Tuesday 14 January 2014

Bold Riley


Spent the weekend listening to the nearly final mixes of the Sauviettes’ demo. As is the way with such things, we listened on the computer, the iPad, the mini system in the kitchen and the hefty system on the top floor. Several musician friends dropped by who were as impressed by the effort of Millie and her pals as myself.

The girls made live recordings, ie not voice by voice, with simple backing, as they wanted to emphasise the voices.Over Christmas, we did a couple of evenings here at the house, with an invited audience of friends and family. The Sauviettes did their thing, with the inimitable Stephen Harrison on bass, Tiarnan Ă“ Duinnchinn on Uillrann pipes and myself on guitar.

With the voices and extra backing, we all ended up looking at each other in amazement, especially when Tiarnan did a solo on ‘Bold Riley.’ There looked to be a few moist eyes in the audience. Always a good sign. 

There is now a move to do the same when they make the album proper. The final decision obviously lies with the Sauviettes, but if we can do a few tracks which sound like the two evenings here, then I can’t wait.

I’ve said for a long time that, orchestral music aside, you hear the best music sitting around a kitchen table or perhaps in a small bar. The Sauviettes fulfil this criterion very well. The real acid test is when a few people get out musical instruments and start playing. No amplification, no effects and certainly no hair gel, (whatever that is). Recorded they sound exactly as they do live.

For the moment, the band only want to put up one song, as they want a few small tweaks on the others. The remaining four should be up and running in a week or so.

We would really appreciate any constructive comments that you can make, so feel free. 

Hope you enjoy it.



2 comments:

  1. This really is very good indeed -- the harmonies are spine-tinglingly effective. What I really like is the way they have "feminized" a particularly butch genre of song, bringing out a lilting tenderness that makes it sound almost like a lullaby. Congratulations, and looking forward to hearing more -- hope they don't feel they've set their own bar too high with this one!

    Mike

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  2. Are hoping to upload the rest later today, or maybe tomorrow. They are all of the same quality, except for one, which has a 'hole' in the middle and is not a song about polo. Even that is well done, but the gap for a non-existent solo just unbalances it a little.
    My favourite of the batch is Bold Riley, partly because it is great fun to play DADGAD guitar on it.
    Interesting your idea of being feminised, like commercial marijuana seeds. All three of them are pretty in your face types, which makes it all the more remarkable.

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