Jun 11 2012

Help Support Barnardos With The Oldie Composers

Hello folks,

Today is the official release of the Oldie Composers EP. With over 250 submissions, the four finalists had their songs recorded at Maida Vale studios in April (you can check out my photoblog from the sessions) and today sees the release of all four songs on iTunes and the Charity Goods website. I’ve just got home from the launch with Sir Terry Wogan at the BBC and we’re all very excited about the project…

The EP features performances by Anthony Head, FTW, Clare Teal and Andrea Ryder; with a stellar band including Marcus Bonfanti, Nick Mason, Ian ‘Squeezy’ Watson, Steve Rushton, Grant Windsor and Bond. And me on bass obviously…

You can buy a CD of the EP if you prefer from the Charity Goods website (there are a limited number available), but the best way to support the charity is to download from either iTunes or their site. The songwriter with the most downloads will win the Oldie Composers competition so you’ll be voting with your downloading! Although this is a charity EP, so if I were you I’d just download the entire thing…

You can have a listen to the tracks on iTunes (just click this link) and grab a copy of your favourites. At the moment it looks as if FTW’s version of Loves Forever is in the lead, but I’d also highly recommend checking out Anthony Head’s version of Cry by Marina Florence and Clare Teal’s Peace For The Child by Maggie Duffy. Not that I want to influence the outcome of the competition, obviously…

Big congratulations go out to all the finalists. The songs all sound great thanks to the sterling work of our producer AD Chivers. And as always big thanks are due to Hellen Bach (@HellenBach) and Norman Macintosh (@BigNormski1) for all their hard work in making this happen. Between them they have raised millions for children’s charities. You should follow them both on Twitter immediately to keep up to date with their various projects and see how you can help.

So please do share this post, tweet about the EP and tell your friends on Facebook. All proceeds from the downloads will go to Barnardos and we need your help to spread the word. Hopefully Radio 2 will be playing some of the tracks over the coming week so you may well hear us on air at some point too. It was an absolute pleasure to be involved with this project and I hope we can build on it for the future to make this a regular fund-raising event for this great charity.

Enjoy 🙂

 


Mar 23 2012

CDs or Downloads?? You Decide.

Good morning everybody,

Earlier this month I asked the good people of Twitter whether they preferred downloads or physical copies of albums. The main reason behind this is that my third solo album (#soloalbum3) is coming together nicely and will soon be ready for release. So it’s that time of year once again when I agonize over whether to get a load of CDs pressed or just stick to digital distribution.

A lot of artists and bands are struggling with this question now so I thought I’d drop a quick post here to share my thoughts and hopefully hear some of yours.

With two albums out already I have experimented with both formats. My first album Mandala was released in 2010 on CD and download. It was my first dalliance with Bandcamp and also the first time I’d been through the process of getting a physical product manufactured. So all very exciting. It was important for me to have CDs pressed for my first album, whether they sold or not, because it was something I’d always dreamed of doing. Sad but true. So I had 1000 copies made.

Which is a big issue for a lot of people. I didn’t need 1000 copies. I am well aware that if I choose to make particularly esoteric music I won’t be selling vast quantities of CDs. And given the kind of music it is (and if you haven’t heard it yet but are reading this blog post I have no idea how you got here!) a download would be preferable to most people.

Here’s the rub. It is the same price to get 1000 copies made as it is to get 500 made. And the price per unit is extortionate for anything less than 1000 copies. I have a lot left folks! Fear not if you don’t have one yet; I shan’t run out any time soon. Most people that did buy Mandala from my website (or iTunes etc) bought the download. I tend to sell the CDs on gigs but not so much online. I guess buying a CD from someone you have seen perform live is a very different and more tangible experience than going home after a show and downloading their album.

So when it was time to release my second album The Knowledge of Things To Come last year I decided to release it purely as a download. This meant that the audio quality of the music was higher across the board (24bit as opposed to 16bit squashed down for CD) and I had no production costs. I sold more digital copies of Knowledge than I did of Mandala.

But I can’t sell it on gigs. As a result I’d say that I have sold far fewer copies of the last download-only record than the one which is available on CD. After a chat with Grant Windsor on one of our long car journeys across the country with Ms Teal (#tealtour) I have been considering the idea of selling download cards at gigs instead. Now this is not a new concept. Bandcamp have been offering this facility for years and I know CD Baby also offer them to users. Basically I would be selling a little printed card with a unique download code which would enable people at gigs to go home and download the album. I like this idea because although you can tell people to go home and look at your website in nine times out of ten they won’t. Or more likely they will have forgotten the address. Having a physical thing that you have paid money for to actually take home and utilize makes a big difference. I think..

So. It’s over to you. I had a very mixed response form Twitter (@simonlittle). I was expecting the vast majority of Twitter users to prefer downloads. But a significant number of people stated they would much prefer a CD. Something to touch, keep, play in the car etc. I have started buying much more music as downloads, purely because 1. It’s normally a bit less money, 2. I have so many CDs and I have very little room and 3. I listen to virtually all my music via my iPod wherever I am anyway. I haven’t used a CD player for years so all the CDs I buy only ever get played into iTunes anyway. I do always buy CDs from certain artists. Peter Broderick, Kate Bush, Bjork and Tom Waits have all prompted instant trips to Fopp.

So which would you prefer and why? Do leave your comments here so we can have a little discussion. I’m intrigued to hear your thoughts…


Sep 18 2010

Mandala by Simon Little now officially available on CD and download!!

It’s official, my debut solo album Mandala is now available on CD!!

In fact I’ve just heard that a few lucky folk have already received the copies of the album I sent out yesterday afternoon. The postal system is obviously improving somewhat. I picked up a motherload of CDs from the lovely David at Key Production yesterday lunchtime and am so happy with the finished product.

The CD is exclusively available on my website (click here for a shortcut!). It comes lovingly packaged in an eco-friendly recycled card sleeve designed by my friend Symeon Cosburn with photos by Ary Vidot. The CD version also includes immediate download of the digital version of Mandala in whatever format you prefer (FLAC, 320k MP3 etc).

I keep getting asked about the record; what sort of music is it? Is it really just bass? So here is some of the info I’ve started sending out to give you some background…

Simon Little releases solo album Mandala

Having been experimenting with live-looping technology for the past few years, bassist Simon Little has now released his debut solo album Mandala.

Best known for his work with The Divine Comedy, Clare Teal and Duke Special, Simon has appeared on numerous recordings and this is his first release under his own name.

The entire album was recorded using solely his Warwick Thumb VI, a wide array of effects and a Looperlative LP1. Simon uses live looping to create ambient soundscapes as a basis for improvistion. He explains:

When I was 17 I was listening to the Weather Report live album 8:30 and heard Jaco perform his solo live-looping piece ‘Slang’. It changed the way I thought about playing the bass and so began my obsession with making music using the bass as a solo instrument.

Whilst I was studying at The Guildhall School, a friend introduced me to the fantastic Eberhard Weber album Pendulum. This album really opened my eyes to the possibilities of using live-looping technology to create vast soundscapes and textures as a basis for improvisation.

Mandala is the culmination of my ongoing experimentation with looping technology. Each track is a live improvisation using the Looperlative LP1.

Mandala is available now on CD or digital download via Bandcamp at Simon’s website http://music.simonlittlebass.com.

Some lovely people have also been asking how they can help promote the record and spread the word online. As you can imagine this is incredibly important for an independent release and I am a great believer in the power of Social Media. My best suggestions for anyone who likes the music is simply to tell your friends, tell your colleagues and tell your family via whatever method you prefer. I use Twitter and Posterous to share new musical discoveries and recommendations. Some people prefer Facebook or Delicious. Some people even prefer MySpace (!). One great way to let people hear the album is using the embeddable player from the Bandcamp page itself. Just click the Share button to copy and paste the code onto whatever page you’re using. Easy…

Big thanks to everybody that has bought and downloaded the album already. I’ve had some great feedback and hopefully will be getting a bit of press coverage in the near future.

Hope you’re all enjoying the music…

Simon x