The Clientele
Encyclopedia
The Clientele are a London
-based British
band with Alasdair MacLean
on vocals
and guitar
, Mark Keen on drums
, James Hornsey on bass
and Mel Draisey
on violin
, keyboards
, backing vocals and percussion
.
The band has experienced greater success in the United States, where they are signed to Merge Records
, home of bands such as Lambchop
and Spoon
, than in their native Britain. They have conducted several extensive U.S. tours.
on his pencil case. The band formed in 1991, with the current lineup along with Innes Phillips, who shared singing and songwriting duties with MacLean; their original name was The Butterfly Collectors. The band recorded an album's worth of material but failed to get any label interest. Innes left the band (and would go on to found The Relict); the rest of the group re-formed in 1997, after which they moved to London and released a number of singles that were eventually collected on Suburban Light (2000). That compilation won the band glowing reviews; SF Weekly
said the band "offers a brand of appealingly melancholy pop that might just surpass that of its forebears." http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2001-04-11/music/music3.html The Violet Hour (2003) was their first album proper, which again saw great acclaim, but, as yet, little commercial success.
August 2005 saw the release of their second full album, Strange Geometry
, the first the band recorded with a producer, Brian O'Shaughnessy
, who had previously produced Primal Scream
. It was notable for a much cleaner production sound than the reverb-heavy sound that had previously been their defining characteristic; it was also the first time the band had used a strings section on one of their records. The task of writing these arrangements was given to Louis Philippe
. Only one single, "Since K Got Over Me", was released from the album, which failed to reach the Top 75 in the UK. Another song from the album, "(I Can't Seem) To Make You Mine", was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Lake House
.
Strange Geometry was quickly followed by a collection of recordings from 1991 to 1996, featuring Innes Phillips, called It's Art, Dad. After a U.S. tour in August 2006, The Clientele became a four-piece again, adding Mel Draisey (on violin, keys and percussion), who became their first female member. They then recorded the album God Save The Clientele
with producer Mark Nevers, known for his work with Merge labelmates Lambchop
; the album again featured several Louis Philippe-composed string arrangements. God Save The Clientele was released in May 2007 in the United States.
; the song "What Goes Up" quotes the poem "Stupidity Street" by Ralph Hodgson
in its entirety.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
band with Alasdair MacLean
Alasdair MacLean
Alasdair MacLean is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of the British musical group The Clientele. They are signed to Merge Records.Born in 1974 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Maclean graduated with a 1st class honours degree in Literature from Edinburgh University before forming the band. He...
on vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Mark Keen on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, James Hornsey on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and Mel Draisey
Mel draisey
Mel Draisey is a multi-instrumentalist from London. She is best known for being a member of The Clientele, and for being in the 2008 touring line-up of Le Volume Courbe...
on violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, keyboards
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
, backing vocals and percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
.
The band has experienced greater success in the United States, where they are signed to Merge Records
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
, home of bands such as Lambchop
Lambchop (band)
Lambchop, originally Posterchild, is a band from Nashville, Tennessee. Lambchop is loosely associated with the alternative country genre...
and Spoon
Spoon (band)
Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...
, than in their native Britain. They have conducted several extensive U.S. tours.
History
MacLean and Hornsey both grew up in Hampshire, England, and began collaborating musically while still in school, after MacLean saw that Hornsey had written the name of the band FeltFelt (band)
Felt were a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus"...
on his pencil case. The band formed in 1991, with the current lineup along with Innes Phillips, who shared singing and songwriting duties with MacLean; their original name was The Butterfly Collectors. The band recorded an album's worth of material but failed to get any label interest. Innes left the band (and would go on to found The Relict); the rest of the group re-formed in 1997, after which they moved to London and released a number of singles that were eventually collected on Suburban Light (2000). That compilation won the band glowing reviews; SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
said the band "offers a brand of appealingly melancholy pop that might just surpass that of its forebears." http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2001-04-11/music/music3.html The Violet Hour (2003) was their first album proper, which again saw great acclaim, but, as yet, little commercial success.
August 2005 saw the release of their second full album, Strange Geometry
Strange Geometry
Strange Geometry is an album by The Clientele, released in August 2005 to generally warm and positive reviews. The album was recorded in Walthamstow, London. The first single was "Since K Got Over Me," which was released in limited quantities on 7" vinyl. The album cover is a 1963 painting titled...
, the first the band recorded with a producer, Brian O'Shaughnessy
Brian O'Shaughnessy
Brian O'Shaughnessy may refer to:*Brian O'Shaughnessy , Australian philosopher*Brian O'Shaughnessy , South African actor and voiced Jet Jungle*Brian O'Shaughnessy , London based music producer...
, who had previously produced Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
. It was notable for a much cleaner production sound than the reverb-heavy sound that had previously been their defining characteristic; it was also the first time the band had used a strings section on one of their records. The task of writing these arrangements was given to Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe (musician)
Louis Philippe is a London-based French singer, songwriter, arranger and producer who has been active from the mid-1980s onwards...
. Only one single, "Since K Got Over Me", was released from the album, which failed to reach the Top 75 in the UK. Another song from the album, "(I Can't Seem) To Make You Mine", was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Lake House
The Lake House (film)
The Lake House: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 2006.# "This Never Happened Before" - Paul McCartney# " Make You Mine" - The Clientele# "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake# "Ant Farm" - Eels...
.
Strange Geometry was quickly followed by a collection of recordings from 1991 to 1996, featuring Innes Phillips, called It's Art, Dad. After a U.S. tour in August 2006, The Clientele became a four-piece again, adding Mel Draisey (on violin, keys and percussion), who became their first female member. They then recorded the album God Save The Clientele
God Save The Clientele
God Save The Clientele is the fourth studio album by British indiepop band The Clientele. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, it broadens the band's palette through the use of pedal steel and slide guitar. The album is also the first to feature Mel Draisey as the official fourth member of the band...
with producer Mark Nevers, known for his work with Merge labelmates Lambchop
Lambchop (band)
Lambchop, originally Posterchild, is a band from Nashville, Tennessee. Lambchop is loosely associated with the alternative country genre...
; the album again featured several Louis Philippe-composed string arrangements. God Save The Clientele was released in May 2007 in the United States.
Style
Their music has often been noted for its reverb-rich production and MacLean's distinctive breathy vocals (an effect achieved partly by MacLean singing with a microphone plugged into a guitar amplifier) and unique guitar style. Their lyrics take a strong inspiration from surrealist literature and art from the early 20th century; "We Could Walk Together" quotes a line ("like a silver ring thrown into the flood of my heart") from a 1928 poem by French surrealist Joë BousquetJoë Bousquet
Joë Bousquet was a French poet.Wounded on May 27, 1918 at Vailly near the Aisne battlelines at the end of the First World War, he was paralysed for the rest of his life, and lived a life largely bedridden, surrounded by his books...
; the song "What Goes Up" quotes the poem "Stupidity Street" by Ralph Hodgson
Ralph Hodgson
Ralph Hodgson , Order of the Rising Sun ,was an English poet, very popular in his lifetime on the strength of a small number of anthology pieces, such as The Bull. He was one of the more 'pastoral' of the Georgian poets...
in its entirety.
Albums
- Suburban LightSuburban LightSuburban Light is the debut album by The Clientele, released in November 2000. The album is not a proper debut as such because it's a collection of singles released from 1997 through 2000...
(November 2000) - The Violet HourThe Violet Hour (album)The Violet Hour is the proper debut album by The Clientele, released in July 2003. Its title was taken from T. S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land. All songs were written by The Clientele except for "Jamaican Rum Rhumba"...
(July 2003) - Strange GeometryStrange GeometryStrange Geometry is an album by The Clientele, released in August 2005 to generally warm and positive reviews. The album was recorded in Walthamstow, London. The first single was "Since K Got Over Me," which was released in limited quantities on 7" vinyl. The album cover is a 1963 painting titled...
(August 2005) - It's Art, DadIt's Art, DadIt's Art, Dad is a self-released compilation album of early recordings by The Clientele. The album was released in very limited quantities on the band's 2005-2006 tour dates as well as the band's website. It features various recordings from the band's early days...
(recordings from 1991–1996) (October 2005) - God Save The ClienteleGod Save The ClienteleGod Save The Clientele is the fourth studio album by British indiepop band The Clientele. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, it broadens the band's palette through the use of pedal steel and slide guitar. The album is also the first to feature Mel Draisey as the official fourth member of the band...
(May 2007) - Bonfires on the HeathBonfires on the HeathBonfires on the Heath is an album released by English indie pop group The Clientele on October 6, 2009. Allmusic has called it "the most perfect, autumnal, English pop record imaginable."-Track listing:# "I Wonder Who We Are"# "Bonfires on the Heath"...
(October 2009) - Minotaur (September 6, 2010)
EPs
- A Fading Summer EP (June 2000)
- Lost Weekend EP (March 2002)
- Ariadne EP (March 2004)
- That Night A Forest Grew EPThat Night A Forest Grew EPThat Night, a Forest Grew is an EP from The Clientele. The EP was officially announced and titled 16 May, 2008 on the bands official website.-Track listing:# "Retiro Park" – 4:26# "Share The Night" – 3:44...
(2008)
Singles
- "What Goes Up" b/w "Five Day Morning" (June 1998)
- All The Dust And Glass: "Reflections After Jane" b/w "An Hour Before The Light" (March 1999)
- "Lacewings" b/w "Saturday" (September 1999)
- "I Had To Say This" b/w "Monday's Rain" (December 1999)
- "(I Want You) More Than Ever" b/w "6 A.M. Morningside" (February 2000)
- "Haunted Melody" b/w "Fear Of Falling" (October 2002)
- "House On FireThe Violet Hour (album)The Violet Hour is the proper debut album by The Clientele, released in July 2003. Its title was taken from T. S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land. All songs were written by The Clientele except for "Jamaican Rum Rhumba"...
" (June 2003) - "Lacewings" (Live) b/w "Policeman Getting Lost" (Live) (July 2004)
- "Since K Got Over MeStrange GeometryStrange Geometry is an album by The Clientele, released in August 2005 to generally warm and positive reviews. The album was recorded in Walthamstow, London. The first single was "Since K Got Over Me," which was released in limited quantities on 7" vinyl. The album cover is a 1963 painting titled...
" (August 2005) - "Bookshop CasanovaGod Save The ClienteleGod Save The Clientele is the fourth studio album by British indiepop band The Clientele. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, it broadens the band's palette through the use of pedal steel and slide guitar. The album is also the first to feature Mel Draisey as the official fourth member of the band...
" (April 2007)
Split singles
- "Held In Glass" by The Relict b/w "(I Can't Seem To) Make You Mine" by The Clientele (February 2001)
- "Grace" by The Saturday People b/w "Porcelain" by The Clientele (July 2001)
- "Six Foot Drop" by Clock Strikes 13 b/w "We Could Walk Together" by The Clientele (January 2002)
External links
- The Clientele's official website
- Clientele interview at POPnews
- Clientele's MySpace page
- Alasdair Maclean of the Clientele discusses the band's history and details new album Bonfires on the Heath
- Interview with Alasdair MacLean at "ExclaimEXCLAIMThe EXtensible Cross-Linguistic Automatic Information Machine is an integrated tool for cross-language information retrieval , created at the University of California, Santa Cruz in early 2006. It is currently in a beta stage of development, with some support for more than a dozen languages...
" - Strangeways Here We Come. Stomp & Stammer, October 2005, by Susan Moll
- Interview with the Clientele by Dominic B. Simpson, April 2010