Lazarus Clamp

'The bird is not the metaphor.' Part 1.

2012-02-05T14:46:00.003Z

We braved the impending severe weather warning and made a trip to our rock n' roll meridian [Milton Keynes] on Saturday afternoon for the first four hours' work on songs for the new LP. Despite the frozen pipes in the rehearsal rooms, and the lurking expectation that we would emerge into a silent winter wonderland at the end of it all, we made good progress on 3 songs.

'Bow down' now has a splendid dronerock intro; 'Latch' has ditched its pretty-but-pointless middle section and fessed up to being the popsong that it probably is, and 'This is how I cut my own throat' has a version of the chorus that may even, eventually, work. Also making their debut, a new handbuilt pedal made and played by Andrew [it was loud] and the new bareknuckle pickups on my partscaster [they were lovely]. And, if we get sick of the putative LP title [above], then John coined an alternative [LP Title Pathway B]: 'I am the auditor.'

To top it all off, it hadn't quite started snowing when we all pealed out at 4pm, and if it hadn't have been for Birmingham's notorious inability to cope with the snow, I'd have made it home in decent time, too.

Recording booked for late April. Yip yip!

Recording mode / Christmas compilation

2011-12-15T13:33:00.003Z

Three things:

Firstly, we have a song included on the forthcoming Little Red Rabbit Christmas compilation. It will be a home recording of '100 W bulb' - so its a work in progress - but evidence suggests that there's something rather nice happening there.

Secondly, there is another home recording on the L. Clamp Facebook page. That one is a draft of 'Magpie,' a song that I wrote during the anxious months prior to my daughter's birth, a couple of winters ago. There was some risk of a rather unpleasant viral syndrome, at the time, which couldn't be disconfirmed til birth (happily, it was a false alarm). I've played the song at a couple of solo shows this year (usually in a style less deadpan than in this recording) and people have asked to hear it, so I've uploaded the draft until something more 'finished' is available.

Thirdly, we'll be doing some studio recording in March/April for the next LP. Will keep you posted.

Onwards, to 2012 ....

One thousand years of Lazarus Clamp, part 2

2011-11-17T13:46:00.002Z

To celebrate the digital [re]issue of our first four LPs, courtesy of Damnably, this compilation is now available. Its free.

One thousand years of Lazarus Clamp, part 1

2011-11-17T13:39:00.001Z

London Brixton London, Fri 11th of November

2011-11-02T15:18:00.006Z

We are delighted to be playing at Damnably's birthday party on Friday 11th November, 2011, at the Windmill, Brixton.

Details here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101584743289284

And here:
http://www.damnably.com/2011/11/damnably-5th-birthday-party-11-nov-11/

According to the latter, apparently, we are 'ancient', and have 'softened'. Like a good prune. You can't beat a good prune.

Leeds Leeds Leeds

2011-09-28T11:27:00.003+01:00

This is the first date in the diary for autumn gigs, and our first time in Leeds since we played at '120 Rats' [is that still there?] with Half Seas Over and a couple of other bands in about 1999. Obviously we will party exactly like it is 1999, but I'm not promising any actual bleeding this time.

Runners, Lazarus Clamp, Chips For The Poor and [new ex-Cissy band who don't have a name yet].

At The Fox & Newt.

Saturday, October 29 · 8:00pm - 11:00pm.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154902507935154

September already - Autumn gigs, digital back catalague, and next LP title.

2011-09-12T17:09:00.004+01:00

Since the last post, we have not been completely dormant. Birthdays, illnesses, ebay addictions and pedal-building aside, we have been doing a few things. We got together at John's in July [without Huw], and worked out two new songs ['100W bulb' and 'We are in water'], one with everyone singing in a most un-Clamp-like way. And then we got together on a farm somewhere in Buckinghamshire [without Huw], and hacked our way through a few old songs, and a few of the new ones.

In a few weeks, we will get together all 5 of us [I'd have to check through the blog to work out when we last managed that], and prepare for some Autumn gigs. These will start in late October, to coincide with the formal Damnably/Shellshock digital release of the Lazarus Clamp back-catalogue. The dates are not firmed up yet, so drop us a line if you'd like a visit.

And it turns out we have more than enough songs which sit quite nicely together now, for the next record [13 I think - that's lucky right?]. And a working title: 'The bird is not the metaphor.' We plan to book some studio time early in 2012 for those.

There's a story there.

Dirty weekend

2011-06-14T14:02:00.006+01:00

We spent the weekend together, for the first time since February. New children, poorly children, broken stuff, and busy lives kept us occupied in the interim.

It wasn't dirty, not really, but it was wet. We tried to barbecue on Saturday night, and ended up leaving a defiant John out on the grass with the charcoal, while we sheltered in the kitchen and tried to persuade him to let us finish the food off in the oven. He wouldn't.

Anyway, we spent two productive afternoons in dimly lit, badly soundproofed rooms for your eventual pleasure and/or disappointment. We managed to fit in a hospital visit and a round trip in the car to pick up gear that we forgot, too. We nearly went to see Tera Melos too, but I made them Clampers stay in and try to figure out some plans for October instead. That part wasn't entirely successful.

On the plus side, it turns out we have quite a few things that are in fair shape for the next LP. The plan will be to figure out a couple of the subtler details without drums [not that Huw isn't subtle, you understand] in July, get together for another weekend in September, play a few gigs in October and then record them late 2011/early 2013.

We don't have an LP title yet, but we have working titles for most of the things that are likely to end up on it: Let's get fired; Latch; Things are sticky; This is how I cut my own throat; Magpie; Tethered not caged; Bow down; Dirty names; The horse you rode in on; Simple and easy. I think all of them except 'Dirty names' have been played out live once, either at the Grubbs gig, the Farina/Brokaw one, or the Bellini show. So [I say this mainly for my own benefit] it seems we are making progress, even if sometimes it doesn't feel like it.

As a whole, the songs sound quite different to those on 'Against entitlement.' It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

One last thing that everyone should do: see if you can spot our good friend George inventing the word 'pronunciate' in the latest edition of Damnably Radio. Once you've heard it, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. Go ahead: pronunciate it right now.

See?

Michael L Clamp at The Windmill, Brixton, July 3rd.

2011-06-01T16:39:00.002+01:00

I'm playing at the Damnably BBQ 'Good Fest' on Sunday July 3rd. Its at The Windmill in Brixton.

It'll just be me, on my ownsome, I think.

The details are here.

Tickets [which are £6 advance] are here.

Downloads pt 1

2011-06-01T16:31:00.002+01:00

There's now a pretty comprehensive set of material on the bandcamp site. All of the LPs are now available. 'Death to technicians!' and 'The more we are the funnier it is' both come with PDFs of the CD artwork. 'The more we are the funnier it is' and 'Such as you are and still not seeming to mind' both come with extra music.

Plus, there is a free EP of 4 previously unreleased tracks called 'Various artists.' These are all 'better than we remember' out-takes from the sessions that ended up on 'Ain't what you do its what it does to you.'

Bandcamp downloads

2011-02-20T17:56:00.001Z

We have a bandcamp page for direct downloading.

Opinions are like ...

2011-01-18T23:00:00.002Z

I was invited to submit a 'best of 2010' list to Delusions of Adequacy, got a bit carried away, and ended up raving at some length about Bottomless Pit.

A bit unfair on the other records I listed [which are great] - but here's the link.

This week, I am mostly boring people to death about how great the Bill Orcutt records are. Blah blah blah. But still: those Bottomless Pit records are great.

"I do like Lazarus Clamp"

2011-01-17T09:49:00.003Z

Tom Robinson's been at it again. You can listen to Sunday morning's show here for the rest of the week.

We're also featured on a podcast from the show which will be available a bit longer. Direct link here.

Giant Sand cover version

2011-01-13T14:36:00.004Z

One of the out-takes from 'It Aint What You Do, Its What It Does To You' was a cover of Giant Sand's song 'Artists.'

George Gargan recently played this unreleased track on his excellent Damnably radio show, which you can hear online: http://www.damnably.com/2011/01/11/damnably-radio57/

I particularly enjoyed the uncomfortable segue out of Giant Sand themselves, whose track fades out, leaving a yawning gap, into which our tentative intro eventually levers itself.

Tom Robinson - radio play

2011-01-12T10:45:00.009Z

Canon was played on Tom Robinson's Introducing show on Monday morning. You can listen to it here for the next few days.

There's a nice bit at the end, where the song is described by Tom as having something like a 'fluid sinuosity.' We'll need to get some tablets for that.

Reversed reverses

2010-12-03T11:15:00.004Z

Well that was an interesting week. I missed the Leicester date entirely: thanks to the snow, I spent the evening stranded in Boroughbridge. Thanks to George at Damnably and Sarah at Tin Angel, however, there was a bit of reshuffling and I made the Coventry show instead.

I played Slow Hands [the Silkworm song], Tethered Not Caged, Latch, Let's Get Fired, Hard Work, and Magpie. I was cold, and nervous, and the whole thing was a useful reminder that its a bit too long since I did a few solo gigs on the trot. The one on the cuatro, Magpie, which I did last, worked best, and will definitely get an outing again.

The Tin Angel is very nice by the way - it looks like its a cafe/shop during the day - and the feel is very welcoming and relaxed. There was no running around panicking when I arrived with only 5 minutes to spare, which was a pleasant change. There's a soothing aroma of coffee and chocolate complimenting the usual beery waft from the bar. The audience sit very close - it was unexpectedly intimate - and I guess that contributed to the sudden attack of nervousness. That, and the fact that I didn't have Huw sitting behind me.

Chris and Geoff were, obviously, well into the swing of their tour - they were very relaxed and very good. They started and ended the set as a duo, and each played a solo slot in the middle. Chris played an absolutely mesmerising 'Xs for eyes' in his slot; I can still see and hear it now - and there were two of his songs from 'The Boarder's Door,' and a rattlingly good take on the Dirtmusic one that goes 'collide, collide, collide'. Geoff played some splendid new songs, including a disarmingly honest ballad about a road accident, and a very pretty piece introduced as 'a cheesy love song' about his wife. Chris surrendered to the aroma, and drank a hot chocolate while all this was going on. I was waiting for Mrs Clamp to ask me where her cheesy love song was; I think she must have been distracted by Geoff's 'lovely voice' because the question never came. Their playing as a duo was as fluid and complementary as ever. 'Little Maggie' and The Gun Club's 'Mother of Earth' really stood out for me amongst those, but frankly, the whole set was a masterclass.

On the way home, we traded the story of the magpies for the story of the jacknifed truck, and I drove round cheerily each frozen roundabout at least three times.

November 28th, The Musician, Leicester.

2010-11-16T11:12:00.002Z

A last-minute addition to the Chris Brokaw and Geoff Farina tour:

Sunday 28th November
The Musician, Leicester
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/99481
7pm £5 adv
Chris Brokaw & Geoff Farina;
Michael L. Clamp & Tom McClure;
Michael Liggins.

A nice surprise for us - really looking forward to this.

No bananas are stored in this vehicle overnight.

2010-11-16T11:01:00.003Z

We enjoyed ourselves at the Bellini gig. There's a recording of the whole thing on the Damnably site if you missed it, or enjoyed it and want to hear it again:

http://www.damnably.com/2010/10/28/bellini-live-at-brixon-windmill-24-oct/

Three of the first four songs of our set - Horse You Rode In On, Bow Down, [I Came to Work and I Brought My Lunch], and Things Are Sticky - were new, and all four were very pleasing to play.

The others were Canon [I'm afraid that the long afternoon - working on a version of Silworm's Slow Hands which we then decided not to play - caught up with me here; its not the liveliest Canon ever], Spon [revived by the A5], Stone Beats This [I know; my guitar is too loud], and Black Plumes for Hot Peas [in which Tom threw us all by playing right through his cue, and which thus contains an edifying example of a band split precisely in two; for a few bars there, half of us played what Tom should have been playing, half of us played what he was playing - I'm still not sure how it gets resolved].

Onwards, fowards, etc.

New songs, part VIII.

2010-09-27T21:29:00.004+01:00

See? I told you this was sloooowww work.

I stayed over with John earlier in the month, but forgot to take the baritone with me, so couldn't work on the song I intended to. Instead, I borrowed his telecaster, and we worked on Apple & Pear, slowing it down to a crawl and piling on the distortion. It worked quite well and might turn out that way. We put a few other bits and bobs together too. I forget what ...

This weekend just gone all five of us played together, for the first time since the Spring. These are now done, Tominated, the lot:

Things are sticky
The horse you rode in on
Bow down

Plus, Latch is more or less working, and we have warmed over the coals of some familiar stuff for the gig with Bellini later this month. Which we are looking forward to doing ...

Calculations would suggest that we actually record these things next autumn.

October 24th, Brixton Windmill.

2010-08-30T21:16:00.003+01:00

We play the Windmill for Damnably, on Sunday 24th October with headliners Bellini, and a host of others. Doors open early [4pm, it says here].

Bellini, Lazarus Clamp, Slowgun, Head Of Programmes, Dead Days Beyond Help, Former Utopia
£4.50 via
www.wegottickets.com/event/89921
www.gigantic.com/gigantic/home_bellini.html
www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135753556466870

Windmill
22 Blenheim Gardens
London SW2 5BZ
4pm-11.30pm
over 18s only

Damnably Presents Bellini (US) + Lazarus Clamp, Slowgun, Dead days beyond help + Former Utopia + DJ Set (DJ SET) + DJ Sab

New songs, part VII

2010-08-30T21:14:00.003+01:00

We march onward. Andrew, John and I did a bit of work on these on Sunday:

Bow down
Things are sticky
The horse you rode in on
Tethered not caged

I wanted to do Latch; John wanted to do Dirty Names. We were too tired to argue, and did neither. These four are pretty playable now. Hopefully, we'll give them a run out in London in October.

Artists on Albums.

2010-06-27T10:21:00.002+01:00

I was recently invited to write a short piece for a Delusions of Adequacy series called Artists on Albums. I chose the Mekons record, Mekons Rock n Roll. You can read the results here.

New songs, pt VI

2010-05-03T12:33:00.002+01:00

No wonder we enjoyed this weekend just gone so much - we haven't set time aside to work on new things since the Autumn, in Manchester, apparently.

Over two stints, we did these:

Bow down
Things are sticky
The horse you rode in on
Latch
Tethered not caged
Let's get fired
Dirty names

More progress in two days than in the last year, and a nice curry from Jyoti too.

M

2010-04-02T10:57:00.002+01:00

Well, that was a very strange couple of weeks. The most surreal moment was watching Geoff Farina being tested on his Star Wars knowledge by baby Clamp. The most transcendent moment was Chris Brokaw's playing on Jason Molina's 'T for Two Stars' [can never remember what that's really called]. The worst moment needs no elaboration [I hope you got home ok, Geoff].

--

For the record we did this:

Luminaire -

Hard work of simple things
New hat
Puppies
Canon
Etymologist's lament
Night of the steep learning curve
Ricochets
Black plumes for Hot Peas

Cross Kings -

Canon
Etymologist's lament
Spon [with interesting use of dissonant counterpoint by me ... hem]
Night of the steep learning curve
Ricochets
Black plumes for Hot Peas
I came to work and I brought my lunch

Unusually, I didn't cock up Black Plumes on either occasion. Maybe its a resonance thing.

2010-03-25T17:16:00.002Z

ANNOUNCEMENT – SHOW CHANGE

Was: Chris Brokaw and Geoff Farina
Now: Chris Brokaw and Jason Molina

When: Friday 26th March 2010, London

We are sorry to have to announce that, due to a family emergency, Geoff Farina has had to withdraw from the show at the Luminaire on Friday 26th March.

However, the show at the Luminaire *will still go ahead.* Chris Brokaw will now be joined by Jason Molina. Jason will play some songs with Chris, and some solo songs.

Unfortunate circumstances have given rise to a rare and exciting one-off. Please do come out to support them.