unexpected bowtie has been quieter than usual as of late. Recording for Polis is still happening, but last week we took a break out to record for Closet Organ. Proof below:

You wouldn’t get a face of pure metal like that from unexpected bowtie material.

the economic benefits of individual contraction

So far there haven’t been too many elongated track titles on this collaborative jaunt, so the time is right; the time is now.

Delay Trees are a ‘dream-pop’ foursome from Helsinki, Finland. They have all the delicate nature and sing-songy delight of the rather good Iain Archer, and they provide the ambient background to the latest track. There’s an interesting mix of Gameboys, mandolin and other effects to be found. Drums come courtesy of Keith Grantham, who’s already been introduced.

You can find more of Delay Trees at their Soundcloud.

the economic benefits of individual contraction by unexpectedbowtie

Collaboration Preview – Track 3 – ‘marks for effort’

with Burning Buildings

This track is a much softer, less grizzly track than the last one that involved Pulco. It comes with a piano melody courtesy of Manchester’s Burning Buildings. They’re awfully nice chaps, and probably slightly unhinged… but the end product is one that I’m really personally pleased with. Sometimes there are melodies that just fit your vocal-style to a tee, and for me this is one of them. Hopefully you might like it too.

You can find some of their tracks for free over at Bandcamp, tweets on Twitter, and a review over at Artrocker.

marks for effort by unexpectedbowtie

It was only a week or two ago that we posted introducing Ash Cooke aka Pulco, with the news that he’d be contributing some specially recorded samples to be mashed up (i.e. destroyed) in the name of art… and contribute he did, with a whole stash of bizarre loops and rumblings. In true Pulco style, the ‘misery poet’ utilised everyday objects like a wheelbarrow, and chucked rocks at it till it became aurally pleasing.

You can preview the product below; it’s a dark, grungey affair.

For more info on Pulco, check out the interview from Artrocker that went online today.

pre-medication by unexpectedbowtie

This is an exciting moment, as we get to release the first track from the tentatively titled ‘unexpected bowtie and friends’ collaborative album.

So this is how it’s going to work: to make the most of each track, every so often one will be put online for streaming with a bit of explanation of who’s involved, with the final collection being brought together as a full release later on in the year.

Pictured is Steven Marino, aka Moor Hound. He comes from sunny Orlando, Florida, and plays music after our heart. You can see the banjo, so need I say more?

Moor Hound contributed some wonderfully laid-back guitar parts, and one of them is used on this track. You can read more about him in an interview on Artrocker, find his blog here, Bandcamp here, and Soundcloud tracks here.

Keith needs no introduction really. He’s been making music alongside me almost since I started, and he lent me his percussive hands for a few hours to give this track the structure it badly needed and that I just couldn’t provide. The Keith Appreciation Society page is on Facebook here, and Closet Organ (in which I also sing and play guitar) can be found on Tumblr.

The track is called let’s crash planes when we’re leaving, and is below.

let’s crash planes when we’re leaving by unexpectedbowtie

You’re either really out of time there, or you’re doing something completely brilliant.

– Keith, as we recorded drums for some tracks today.

Okay, so we’ve learned that in future where I want percussion to be added in later I should record with a click track.

As weird as it seems to be announcing the release of one record whilst having worked on a totally different one for the past few weeks, that’s the way it goes in the life-cycle of things.

This is an awesome split EP of the 8-bit inspired chiptune electronic variety, with The Wet Dreams taking the first half of the record; myself the second. We took a basic melody for one of the tracks, and wrote our own versions (tracks 3 and 4) which made it all the more interesting.

Click through to the music page for the relevant links and all that.

For those of you not so enamoured with the chiptune side of things, watch this space – there’s other creations in the works.