filtered traffic sounds, noise from a school playground etc., there’s little to hum along to.

It’s a bleak soundscape. Though the minimal tracks occasionally conjure up a sense of despair and hopelessness (as was
intended), they also possess a stark beauty moving from moments of claustrophobic intensity to an almost startling luminosity. Interesting, if not easy listening.

Victoria Sayce

Nunbient is the genre-cidal project of Joff Winks and Matt Baber – their curious moniker an amalgam of their band project, Nuns, elided with the word ambient.The Nunbient sound is based on electro-acoustic texturalism, stylistically flirting with ambient, IDM, drone, and prog, with a pronounced film-thematic quality. Utilizing real instruments (vibes, guitars and harmonium) and other processed elements, in particular the aleatory play of manipulated field recordings, One is a work which blends the warmth of organs, harmoniums and the cold snap of electronic beats, the incisive rockist qualities of guitars and synths with the more delicate intricacies of the classical minimalism of Reich and Glass.

One feels quite an eerie and cold album at times – presumably intentionally so, bearing in mind the dark sub-title. The artists comment in interview on an almost apocalyptic, end-of-days mood abroad in the world that eventually came to set the keynote for the album’s presiding concept. A recurring theme for us recently has been this idea that we are currently standing on the edge of a cultural abyss, and possibly in it already, they doom-say. A dark album for dark times, then? Not entirely, for, though the trilogy of tracks that close the album are appropriately imbued with dystopian atmosphere, this is by no means one of those Dark Ambient doom-fests of portentous flaccidity that are still churned out with monotonous frequency. In terms of its musical qualities, Nunbient is rather a project that seeks to establish an individual voice, whilst acknowledging a debt to contemporary electronica, in particular the 90s Warp output of Autechre, Aphex, and BoC (see esp. warbly keyboard sounds) or maybe the post-industrial ambient-IDM of the likes of the Hymen label. The clearest parallels are with Steven Wilson – also associated with the Burning Shed enterprise – and his Bass Communion, Porcupine Tree, and Continuum projects – ambient, prog and drone strands, respectively, all vital presences here.

The Nunbient hybrid finds close to perfect voicing on Indian Box, which builds slowly from an ambient whisper though clanging and rattling percussion and tense eerie chord progressions to end in filmic, soundtrack epic dimensions. Other tracks prefer to dwell more on field recordings with peripheral instrumental presences, or lull languorously, though not without good effect, as on Lowery Click, which could do good service on a 12k or Kranky release. In Tongues, on the other hand, sniffs around the quieter realms of Mogwai, while Drone Frost Porous gets down where ECM meets the tail end of prog introversion. In sum, One is an album that tends to induce spot-the-influence tendencies, but contains enough enagaging material and evocative passages to warrant exploration, especially by those intrigued by genre-b(l)ending.

One | Just Another Dark Age is out now on Burning Shed.

Alan Lockett

Dark, sinister electronica with organic overtones. Apparently, we live in dark times. Well, there may be a credit crunch on, but from the morbid dark brooding noises from Nunbient One, who have written this album in response to the age in which we live, you’d think it was the apocalypse. There is little in the way of melody, but rather layers and layers of electronic sounds, some of which are processed recordings or real instruments, others completely digital. The result is an amazing background noise to fill a room, and lend a sinister beauty to almost any situation. Like and evil, twisted Boards of Canada.

Chris Merriman

Active also with Antique Seeking Nuns and Joff Winks Band, Joff Winks and Matt Baber have recorded ONE – JUST ANOTHER DARK AGE under the Nunbient moniker.

The seven tracks of the album mix glacial ambient sounds with treated fields recordings and slow rhythms. Curtains up and Indian box, the two tracks that open the album, are a good appetizer for the forty five minutes of cinematic ambient sidereal music. The tracks are quite minimal but they are never sounding static or boring. There’s always a melody or a certain richness of sounds that is able to catch the listener’s attention: a light guitar sound, a xylophone, a synth sound, everything is good to enrich the atmosphere created by the synth pads. Try to listen to it using your speakers first and you’ll realize that your room is like an opened door to a different dimension.

Nunbient One have been working hard on the themes (cultural recession anyone?), including a finely crafted name for their project. Joff Winks and Matt Baber work on their own projects and have thought worthwhile to team up for responding to the new dark age that is upon us. At a first listen, I just don’t perceive that statement as transpiring from the music on offer. Just Another Dark Age is 40 minutes of well-crafted electronica, integrating organic instruments and some interesting treatments. Soundscapes do little to conjure up visions of hopelessness and, as a matter of fact, they are better off this way. Ambiences and rhythmic spells work their way through the album. The mood gets more somber on the second half of the work and besides being fully enjoyable, I find it quite soothing and even reassuring. So this is probably the case of an album best enjoyed without a press release. As this is the case with the vast majority of the listeners out there, Just Another Dark Age is well thought of ambient electronica employing to good end non electronic instruments and showing a character of is own. Moderately experimental and certainly of little darkness throughout. Let that not be a deterrent from exploring this intriguing creation. I’d let the closing title track summarise it for me: caressing mood exploration.

Gianfri

Des gars d’Oxford qui semblent vouloir jouer dans la cour de Canterbury… Il y a là quelque chose d’humoristique qui convient bien à ce style né dans la petite ville tranquille du Kent. Pas sûr pourtant que ces Anglais aient été spontanément étiquetés Canterbury s’ils n’avaient voulu eux-mêmes mettre sur la voie. Il y a bien chez eux du goût pour l’absurde et de la fraîcheur ludique qui ont fait la réputation de ce style typiquement britannique mais, fondamentalement, leur musique est trop éloignée des racines sonores du genre. De préférence, à son propos, il faudrait évoquer les pitreries acrobatiques de Frank Zappa, le plus « british » des Américains : rien de honteux, bien au contraire.

Ce troisième EP devrait plaire aux fans de prog’. Dans la colonne des qualités indiscutables s’inscrivent des compositions qui coulent de source en résonnant avec toute la gouaille nécessaire, une belle interprétation et une excellente production claire et dynamique. Dans celles des moins en revanche trône un déficit d’identité évident qui renvoie les gentilles facéties de Careful ! It’s Tepid à un achat dispensable. L’art musical débute lorsqu’il s’agit d’être capable d’émouvoir tout en sachant s’extraire du troupeau. Néanmoins, rien n’est perdu car un titre comme « Dead Cheese » pourrait augurer de belles choses. Encore faut-il qu’Antique Seeking Nuns choisisse de poursuivre dans cette voie..

Christophe Manhès

Third and final of three releases by this little-known, fine British quartet, consisting of: Joff Winks-guitar and vocals, Matt Baber-Fender Rhodes, synths and piano, Paul Mallyon-drums and Brad Waissman-bass. I was pointed in their direction by Steve Davis, Snooker champion and all around champion of progressive, prog music and he was right! “Right about what?”, you may ask. That they were band that managed to take some of the most quintessencially ‘British’ (and to my mind, the most charming) aspects of UK progressive rock (think the song stylings of Richard Sinclair with Caravan or Hatfield or early Robert Wyatt) and graft them onto a more contemporary sound that is perhaps a bit more avant-progressive in nature as well as including influences that have nothing to do with ‘progrock’ (Tortoise! Flaming Lips!, etc), all leavened by some Zappa-ish instrumental complexity and assuredness. What do you have? A total winner. If you want the big story of this band (why they released 3 EPs over a 5 year period and why they have now decided to call themselves “Sanguine Hum”…then THIS is the place, because the booklet has 3 pages of tiny type explaining why they have done a bunch of things that are completely silly in terms of career. But more importantly, you get some really, really great music. Highly recommended!

“This five track EP, the final release in the bands Triple Burst saga, features some of the very best examples of the Nuns highly progressive instrumental compositions. Over the course of 20 minutes Careful! It’s Tepid unleashes all manner of instrumental combinations. A nostalgic string quartet blends with childlike glockenspiel and chiming guitars in The Foulness! The Stench! Deranged drums and vibraphone manically dance around slide guitar and distorted bass in Dead Cheese, and wobbly synth textures cushion what sounds like a chorus of mandolins and guitars as strange film dialogue interrupts the proceedings in The Bearded Bag Lady. Careful! It’s Tepid is also framed at either end by two songs, Leave Us A Message and Ointment For Flies, songs that are as strange and alien as they are weirdly approachable, especially in the sky high vocal melody of opening track Leave Us A Message that pleads for contact with alien life, or the unsettlingly macabre and epic closer Ointment for Flies. Careful! It’s Tepid makes a fitting finale for the Triple Burst trilogy and the Antique Seeking Nuns in general before the quartet (Joff Winks, Matt Baber, Brad Waissman & Paul Mallyon) bring together all their disparate influences and elements of past and present projects under the new band name Sanguine Hum.”

Steve Feigenbaum

Per tutti gli amanti della scuola di Canterbury ci sono tre EP da non perdere. Lo strano è che purtroppo questo dotato gruppo chiamato Antique Seeking Nuns dal 2003 ha prodotto solo questi tre gioiellini, l’ultimo dei quali risale allo scorso settembre.

Mild Profundities (2003), Double Egg With Chips And Beans (2006) e Careful! It’s Tepid (2009), proprio come descritto dalla band, ospitano delle pop-songs intelligenti che, con piglio orgogliosamente intellettuale, lasciano da parte i canoni prevedibili del pop e si rivolgono alla Canterbury dei fratelli Sinclair, degli Hatfield & the North, ma anche ai Gentle Giant e a Frank Zappa.

Careful! It’s Tepid è l’ultimo EP della band di Matt Baber (tastiere) e Joff Winks (chitarra e voce) che chiude di fatto la carriera degli Antique Seeking Nuns. Dalle loro ceneri è nata la Joff Winks Band che ha già cambiato nome in Sanguine Hum, i quali, forse, manterranno alcune peculiarità dei predecessori. Intanto c’è tempo per ascoltarsi i tre EP.

LORENZO BARBAGLI

Il precedente episodio in EP di questa band inglese si concludeva con una vocina surreale e demoniaca che pronunciava la frase “Careful! It’s Tepid” … eccolo, era proprio il titolo dell’ultimo episodio della trilogia. Data la brevità del lavoro (neppure 19 minuti!) la musica entra nel vivo direttamente e in maniera subitanea e ci presenta il migliore dei tre lavori di queste Suore dell’Antica Ricerca. Sei brani intriganti, ricchi di melodia pop che poggia su solidissime basi progressive di stampo zappiano. Un uso della metrica e della lirica che ha anche molto a che vedere con il Canterbury Sound, ma che possiede pure slanci di britpop primigeno (XTC, Specials, Interview, Monochrome Set) e di beat. Insomma una mistura veramente intrigante, che per le sue peculiarità diventa una summa di grande personalità.

Il suono si arricchisce ulteriormente: chitarre acustiche si intrecciano amabilmente alle molte e appassionanti percussioni toniche, i ritmi filano lisci, talvolta tracciando solo la linea a mo’ di metronomo, talvolta intricandosi, ma lasciando sempre una leggerezza di tocco splendida. Le linee vocali sono tra le cose più dolci, delicate e amabili che abbia sentito negli ultimi tempi, veramente indovinate e su tutto un basso preciso e spesso poderoso. Citando un paio dei cinque brani, occorre certo partire dalla notevolissima “Dead Cheese” uno strumentale dagli spazi incredibili se rapportati ai soli 3 minuti del brano e la conclusiva “Ointment For Flies”: un grande aquilone variopinto che vola con fermezza e decisione su trame tanto varie quanto intriganti, probabilmente il miglior episodio della trilogia.

L’interno del booklet è interamente dedicato alla storia della band e, purtroppo, lascia intendere che la vita del quartetto finisca con questo episodio, peccato perché un regolare CD con la forza di quest’ultimo EP, sarebbe stato un bonbon molto appetibile.
Pur limitato alla sua lunghezza, una delle cose più belle ascoltate quest’anno.

Roberto Vanali

Antique Seeking Nuns’ third and final EP ‘Careful! It’s Tepid’ was released in 2009. The band decided to call it quits, so to speak, and start fresh under a different moniker, Sanguine Hum. I would guess that rather than milking out music for the Nuns, they wanted something new. Their line-up is Matt Baber (keys) and Joff Winks (guitar, vocals) who have been collaborating since their schooldays. Joining them are Brad Waissman (Bass) and Paul Mallyon (drums).
This is a short EP which contains some rather wonderfully odd music. Somewhat in the Canterbury genre but not in the classic sense. Starting off the EP is “Leave Us A Message” which has the quirky vibe with wonderful instrumentation and vocals. Next up we have, “The Foulness! The Stench!”, a very melodic and sweet sounding instrumental track that has an orchestral feel to it. It’s also the shortest track but has an epic feel to it.

Continuing with another instrumental, “Dead Cheese” is the next song that, with my limited knowledge, reminds me of something Frank Zappa would probably do if he was around in 2009. Next is “The Bearded Bag Lady” a psychedelic vibe with some spoken word towards the end.

“Ointment For Flies” is the longest track on the EP and the most progressive rock sounding song out pf the bunch, and there is some Canterbury woven in. It’s also the other song that contains vocals. Ending off the EP is a hidden track known as “Final Message” which concludes the Antique Seeking Nuns as a band. It has some spoken word on it which sounds like someone was speaking after a hit of helium.

In conclusion, I found ‘Careful! It’s Tepid’ to be one of the more enjoyable, yet short, releases of 2009. I would highly recommend it to fans of the aforementioned bands. I plan on seeking out the other two EPs in the near future.

Ron Fuchs

Careful! It’s Tepid is the final chapter in this trilogy of EP releases from UK alternative progsters Antique Seeking Nuns. The Nuns are collectively Joff Winks (guitars/vocals), Matt Baber (assorted keyboards), Paul Mallyon (drums) and Brad Waissman (bass). The band formed in Oxford circa 2001 “based around the composing/performing duo” of Joff and Matt, releasing their first EP Mild Profundities in 2003 followed in 2006 by Double Egg With Chips And Beans.

With the potted history over we move quickly to this new release. Now even before the CD entered my player the band’s name, the curious album title and the rather bizarre cover artwork had Mr Zappa spring to mind (although not a bad thing in my book). Not that this band were entirely new to me as I had checked out their second EP around the time of its release and at the suggestion of one of our readers. To be honest I can’t say that Double Egg… left a lasting impression as when this latest offering from the band arrived it was merely the name that rang any bells. Looking back it was a shame (which I shall rectify) as the new EP is rather intriguing.

The EP opens with the instantly catchy Leave Us A Message, with the essence of late sixties acoustic pop/rock, but with a distinctly modern slant. Joff Winks vocals are certainly in the upper registers here, but it is neither strained or jarring. The melody hangs nicely and certainly sticks in the head well after the CD has finished. Heavier guitar beefs out the acoustic whilst the band drives the tempo along nicely. The mid section features percussive keyboards (a feature throughout) followed by a very Steely Dan-like guitar solo. The vocals return once more re-emphasizing the catchiness of the song.

The Foulness! The Stench! couldn’t be further away from what the title might imply. Similar in many respects to the opener – this instrumental is gentle (with just a hint of pushing out the envelope). Mellotron strings are added fleshing out the piece that is gone a little too quickly. Dead Cheese on the other hand is a different beast. Here the Zappa comparisons flood in. Complex, quirky and a little straining in parts on the ears. Rhythmically strong and again percussive keyboards are employed to the full, bringing comparisons to Pierre Morlens and Gong as well as Frank Zappa. The Bearded Bag Lady is another instrumental, but with slightly more in common with the two opening tracks.

The vocals return for Ointment For Flies and again strong melodies ring out along with a nice hook line in the chorus sections. The signature ASN sound has now clicked with me and here the rhythm section of Mallyon and Waissman also come to the forefront. This is the strongest piece (and fortunately the longest) from EP and one that bodes well for ASN to go on and produce a full length album.

Difficult to offer a numerical rating for an EP. It certainly demonstrates what the band are about, but there just isn’t quite enough to get a handle on it. ASN manage to incorporate catchy Canterbury infused music that can be complex, certainly is complex in parts, whilst never losing the plot and with more than hint of mischief. “Am I right”! As it stands this is very engaging twenty minutes of music and certainly I’ll be looking out for these guys in the future – albeit as Sanguine Hum?

Conclusion: 6.5 out of 10

Bob Mulvey

‘Careful! It’s Tepid’ is the last part of the band’s so-called Triple Burst trilogy. Matt Baber (keys) and Joff Winks (guitar, vocals) are collaborating since their schooldays. The basics for this recordings come from early sessions. For what reason ever ANTIQUE SEEKING NUNS’ masterminds recently decided to close this chapter forever and ever – accompanied by the intention to go forward with a new project called ‘Sanguine Hum’. Hence the band’s legacy finally consists of three EPs recorded during a relatively long lapse of time. A planned full CD album could not be realized though.

Anyhow – at least the last two productions, together nearly reaching for an album length, are very interesting and have much to offer – short and compact songs, canterbury influenced, worth it to be intensively explored. Now the opener Leave Us A Message confirms this reminding me of Caravan. Just to point out Joff Winks’ acoustic guitar and wonderfully charming vocals, later synchronizing with Baber’s electric piano. A potential hit – only dedicated to the prog rock genre of course because evolving to a quite complex thing. And then they continue in a mellow mood, even enriched with some pop-appeal on the short The Foulness! The Stench!.

What also can be counted among the more laid back songs is The Bearded Bag Lady – decorated with some slight balalaika feeling and samples. Other tracks have much of a special trickiness. Dead Cheese is more referring to their predecessor EP (not only because of the song title). The band always emphasizes Frank Zappa’s influence on the compositions. Hmmh – probably I should name Gong too. Xylophone alike elements (key generated I assume), tribal percussion, slicing electric guitars, swirling piano, weird breaks and turns – this is all put together to a really enjoyable instrumental song.

Hatfield And The North meets Steven Wilson! Impossible? Just listen to Ointment For Flies – the longest and most playful track. It’s worth while to take enough time for the compositional aspect. A grooving fundament with several variations is leading, acoustic and heavy guitars are acting simultaneously and Matt Baber appears restrained here offering well accentuated synthesizer, piano and xylophone impressions.

Maybe this is just because I didn’t reserve enough time to listen – I still prefer the predecessor ‘Double Egg With Chips And Beans’ though. As for my impression ‘Careful! It’s Tepid’ comes more relaxed in its entirety. What stays is this special harmony of all the instruments (including vocals). Anyhow – the most important thing is the new project hopefully continues on this way. Recommended – really well done!

River Tree

This is the third and final release from the Nuns. It arrives in a rather smart-looking slipcase (unless you chose the download of course!) with quirky, colourful enigmatic and slightly incongrouous illustrations. WTF!!! Okay, it’s not a limited edition Porcupine Tree elaborate boxset – but it is classy looking nonetheless.

The Nuns somewhat circuitous development continues, as finally explained in the sleevenotes. And their next release will be under a new name: “Sanguine Hum”.

This CD has a lot to live up to! The prior “Double Egg with Chips and Beans” being one of my favourite releases of the last couple of years.

Five tunes this time. Dadaist titles and surreal lyrical themes continue. The nuns always display their influences quite prominently it seems. The Canterbury sound is there, albeit through Buckley-esque guitars, there are other influences to. Read on!

The EP begins intriguingly. A very seductive and catchy crescendo introduces “Leave us a Message” which quickly gives way to a Gentle Giant-esque bridge – and you know that you can just sit back and enjoy. Then there’s hints of Gilgalmesh and Phil Lee and we’re off! The Isley brothers meets Gentle Giant perhaps!

The very brief and curiously named “The Foulness! The Stench!” wafts in almost unnoticed next. I’m reminded of some of the lighter moments of early Gong and Deia-infused Daevid Allen – and that’s no bad thing – right? It’s a cheerful little synth driven melody. Shamelessly aimless, with a fairground chorus, and hypnotic percussion motifs – somewhat evocative of Mike Oldfield’s more tasteful compositions.

“Dead Cheese” is an alternative treatment of a theme first visited on the “Double Egg” ep. This time it’s given a bossa-nova (!) treatment and delivered as an instrumental. Thankfully the chiming Rhodes parts are still there in spades – which only evokes again Alan Gowen’s work in Gilgamesh – and once more we’re not a million miles from Hatfield and the North at their zaniest – “Rifferama” and “Shaving is Boring” perhaps?

“The Bearded Bag Lady” is another light number arriving like the melodic parts of a Brand X LP, the coda again coming over all Matching Mole! Very moreish!

The EP’s closer will be familiar to anyone who’s visited the band’s myspace page. “Ointment for Flies” has been a fave of mine for a long time. It’s a strong set-closer. Without referring back, I’m pretty sure it’s been heavily made-over since the myspace version – there are harmonies and trippy guitar embellishments I’d not noticed before – and some tasteful vocal treatments too. I guess they have been busy with these songs in the meantime before this much delayed release saw the light of day!!! Anyway, this is a very sophisticated composition indeed. I hear the first hint of the Genesis/Anthony Phillips influence on the Nuns during the chorus which leads seemlessly into a Zappa-esque interlude, and you are left wondering how do they do it so well!

I am happy to report that this EP also continues the crisp and efficient production trends displayed on “Double Egg” too. But, most importantly these songs are just as enjoyable and intriguing as ever. I am really looking forward to seeing the Nuns, sorry Sanguine Hum, just as soon as they are gigging a reasonable distance from West London. In the meantime I will entertain myself with devising playlists from their three EPs to make up the perfect, never released, Antique Seeking Nuns LP record.

Nick Loebner

Second of three releases by this little-known, fine British quartet, consisting of: Joff Winks-guitar and vocals, Matt Baber-Fender Rhodes, synths and piano, Paul Mallyon-drums and Brad Waissman-bass. I was pointed in their direction by Steve Davis, Snooker champion and all around champion of progressive, prog music and he was right! “Right about what?”, you may ask. That they were band that managed to take some of the most quintessencially ‘British’ (and to my mind, the most charming) aspects of UK progressive rock (think the song stylings of Richard Sinclair with Caravan or Hatfield or early Robert Wyatt) and graft them onto a more contemporary sound that is perhaps a bit more avant-progressive in nature as well as including influences that have nothing to do with ‘progrock’ (Tortoise! Flaming Lips!, etc), all leavened by some Zappa-ish instrumental complexity and assuredness. What do you have? A total winner. If you want the big story of this band (why they released 3 EPs over a 5 year period and why they have now decided to call themselves “Sanguine Hum”…well, you’ll have to buy “Careful, It’s Tepid”, their third and final release, which has 3 pages of tiny type explaining why they have done a bunch of things that are completely silly in terms of career, but which actually mean nothing to you or me. But if you want great music, just buy this! Highly recommended!

“Antique Seeking Nuns was a band project that existed between 2001 and 2009, initially based around the composing/performing duo of Joff Winks and Matt Baber and later expanding to include Paul Mallyon on Drums and Brad Waissman on Bass. The band released three EP’s that stylistically responded to the challenges laid down by artists such as Frank Zappa and Hatfield and the North: music that is cerebral yet heartfelt, often complicated yet still pushing melody to the centre stage, and perhaps most controversially, taking a surreal and understated approach to the lyrics and presentation, often humorous in effect but with no loss in creative impact.Although definitely influenced and perhaps defined by the past, Antique Seeking Nuns can be best viewed alongside artists such as Tortoise and the Flaming Lips: a post-rock group entirely and successfully absorbing its prog-rock influences into something new. An ever growing network of listeners continue to be drawn into the Nuns’ music by the aforementioned off-hand lyrical style of songs such as Double Egg and Little Machines which soften the blow of the more intense pieces such as Shatner’s Bassoon and Dead Cheese that set new standards in adventurous and demanding rock based composition.”

Steve Feigenbaum

Scopriamo, con questo secondo EP a nome Antique Seeking Nuns, che gli autori intendono produrre una trilogia in EP, partita nel 2003 con “Mild Profundities” e che avrà conclusione con un terzo lavoro per ora solo in programmazione. La band si ripresenta con la stessa struttura a quattro e conferma anche la produzione scanzonata di brani molto personali ad ispirazione Frank Zappa e Canterbury, con intrusioni di elettronica e beat in puro e forte stile inglese. Questi altri quattro brani si pongono all’ascoltatore in maniera armonicamente perfetta, con un delicato dosaggio di elementi, un buon intrico strutturale, eppure la facilità d’ascolto resta il loro maggior pregio: nonostante le complesse strutture, i continui cambi di tempo e le partiture che pescano anche da minimalismi e tocchi aggraziati nella classica del ‘900, tutto scorre quasi a livello di canzone pop. E’ l’ascolto più approfondito che ci consente di assaporare un progressive di alta e fine fattura. Menzione per il funky zappiano e burlesco di “Son Of Cheese”, per il tenue acquerello di pianoforte che è “Son Of Bassoon” e per il cranioso e spaesato groove di “Shatner’s Bassoon” il suo brutale solo di chitarra e le demoniache voci del finale, forse preludio al prossimo conclusivo episodio?

Altro centro di questi giovani folli, ora aspettiamo l’elemento conclusivo della trilogia e, poi, speriamo in un full length, per divertirci e assaporare gli sbalzi di umore che, con ossimorica freddezza, sanno proporre.

Roberto Vanali

As odd as it seems, not only is the album cover simply beautiful, (okay it’s just funny,) but the music on this EP is actually very good! Double Egg is the hard song to get through but it shows some Zappa influence which is always fun to listen to. Then things start off with Son of Cheese which sounds like a mix between Zappa and… some hard rock band. This song has some great guitar playing even if it is just a repetive riff. Son of Cheese flows seamlessly into Son of Bassoon which is also a nice track with the same main idea of Son of Cheese, just making good music. Once again, guitar playing is excellent on this track. Shatner’s Bassoon is the ending track, once again flowing almost seamlessly from the previous song, and it has to be my favorite song on the EP. Once again the guitar playing is key to this song. Overall, nice EP. For not necessarily for progheads though, more for fans of traditional rock.

The Truth

Ah, what it is to a be British prog rock group with a sense of humour… not that I know personally what it feels like, but Antique Seeking Nuns seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. And so they well might because this a real gem of a CD EP that I only came across purely by chance when The Nuns (as I like to affectionately call them) put in a friend request to me on MySpace.

They’re a four-piece from the UK, consisting of Matt Baber (assorted keyboards), Paul Mallyon (drums), Brad Waissman (bass), and Joff Winks (guitars/vocals), who realised they were never going to be Pink Floyd (they were about 35 years too late, unfortunately) and were disgusted to find that the punk as f**k but actually prog when no one’s looking mantle they were so desperately hoping to capitalise on had already been taken by another band from the same general local area a few years before, namely Radiohead. As the band admit, those were dire times indeed, but since then they seem to have recovered and have gone on to produce two EPs (this is the second; I’ve yet to hear the first). On the evidence of this one, dare I say that they have as much promise and potential as that displayed by the early recordings by both Pink Floyd and Radiohead.

The band’s name comes from a story told by Matt’s girlfriend who was educated at a convent school and was shocked one night to discover several highly respectable nuns heaving valuable religious artefacts into the back of a Ford Transit for reasons that were never established. The band’s name therefore is said to honour this mysterious group of Antique Seeking Nuns. And the title of the EP apparently comes from the band inadvertently discovering the meaning of life in a local cafe, an experience documented in the song Double Egg.

So there you go but what about the music? Well we have only four tracks here so it’s a little tricky to describe the sound of The Nuns, but the band themselves have had a go Frank Zappa and Donald Fagan judging a talent contest between Tortoise and Gentle Giant with Robert Wyatt doing the commentary. And it has to be said that that’s not at all a bad description. It’s definitely prog rock, with quite a bit of the Canterbury sound and jazz fusion thrown in for good measure.

The aforementioned first track, Double Egg, which tells us of the happiness-producing properties of two fried eggs with chips, beans and a tea, starts off sounding like the Jimi Hendrix Experience for the opening 30 seconds but rapidly turns into something more like National Health or Hatfield and the North – it’s delightfully tuneful but neatly experimental too.

Son of Cheese is a slightly more jazz-fusiony story that tells us of the band members’ fears of being stuck on a desert island with cheese as their only food source okay, don’t ask, but just sit back and enjoy those wonderful vintage-keyboard sounds. This is a very keyboard-heavy track and it reminds me greatly of Chick Corea, Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc. though with a strong dash of humour in those cheese-related lyrics.

Son of Bassoon represents a surprising change of pace, a rather beautiful solo piano instrumental piece, which lacks the food-related vocals/lyrics of the two previous tracks, instead very wisely playing it straight. It’s a remarkably pretty and charming little number, though amazingly it doesn’t sound the least bit out of place on the EP.

And then we’re at the final number, Shatner’s Bassoon, which is apparently about the bit of the brain that deals with time perception (the basal ganglia and the right parietal cortex, I believe). It’s an instrumental that reminds me very much of Gentle Giant mixed with a very healthy dose of Frank Zappa, and there’s a lot of great stuff going on here, including some fantastic guitar work towards the end (get those air guitars at the ready you have been warned!).

And then, sadly, that’s the end of the EP. It’s wonderful to be able to say that the biggest problem I have with this CD is that it’s too short and I eagerly look forward to hearing what The Nuns might achieve on a full-length album.

My other slight criticism is that there’s a lot of borrowing of styles from the likes of Zappa, Gentle Giant, Chick Corea, National Health, etc. and it would be nice to hear The Nuns expand and develop their own unique style more. There’s certainly lots of originality, invention and charm on display here, but again I think there’d be room for further development on a full album.

But in a sense I’m nit-picking here: this is a bright, witty, warm, and hugely entertaining release from a band not afraid to show off their dangerously unfashionable 1970s influences, but with enough compositional flair, musicianship and panache of their own, combined all-importantly with a rare sense of humour, to produce something new and interesting for the 21st Century. A truly delightful EP, which you can and indeed should pick up (along with its predecessor) at www.freakemporium.com or at www.cdbaby.com. Don’t wait this is well-worth hearing before you get your next dose of double egg, chips, beans and a tea.

Best tracks: Well, all of them, I guess Double Egg, Son Of Cheese, Son Of Bassoon, Shatner’s Bassoon.

Epileptic Gibbon

Questo è l’esordio di una giovane e particolarissima band dell’Oxfordshire. I due leaders Matt Baber (tastiere) and Joff Winks (chitarre e voce), iniziarono, come molti coetanei ai tempi del liceo, e che poi decisero di mettere su una band completata dal bassista Brad Waissman e dal batterista Paul Mallyon. Stiamo trattando un extend play di 5 brani dalle caratteristiche molto variabili che, confermando quanto dichiarato dal gruppo stesso, trovano ispirazione in Frank Zappa, Hatfield And The North, Tortoise e Aphex Twin. Aggiungo che non mancano alcune connotazioni riconducibili ai Beatles e a taluni gruppi della new wave elettronica dei primi ’80, ma complessivamente, a parere del sottoscritto, l’ascolto è indirizzato ad una predominante idea a cavallo tra Zappa e Canterbury. Ne sono esempio lampante del primo tipo la dinamicissima “Keeny Woka Phoola“ dagli strani risvolti beat/britpop e del secondo tipo l’intrigante opener “It’s Pissing Don?” che a tratti sembra estratto da “Leave It Open” di Pierre Moerlen. Non mancano ampi spunti di elettronica, cangiante e spesso scomposta come nel brano “M.O.D.A.R.”, nel quale l’improvvisazione si unisce ad una sorta di post rock.

Su tutto aleggia una bella atmosfera serena, giovanile ed esuberante a partire dalla simpatica copertina con un maschione affetto da prognatismo, vestito da suora.
Un assaggio delle capacità compositive e strutturali della band, che sicuramente potrà produrre cose interessanti e molto personali. Promossi.

Roberto Vanali

The most succinct description of the opener to this five-track EP, It’s Pissing-Don, is that it sounds how Frank Zappa might have arranged Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross – with a funny time signature and, rather than a lead guitar, a vibraphone. The mother Superior leaves his mark else where too, notably on Keeny Woka Phoola.

Yet M.O.D.A.R and & Little Machines (which is hinged on an androdgynous vocal), have more to do with Throbbing Gristle, ClockDVA and other 80s industrialists.

Yet, for all the influences, obvious and subtle, there’s a lively imagination at work here.

Allan Clayson

La verità è che adoro il suono del Fender Rhodes. Lo adoro sin da quando, anni or sono, scoprii gli Hatfield & the North e quel gusto caloroso e avvolgente delle tastiere di Dave Stewart. Cosa c’entra questo con la Joff Winks Band? Molto, visto che, anche se i quattro ragazzi di Oxford suonano pop, questo non ha certo ascendenze scontate o gettonate come l’ultimo divo da classifica. La musica della Joff Winks Band, anche se molto più immediata, parte infatti direttamente dalla scuola di Canterbury (che a suo tempo esaltò le qualità del Rhodes) e si infila in una terra di mezzo tra Badly Drawn Boy e Caravan.

Ho già dedicato qualche post ai vari progetti di Joff Winks, personaggio che, a partire dai recentemente defunti Antique Seeking Nuns, fino alla reincarnazione nei Sanguine Hum (che unisce il suo universo sonoro, incanalando qui tutte le sue velleità musicali), non ha mai nascosto il suo amore per Hatfield e affini. Nelle intenzioni di Winks, la band che prende il suo nome doveva dedicarsi ad una musica meno progressiva degli Antique Seeking Nuns e rispettare delle direttive più cantautorali. Ho quindi deciso di parlare di un album del 2007 come Songs for Days dato che non ho trovato praticamente nulla (in italiano) a riguardo sul web (e lo spazio se lo merita) e poi perché il corredo musicale di Winks è stato praticamente la mia colonna sonora di questi giorni natalizi.

Songs for Days è destinato a rimanere l’unico lavoro della Joff Winks Band (se si escludono una manciata di singoli) dato che il gruppo ha ultimamente cambiato nome in Sanguine Hum. Ad un primo ascolto l’album potrebbe lasciare indifferenti, ma come ogni buon prodotto con il tempo esso accresce il suo potenziale. La spigliatezza di Juniper, Revisited Song o Someone Else’s Word, sono una delizia di melodie, mentre i tempi dispari di Before We Bow Down o le armonie oblique di Milo scavano più a fondo di una canzoncina pop. C’è spazio anche per due splendide rivisitazioni degli Antique Seking Nuns con Little Machines e Morning Sun. La parentesi strumetale It Grows in Me Garden riesuma pure un certo impressionismo wyattiano, senza contare l’atmosfera sospesa e misteriosa di Hedonic Treadmill che si impenna in volata durante il ritornello.

Songs for Days ha solo la pecca di non avere ancora una pubblicazione fisica (che per i pochi come me a cui ancora piace avere tra le mani CD e booklet non è roba da poco) grazie al reiterato rifiuto delle signore case discografiche (sempre più simili a puttane che a signore) alle quali Winks ha proposto l’album. Comunque il tutto può essere scaricato da iTunes o dal sito ufficiale della band (riportato di seguito). Fate in modo di comprarvelo perché non solo ne vale la pena, ma andrete ad alimentare artisti che valgono qualcosa, permettendogli di creare future perle.

LORENZO BARBAGLI

Its a moody rainy day. A day I could do with winning the lottery. I am as grumpy as a squirrel with a nut allergy,and I manage to badly stub my unshod toe heading to the mail shute, where amongst the bills and demands I find my review copy of this album. So it’s hit the sofa with a bumper mug of java and press play, things can’t get any worse.

A piano leads a drum roll in a sense that a curtain is opening to reveal a summery, off- kilter Britain transported to a Disney park as run by David Lynch, a floaty place you’d never ever stub your toe and Lemon Jelly probably painted the scenery.

At its best Songs For Days’ is a giddy mushroom of complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies woven with literate but sometimes obscure or ambiguous lyrics, as if you were sharing a beach house with Turin Brakes and Donald Fagan, and Jagu Jazzist had popped over for a game of hackysack. Milo’ and Before We Bow Down’ are typical of the scintillating and grown-up heights The Joff Winks Band can reach, and let’s face it, any band that can deliver Steely Dan chops with such slippery ease is a band to be respected.

Cast Adrift’ is a dreamy lament on the loss of innocence, and throughout the whole album, there are touches of nostalgia amongst the Pink Floyd-like experimentation: samples of a BBC1 ident, primary school kids in a playground, and even the bass player noodling over the sound of dawdling Sunday drivers, all hint at home thoughts from some exile on a lonely planet. If the happy pills wear off a little during Hedonic Treadmill and Ace Train’, and worse, during an unnecessary revisit to a song called Revisited Song’, which is in itself about revisiting a song, then it’s all brought back to a sunshine ending in Morning Sun’, a song so aglow you need to put on Ambre Solaire.

Songs For Days’ shows that even with a lazy day vibe you can still challenge and thought provoke, and while I may not have won the lottery, I’m still left with that bright feeling you get when you manage to get three numbers.

Paul Carrera

A thoroughly impressive DIY release from the winners of Zane Lowe’s Fresh Meat battle of the bands competition, drawing on influences as varied as Neil Young, an old Mahavishnu orchestra, and death phobias.

Joff Winks is one of those rare creatures; a singer-songwriter who actually acknowledges the existence of his band in the name. This puts him in the same basket as Mr Hudson in the library, and like the aforementioned band, Joff Winks marries a pretty unique mix of styles: jazz, English folk, American rock (think something like the Fray but less obviously contrived), and intelligent lyricism. Using narrative as the structure for tracks instead of your average love-related Coldplay fare, Joff Winks has set himself and his band apart from others you might be tempted to write them off as sound-a-likes to. It’s true the album at times shares a kind of sound with Messrs Martin and Blunt, but only in the same way that Bagpuss is like Top Cat because he’s a cat.

Songs for Days’ occasionally also strays into the territory of prog, demonstrating both the bands creative range, and the freedom their DIY existence offers, but this only intensifies feelings of admiration and wonder I felt at how I’d somehow already heard of the band, who have only released on their own label, and had scant promotion on XFM, BBC 6 music and Zane Lowe’s Fresh Meat battle of the bands competition (they won). Having toured with luminaries like Ray LaMontagne, Regina Spektor, and The earlies, I suppose this is hardly surprising.

The album’s reflections on childhood are complemented perfectly by the innocence of Winks’ voice, perhaps at its best on Cast Adrift’ – a song considering the changing of kids TV. Somehow, this combination avoids sounding twee, probably through the mix of maturity with childhood reflection. After all, the interludes at the end of some tracks break up the flow of reminiscences and hint at something a bit darker, a bit more now’ or futuristic, lurking in the background. Listening to the album, I started to experience the same feelings of excitement as when I discovered The Veils’ second album last year, but Joff Winks is an even more exciting prospect if you get in on the ground floor now before they sign a megabucks label deal.

Joff Winks is one of the most unusual names we’ve ever heard of, but we sure do like his band. Songs For Days is a delightful record that refuses to sit comfortably in any particular genre but sounds very good in its own way.

Having supported the likes of Ray Lamontagne and Regina Spektor, you know that they are going to be the kind of act who plow their own furrow and this debut album confirms that. On the surface of it, Joff Winks Band are a fairly straightforward melodic guitar rock band, but the instrumentation on Songs For Days is often very quirky, giving most of the songs a lot of depth that is only really appreciated on repeat listenings. Fortunately, the song-writing is so immediate that repeat listenings won’t be a problem for most who dip their toes into the water, with Revisited Song (appropriately) and the wonderful Cast Adrift amongst the early highlights.

Winks and Co are clearly well-schooled in classic rock music too, with Someone Else’s Words referencing Neil Young while closing track Morning Sun is all about kids trying to watch Pink Floyd At Pompeii during their school lunchbreak.

Joff Winks Band aren’t up there in that lofty company just yet, but Song For Days is an excellent debut album so who knows where they can go from here? Well worth checking out.

Reading through the MM archive, it seems that Winks and Co’s last single caused a bit of consternation in the MOR Versus Rock stakes. In fact Share My Blues isn’t featured on this album. Songs For Days is an intelligent album littered with light melodies and a pleasing degree of twisting semi-prog arrangements. The pure, carefully jangled guitars are set within a frame of piano, keyboards and inventive drum beats, but it is of course the voice of the Oxford quartets band leader, Joff himself, that adds the final convincing stroke. Before We Bow Down is an impressive, ambling slice of extended wigged out melody. Joff Winks Band are more melancholy but no less complex or engaging than bands like Mute Math and other complex indie rock projects. A rewarding album that’s well worth repeated dips into its rich selection of carefully constructed songs.

Sometimes popular music falls into the trap of being generic’, for the Joff Winks Band, their mission is to buck the trend of formulaic music and come up with something exciting and original.

As debuts go, Songs for Days, offers a progression in mood as each track passes by, from the sublime Before We Bow Down’ to the more upbeat Someone Else’s Words’. Each instrument has its own twists and turns, not letting things get stale or repetitive, but keeping enough structure to lead the ear through effortlessly.

An ear-catching interlude, the peaceful It Grows In Me Garden’, is a perfect accompaniment to sitting in the precious British summer sun and watching time pass by.

The sound of the JWB could be easily likened to Travis or American long-lost acousto-rockers Matchbox Twenty, with Winks himself being influenced by the likes of rock legends Neil Young and Bob Dylan from an early age.

Hailing from Oxford, the four-piece have already come far, winning Zane Lowe’s Fresh Meat battle of the bands contest and been featured on BBC6 Music. It’s only a matter of time before the band makes their own mark in music.

Clever-clever jazz influenced cheery indie pop music.

Should all those words ever be contained in the same sentence? Not according to the rules of the Universe. The same applies to Czechoslovakian jazz influenced Eastern European Pop. Shudder. But like most rules, they exist to be broken sometimes.

Oxford-based JOFF WINKS BAND have bravely challenged these rules, by combining the chin-stroking jazziness of Steely Dan (and I don’t care what anyone says, Reeling in the Years’ is still one of the best songs of all time), with prog rock, splashes of acid jazz, and a genuine pop sensibility. i.e. their music is clever but accessible, relaxing not wanky, interesting and surprisingly catchy, not boring and OTT.

Sophisticated smooth bass lines underpin flowing chilled out electric piano and mildly schizophrenical guitar playing. The convoluted musical arrangements have an experimental vibe reminiscent of Joni Mitchel’s Hissing of the Summer Lawns era. But there are times when their music wanders into the realm of Frank Zappa (a sedated Zappa at least), with the weird zigzagging of melodies and occasional atonal clashing. We’re even treated to a Brad Mehldau-influenced piano arrangement which is quite a beautiful. I hear it, and I say nice as I stroke my chin and nod solemnly.

To date, the Joff Winks Band have played with the new wave of off-the-wall artists such as Regina Spektor, Ray LaMontagne (ok, not so off-the-wall), and The Earlies, and they sit very nicely alongside such performers.

Other bands, notably Field Music, have tried to capture the experimental ambience by breaking away from the current rock cliché’s (a-la Snow Patrol/Coldplay/The Killers, ad nauseum), but Joff Winks & Co have coined this particular sound more so than their contemporaries.

Songs for Days is a classy, ambient and beautifully crafted album, perfect for listening to on a summers day with a chilled glass of Chablis. Chin strokers of the world unite

Sian Claire Owen

Joff Winks band are the former winners of Zane Lowe’s fresh meat’ battle of the bands competition. Yet the band are certainly not at the cutting edge of guitar music like you might imagine. On the bands website Winks talks about the debut album, saying the record is about tying together the need for straight ahead songwriting with the desire never to forsake musically interesting writing. And for once this isn’t merely a public relations exercise in talking up the album. The band are prepared to experiment with a jazzy tinged sound, skewed time signatures and some sonic effects on tracks such as Before We Bow Down’ and Cast Adrift.’

There’s an epic sense of storytelling on tracks such as Ace Train’ and Juniper’ and these tracks would fit snugly into almost any scene from the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous’. The album draws from late 60’s early 70’s, and it’s easy to spot the influence of Lynyrd Skynyrd’, although at the same time the narrative may occasionally make you draw comparisons to Marillion circa the early 80’s.

Racks are timeless, with the former single Someone Else’s Words’ an ambitious and finely crafted slice of rock, with playfully strong melodies, that twist and turn, suddenly changing direction without any warning. You feel that Joff Winks have effortlessly created a modern music masterpiece that constantly glances over its shoulder allowing the influence of timeless artists such as Neil Young to keep them in check. When you consider that this is a DIY release from the Oxford based 4 piece; it makes the listening experience all the more special and intimate.

Greg Thomas

In 2006 I was overjoyed to discover a young UK band called Antique Seeking Nuns who released one of the finest CDs of that year in the form of the Double Egg With Chips and Beans (and a Tea) EP. I was a little bit surprised to find that ASN was in fact a spin-off project from another group, Joff Winks Band (I want to put an apostrophe after the but there’s never one in any of the promotional material so I’d better leave it out) and so I was curious to find out how different the two bands were and whether I would like JWB as much as I do ASN.

And it just so happens that I do. The line-up of the two bands is exactly the same, but just to remind you, that’s Joff Winks (guitar and vocals), Matt Baber (keys), Brad Waissman (Bass) and Paul Mallyon (Drums).

ASN were definitely promoted as a prog rock band, described in their promotional material as Frank Zappa and Donald Fagan judging a talent contest between Tortoise and Gentle Giant with Robert Wyatt doing the commentary and described by me as definitely prog rock, with quite a bit of the Canterbury sound and jazz fusion thrown in for good measure borrowing styles from the likes of Zappa, Gentle Giant, Chick Corea, National Health.

Joff Winks Band jettison many of those more overt influences and styles in favor of something quite different, so although they could still be described as a prog rock band, the influences are less straightforward and the comparisons with other bands less obvious. If anything they’ve developed that extra element of originality that I felt ASN, despite their immense talent, were slightly lacking.

The sound is perhaps less self-consciously prog and could be described as more accessible, more poppy, and more psychedelic too. And yet nevertheless JWB is not merely the commercial second-cousin of ASN – the arrangements are too intelligent, too quirky, too complex, and fundamentally too proggy for that kind of statement, whilst the instrumentation on the tracks combines jangly guitars, inventive drumming and 1970s keyboards, making Joff Winks Band just as much a part of the so-called new prog scene as say Facing New York or Secret Machines.

Those 70s keyboards and clever arrangements at times remind me of the ASN sound – hints of the jazzy Canterbury fusion of Hatfield and The North or National Health, for example, creep into tracks like Before We Bow Down and Milo. But if ASN are very much Zappa meets National Health then JWB are much harder to place. The best I can manage is a cross between the aforementioned jazzy rock, Scritti Politti, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, and even Pink Floyd and Donovan at times. JWB combine the highly-polished pop, lush vocals, lyrical melody and sophisticated studio production of Scritti Politti with the psychedelic pop/rock of the other four artists.

There’s an air of immediacy and accessibility about the album – the combination of classy arrangements, soaring vocal harmonies, and melodic song-writing makes for a disc that you just want to keep playing again and again. But there’s a depth and intelligence to the music that belies its apparently straightforward accessibility, whilst songwriter Winks refuses to write conventional boy meets girl love songs, instead going for more unusual narratives, often with a dark undercurrent to them. So Juniper may sound lush and lovely, the ideal accompaniment to lyrics about kite flying, but in fact the song is about a boy for whom flying kites is not a mere childish pastime but something more morbid.

This is typical of an album that is full of delightful contradictions and charming excursions and refuses to sit still in conventional musical boxes. If you haven’t bought the EPs by Antique Seeking Nuns yet then I suggest you do so, but make sure you’ve got enough cash left over to get this debut album by Joff Winks Band because it’s even better still. Already there are signs that Joff Winks Band could have an amazing future ahead of them but they need your support so don’t forget to buy your copy.

Best tracks: Before We Bow Down, Juniper, Milo, Hedonic Treadmill, Ace Train, Morning Sun.

Sometimes popular music falls into the trap of being generic’, for the Joff Winks Band, their mission is to buck the trend of formulaic music and come up with something exciting and original.

As debuts go, Songs for Days, offers a progression in mood as each track passes by, from the sublime Before We Bow Down’ to the more upbeat Someone Else’s Words’. Each instrument has its own twists and turns, not letting things get stale or repetitive, but keeping enough structure to lead the ear through effortlessly.

An ear-catching interlude, the peaceful It Grows In Me Garden’, is a perfect accompaniment to sitting in the precious British summer sun and watching time pass by.

The sound of the JWB could be easily likened to Travis or American long-lost acousto-rockers Matchbox Twenty, with Winks himself being influenced by the likes of rock legends Neil Young and Bob Dylan from an early age.

Hailing from Oxford, the four-piece have already come far, winning Zane Lowe’s Fresh Meat battle of the bands contest and been featured on BBC6 Music. It’s only a matter of time before the band makes their own mark in music.

With a name like Joff Winks it’s hard to know what to expect. But with stated influences such as Neil Young, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, you know this is no novelty act.

And so it proves – Songs For The Day is a classy piece of pop/rock with definite nods to the Dan – but at the more commercial end of their spectrum. It’s one of those albums that grows – it doesn’t immediately grab you buy the balls, but there’s enough there to make you want to return.

And with each play it reveals previously unnoticed layers of sophistication below the excellent vocals, guitars and hooks.

It’s something of a throwback of an album, to those heady days when music wasn’t quite such a disposable commodity. As for the days in question, who cares? Songs For The Day is a damn fine listen. So remember the name – Joff Winks – one to watch.

Pete Whalley

This is certainly intriguing stuff, starting like an out -take from a 70’s Harmonia album. Then, straight into engaging balladry that boasts some delicate textures. With an Air-like middle eight, Revisited Song takes the listener nicely out of the day to day rock reference points and into Winks world. The songs are variations on a theme, those being the strange little life coincidences and occurrences that build a varied canon of potential song writing material. From instrumentals inspired by gardening (It Grows In Me Garden), through to childhood reminiscences in Morning Sun, this is an eminently listenable excursion in to the dark side of modern prog, previously tackled by Mew. It shouldn’t really work, according to the 5 tenets of rock. (Speak to me later about these) However, by the time Cast Adrift appears as cut 4 on the album, this listener was well and truly loving the mood. Milo rocks a little, gently though. Not too loudly. Overall, and without hesitation, I recommend this album as a tonic to this sodden summer. I swear the sun came out as Winks’ ode to gardening began.

John Kertland

First coming to industry attention via an Xfm Unsigned slot, it’s fitting that we should continue our Joff Winks patronage with X-posure Live.

Hailing from Oxford and bringing more than a touch of his hometown’s dreaming spires and grandiosity to his music…

English Jeff Buckley. The soaring, heartfelt Juniper is a particular highlight. View Live Gig Video

Taking a more smokey direction than previous release, Someone Else’s Words, the fourth Joff Winks Band release Share My Blues is penned in for release on 13th February.

The laid back pace allows the guitars to create a strong motif in both the verse and the chorus, with some delicate picking in the former and an unusual consonance in the latter, that completely changes to mood of the instrumentation.

It’s all very nice indeed and Joff’s vocal is as good as ever, confidently delivering the work-too-hard and get home late lyrics.

It’s clear that this music has the general appeal required to head towards a chart position, but it’s all derived from a credible talented band that can throw in something more interesting for the more discerning listener.

The winners of Zane Lowe’s fresh meat’ battle of the bands competition have changed their name from Joff Winks’ to Joff Winks Band’! Third time lucky maybe!! Oh and they’ve released a new single too

This is ambitious, grandiose, finely crafted pop, with playfully strong melodies, that twist and turn; just when you think you’ve got the song worked out it changes pace and direction. It’s effortlessly modern music but it glances over its shoulder at timeless greats such as Neil Young (who is referenced in the chorus!). Imagine if Doves had an out of body experience; it would probably sound like this

Greg Thomas

Having been told in no uncertain terms that his band needed a name, Joff Winks sat down with his fellow band members for what can only have been the shortest of interludes in order to come up with the moniker they have now adopted. However, before we criticise the Joff Winks Band for not dedicating enough time to the creative process, lets give credit where it’s due.

Someone Else’s Words is a slice of creativity that couldn’t be further from their band naming experiences. Moments of wiry guitar led pop are mixed with piano chiming highs and stripped out acoustic lows. Vocals chew up the melody in the verse and soar in the chorus, while special mention goes out to the drummer, who not only captures the crest of the tidal wave, but pushes it even higher with legendary awareness of the direction the song has taken.

So the music’s good (have I made that clear?) The lyrics don’t disappoint either, with some angry issues disguised in a sugary artistic way that seem to deal with the issue of playing gigs with bands you don’t like, having to deal with the subsequent negative effect on your inspiration and then being saved by an altogether inspirational musical hero.

There’s only one song on this disc, but it’s a really good one and it’s got enough depth to suggest something special is going on for this band.

In fact, it’s so good that they don’t really need a proper name.

Ploughing the fertile field of singer-songwriters with a band, Joff Winks joins the company of artists like Ryan Adams. Like Adams, there’s a significant retro feel to his music, heavily influenced by Neil Young. But unlike Ryan Adams, this song is uplifting. Joff Winks could be massive.

The unfeasibly-named singer/ songwriter JOFF WINKS has been turning a few heads over the past twelve months or so. His first download single (Juniper) won a Zane Lowe Radio 1 Battle Of The Bands; his past single New Streets was out on Cub Sevens and co-incided with acclaimed shows with The Earlies and Regina Specktor and 2004 concluded with rapturously-received gigs in support of Ray La Montagne.

Not a bad rep to begin with, and new single Someone Else’s Words can only help Winks and co to capitalise further, because – put simply – it’s a belter. Yes, it’s very 70s with its zig-zagging, swaggering riffs and does bring names like Steely Dan, Big Star and mid-70s Neil Young (roughly circa On The Beach’s more upbeat moments) careering through the stratosphere, but the production is bright and NOW and Winks band prove they can both turn on the heat and cool off as and when required.

I’ve no idea if this indicative of Joff Winks Band as a rule, but I sincerely hope so. This rocks and is the epitome of way cool. And that’s not a bad start in anyone’s book.

A former proud devourer of Zane Lowe’s Fresh Meat competition on Radio 1, with help from former download only single Juniper’, Joff builds on this and provides something tangible for new fans. This Neil Young spiked with bits of Stackridge and Steely Dan offering displays an impressive range from the musically effervescent backing band.

Someone Elses Words’ picks up and takes on an almost jazzy style, as personal integrity is both demonstrated and sung about. Joff recently regaled Joseph Arthur fans with charming live performances, as brick by brick he is building a reputation for himself and his friends who play with him.

David Adair