Naim Label in the Press - Phantom Limb
Posted by: Agy Holden-Parker on 12 August 2008
Introducing: Phantom Limb
AUGUST 7TH 2008
www.femalefirst.co.uk
You only get two cracks to impress the notoriously choosy selectors from Austin Texas. Get past three panels and you’re into the prestigious showcase that is South by South West. They loved Phantom Limb’s demo in Austin – ‘they undoubtedly belong in the Deep South’ – so they got to play at the 2008 festival.
Also by chance one of the Glastonbury stage managers came across the band at a small gig in Bristol, he brought the booker down to a further gig, and they were promptly offered a slot on the Jazz World Stage this year. Not bad for a band from Bristol, UK, that only a year before nearly folded when the singer lost her voice.
Phantom Limb is a band that shouldn’t be. A collection of seriously experience musicians doing something they never did before, something so out of time that it’s just right. It’s a musical hunch that bucks the logic and comes up trumps just because of that. It’s the itch in the leg that isn’t there but seriously demands to be scratched. Yet again it seems that the Bristol melting pot has thrown up something truly original yet strangely familiar.
The Phantom Limb sound is an indefinable blend of classic southern soul and country blues. They blend modern song writing and rich acoustic music with powerful gospel-inflected vocals. Already comparisons are being made to Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin and The Band.
Isaac Ashe’s Upbeat
JULY 31ST 2008
Loughborough Echo
Having been going for four years, the music world is on pins for Phantom Limb’s long-awaited debut single, Don’t Say A Word.
The track, out on August 11th, is a superb warm, acoustic track mashing together soul, blues and gospel featuring Yolanda Quarty on vocals, and will be a taster for their forthcoming eponymous album.
On the record
AUGUST 8TH 2008
Manchester Evening News
Utilise the age-old tools of folk and Americana and you really have to do something special to get noticed. Phantom Limb’s secret weapon is (Massive Attack’s touring vocalist) Yolanda Quarty, whose gentle trimbre is as arresting and hearfelt as Dr Bernice Johnson Reagon delivering Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Get it used as the backdrop to a tragic action sequence on Grey’s Anatomy and Phantom Limb could have a huge hit on their hands.
New Singles
AUGUST 11TH 2008
www.new-noise.net
Phantom Limb – so that’s going to be death metal then? Or maybe screamo? Maybe rock and roll?
Wrong, wrong, wrong. This is an utterly gorgeous acoustic guitar piece with beautiful vocals delivered with warmth and clarity and washed in an undercurrent of gospel. Spellbinding.
A Subba-Cultcha.com Single of the Month
AUGUST 6TH 2008
www.subba-cultcha.com
Wondrously lush, like CS&N jonesying with James Taylor – this is Laurel Canyon folk at it’s most tender – definitely something to chill spectacularly to!
AUGUST 7TH 2008
www.femalefirst.co.uk
You only get two cracks to impress the notoriously choosy selectors from Austin Texas. Get past three panels and you’re into the prestigious showcase that is South by South West. They loved Phantom Limb’s demo in Austin – ‘they undoubtedly belong in the Deep South’ – so they got to play at the 2008 festival.
Also by chance one of the Glastonbury stage managers came across the band at a small gig in Bristol, he brought the booker down to a further gig, and they were promptly offered a slot on the Jazz World Stage this year. Not bad for a band from Bristol, UK, that only a year before nearly folded when the singer lost her voice.
Phantom Limb is a band that shouldn’t be. A collection of seriously experience musicians doing something they never did before, something so out of time that it’s just right. It’s a musical hunch that bucks the logic and comes up trumps just because of that. It’s the itch in the leg that isn’t there but seriously demands to be scratched. Yet again it seems that the Bristol melting pot has thrown up something truly original yet strangely familiar.
The Phantom Limb sound is an indefinable blend of classic southern soul and country blues. They blend modern song writing and rich acoustic music with powerful gospel-inflected vocals. Already comparisons are being made to Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin and The Band.
Isaac Ashe’s Upbeat
JULY 31ST 2008
Loughborough Echo
Having been going for four years, the music world is on pins for Phantom Limb’s long-awaited debut single, Don’t Say A Word.
The track, out on August 11th, is a superb warm, acoustic track mashing together soul, blues and gospel featuring Yolanda Quarty on vocals, and will be a taster for their forthcoming eponymous album.
On the record
AUGUST 8TH 2008
Manchester Evening News
Utilise the age-old tools of folk and Americana and you really have to do something special to get noticed. Phantom Limb’s secret weapon is (Massive Attack’s touring vocalist) Yolanda Quarty, whose gentle trimbre is as arresting and hearfelt as Dr Bernice Johnson Reagon delivering Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Get it used as the backdrop to a tragic action sequence on Grey’s Anatomy and Phantom Limb could have a huge hit on their hands.
New Singles
AUGUST 11TH 2008
www.new-noise.net
Phantom Limb – so that’s going to be death metal then? Or maybe screamo? Maybe rock and roll?
Wrong, wrong, wrong. This is an utterly gorgeous acoustic guitar piece with beautiful vocals delivered with warmth and clarity and washed in an undercurrent of gospel. Spellbinding.
A Subba-Cultcha.com Single of the Month
AUGUST 6TH 2008
www.subba-cultcha.com
Wondrously lush, like CS&N jonesying with James Taylor – this is Laurel Canyon folk at it’s most tender – definitely something to chill spectacularly to!
Glad you like it! Unfortunately the album was not recorded in 24 bit. When we discovered the band they had almost finished the album, which in its entirety aptly represents a distinct moment in time musically. We don't beleive in upscaling - that is cheating - so I am afraid you'll have to enjoy it at compact disc quality until we make their next record! 
I've just gone to Abbey Road to cut the album for vinyl - so hopefully that might appeal to you in the meantime...
I've just gone to Abbey Road to cut the album for vinyl - so hopefully that might appeal to you in the meantime...