AC Newman - press clippings

click on each image to enlarge

The Independent (Friday)

Uncut

Q

Plan B

The Independent (Saturday)

AC Newman - The Palace at 4AM

ac newman on his solo career and the new pornographers

AC Newman - press so far....

“Like all Newman records, it shows off his smarts and maintains a strong hook quotient…” –Rolling Stone

“The Canadian power-pop ace unleashes another battery of hooks with blasts of vocal harmonies (‘Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer’) and dabs of organ (‘Elemental’).” –Spin

“Get Guilty is a baroque-pop gem, on which he displays remarkable tonal control via crafty arrangement.” –Paste

“Nobody weaves melancholy into melody the way he does, and these new songs have a sprawling, beguiling calm.” –Elle

“[Newman summons] a collective grandeur from guitars, moaning cellos, and shimmering cymbals in songs like ‘Changeling,’ whose bitter musings sting like a fresh slap.” –Marie Claire

“Get Guilty is a stirring set of memorable power-pop…” –The Onion

“In his lyrics, arrangements, and delivery, there’s always much more going on than can be viewed at a distance… Newman’s singularity as a songwriter lies in more than histrionics. Like Wonder, Guilty has its share of up-tempo tracks, yet its real pleasures are idiosyncratic, revealing themselves the more attentively and often you listen.” -Pitchfork

“The defacto leader of the New Pornographers treats back-up refrains and big-beat percussion as conduits to Brill Building grandeur and breathless romanticism. [Get Guilty] attests to this continuing quest for tuneful bliss.” –The Absolute Sound

“Another collection of infectious pop songs.” –SOMA Magazine

“[In New Pornographers] Newman pens precisely arranged confections. Here, on his solo material, he lets the ink spill… The great pleasure is in hearing how all the elements cohere.”—Time Out Chicago

"Get Guilty is not just a lastingly great album. It is that rare kind of pop record that you live in and get to know, that reveals its depth the more you listen, without losing an ounce of its infectious energy." –PopMatters

"It has become increasingly easy to take a new album of his for granted, to mistake steady craftsmanship for complacency. To do that with his second solo album Get Guilty would be a huge mistake as it's loaded with songs that are the equal of his best work." –St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Get Guilty is the first great album of 2009 and solidifies Newman as one of the best pop practitioners today.” –The Bergen Record

“Newman’s gift as a songwriter has always been nuance – scalpel over ax. His melodies don’t kill, they infect… Get Guilty is Newman’s best release as a solo artist and even tops the most recent New Pornographers record, further building on a body of work that is one of the most impressive in the ever-expanding ‘indie’ rock catalogue.” –Aquarium Drunkard

“Get Guilty’s a record that should be in the ears of every pop lover…” –Aversion

“As in The Slow Wonder, Newman practices a spinning plate sort of complexity, juggling big rock sounds on fragile sticks of melody, heaping difficulty upon difficulty, without a single crash (or even a grimace).” –Dusted

“Concise, intelligent pop music…” –The Kansas City Star

“Get Guilty boasts more hooks than any dozen records, and none of them are cheap. It has the playfulness Newman showed with Zumpano in the 1990s, the literate quality of his Pornographers’ songs and a greater self-assurance than either” –Louisville Courier-Journal

“[Newman] retains his enviable gift for wedding elliptical narratives to memorable melodies…” –Washington Post Express

AC Newman - Live at the Virgin Megastore

AC Newman pictured here with Nicole Atkins yesterday played an instore at the Virgin Megastore in NYC.

Lots of photos can be found over at Brooklyn Vegan

AC Newman - on Stereogum

From Get Guilty: The Changeling (Get Guilty)

AC Newman Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer (Pitchfork TV)

This is one of four tracks that will appear online in the next few weeks. This is the New York branch of the A.C Newman band. The tracks were recorded recently in a studio in Brooklyn.

AC Newman interview

Carl Newman has spoken to Pitchfork about his upcoming album "Get Guilty" & other pressing matters here

Plush - #19 in Uncut's top re-issues of 2008

Plush's Fed has made number 19 in Uncut's end of year best of list (re-issue section).

AC Newman Get Guilty

Up next on Broken Horse will be the terrific 2nd solo album by AC (aka Carl) Newman in early 2009. The album will be released on Matador in the US on January 20th and shortly after on Broken Horse in the UK/Europe. It really is a very special album and is more than an equal to his excellent debut album Slow Wonder and his work with the world conquering The New Pornographers.

Carl played his first show with his new band last Saturday at The Bell House in Brooklyn. He was accompanied by rising star Nicole Atkins who sings back up vocals on several tracks on Get Guilty.

Looks like it was a great night.

More write ups here, here and with a ton of photos here

Plush at Metacritic

At the time of writing, Metacritic has Fed at #3 in their list of the best reviewed albums of 2008, (ahead of Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Nick Cave...). Don't just take our word for it, check it out here.

(UPDATE: 20th Nov Fed is currently #2!)

Record collector have also given Fed a glowing four star review.

Patrick Cleandenim - Orange Moonbeam Floorshow

Patrick's 2nd album Orange Moonbeam Floorshow will land in early 2009. In the meantime, Patrick is currently living, performing and DJ-ing in Berlin. You can catch him on the following dates.


Nov 12 Dr Pong (DJ Set), Berlin
Nov 15 Madame Claude, Berlin
Nov 20 Madness, Dresden
Nov 22 Offenes Jugendhaus, Riesa
Nov 26 Dr Pong (DJ Set), Berlin
Dec 6 Dr Pong (DJ Set), Berlin

silver ray - reunion video

Filmed by Brett Poliness and Michelangelo Russo, edited by Michelangelo Russo. Reunion is taken from the latest Silver Ray album "Homes For Everyone".

Andrew Morgan on illegal downloading

Andrew Morgan whose debut album Misadventures in Radiology was released on Broken Horse has just made his 2nd self titled album available for download via his website. He has also written some words on how he sees the issue of illegal downloading from his perspective as an artist who is constantly struggling to raise the funds to record his songs.

Whether you like Andrew's music or not it's a great piece that hits the nail on the head as far as Broken Horse is concerned. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you may be interested or to post the article on any relevent message boards you may frequent.


A Plea

Stealing music hurts musicians. When you appropriate music for
personal use without compensating its creator, you devalue the work,
the process which engenders it, and the role occupied by artists
within communities.

Goods are worth what consumers are willing to pay for them. If
consumers are willing to pay nothing for a particular good, then its
value is nothing. While there is still a market for the sale of music,
more and more people are electing, whether selectively or exclusively,
to bypass the market and obtain music illegally through torrents,
file-sharing, and the like. People don't steal music in this way
because they deserve to be able to. They do it simply because they
can. It's a sense of entitlement that considers its own morality
purely as an afterthought, if at all.

What Radiohead did in the fall of 2007 with the release of In Rainbows
was thrilling, but don't forget for one second that when they did it,
they were already middle-aged millionaires made rich by the very
industry model they now condemn with cavalier ease. They exist within
the system they deconstruct & destruct. They consider their songs to
be "public works," yet they continue to sell them. It's a complete
contradiction.

The reason that it is necessary for music to be sold rather than given
away is because the costs of making music are real and unavoidable.
Instrument purchase and maintenance, practice space, recording,
mixing, mastering, and manufacturing are but a few of the many costs
involved. The belief that digital technology has evolved to a point
where anyone can produce high quality recordings is a myth. While it
is true that anyone can make recordings inexpensively, the gear and
expertise necessary to yield exceptional results cost thousands and
thousands of dollars. The financial fate of the music industry will
affect everyone involved in the making of music -- artists, studios,
engineers, labels, publicists, graphic designers, manufacturing
houses, and more. Our relationships are mutually dependent. If, for
example, artists and labels can't afford to compensate engineers and
studios at a rate which ensures their continued existence, the entire
system becomes threatened.

It is a sad fact that those within the music industry are often the
most likely to excuse the theft of music. It is a symptom emerging
from perceptions of insider status. To be clear, it is not OK to steal
music just because you make music, sell music, or write about music.
The only acceptable means of obtaining an artist's music without
compensation is with explicit permission from the artist or legally
recognized copyright holder.

Please don't steal music. It's utterly humiliating to even have to ask
that it not be stolen in the first place. When you purchase music,
it's at a tiny fraction of the cost at which it was made. And it's
yours forever. The number of other goods that can be legally obtained
so far below cost within the market are very few. Go through iTunes
and delete any music you have not paid for. Gather up any CDRs that
contain any music you have not paid for and throw them away. When you
steal music, you break hearts.

Silver Ray - Homes For Everyone

Next up on Broken Horse. The 4th and finest Silver Ray album to date, "Homes For Everyone". It somewhat of a departure for the band as it features 10 tracks as opposed to the usual 4 or 5 and also features writing contributions from all three members.

The album will be released on Broken Horse in the UK/Europe on June 30th.

You can hear four of the tracks from the album here

The Autumn Defense - Americana UK review

"if you love your soft-rock lush and beautiful this will be one of your records of the year"

Americana UK have given The Autumn Defense album a great review - you can read it here

Liam Hayes and Plush

Take A Chance is a new song by Liam Hayes and Plush from their forthcoming album "Bright Penny". No real Broken Horse connection here except we've been fans since their classic debut 7" Found A Little Baby/Three Quarters Blind Eyes and the video was directed by Jim Newberry who took some snaps of Kevin Tihista a couple of years back.

Patrick Cleandenim - The Scurimobile & Interview

Patrick Cleandenim's The Scurimobile will be given a rare showing next month.

"The film will be screened in its entirety on Tuesday, March 11th at 9:00 pm at The Cooper Union (7 E. 7th Street, New York City). Admission is free and open to the public."







Also, you can read a new interview with Patrick from The New Mexico Daily Lobo here

The Autumn Defense - out now

We are extremley proud to be releasing the self titled (& 3rd) album by The Autumn Defense which is John Stirratt & Pat Sansone of Wilco. They are joined on the album by Nels Cline, Brad Jones and Greg Wieczorek.

The artwork has been specially re-designed by Pat Sansone himself for the Broken Horse issue and if we say so ourselves, looks great.

The album has already picked up a handful of great reviews and more we hope are on the horizon. At the moment, we are hoping Pat & John will be over for a few select live dates in April (more info as we have it).

Also look out for "Winterlight" on the covermount CD accompanying the current issue of The Word.

"reference points include Nick Drake and CSN, Bread, Big Star and the essence of Love, Steely Dan and a dozen others" MOJO ****

"never less than utterly gorgeous" THE WORD

"wilco offshoot spins gorgeous soft rock" Q ****

"edifying and beautifully textured third out from Wilco men John Stirratt and Pat Sansone" DAILY MIRROR ****

"soft rock at it's most elegant." TIME OUT

Patrick Cleandenim - T-Sides album of 2007

New York music blog T-Sides have chosen Patrick Cleandenim's Baby Comes Home as the album of the year for 2007. Baby Comes Home comes above the likes of Feist, Dirty Projectors, Panda Bear, St Vincent in their end of year round round up.

"Perhaps the greatest asset that Patrick Cleandenim has is that so few people are doing what he’s doing anymore. What is he doing, exactly? He’s playing updated standards type of music, nodding back to days of big bands and swing and other early forms of jazz and pop. Sure, there are a few who do this - Jens Lenkman, for example, who you’ll likely find of plenty of this year’s top lists. Where Cleandenim exceeds his contemporaries, however, is his ability to do it without sounding gimmicky or gaudy. Too many artists who tread into this territory end up feeling insincere or over the top, like they thought “let’s try something new!” and one-offed it, bleeding perky pop song into perky pop song. Baby Comes Home has a very natural feel to it, as though there is no other way he knows how to make music. It has, well, everything. It’s sensual, flirty, relaxing, engaging, confident, glamorous, humble, sentimental, bitter - name an emotion, and it’s probably in here somewhere. It also has “Days Without Rain,” which is easily my favorite song of the year, a song I could (and often do) listen to for days and never tire of. A sumptuous plea for a lover’s return, he’s seductive, cheerful, commanding and pleading, all in the course of four minutes and 42 seconds. It’s the strings, the high-hat, the piano, each part so artfully played. There is no moment in a song this year that tops the moments where Cleandenim cries, “won’t you come home in the morning / before our love beings to dry the rain” (though that second bit changes throughout the song). Ultimately, though, what made this album so sure in its #1 placement is that this is the album that had me the most excited about music this year, the album that I made everyone listen to, the album that I came back to month after month. While Baby Comes Home is not as grand on an influential scale as something like In Rainbows, it deserves its accolades, too - and I’m more than pleased to give them. "

You can read the original article here

Patrick Cleandenim - Live at the Apartment

Recorded live in New York, Christmas 2007.

Best of 2007

Top albums (in no particular order)

Patrick Cleandenim Baby Comes Home (Broken Horse)
The Broken Family Band Hello Love (Track & Field)
Rilo Kiley Under The Blacklight (Warner Brothers)
The Autumn Defense S/T (Broadmoor)
Silver Ray Homes For Everyone (Silver Ray)
Prefab Sprout Steve Mcqueen (acoustic versions) (Kitchenware - bonus disc with the remastered version of their 1985 album)
The Decemberists The Crane Wife (Rough Trade)
Proud Simon Shoestring Universe (Proud Simon)
Wilco Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch)
Glenn Mercer Wheels in Motion (Pravda)

followed by (also in no patricular order)

OK Jones Elephantoms (Centropolis)
The Clientele God Save The Clientele (Merge)
Benjy Feree Leaving The Nest (Domino)
Dinosaur Jr Beyond (PIAS)
Candidate Oxengate (Snowstorm)
Band of Horses Cease To Begin (Sub Pop)
Beirut The Flying Club Cup (4AD)
Bishop Allen & The Broken String (Dead Meadows)
Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)
Miracle Fortress Five Roses (Rough Trade)
UK States Psychogeography (Hitback)
Okkervill River The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
Bill Callahan Woke on a Whaleheart (Drag City)
Cam Butler Healing Feelings (Pharmacy)
The White Stripes Icky Thump (XL)
David Vandervelde The Moonstation House Band (Secretly Canadian)

Some of 2007's best tracks

Rilo Kiley Silver Lining
The Broken Family Band Give and Take
OK Jones Deep Sea Divers
Proud Simon American Caskets
LCD Soundsystem All My Friends
The Autumn Defense About To Change
Patrick Cleandenim Days Without Rain
The Yellow Moon Band Entangled
Wilco Impossible Germany
Andrew Bird Heretics
Prefab Sprout Bonny
Bishop Allen Rain
Candidate Furlough
David Vandervelde Nothin' No
The Decemberists When The War Came
Wilco On and On and On
Glenn Mercer Another Last Time
Dylan Mondegreen Girl in Grass
The Autumn Defense We Would Never Die
The Living Image The Show
Tegan and Sara The Con
Bill Callahan Diamond Dancer
Okkervill River Unless It's Kicks
Beirut Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route)
The Clientele Bookshop Casanova
Patrick Cleandenim Rocket To The Moon
Silver Ray The Streets of Melbourne
Rilo Kiley Close Call
Glenn Mercer Morning Lights
Wilco You Are My Face


Favourite (non 2007) album of the year

Camper Van Beethoven Tusk (Cooking Vinyl 2002) DBL CD

The Autumn Defense on Broken Horse

The Autumn Defense's 3rd & self titled album will be released on Broken Horse for the UK/Europe on January 28th 2008. The core of the band is John Stirratt & Pat Sansone from Wilco. The Broken Horse issue will feature brand new artwork and photos and has been re-designed by Pat Sansone himself (is there nothing this guy can't do?)

"After the release of their second album in 2003, The Autumn Defense, multi-instrumentalists John Stirratt and Pat Sansone, realized that there was indeed an audience for their Simon & Garfunkel/Bread influenced soft-rock that they hadn’t truly appreciated, and like most things took some time to develop.

"We’ve known each other for a long time. We just all knew each other from being around the Mississippi music scene back in the late 80’s and early 90’s," Sansone said. "I reconnected with John when I moved to New Orleans around 97. John was living in New Orleans as well, so we just started hanging out and listening to records and we realized we had the same tastes at the time and we started strumming and singing and realized we had a real great vocal blend, which was really the reason we started the band."

“I loved the way that [2003's Circles] had this sort of gestation period...that it took a while for people to find it, but when they did, they really dug it”, according to Stirratt. Circles earned high praise from critics like David Fricke of Rolling Stone who called it, "warm, gorgeous, and delightful," and picked up 4 stars from both Mojo and Uncut.

In the meantime, Pat Sansone joined Wilco as a full time member just before the release of 2004’s A Ghost is Born. A necessary move from New York to Chicago for Sansone allowed them to work together as often as possible and to record at their leisure in Wilco’s sprawling musical Aladdin’s cave-like loft studio.

Pat Sansone "I think that Chicago kind of lends itself, especially if you’re recording in the winter time, which we did; it lends itself to locking yourself inside because it’s so cold outside. It’s kind of easy to focus and concentrate because you want to be inside. I think that probably did influence this record in trying to make it warm sounding."

Once the songs were in place, they recovened with their rhythm section of the last six years: drummer Greg Wieczorek, and producer/ session man Brad Jones, as well as other Autumn Defense regulars like pedal steel player John Pirruccello and horn player Steve Tyska.

“We’ve worked with them for so long now, that there’s a certain intuitiveness about the track as it’s going down... that they know the possibilities as well as we do,” says Stirratt. And through Brad Jones they were also able to work with new friends Chris Carmichael and Jim Hoke, whose string and flute performances brought Sansone’s light orchestral arrangements to life, and to helped provide a truly organic feel to the recordings.

The result of a long winter’s work is the self-titled release, The Autumn Defense. It is the culmination and continuation of what the band has reached for in the last two records, from the Philly-soul of "Feel You Now", to the baroque "Estate Remains", the bossa "City Bells" to the classic Southern- California sound of "We Would Never Die.” (also featuring Wilco’s Nels Cline). Playing this album next to Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky which followed “The Autumn Defense” a few months later (The Autumn Defense was released in the U.S in early 2007), it becomes clear how integral both Stirratt and Sansone are to the current Wilco sound in what is looking likely to be it’s most successful and enduring line up."

November listening

Nick Drake Heaven in a Wild Flower (1985 best of) (Island) CD
Camper Van Beethoven Tusk (Cooking Vinyl) DBL CD
Fire Engines Hungry Beat (Acute) CD
Living Image The Show (demo) MP3
Andrew Morgan S/T (tbc) forthcoming CD
The Railway Children Brighter (Factory) 12"
Fleetwood Mac Rumours (Warner Brothers) DBL CD
The Specials Singles (2 Tone) CD
Bobb Trimble Iron Curtain Innocence (Secretly Canadian) CD
Dave Kusworth In Some Life Let Gone (Troubador) DBL CD
Edwyn Collins Home Again (Heavenly) CD

Patrick Cleandenim on Radio 2

***UPDATE - Patrick came 2nd! Thanks to all that voted! ***

Patrick Cleandenim's Rocket To The Moon is up for consideration as Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Maconie's record of the week next week on Radio 2. If it wins it will mean it gets played 4 times next week which could make a real difference to both Patrick & Broken Horse.

Please help us by voting for Patrick

The link for people to visit is below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/radcliffemaconie/picknmix.shtml


the email address is

radcliffe.maconie@bbc.co.uk

subject line : Pick n Mix

Message: Patrick Cleandenim - Rocket To The Moon


Please do take a minute to vote - it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Autumn Defense Manchester show cancelled

Unfortunately, the Autumn Defense show at the Briton's Protection has been cancelled because Wilco have pulled all their UK shows which were due to start next week. Apologies to anyone who was hoping to come down. The AD should be back in the UK in early 2008 for a proper tour of their own though.

Thanks.

Patrick Cleandenim vs Jens Lekman/CMJ/Interview

Patrick Cleandenim is supporting Jens Lekman at the following shows

Black Cat, Washington, DC.
October 25th

Webster Hall, New York, NY
October 27th

Paradise, Boston,Ma
October 28th,


Also Mike Wolf, editor of Time Out NY talks on WNYC's Soundcheck about what acts will emerge from CMJ unforgotten. According to Wolf, "the embarassingly talented" Patrick Cleandenim is a likely contender.

Click here to listen to the interview



Finally, Press Play and record have posted an interview with Patrick right here

The Autumn Defense - live in Manchester - CANCELLED!!!

****SHOW CANCELLED-SORRY!!!****
****SHOW CANCELLED-SORRY!!!****
****SHOW CANCELLED-SORRY!!!****

Broken Horse will be releasing The Autumn Defense's self titled (3rd) album in January 2008 in the UK/Europe.

By way of a pre-album launch we are promoting a show for the band in Manchester on Thursday 1st November. John & Pat will be in town to play with Wilco the next night but will be performing their only European show this year at the very intimate Briton's Protection (which is right next to The Bridgewater Hall).

Support comes from the excellent Starless and Bible Black

Seoul Boy

Andrew Morgan is currently residing in Seoul, South Korea teaching English whilst the mixing of his 2nd album is completed. He has started a blog to document his (mis) adventures whilst he's there. You can follow his progress here.

latest playlist

Fleetwood Mac - Say You Love Me (single version)
The Nectarine No 9 - Susan Identifer
The Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason (demo)
Okkervil River - Unless It's Kicks
Ghosty - Junior Grows Up
Rilo Kiley - Dreamworld
The Swimmers - Pocket Full of Gold
The Autumn Defense - This Will Fall Away
Laura Cantrell - Where The Roses Bloom Again
Okkervil River - A Hand To Take Hold Of
Fleetwood Mac - World Turning
Wilco - Impossible Germany
The Nectarine No 9 - Fibrecane No 4

Patrick Cleandenim - Days Without Rain (video)

Directed by Patrick Cleandenim. Also coming soon:

"We are nearing completion on The Scurimobile (Dir. Patrick Cleandenim) and it is set to be premiered in New York City in early December. The Scurimobile is an epic, Biblical tragedy set in 17th Century Italy, as performed by The Nile Room Stage Co. in 21st Century New York. It features Ingrid Schram, Philip John Velasco Gabriel, Georgia Gardner Gray, Loren Kramar and more!"

Patrick Cleandenim and the Living Image can also be seen appearing live this month:


12 Oct 2007 22:00
Triad Theatre New York, New York
19 Oct 2007 15:00
Cakeshop New York, New York
25 Oct 2007 20:00
Black Cat / w. Jens Lekman DC, Washington DC
27 Oct 2007 20:00
Webster Hall / w. Jens Lekman New York, New York

Patrick Cleandenim - Time Out (NY)

"As for opener Patrick Cleandenim, you wouldn’t think a guy in his early twenties would have such a developed sense of what separates retro from classic. But Cleandenim’s new Baby Comes Home (Ba Da Bing) re-creates the energy of so many strains of ’60s pop so effectively that we’ve come to believe the guy’s real success was in building a time machine, enabling him to take notes from Spector, Axelrod and Tony Mottola. Every song on Baby has a gentle dramatic sweep and classic pop snap. " Time Out (New York)

recent listening

REM Chronic Town (IRS) Mini LP
Beirut Elephant Gun (4AD) 7"
Pigbag Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag (Y/Rough Trade) 7"
Proud Simon Shoestring Universe (Proud Simon) CD
Cherry Ghost Mathematics (Heavenly) 7"
Ghosty Answers (forthcoming album!) CD
The Sisters of Mercy First and Last and Always (Warner Bros) LP
Television Adventure (Elektra) LP
REM Automatic For The People (Warner Bros) LP
Prefab Sprout Protest Songs (Kitchenware) LP
Fleetwood Mac Rumours (Warner Bros) LP

Pitchfork reviews Baby Comes Home

Pitchfork have given Patrick Cleandenim's Baby Comes Home an extremely positive review

"Ba Da Bing, which has shown a recent tendency toward the young and retro-dignified (Beirut, Essie Jain), finds its next constituent in 22-year old Lawrence, Kansas expat and Bobby Darin aspirant Patrick Cleandenim. His first LP under this moniker (his parents named him Patrick Clendenin Roberts), Baby Comes Home, was recorded throughout 2005 with significant help from enrollees in the University of Kansas' music department. Cleandenim recruited dozens of Jayhawks to serve as his backing band, and Baby's lush brass and strings reflect it. Studio time was tight, with recording sessions taking place during the graveyard shift-- only appropriate for a record with several songs that lurk through the darker side of the high life."

read the rest of the review here

Patrick Cleandenim - Sixeyes

The SIXEYES Blog has caught the Cleandenim bug, here's what they say,

"Listen up! What Zach Condon did for Balkan gypsy in the field of indie music, so Patrick Cleandenim (Patrick Clendenin Roberts) will do for minor key swingin' orchestral sixties pop. Indie label Ba Da Bing shows us all they're the real deal by first snagging Condon and now Cleandenim. I've got to admit that the idea of reviving this musical era and style left me cold at first, but after a few more listens over the past couple of weeks I've begun to see the light. This guy is gonna bring back the sing-a-long in cars on the way to the beach and on grey rainy Sundays, he's going to make us all feel like we're in our own private musical, which, and we can only hope, will kill karaoke for good (or, even better, Hollywood musicals), and he's going to turn some heads and prick some ears. But I've got a feeling this fellow won't stick to one style, he'll surprise with his next effort I'm sure.

Cleandenim is living in New York and he and his new band, Living Image, will be doing a few shows in the coming weeks in support of Baby Comes Home, check their myspace.

"I saw you walking with the vampire last night..." , so begins the opening cut, "Baby Comes Home", and if you let it, the music will sink it's teeth in and won't let go. "

Patrick Cleandenim and The Living Image - Live

Patrick Cleandenim and his new band The Living Image are playing four shows in New York in the coming weeks.

Sway
15 Aug 2007, 22:00
305 Spring Street (Between Hudson and Greenwich), New York, 10003

Admission is FREE

Sound Fix record store

24 Aug 2007, 20:00
110 Bedford Ave. (N. 11th.), New York,
Cost : Free

White Rabbits will perform at 10pm.

Mercury Lounge

30 Aug 2007, 19:30

On stage 7.30 pm! $10

Galapagos Art Space

13 Sep 2007, 22:00
70 N. 6th (Between Kent and Wythe), New York, 11211

Audiversity on Patrick Cleandenim

"To say Baby Comes Home is a promising solo debut is putting it lightly; this is a phenomenal debut of sheer (and somewhat already met) potential."

Read the whole article here

Baby Comes Home - Hartford Courant review

The Hartford Courant which is Connecticut's largest daily newspaper has reviewed Baby Comes Home.


PATRICK CLEANDENIM
Baby Comes Home
Ba Da Bing

Patrick Cleandenim hit 21 just as he finished recording "Baby Comes Home." That's slightly disturbing, given how mature the album is. The ambitious Cleandenim dishes out stately, orchestral pop like a young Burt Bacharach, though he's more likely to cite David Axelrod and Phil Spector as influences. Using University of Kansas music students for string and horn sections, the album boasts an unlikely alchemy of spirited Motown and baroque confessionals, imbued with the playfulness of bubblegum.

Yet darkness often descends, whether Cleandenim is crooning about poisoned cognac and caviar (with a sassy backup singer to boot) or pondering the difference between the drugs in various cities. Without a trace of emotion he sings, `I didn't have a clue what we were coming to / Until you said `I'm gone.'" That this all happens over such a classic-sounding backdrop makes it more unnerving still.

Cleandenim holds court from the bench of his piano, delivering pitch-black lyrics in the smoothest of voices as flurries of instruments sweep around him. That the album was recorded during the graveyard shift may explain its sinister vibe, but it's harder to fathom how a no-name 20-year-old crafted a stunning debut with eerie depth.

- DOUG WALLEN

Patrick Cleandenim and The Living Image - Live in NYC

If you're lucky enough to be in NYC over the next few days you can catch Patrick Cleandenim with his new band The Living Image not once but twice in the space of three days.

































On the Broken Horse stereo:

Spacemen 3 Walking With Jesus (Glass) 12"
Violent Femmes It's Gonna Rain (Slash) 7"
Weezer Hash Pipe (Geffen) 7"
The Velvet Underground Another View (Polydor) CD
Oddfellows Casino Giant Redwoods (Pickled Egg) 7"
Felt Forever Breathes The Lonely Word (Creation) LP

Patrick Cleandenim - So Far, So Good

Still not bought Baby Comes Home? OK, let's see if any of these guys can persuade you.

“I honestly can't imagine how Patrick Cleandenim will ever be able to follow this work up, as debuts of this caliber are pretty rare. No use worrying about that now, however, as this album has far from overstayed its welcome in my CD player. Baby Come Home is one of those records that reveals itself a little more with each listen, and I'm still listening” Other Music (NYC)

“He enlisted a cast of old pals and some music students and this timeless, cracking album resulted….The collision of expansive arrangements, smart songwriting and slightly amateurish sound quality makes for something truly original” (The Times)

“Music that swings (remember that?), all sleighbells, vibraphone, and sophisticated brass and vocal parts, topped off by Cleandenim's rich delivery and lush strings, testament to his skills as a classic-pop arranger based on an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from Motown to movie soundtracks to gritty mid-60s R&B.”

(The Guardian)

“An unexpected gem of an album” (WORD magazine)

“This newcomer has created a songbook with class, Rat Pack sass and a self assuredness that will make the Scissor Sisters check their shadow” (The Stool Pigeon)

“Cleandenim has crafted a magnificent album” (Alternative Ulster)

“Like debuts by The Strokes, Oasis, and even The Beatles, Baby Comes Home is a wall-to-wall clinic in songwriting…It’s an instant classic – a page from pop’s golden era brought to life in the 21st century” (Daytrotter)

.“Patrick Cleandenim will remind you of The Association, David Axelrod, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Darin, Prefab Sprout, early Todd Rundgren, ELO with soul and any number of legendary Brill Building singers and songwriters. The connection between The Delfonics and Rufus Wainwright, Cleandenim's debut is big and sweeping and oh so Sixties. The stunning album is called Baby Comes Home “(Some Velvet Blog)

“it's certainly only a matter of time before Patrick Cleandenim's big tunes are big news.” (Turn The Page)

“'Baby Comes Home' is so utterly accomplished, it comes over like a master-class in songwriting, albeit a very enjoyable one.” (Urban Junkies)

“For the second year in a row, it seems that the small Ba Da Bing! Records has a big time winner on its hands.. Who knows where he'll go from here, but this is one heck of a great start.” (Almost Cool)

“one of the most authentic pop albums in what feels like decades.” (Rant Magazine)

“Like Scott Walker joining arms with Divine Comedy, 'Baby Comes Home' has a depth and eloquence above and beyond.” (Flux)

“Patrick Cleandenim is an orchestral pop prodigy and Baby Comes Home should be your new best friend” (Swell)

Other Music on Patrick Cleandenim

New York City's premier independent music store Other Music has been heaping praise on Baby Comes Home

"Looks like Ba Da Bing!'s got quite a knack for discovering young up-and-coming crooners, what with the 2006 success story of Zach Condon (a/k/a Beirut) and his gypsy folk-inspired indie pop and now, a year later, Patrick Cleandenim, who's just released this surprisingly ambitious debut. Like Condon, it's impossible not to be impressed with the songwriting chops of this 22-year-old who possesses a voice that sounds to be a natural cross between Rufus Wainwright and Todd Rundgren. But rather than going to the Balkans for musical inspiration this Lawrence, Kansas native sticks a little closer to home, delivering a swinging piano-driven full-length that's much more American-influenced, with strong elements of Tin Pan Alley, Burt Bacharach, and Rat Pack-era orchestration thanks to his lively 12-piece backing band.

In this day and age, it would be easy to imagine all of these pieces of the puzzle coming together as some sort of ironic pastiche better suited for the '90s-era bachelor pad, but Baby Come Home stays faithful to the form and remains perfectly suited for these modern times as well. The self-titled opening track kicks the album off with the same swagger as "(You Give Me) Fever," but Cleandenim and his band quickly turn the song into a jaunty, sexy number involving vampires and werewolves. On the surface, his lyrics are simple and romantic, but his gift is turning easy rhymes into detailed stories with plenty of dark twists. "Cognac and Caviar" sounds like a plot lifted from an old Thin Man movie, where Cleandenim plans the murder of his love interest's boyfriend -- "I'll put poison in his cognac and caviar" -- following up with the promise that "if you can find a hideaway, I'll take you there." The crown jewel of Baby Come Home is surely "Days Without Rain," a dramatically lush psych-pop song with dense harmonies and waltzing strings that head for the cinematic scope of Jean-Claude Vannier. Meanwhile, Cleandenim uses the song title as an effective, heartbreaking metaphor, where he begs his lover to come home in the morning, "before our love begins to dry away."

I honestly can't imagine how Patrick Cleandenim will ever be able to follow this work up, as debuts of this caliber are pretty rare. No use worrying about that now, however, as this album has far from overstayed its welcome in my CD player. Baby Come Home is one of those records that reveals itself a little more with each listen, and I'm still listening. " Gerald Hammill

His Name is Really Patrick Cleandenim

The Some Velvet Blog has been raving about Baby Comes Home

"Patrick Cleandenim will remind you of The Association, David Axelrod, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Darin, Prefab Sprout, early Todd Rundgren, ELO with soul and any number of legendary Brill Building singers and songwriters. The connection between The Delfonics and Rufus Wainwright, Cleandenim's debut is big and sweeping and oh so Sixties. The stunning album is called Baby Comes Home and is finally out here in the States on Ba Da Bing!. It's a new styley! Indie-easy listening that has as much in common with Ray Conniff as it does with Belle & Sebastian.

A native of Lawrence, Kansas, Cleandenim got his musical start in the Radiohead influenced Clockwork before going solo in 2002. Moving to New York to study, he recorded the album in 2005 and it's an ambitious, infectious collection of orch-pop. "

original article here

current listening:

The Broken Family Band Balls (Track & Field) CD
The Autumn Defense Circles (Cooking Vinyl) CD
Leonard Cohen Greatest Hits (CBS) LP
Dumb Angels Love & Mercy (Fierce) 7"

Patrick Cleandenim - Rant interview

Patrick Cleandenim has been interviewed by Rant Magazine


Playlist:














The Broken Family Band - Leaps
The Swimmers - Pocket Full of Gold
Bishop Allen - Rain
Beulah - Emma Blowgun's Last Stand
The Yellow Moon Band - Entangled
OK Jones - Deep Sea Divers
Bright Eyes - Four Winds
Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping
The Autumn Defense - We Would Never Die
Buffalo Tom - You'll Never Catch Her
Candidate - Furlough
The Clientele - The Garden At Night
The Broken Family Band - Julian
David Vandervelde - Dancing Sea Gulls Instrumental

TV:









The Wire (HBO) Series 1, 2 and 3.

Patrick Cleandenim - Live in NYC

Patrick Cleandenim plays his first shows this week in New York & Brooklyn.

3rd July 2007, 19:00

131 E. 10th Street at 2nd Ave., New York City, 10003
Cost : $5

Benefit for St. Mark's Church with Lissy Trullie, The Virgins, and more!

4th July 2007, 14:00
345 Grand (Between Havemeyer & Marcy), Brooklyn, 11211
Cost : $5

The Minetta, Patrick Cleandenim, Woodwose, Greg Weeks, Lights, Inoculist, Free BBQ, $2 Beers!

Patrick Cleandenim - Almost Cool

With just a few weeks before the U.S release of Baby Comes Home on Ba Da Bing! the widely read Almost Cool blog has given the album an excellent review and tipped Patrick to follow the success by label mate Zach Condon of Beirut.

"For the second year in a row, it seems that the small Ba Da Bing! Records has a big time winner on its hands. Last year, the rough, but charming debut album from Beirut (Gulag Orkestar) showed off a budding young talent in Zach Condon, and I'm going to officially be one of many to proclaim Mr. Patrick Cleandenim (not sure if that's his real name) one of the young shining stars of 2007. After playing with local bands in Kansas, he found himself in New York city attending the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Arts. Like the album title states, though, he came home, and spent the wee hours of the day recording his debut album with the help of some friends and the goodwill of some college music students.

For starters, Baby Comes Home sounds big. It has a wide range of influences, most of them coming before the year 1970. You can hear a little bit of early Scott Walker, a bit of British Invasion, some doo-wop, and big band orchestral pop. It's ambitious as heck, and yet it rarely stumbles, keeping a brisk pace that finds eleven tracks clocking in at just under forty minutes. The album-titled "Baby Comes Home" starts the release with just the right amount of swagger as piano and horns play off one another nicely as crisp drums keep things moving. Cleandenim's vocals are suitably crooner, and by the time the string flourishes and looser ending hit, it's easy to get sucked in.

"Hypnotized" follows, and picks up the pace with some more sharp drumming, bursts of horns, and piano stomps. Vocals are a bit sharper on the track as well, moving from the loose style of the first track into a snappier observer, and the jubilant instrumentation (which is layered with everything from hand-claps and vibes) is again lush and hyper-melodic. Essentially, the rest of the album works this sort of retro cool vibe, but keeps things interesting by mixing up the instrumentation and feel of the songs nicely. "Days Without Rain" is a perfect example, with the ubiquitous piano and drums backed by dreamy swoops of strings and backing vocals that turn it into an almost lounge track that absolutely sparkles.

While there are a few tracks that feel more like glorified homages, most of Baby Comes Home is not only nicely informed of the past, but has enough slight updates to make it stand out. The rough-edged "Whispers Only Hurt Them" is a perfect example, with a dual piano / Rhodes and slightly distorted vocals that slightly fray the edges of the otherwise smooth song. This is one of those rare debut releases that's very assured, and while it has a few very minor missteps, it's also an enjoyable blast. Who knows where he'll go from here, but this is one heck of a great start."

rating: 8.5

Patrick Cleandenim - Word Magazine

Patrick Cleandenim's Until You Said I'm Gone is featured on the CD accompanying the July issue of The Word alongside the likes of Mavis Staples, The Aliens, Nick Lowe, Suzanne Vega and Meg Baird.

recent listening:

The Clientele God Save The Clientele (Merge) CD
The Broken Family Band Hello Love (Track & Field) CD
Candidate Oxengate (Snowstorm) CD
Bishop Allen & The Broken String (Dead Oceans) CD
Beachwood Sparks Midsummer's Daydream (Sub Pop) 7"
Beulah When Your Heartstrings Break (Shifty Disco) CD
Dawn Landes Two Three Four (Boy Scout) CD
The Cribs Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever (Wichita) CD
OK Jones Push/Pull (Centropolis) CD

Patrick Cleandenim - Swell magazine

recent listening:

The Broken Family Band Hello Love (Track & Field) CD
Candidate Oxengate (Snowstorm) CD
OK Jones Elephantoms (Centropolis) CD
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Straight To You (Mute) 7"
Seam Headsparks (City Slang) CD

Patrick Cleandenim - So You Think You're Gonna Live Forever (video)

Here's the video for the first radio single from Baby Comes Home, "So You Think You're Gonna Live Forever". It was shot in NYC and on location at Coney Island.


recent listening:

Espers The Weed Tree (Locust) CD
Galaxie 500 Peel Sessions (20/20/20) CD
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge) CD
Death Vessel Stay Close (ATP) CD
Fun Boy Three Waiting (Chrysalis) LP

doleful lions - magic without tears (video)

This is the video for the brand new Doleful Lions track "Magic Without Tears". The song will be on their forthcoming album 7. The video was directed by occasional collaborator Col. Yet another example of head lion Jonathan Scott's endless pop genius, as I'm sure you will agree.

Patrick Cleandenim - The Guardian

Wednesday May 2, 2007
Guardian Unlimited





Hometown: New York City.

The line-up: Patrick Cleandenim is aided and abetted by several eccentrically monikered musicians including Oto Gillen and Nathan Whipple, which might be East Village rhyming slang. Or not.

The background: If you like orchestral pop - which you should, because it is without doubt one of the great contemporary music genres along with Lovers Rock, postpunk funk, avant-disco and symphonic soul - you should at least investigate the impossibly named Patrick Cleandenim, a 22-year-old New Yorker who grew up in Lawrence, Kansas with Bobby Darrin/Dion DiMucci-style doo-wop and rock'n'roll coursing through his veins, as well as an innate desire to encourage listeners to do jazz hands.

Cleandenim - or Hygienicjeans to his friends - attended the East Village Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art where he wrote and produced short films and music of cinematic scope - not that the end product always matched the grandness of his ambition. In 2003, he was a high school senior playing in a Radiohead-inspired trio called Clockwork, but he soon got that out of his system and re-immersed himself in Brill Building songcraft and Broadway theatricality to make the music you can now hear - at affordable prices, too! - on his debut album Baby Comes Home. Music with titles like Hollywood and Caviar & Cognac that reeks of spats, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers terpsichorean wonder and, well, caviar and cognac. Music that swings (remember that?), all sleighbells, vibraphone, and sophisticated brass and vocal parts, topped off by Cleandenim's rich delivery and lush strings, testament to his skills as a classic-pop arranger based on an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from Motown to movie soundtracks to gritty mid-60s R&B. Just don't use it as an opportunity to do jazz hands. Please.

The buzz: "Like debuts by the Strokes, Oasis and even the Beatles, Baby Comes Home is a wall-to-wall clinic in songwriting."

The truth: Forgive the pedantry, but the Beatles' debut wasn't actually much cop, but point taken.

Most likely to: Scare the baggy-suit pants off Rufus Wainwright.

Least likely to: Appeal to lovers of death metal or industrial grindcore.

File next to: Runt-era Todd Rundgren, Neil Sedaka, Nilsson, David Vandervelde.

What to buy: Baby Comes Home is now out on Broken Horse.

Links: Official site MySpace page

Tomorrow's new band: I Was A King.

Paul Lester

Patrick Cleandenim - The Stool Pigeon 4/5

Patrick Cleandenim Flux review

Patrick Cleandenim on Ba Da Bing!

After an intensive period of wine and dining in some of the finest restaurants New York City has to offer, Patrick Cleandenim has been signed up for the U.S/Canada to Ba Da Bing! records by label head honcho Ben Goldberg. As you may be aware Ba Da Bing! released the huge selling Beirut album "Gulag Orkestar" last year. They hope to have the album on the streets and sidewalks of North America sometime in June 2007.

Patrick Cleandenim - The Times 4/5

Patrick Cleandenim - Alternative Ulster

Alternative Ulster have given Baby Comes Home a stunning review. Click on the above image to read in full.

Patrick Cleandenim reviewed at Daytrotter

Andrew Morgan has reviewed Baby Comes Home for Daytrotter

Patrick Cleandenim - Neu Kid on the Block

From the first issue of Neu Magazine, New York:

In 1983 Beat Icon William S. Burroughs packed up his Bowery, New York belongings and moved to Lawrence, Kansas to finish out the chapters of his life. In a reverse pilgrimage of sorts, young Patrick Cleandenim, product of Lawrence, has made his way to New York's Lower East Side and Cooper Union where he plies his craft in music and visual arts.

"Baby Comes Home," Cleandenim's debut album will be released in Europe in early 2007 with stateside release soon thereafter. Cleandenim has crafted a song cycle with all the ambition of 64-track orchestrations that pays homage to the sounds of glam, jazz rock, and lounge, but the songs' often up-tempo beats and full sound sometimes belie their more twisted and dark lyrics (the track "Cognac and Caviar," for instance. is about poisoning...)

In the unending desire to classify and quantify, Cleandenim's music has typically been categorized as jazz rock but while jazz is important to Cleandenim, he explains that "it's more about the process than the actual product." As for musical influence, Cleandenim says he is as indebted to the producers Phil Spector and Jean-Claude Vannier, who produced french troubadour Serge Gainsbourg, as he is to a more likely comparison of a Beck.

A healthy tradition of rock bands have taken in the crucible of the "Art School's" nurturing womb - from Pink Floyd's Regent Street Polytechnic to the Talking Head's RISD - and Patrick and his Cooper Union mates have high hopes to continue in their predecessor's footsteps.

- Matt Saha

Patrick Cleandenim - Word Up!

The first review of Patrick Cleandenim's Baby Comes Home has been published in the excellent and extremely readable Word magazine.

There's some more exciting news on the horizon regarding the album's US release which we should be able to confirm in the next few days.

The Autumn Defense Winterlight

The Autumn Defense is the band led by Wilco's Pat Sansone and John Stirratt. Have been enjoying their latest self titled album (Broadmoor records). This is one of the stand out tracks from that album.

Kevin Tihista Lose The Dress

Playlist March 2007

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nature Boy
Patrick Cleandenim Days Without Rain (instrumental)
Camera Obscura Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
The Tyde A Loner
Proud Simon American Caskets
The Decemberists Perfect Crime #2
Archie Bronson Outfit Cuckoo
Jarvis Cocker Don't Let Him Waste Your Time
Willy Mason Save Yourself
Andrew Morgan We Almost Made It
The Autumn Defense Winterlight
Sparklehorse Shade and Honey
Kevin Tihista Idiots
Conner Go Back
Doleful Lions Aftermath
Imitation Electric Piano Leave Her Johnny
The Folk Implosion Natural One
Howlin' Rain The Firing of the Midnight Rain