The Douglas Firs
Today I’m going to introduce you to a couple of under the radar projects which are both related to Song, by Toad Records bands. In both cases I don’t really know what the future of the respective projects might be, because I don’t know how far either is going to be pushed, but they are both very good and I thought they needed sharing.
Firstly we have The Douglas Firs. This is a side project of Jesus H, Foxx drummer Neil Insh, and has been bubbling under for years. He’s been working on this album for ages, but his work hasn’t really seen the light of day outside a small circle of his friends, in part because he really isn’t all that up for performing live.
It sounds, on the face of it, like quite experimental music. You might call it math-folk if you wanted a bodged mental shortcut for getting a picture of it. You can hear a lot of the bursting harmonies and repetitive percussion of Jesus H. Foxx’s music, but the sounds are not really all that similar.
This has more of an atmosphere of experimental, almost ambient electronica a lot of the time, but there are surprisingly traditional Scottish folk influences in the fiddle and some of the rhythms which I wouldn’t expect from a leather-jacket-sporting drummer who batters the shite out of his drums in quite the way Neil does.
The nice thing about both the use of vocal harmonies and the more traditonal folk influences is that they are really beautifully used to bring the songs into focus. The more experimental aspects drift and rumble along, and can become quite meandering until these details emerge, sometimes quite suddenly, to bring everything into relief.
These mp3s are just rough-cut demos, so not yet the finished article, but they give you a flavour of what’s going on here. It’s no pop album though, and but if you have patience for your music and like to sit down and absorb it then this all looks like it could be very good indeed. If he ever finishes the bloody thing!
The Douglas Firs – The Quickening
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The Douglas Firs – Grow Old and Go Home
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Oh, and it appears that there are a couple of other Douglas Firses on MySpace, which might complicate matters, should this ever come to fruition.
im really liking this. look forward to the finished product.
Me too, but I don’t get the impression Neil moves with much pace in these matters.
hi, michael just posted me this link. thanks for the nice article, much appreciated.
just wanted to clear up a couple of things – i do want to play live. it’s just that i couldn’t see it being ready in time for that gig ruth offered at the bowery.
second thing is that these songs are not demos, they are the final product. the reason it’s taken so long is because of technical difficulties, which are still ongoing. i would’ve loved to have issued these songs a year ago, except faulty technology has prevented me.
that was all – it’s genuinely not meant to be a self-absorbed, anti-social affair – i promise.
thanks, neil.
Sorry Neil, didn’t mean to be insulting, just didn’t want to overplay what people were listening to without knowing how happy you were with the finished work. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that these sounded at all unfinished, which they don’t.
I likey a lotey.
Looking forward to seeing the live product, Neil.
that’s alright, i’m just insecure after one or two people said it was shambolic, which all my music has been labelled in every band i’ve ever been in, to be fair.
anyway i do want to make it live, it’s just i don’t have any time just now. hopefully by early next year!
neil.
Shambolic tends to be seen as a compliment on this site.
it ir really really really good, there is no need to be insecure in my humble opinion.
thanks guy!
neil.