Daniel Mulhern - A Shameless Plug
Posted by: Phil Ward on 19 April 2006
A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. And what are friends for if not for one to plug another’s hot-off-the-press Naim Label CD (and no it’s not just ‘cause I might make a few pennies for playing bass on half of it).
So, one and all, I bring you Daniel Mulhern’s “Pigeon Coup” - as announced by Anna at the top of the page and still on my CDX even though I’ve been playing the songs long enough to know them backwards, forwards and probably sideways too.
To my ears Dan sounds a little Damien Rice and Tom McRae crossed with a few Van Morrison, Beatles and John Martyn influences. But really he’s his own very fine songwriter and he’s pulled off a seriously ambitious and satisfying CD.
Phil
PS. Those who saw the recent Stephen Poliakov dramas on UK terrestial TV will have already heard some of Dan’s writing (and quite a bit of his guitar playing).
So, one and all, I bring you Daniel Mulhern’s “Pigeon Coup” - as announced by Anna at the top of the page and still on my CDX even though I’ve been playing the songs long enough to know them backwards, forwards and probably sideways too.
To my ears Dan sounds a little Damien Rice and Tom McRae crossed with a few Van Morrison, Beatles and John Martyn influences. But really he’s his own very fine songwriter and he’s pulled off a seriously ambitious and satisfying CD.
Phil
PS. Those who saw the recent Stephen Poliakov dramas on UK terrestial TV will have already heard some of Dan’s writing (and quite a bit of his guitar playing).
Posted on: 19 April 2006 by Simon Matthews
Phil
After giving the 'solo lives' track three listens I have to say that this album is going to find it's way into my CD player. Apart from the dubious bass playing (he he) it sounds great. Is the rest of the album in a similar style?
I agree on your influences list (John, Van and the Beatles - yum!!) but for me there is also a slightly Dan/Bacharach thing going on with the femal vocal harmonies giving the whole song a really lush counterpoint. I bet this disk sounds great on a good system.
How old is this guy and has he done stuff before? Thanks for the tip - we can forgive blatant plugs when they direct us to good new music - esp when I missed the link at the top of the page.
Actually, and to put the record straight, your bass playing does sound rather tasty on this track. Tell me more about the kit you were using and where and how the album was recorded.
After giving the 'solo lives' track three listens I have to say that this album is going to find it's way into my CD player. Apart from the dubious bass playing (he he) it sounds great. Is the rest of the album in a similar style?
I agree on your influences list (John, Van and the Beatles - yum!!) but for me there is also a slightly Dan/Bacharach thing going on with the femal vocal harmonies giving the whole song a really lush counterpoint. I bet this disk sounds great on a good system.
How old is this guy and has he done stuff before? Thanks for the tip - we can forgive blatant plugs when they direct us to good new music - esp when I missed the link at the top of the page.
Actually, and to put the record straight, your bass playing does sound rather tasty on this track. Tell me more about the kit you were using and where and how the album was recorded.
Posted on: 19 April 2006 by Phil Ward
Simon,
Pigeon Coup is Dan's first commercial CD release as singer/songwriter but he has a growing reputation and career in music for TV and film too. You can occasionally catch his work on the TV behind all sorts of programmes. I met him when I was looking for a band to play with in London - we did gigs and songwriter spots all over the place. I played some demos we'd recorded to Anna and Paul and the rest, as they say, is history. You can regularly catch Dan in venues like the Bedford in Balham (easily London's best small live music venue and well worth a visit). Dan has a myspace.com page (www.myspace.com/danielmulhern) where gigs are listed.
You're right about the Bacharach vibe in Solo Lives. It wasn't really intentional but just kind of happened as the track grew in the studio. And yes it does sound great on a good system (though I worry that somebody will hear me counting out loud the 5/4 time signature over the room ambience mics).
The CD was recorded last summer at Konk (Ray Davis' studio). It's a lovely place with a warm vibe and atmosphere - and racks full of beautifully preserved vintage equipment, valve and ribbon mics especially, loads of which we used. Most of the tracks were recorded "live" via an old Neve desk (the one The Wall was recorded on apparently) direct to Pro Tools at 24bit. Once we had a good take - usually take three, four or five - we'd replace any bits that were too rough and add the extras on top. I played either a fretless 5 string Manne Acoustibass or a Steinberger Electric Upright Bass depending on the song. The Manne was recorded the old fashioned way via a mic'd bass combo (a battered old Ashdown), and the Steinberger DI'd into the desk via a valve preamp.
I'll suggest Dan comes by the forum if anybody has any questions for him once they've heard the CD.
Thanks for your interest.
Phil
Pigeon Coup is Dan's first commercial CD release as singer/songwriter but he has a growing reputation and career in music for TV and film too. You can occasionally catch his work on the TV behind all sorts of programmes. I met him when I was looking for a band to play with in London - we did gigs and songwriter spots all over the place. I played some demos we'd recorded to Anna and Paul and the rest, as they say, is history. You can regularly catch Dan in venues like the Bedford in Balham (easily London's best small live music venue and well worth a visit). Dan has a myspace.com page (www.myspace.com/danielmulhern) where gigs are listed.
You're right about the Bacharach vibe in Solo Lives. It wasn't really intentional but just kind of happened as the track grew in the studio. And yes it does sound great on a good system (though I worry that somebody will hear me counting out loud the 5/4 time signature over the room ambience mics).
The CD was recorded last summer at Konk (Ray Davis' studio). It's a lovely place with a warm vibe and atmosphere - and racks full of beautifully preserved vintage equipment, valve and ribbon mics especially, loads of which we used. Most of the tracks were recorded "live" via an old Neve desk (the one The Wall was recorded on apparently) direct to Pro Tools at 24bit. Once we had a good take - usually take three, four or five - we'd replace any bits that were too rough and add the extras on top. I played either a fretless 5 string Manne Acoustibass or a Steinberger Electric Upright Bass depending on the song. The Manne was recorded the old fashioned way via a mic'd bass combo (a battered old Ashdown), and the Steinberger DI'd into the desk via a valve preamp.
I'll suggest Dan comes by the forum if anybody has any questions for him once they've heard the CD.
Thanks for your interest.
Phil
Posted on: 19 April 2006 by Neill S
Definitely a great album! I got a copy last week and it was one of those rare CD's that immediately gets played twice, back to back, because I liked it so much. It was then loaded straight onto my iPod. Nobody could dislike this album. As ever with NAIM CD's, it's also beautifully recorded. 
Posted on: 20 April 2006 by Phil Ward
Thanks Neill, Glad you like it.
If you (or anybody else) are interested, Dan has some gigs coming up, unfortunately (or not) without me - living too far away these days. Here's the dates (first one's this eve):
Apr 20, 9:00PM, The Cobden Club London
May 2, 8:00PM, The Electroacoustic Club @ The Slaughtered Lamb, London
May 10, 8:00PM Ginglik, Shepherd's Bush, London
May 13 8:00PM, Mick Jagger Center (Supporting Ruby Turner), Dartford, Kent
Jun 1 8:30PM, The Bedford, The Globe Theatre, Balham, London
Jun 29, 9:15PM Betsy Trotwood, Clerkenwell, London
Jul 29 8:00PM, Summer Breeze Festival, Farnham Maltings, Farnham, Surrey.
Phil
If you (or anybody else) are interested, Dan has some gigs coming up, unfortunately (or not) without me - living too far away these days. Here's the dates (first one's this eve):
Apr 20, 9:00PM, The Cobden Club London
May 2, 8:00PM, The Electroacoustic Club @ The Slaughtered Lamb, London
May 10, 8:00PM Ginglik, Shepherd's Bush, London
May 13 8:00PM, Mick Jagger Center (Supporting Ruby Turner), Dartford, Kent
Jun 1 8:30PM, The Bedford, The Globe Theatre, Balham, London
Jun 29, 9:15PM Betsy Trotwood, Clerkenwell, London
Jul 29 8:00PM, Summer Breeze Festival, Farnham Maltings, Farnham, Surrey.
Phil
Posted on: 20 April 2006 by Neill S
Hey Phil
Didn't know you'd played on it till I read this thread. You get about! You dark horse!
The Neve sounds very nice...
Didn't know you'd played on it till I read this thread. You get about! You dark horse!
The Neve sounds very nice...
Posted on: 20 April 2006 by Phil Ward
Neill,
More "dark donkey" than dark horse I fear. Yes the Neve was fabulous - in fact the whole experience at Konk was memorabale, if somewhat intense. Five days to record eleven songs is going some. Dan and the engineer (Ben Mason) hardly slept.
Phil
More "dark donkey" than dark horse I fear. Yes the Neve was fabulous - in fact the whole experience at Konk was memorabale, if somewhat intense. Five days to record eleven songs is going some. Dan and the engineer (Ben Mason) hardly slept.
Phil
Posted on: 21 April 2006 by Simon Matthews
Phil
Great tip off!! Thanks to Annie and naim's speedy delivery service I recieved the CD today and have given it two full listens and am really getting into it.
It really is a very warm and soulfull recording with lovely writing and playing throughout. Early standouts are 'caught in time','Curious' and 'solo lives'. I have to say that the final result gives no indication of the compressed time frame the album was recorded in! The use of extra percussion, horns and female backing vocals really add to an album with lots of flavours and musical textures on offer.
Although the recording was quick it is obvious that the songwriting has been thorough because it all feels so expertly constructed.
This album deserves to get an audience outside naim system users. It is a nice bonus that it sounds great as well! Highly recommended.
Great tip off!! Thanks to Annie and naim's speedy delivery service I recieved the CD today and have given it two full listens and am really getting into it.
It really is a very warm and soulfull recording with lovely writing and playing throughout. Early standouts are 'caught in time','Curious' and 'solo lives'. I have to say that the final result gives no indication of the compressed time frame the album was recorded in! The use of extra percussion, horns and female backing vocals really add to an album with lots of flavours and musical textures on offer.
Although the recording was quick it is obvious that the songwriting has been thorough because it all feels so expertly constructed.
This album deserves to get an audience outside naim system users. It is a nice bonus that it sounds great as well! Highly recommended.
Posted on: 24 April 2006 by Phil Ward
Thanks Simon,
"Expertly constructed" I suspect came from intimate late night familiarity with the dank insides of a Balham rehearsal studio. Oh the rock n roll life! Wait while I chuck the TV out the window.
Phil
"Expertly constructed" I suspect came from intimate late night familiarity with the dank insides of a Balham rehearsal studio. Oh the rock n roll life! Wait while I chuck the TV out the window.
Phil
Posted on: 24 April 2006 by Daniel Mulhern
Hi everyone and thanks a million for the kind words. They're much appreciated after the despair and nervous breakdowns that came with being so ambitious with this.
Ben (Mason, the engineer)did a fantastic job on the album. He was always dead set on using all these lovely mics and equipment. With the schedule and the amount of musicians involved it would've been so easy to cut corners. I'm really glad we didn't. His attitude has given the final album a definite warmth and clarity it would have otherwise lacked.
Just to add to what Phil was saying on Solo Lives... It was the first song we recorded and for some reason (probably the adrenalin and that Konk coffee) we had played it way too fast. I ended up slowing the recording down, wich also transposed everything a semitone and gave it a kind of bigger, fatter feel. I used to do it with my old portastudio and remembered that it gave things a kind of retro feel (probably because people used to do that a lot with tape? I don't know). I love what it did to the drum sound. Vashti, who was singing the backing vocals on it has this kind of sixties aura about her as well(she's a fine singer songwriter too) so adding that easy litening type backing vocal hook seemed to make sense.
Dan
Ben (Mason, the engineer)did a fantastic job on the album. He was always dead set on using all these lovely mics and equipment. With the schedule and the amount of musicians involved it would've been so easy to cut corners. I'm really glad we didn't. His attitude has given the final album a definite warmth and clarity it would have otherwise lacked.
Just to add to what Phil was saying on Solo Lives... It was the first song we recorded and for some reason (probably the adrenalin and that Konk coffee) we had played it way too fast. I ended up slowing the recording down, wich also transposed everything a semitone and gave it a kind of bigger, fatter feel. I used to do it with my old portastudio and remembered that it gave things a kind of retro feel (probably because people used to do that a lot with tape? I don't know). I love what it did to the drum sound. Vashti, who was singing the backing vocals on it has this kind of sixties aura about her as well(she's a fine singer songwriter too) so adding that easy litening type backing vocal hook seemed to make sense.
Dan
Posted on: 27 April 2006 by Anna Tooth
Dan has a nice new website up and running:
daniel mulhern
It has gig listings too, so you can see him live over the next few months if you wish.
Anna
daniel mulhern
It has gig listings too, so you can see him live over the next few months if you wish.
Anna
Posted on: 02 May 2006 by Beano
An excellent album, entertainment of the highest order!
Paul
Paul
Posted on: 03 May 2006 by Phil Ward
Thanks Beano, please keep spreading the word.
Phil
Phil
Posted on: 02 June 2006 by Analogue
A nicely recorded album, nice for late night listening to round off the day.
Chris N
Chris N
Posted on: 05 June 2006 by Daniel Mulhern
Hi there,
Myself and the band are playing at the Orange Club this Friday. We'd love to have your support.
If you're interested in coming please email info@danielmulhern.com - tickets £6. Details here:
http://events.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.d...9B417785228411963453
Myself and the band are playing at the Orange Club this Friday. We'd love to have your support.
If you're interested in coming please email info@danielmulhern.com - tickets £6. Details here:
http://events.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.d...9B417785228411963453
Posted on: 19 June 2006 by Daniel Mulhern
Hi all.
For those of you who are interested in this sort of thing - if you liked the way Pigeon Coup was recorded and mixed, Ben Mason, the engineer, has more examples of his craft on the Orson Album which is currently numero uno in the album charts. It's well worth a listen.
For those of you who are interested in this sort of thing - if you liked the way Pigeon Coup was recorded and mixed, Ben Mason, the engineer, has more examples of his craft on the Orson Album which is currently numero uno in the album charts. It's well worth a listen.
Posted on: 19 June 2006 by Phil Ward
Jeeez I don't know! Typical Dan - plugging somebody else's record!
P
P
Posted on: 27 June 2006 by Daniel Mulhern
Hahaaa.
It would be easier would shout about mine if I'd not heard it 8211 times. Not that I'm counting - that was a guess.
Anyway - I'm playing this coming Thursday at The Betsy Trotwood in Clerkenwell, London...
... and this coming Saturday afternoon, 3.30pm at a charity concert held at Farnham Library Gardens, GU9... Rock 'n' Roll!
Details at www.danielmulhern.com
and www.myspace.com/danielmulhern
It would be easier would shout about mine if I'd not heard it 8211 times. Not that I'm counting - that was a guess.
Anyway - I'm playing this coming Thursday at The Betsy Trotwood in Clerkenwell, London...
... and this coming Saturday afternoon, 3.30pm at a charity concert held at Farnham Library Gardens, GU9... Rock 'n' Roll!
Details at www.danielmulhern.com
and www.myspace.com/danielmulhern