Schoolyard Ghosts
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Schoolyard Ghosts is the name of the sixth studio album by British art rock band No-Man.
Released on May 12th, 2008, the album features contributions from Bruce Kaphan (American Music Club, Red House Painters), drummers Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), saxophonist/flautist Theo Travis, and the London Session Orchestra arranged by Dave Stewart (Hatfield and the North, Egg, Stewart and Gaskin etc). In his online diary Tim Bowness mentions that, despite following a difficult year and being typically melancholy in places, the tone of the album is more optimistic than anything the band have done before. He also says "All Sweet Things" and "Truenorth" are perhaps the pinnacle of the band's achievements.[1] A promotional Schoolyard Ghosts microsite was created by the band's label, K-Scope. It first featured a music video for "Truenorth - Part Two" which was thereafter replaced for a video of the song "Wherever There Is Light". No-Man fan site "A Confession" has also created a dedicated Schoolyard Ghosts microsite featuring the video for "Truenorth - Part Two" and album lyrics. The No-Man MySpace page also includes extracts from the album.
Reception
Reviews for the album have generally been very favourable, with positive reviews and interviews featured in Classic Rock (UK), Rock Sound (UK), Goldmine (USA), Record Collector (UK), Eclipsed (Germany), Metal Hammer (Germany), Metal Hammer (Poland), Free! (Finland) [2], Rolling Stone (Mexico), Jam (Italy), and Allmusic [3], amongst many other publications.
In June 2008, the album was #1 in Prog Archives' Member's Albums of the Year chart [4] and #474 in Rate Your Music's reader's albums of 2008.[5] In October 2008, the album was #5 in the Eclipsed magazine's reader's charts. In January 2009, the album was rated #23 in the Eclipsed critic's end of year lists.
Formats
The album is available in a CD/DVD-A audiophile edition and comes in a digipack format with booklet and also features a 5.1 mix of the album, a photo gallery and videos for 3 songs. The first 2000 copies of the album obtained from the No-Man online store came with an exclusive 6 track, 20 minute, bonus disc of alternates and edits. It sold out within 2 weeks of the pre-release announcement.
Promotion
To promote the album, the band played its first performances for fifteen years in London, Dusseldorf and Zoetermeer.[6] The London Bush Hall performance was recorded and will be released as part of a forthcoming No-Man DVD.[7]
Track listing/Line-up
Music by No-Man, except "Beautiful Songs You Should Know" (Bowness/Erra) and "Song of the Surf" (No-Man/Murphy). All lyrics by Bowness.
- All Sweet Things (6:47)
- Beautiful Songs You Should Know (4:26)
- Pigeon Drummer (6:18)
- Truenorth (12:48)
- Wherever There is Light (4:21)
- Song of the Surf (6:12)
- Streaming (3:32)
- Mixtaped (8:36)
Bonus material
The original No-Man Store edition featured an exclusive 6 track, 20 minute, bonus disc of alternates and edits.
- Truenorth part 1 - strings (1.50)
- Truenorth part 2 - alternate (3.51)
- Beautiful songs you should know - alternate (4.06)
- Pigeon beater (3.04)
- Song of the surf - alternate (3.49)
- Truenorth part 2 - video edit (4.19)
Personnel
- Tim Bowness – vocals, musical box, mellotron, piano, chime guitars, vocal loops.
- Steven Wilson – piano, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards, glockenspiel, harmony vocals, musical box, electric piano, organ, harp, harmonium, percussion, drum programming.
- Theo Travis – flute, soprano sax (tracks 4, 5 and 8).
- Peter Chilvers – samples from ‘surfacing’ (track 1).
- Colin Edwin – fretless acoustic bass (track 2)
- Rick Edwards – percussion (track 2)
- Marianne De Chastelaine – cello (track 2)
- Pat Mastelotto – drums, percussion (tracks 3 and 6)
- Fabrice Lefebvre – yang t’chin (track 4)
- Andy Booker – electronic percussion (track 4), drum loop (track 7)
- Bruce Kaphan – pedal steel guitar (tracks 5 and 7)
- Pete Morgan – bass (track 7)
- Gavin Harrison - drums (track 8)
- Strings arranged by Dave Stewart and performed by the London Session Orchestra.
External links
- No-Man's Official Website.
- Schoolyard Ghosts microsite at Kscope/Snapper Music.
- "A Confession" - No-Man Fan Site (includes a Schoolyard Ghosts microsite).
- No-Man MySpace Page (includes audio samples from the album).