POSTS TAGGED : The Unusual History of Ether

The Unusual History of Ether – ‘Stop Talking’

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The last we heard from The Unusual History of Ether, a songwriting partnership between Rebecca Collins and Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug, was last year and their rather excellent Part One EP.

The Unusual History of Ether have  graced us with news that their debut album, A Distant Age, will be released on 2nd September. And as a taste of what’s to come, they have kindly provided ‘Stop Talking’ for our listening pleasure. ‘Stop Talking’ is probably as uptempo as we’ve heard The Unusual History of Ether, skipping along a lively beat, rumbling guitar and keys led pysch freak-out. Collins’ vocals remain supremely immaculate and it does retain all the hallmarks which made their previous work profoundly beautiful indie pop songs. All in all, impressive stuff once again from The Unusual History of Ether. 

You can give ‘Stop Talking’ the once over below but that’s not all. The band are hitting Irish shores for a tour in October & you can check out all the dates here.

Best of 2012: w/ Sadhbh O’ Sullivan of Sive

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It’s that time of year when every music website, publication and blog (including this one) are busy compiling end of year lists. This time around, I thought I’d shift the focus to the bands and artist’s who’ve played a ‘BarryGruff Presents’ show this year and ask them for their ‘favourite album of 2012′, ‘favourite song of 2012′ & ‘favourite Irish song of the year’.

Right, that is enough from me, over to Sadhbh O’ Sullivan from Sive and her picks from the year that was 2012.

Favourite album of 2012: Sam Jackson – ‘Sharp and Flat’

I stumbled upon Sam Jackson by accident when I read a review of his album in the Independent and thought “hmm, this sounds like it might be up my street!” I took a trip over to his Bandcamp page and within the first few seconds of the opening track I was already compelled to buy the album (AND a ticket to one of his shows). Every track displays not only a top notch level of musicianship, but also a lofty helping of sensitivity and imagination. His sound is reminiscent of jazz, classical and some more contemporary music, without sounding like it quite fits in under any one label. For me this album is a perfect work of art!

Favourite Song of 2012: The Unusual History of Ether – ‘Innate’

I’m not entirely sure whether this song actually came out in 2012 or at the end of 2011, but I discovered it at the beginning of this year and was blown away by it. The band is fronted by Irishwoman Rebecca Collins, who is based in Copenhagen along with her band of Danish musicians. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them live twice and they’re a lovely bunch of people as well as fine musicians. Their whole EP is worth repeated listens.

Favourite Irish Song of 2012: Wallis Bird – ‘In Dictum’

This was one of the stand-out tracks from Wallis Bird’s latest album, for me anyway. The first time I heard it was at her album launch in The Academy when she hopped down from the stage to perform an unplugged rendition of it in the middle of the audience. The entire crowd joined in and it was definitely one of those gig memories that sticks with you for a long time. When played live this song carries bags of energy and passion that can’t have been easy to capture in a studio, but I think Wallis and her band nailed it. Here’s a video of what happened that night in The Academy:  

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Competition: The Unusual History of Ether in The Riverbank

The Unusual History of Ether, play The Riverbank , Newbridge next Thursday, November 1st. Having been introduced on the blog last week, The Unusual History of Ether have kindly offered BarryGruff readers the chance to go and enjoy the show in The Riverbank.

There are two tickets up for grabs. No silly questions, just email your name to barrygruff [at] gmail [dot] com with ‘Riverbank’ as the subject title. Winners will be drawn at random and the competition closes at 12:00 on October 30th 2012. 

The Unusual History of Ether is a songwriting partnership between Rebecca Collins and Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug. The fruits of this union is fresh, slightly dark but profoundly beautiful indie pop songs, which are sung with passion, performed with grace and recorded quite beautifully. The Unusual History of Ether do, at times, recall the noir-ish, Gothic parts of Anna Calvi’s irresistible self titled debut from last year. 

Tickets are €10/€12. Doors at 8pm & support comes from the ever brilliant Sive. Here’s a few choice cuts from the band.

Introducing: The Unusual History of Ether

The Unusual History of Ether is a songwriting partnership between Irish singer-songwriter Rebecca Collins and Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug. The two met when playing together at the Dublin Fringe Festival several years ago and forged a musical connection, resulting in ‘The Unusual History of Ether’ and Rebecca relocating to Copenhagen. 

The fruits of coalition are fresh, slightly dark but profoundly beautiful indie pop songs, which are sung with passion, performed with grace and recorded quite beautifully. The Unusual History of Ether do, at times, recall the noir-ish, Gothic parts of Anna Calvi’s irresistible self titled debut from last year; particularly ‘Joshua’. Not a bad thing at all. There is a lot of potential here, especially as it has the potential to unite indie fans and lovers of pop in admiration.

The Unusual History of Ether released their debut EP Part One earlier in the year and have an album coming sometime in next year. Before all that, they will be touring Ireland in October/November, including Dublin’s The Workman’s Club (31/10) & The Riverbank, Newbridge (01/11). Full list of tour dates here.