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THANK YOU TO THE DELIGHTFUL INDIVIDUAL THAT LEFT THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ABOUT MY SONGS ON 20TH MAY-
1.) Valpolicella girl? what the fuck, did she pick the grapes? or was she addicted to the wine? you are such a wanker, probably I bullied you at school - fuck off and grow up, wanker!
2.) Last Orders? I give up-wanker.
3.) No Lullaby? Are you real, or just unfortunate to be alive - Tosser
My Response: You are probably a failed musician and/or just a sad person with no command of language, who chooses to abuse. You maybe wrote the comments when drunk, and up late at night-it happens to the best of us. But you are truly spineless, otherwise you'd leave your contact details or your name. It's not that hard to find out who wrote the comments by doing a few ISP tracers...
Sound
With the band there are songs of seaside jaunts, budget wine, supermarkets, amyl nitrate, and forest lynchings: a sound akin to blur circa the eponymous album. Silas plays double bass, and Beppa plays drums in the band. On his own Ben’s in a more post-folk mode, singing of travel, lost-love and musings in city parks. He’s always gigging around the country, playing places where the audiences are more likely to be familiar with Graham Coxon than Damien Rice.
Releases
His 2001 7” EP The State of Travel was described as 'a folk-tinged thing of wonder', (TheMusicRoom, Stoke), and the NME wrote that his sound was 'sweetly melancholic'. John Peel played the track Leeds For The Winter on his show, and other national stations around the world followed.
In the autumn of 2003 Bearos Records released Ben’s debut LP The Leafy Underground, (Recorded by DJ Drive D), an album documenting a journey through the year. It's rustic, dark, personal and pastoral, and possibly best played when you are the only one in the room.
Ben is featured on the track ‘The Loop of Love’on DJ Drive D’s new album ‘Drive Bye’. It’s out now.
Ben's EP love;defenestrated is out now on Bearos. It documents the death of love in the New Year.
It's described as:
"Dark modern folk sung with beguiling West Midlands inflections. Folk melancholia haunted by the shadows of Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and The Smiths."
Joe Murphy, blang!
“Bittersweet songs about lost love, love; defenestrated is a heart warmingly beautiful collection of songs. It’s like being told some bad news while the informer is smiling sweetly. It is hard not to fall in love with these songs.”
antifolk.co.uk
Gigs
About 400 around the UK and Australia since 2000. He's supported Lach, Hamell On Trial, SgtBuzFuz, Chris T-T and Jim Bob from Carter USM.
In September he played at the first Moseley Folk Festival, on the same bill as The Incredible String Band, Tunng, Circulus and Pentangle.
Ben and band are on tour in October.
Recording
Ben and the band are now recording the next album, at Bob Lamb’s Studio, on analogue tape to capture the warmth that digital cannot. The album is provisionally titled ‘Festive Road’, and features string arrangements by David Garside.
Reviews
"A strange Syd Barrett/Roy Harper hybrid is Ben Calvert. Lovely, melodic, melancholia. This is music and words for the disenchanted and is as good as a big bag of really good things." Get Rhythm.
"Finely crafted songwriting" Metro
"Impressive stuff." BBC Radio One.
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