Recordings
The Absence of Birds
CD EP & Film, 2008
(Pickled Egg Records Egg 66CD)
1. Your Old Skin and Bones
2. Take Me Out To Sea
3. Oddfellow’s Wake
4. The Ghost of Oddfellows
5. includes the short film, “Ballad of Oddfellow” dir. Toby Amies 2007
Listen to Take Me Out To Sea:
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Reviews
This new EP has Oddfellows Casino’s trademark tracks of immaculate sophistication, which are of the same high level as those in which the High Llamas have also found their greatest moments of desperation. Spotless vocals, in distinguished songs, that send out waves of love, consideration and care, without ever getting tacky or slimy. David Bramwell remains the British singer closest to Brian Wilson’s heritage, without really striving for it as he sticks to his Sussex, England roots.
Penny Black Music
Bramwell’s wistful voice is well suited to this kind of subtle, melodious songwriting, and the EP as a whole is rather lovely. The film – 20 minutes of sepia tinted faux-Victorian melancholia starring former Salvador Dali model Drako Oho Zarhazar – relates the sad life of Ambrose Oddfellow, following the accidental killing of his beloved wife. Bramwell’s plaintive music accompanies this vision of nostalgia perfectly, and the whole is a memorable work of art.
Terrascope
Peppered with mood, mystery and melody; a real treasure, far from the madding crowd.
Mark Barton
Winter Creatures
CD, 2005
(Pickled Egg Records Egg 54CD)
1. Your Welcome/Cool Water
2. Camping on the Moon
3. Carrying the Great Cold on our Backs
4. Winter Creatures
5. The Night We Saw a Badger
6. Song of the Crane Fly
7. Rabbit County
8. The Cold Machine
9. Oddfellow’s Shanty
10. Say Goodbye to the Band
Listen to The Night We Saw a Badger, and Rabbit County:
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Reviews
Firmly out of sync with current trends, being instead a delicate pastoral exploration of the countryside, coloured with brass and sweet vocals reminiscent of Soft Machine-era Robert Wyatt. Notes linger. Tunes ache. Lyrics tease, like a cornucopia of found sound and jumble sale psychedelia.
Everett True, Plan B
A sonic brew that I suspect will be ingrained into my living room walls by the time the winter is here. This one is for absent friends and for making it through another long, dark winter.
Thierry Nollet
Like real love, this is guaranteed to break your heart; and well worth it.
George Parsons, Dream Magazine
You fucking bastard. Having just released what will undoubtedly be in my top five albums of 2005. Fuck me, Dave – how in God’s name did you come up with this work of genius? You bastard.
Dave Morrison, Gilded Palace of Sin
Yellow Bellied Wonderland
CD, 2002
(Pickled Egg Records Egg 39CD)
1. Road Movie
2. Giant Redwoods
3. Some Corner of the Evening
4. The Last Great Days
5. In This House
6. Put the Bird to Sleep
7. Hide Me Joe
8. Arthur, Who Drowned in his Sleep
9. The Prune-faced Man and his Fat Wife
10. Swingers
11. Ballad of Oddfellow
Listen to Road Movie, and Put the Bird to Sleep:
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Reviews
Careful articulate and eloquent low key, soft spoken pop of the highest order.
George Parsons
A symphony for moog, Hammond and romantic vocals, the mellow tones of this album will warm your heart.
Les Inrockuptibles
Coming over at times like a one-man Beta Band arming the Red House Painters with references to 70’s television shows, Lincolnshire rain and “trains to Doncaster”, this is a car-boot sale wonderland of shimmering resonance.
Smile Magazine
If you adore subtleties and things out of step with the current consensus, then ‘Yellow Bellied Wonderland’ will re-affirm your faith that truly classic songwriters exist out there somewhere. In short, the rarest of things.
www.losingtoday.com
After one of the best singles this year, this album had a lot to live up to. I’m glad to say it does and with great aplomb.
Broken Face Writers
Giant Redwoods / Put the Bird to Sleep
7” single, 2002
(Pickled Egg Records Egg 35)
Reviews
This simply wouldn’t sound out of place on Pet Sounds with its clean melody, classical/ pop feel and cello and piano sounds to die for. Add a pinch of the East and a few electronic effects and it’s over simply too soon. There’s no avoiding getting up and putting it on again. Two short minutes of pure joy.
Pop News
Every so often a single comes out of the blue by a band I’ve never heard of that knocks my socks off: gloriously crafted songs, beautifully produced and arranged, mid-period Beach Boys wide-eyed melancholy, Felt-esque swirling Hammond accompaniment, this has ‘classic single’ bursting from its grooves.
The Melody Bar
