Spottiswoode And His Enemies Enter Pantheon of Musicians Wondrously Illustrated in The New Yorker!

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Alexander Gorlizki, Angie Wang, BMCC Tribeca PAC, candace debartolo, John Schaefer, john young, kevin cordt, Riley McMahon, Spottiswoode, Spottiswoode & His Enemies, The New Yorker, tim vaill, Tony Lauria, Tribeca, WNYC

 

SPOTTISWOODE & HIS ENEMIES CELEBRATE THEIR FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY AT BMCC TRIBECA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH

 

The Enemies enter the pantheon of musicians wondrously illustrated in The New Yorker

              

                                                 Illustration: Angie Wang

“Spottiswoode & His Enemies, an agile septet that moves effortlessly through a wide range of genres, including cabaret, gospel, and rock, celebrates its fifteenth year on the New York scene with a show at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.” The New Yorker

 

“Nothing short of transportive” Paste Magazine

 

“The English born singer-songwriter Spottiswoode has been one of New York’s more colorful band leaders for more than a decade.“

John Schaefer, WNYC, Soundcheck

 

“You can hear songwriter Spottiswoode’s English origins in his accent, which sounds like a roughed-up version of Ray Davies. Similarly, the music suggests such messy Brit romantics as Syd Barrett and Art Brut.” Time Out New York 

  

On Friday, November 9th SPOTTISWOODE & HIS ENEMIES will celebrate their fifteenth anniversary by bringing their unique brand of rock and roll to the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. They have been invited to perform at the Center’s prestigious “The Next Voice You Hear” concert event that showcases some of the best unsung national and international talents as part of their Spotlight Series. The show comes on the heels of the announcement that the band has won two Independent Music Awards: Best Adult Contemporary Song and the Vox Populi IMA for Best Eclectic Album of 2011.

 

Since no two gigs by the Englishman and his New York band are ever the same, what can an audience expect at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center?

 

“A little bit of this and a little bit of that,” says the English singer-songwriter. “Songs about love and longing, families, dreams, God, the Devil and everything in between.”

 

In other words, Spottiswoode & His Enemies will play their patented blend of emotional theatre, sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking. In addition to numbers from their recent award-winning album, Wild Goosechase Expedition, the band will play older hits from their extensive catalogue. They also promise a few tunes from their forthcoming album, English Dream (set for release in 2013).

 

Spottiswoode’s music has been compared to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Ray Davies, Nick Cave and many other of the more sophisticated critical darlings. Still, he is very much his own incarnation. The full seven-piece band creates an unparalleled mighty sound that careens seamlessly from balls-out rock, cabaret and gospel to pristine balladry.

 

Together since their November 1997 debut at Washington DC’s Black Cat, Spottiswoode & His Enemies consists of Spottiswoode (vocals and guitar), John Young (bass), Tim Vaill (drums), Candace DeBartolo (sax and vocals), Kevin Cordt (trumpet and vocals), Riley McMahon (guitar and the kitchen sink), and Tony Lauria (piano, keys and accordion.) Led by “one of New York’s more colorful band leaders for more than a decade,” (WNYC’s John Schaefer), they continue to be a one-of-a-kind New York institution.

 

WHAT: Spottiswoode & His Enemies

WHERE: BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007, Phone: (212) 220-1460

WHEN: Friday, November 9th

TIME:  8:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $15.00 General Public/ $10.00 for Spotlight Series Members

http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=NEX5

 

BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center is Downtown Manhattan’s premier presenter of the arts, reaching audiences from the college community, Downtown residential and business communities, schools, families, and audiences of all ages. BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center strives to present a broad global perspective through the presentation of high quality artistic work in music, theatre, dance, film and visual arts.  They support emerging and established artists who create works that inspire creativity and imagination, celebrate diversity and change as well as instill emotional, social, and political awareness.

 

The New Yorker says “Keep Them Close” 

 

“Spottiswoode & His Enemies, an agile septet that moves effortlessly through a wide range of genres, including cabaret, gospel, and rock, celebrates its fifteenth year on the New York scene with a show at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.” The New Yorker

Art for Spottiswoode & His Enemies Wild Goosechase Expedition: Alexander Gorlizki

 

Spottiswoode & His Enemies’ VIDEOS:

That’s What I Like

Beautiful Monday

Haven’t Changed At All

For more information: spottiswoode.com

Raves for Spottiswoode & His Enemies’ Wild Goosechase Expedition:

 

Pete Chianca, Popdose
“It’s a good bet that whoever says there’s no such thing as an original idea — in music or otherwise — has not taken a good close listen to Spottiswoode…Theatrical rock adventures…with elements of jazz, folk, Broadway and Leonard Cohen-style poetic musings… on I’d Even Follow You to Philadelphia, Spottiswoode croaks out what may be the best love song ever to channel the spirit of W.C. Fields….In an era of popular music that’s invariably pre-packaged and easily labeled, “Wild Goosechase Expedition is a small miracle — and a trip worth taking. Pack your bug spray.”

Deli Magazine Best of NYC 2011

“The band knows how to tell a story, because they’ve probably lived it before you had your first drink. With a voice carving a space between Warren Zevon and Ian Dury, Spottiswoode’s work takes you on a journey to a place inhabitated by hedonism and romance, but few regrets.”

New York Music Daily: The Fifty Best Albums of 2011 
“The literate art-rocker’s critique of the perils of life during wartime is spot-on and amusing as well. This sprawling, psychedelic, Beatlesque effort is a career best, and the band is scorching.”

The Daily Vault, Jason Warburg
“If you mixed the laconic, cheeky British cool of Ian Hunter with the brooding urbanity of Leonard Cohen, added the balls-out Broadway showmanship of Bat Out Of Hell composer Jim Steinman, and sprinkled it all with the self-deprecating panache of James Bond, you might emerge with Jonathan Spottiswoode’s less interesting twin brother, because he’s clearly more demented than that.”

babysue.com
“Spottiswoode has a real knack for writing smart memorable catchy pop tunes that could easily appeal to millions of listeners.”

 

Deadline to vote for the Independent Music Awards Vox Populi (Popular Vote) extended to July 27th!

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adult c, Amy Correia, concept album, eclectic, folk, Independent Music Awards, Life in a Blender, QuigleyMedia, Spottiswoode, Spottiswoode & His Enemies, Vox Populi

New York, NY —   The fan voting has been extended until July 27th due to a computer glitch on the IMA website that has since been fixed…. Thank you to all of you who have voted so far and for others who haven’t yet cast your votes, please consider voting for QuigleyMedia clients: Amy Correia, Life in a Blender, Don Rosler: Rosler’s Recording Booth and Spottiswoode & His Enemies.

All you have to do is register here with your email and create a password.

After they confirm you have registered you can vote at the links below and click on as many stars as you would like to give the album/songs:

The links for voting are here:

Amy Correia in 3 categories:  Folk Singer-Songwriter category
in the Love Song category
and in the Story Song category

Life In A Blender in the Eclectic Song category

Spottiswoode and His Enemies for Best Eclectic Album and Best Adult Contemporary Song

Spottiswoode is also featured vocalist on two tracks on Don Rosler’s: Rosler’s Recording Booth which is nominated in the Best Concept Album category. Vote here

Thank you from my heart!

Bernadette

		Greetings! Our apologies for the glitch in the Vox Pop voting system that occurred over the past weekend. Happily our team got it up & running quickly & the interruption was brief. The fact that the system was down at a time when many of you were planning last-minute campaigns directing fans to the voting platform was most unfortunate. And so, to make up the difference we’ve extended the Vox Pop Voting deadline for 1 week.      Fan voting will now close on Friday, July 27th at 11:59pm.      Winners of the Vox Pop Poll will be announced within 2 weeks      following the new deadline. Many thanks to all of you who contacted us about the glitch – this 1 week+ extension gives you the time needed to plan & coordinate your fan outreach. And stay tuned – we’ll be announcing the first batch of confirmed judges for the 12th IMA program soon. Wishing you great success! – The Independent Music Awards

Spottiswoode’s “Haven’t Changed at All” from his Independent Music Awards-nominated solo album, “Piano 45”

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Adele, clare elliott, Duffy, Greece, Haven't Changed at All, Independent Music Awards, Kenny Siegal, Monty Python, Piano 45, Spottiswoode, Spottiswoode & His Enemies, Tony Lauria, Williamsburg Bridge

New York, NY- Spottiswoode has made a music video of a song from his IMA-nominated solo album, PIANO 45.

Shot in one take on the Williamsburg Bridge by Clare Elliott, HAVEN’T CHANGED AT ALL is the heartbroken ballad of a man failing to find enlightenment after a romantic break-up.

THE SONG:
Here’s Spottiswoode’s thoughts:

“I wrote the song in the spring of 2008 on the island of Mykonos in Greece. It sounds quite luxurious, I suppose. The band had just celebrated its tenth anniversary and I had decided to take my first full break from playing or recording music in over a decade. I had also gone through a break-up. I found subletters for my New York apartment and went back to England to spend some time with my parents and breathe some different air.
The timing was lucky. Tony Lauria, band keyboardist extraordinaire, had just started an extended piano gig at a cabaret bar on Mykonos. He had an extra bed for me to sleep on. I decided to visit.
Tony took care of me. We went swimming during the daytime. In the evening he made me lamb chops. Then I would go and watch him play. One night I stayed in. Tony had a practice keyboard in his bedroom, and since I’d recently fallen in love with writing songs on piano I decided to compose something before he got home.
The song is unusual for me, more hooky than my regular ditties. In a way, it has two choruses – first ‘I haven’t changed at all,’ and then ‘I miss my baby…’ So the structure is:
verse
verse
pre-chorus
chorus 1
chorus 2
verse
verse
pre-chorus
chorus 1
chorus 2
outro
It’s all finished in less than three minutes.
Lyrically, the song is obviously very heart-on-its-sleeve. A heartbroken seeker has gone round the world in search of enlightenment. He gets home, sees his ex-girlfriend and discovers that he’s as heartbroken as ever. So much for his grand intentions! The irony is that I actually wrote the song on a beautiful island on the Aegean far away from home. Yes, I was heartbroken but no, my journey wasn’t over. So I was projecting myself into a time I imagined in the future.
THE RECORDING
I recorded the song about a year later along with the other tracks from PIANO 45 at Old Soul Studios in Catskill, NY. Kenny Siegal, my producer, fell in love with this song in particular. In fact, when he later heard the band play it he cursed me for not including the more arranged version on our subsequent Enemies CD. Perhaps one day. Before that I encourage Adele or Duffy or any mega R&B or hiphop star to take a crack. Please!
THE VIDEO
Talking of Adele and Duffy, the concept was inspired by their recent videos “Someone Like You” and “Warwick Avenue.” Both are extremely simple and stripped-down with almost no cuts at all. Duffy sits in a taxi. Adele walks along the Seine. They are mega-stars of course so their videos are simultaneously raw and glamourous. They look straightforward but I’m sure they cost a fortune.
I am proud to say that “Haven’t Changed At All” cost about sixty bucks! It is raw, yes, but there’s nothing glamourous about it whatsoever. It was shot on the Williamsburg Bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn on an extremely windy afternoon during Passover week. During one test of the steadicam holder she had just hired (and was using for the first time!) Clare Elliott was accosted by a Hasidic family strolling across the bridge. They screamed at her for invading their privacy. The camera wasn’t even turned on!
Clare stuck her iPhone in my jacket pocket and taped an ear-phone into my right ear and behind my hair so that I had some way of singing in sync with the original track. Then for the three minutes of the song she walked backwards in a bike lane. All this in the wind using a device she had only just hired for the first time. (The Frenchman who rented us the steadicam in the morning insisted Clare would need three days practice to be ready to use it at all.)
The plan was always to use one take and have zero cuts. We shot the song about five times before the wind became impossible. Over all, this is by far the best version. In a Monty Python sketch the bicyclists would of course crash into the singer before the end and put him out of his misery. Next time.”