Sweet Baboo

End of 2011 (Welcome London 2012)

It’s been exciting, I’ve played some gigs, made some records, joined some bands and most importantly avoided growing up for another year.
Here is, in Monthly order, some stuff that me (and my family) are proud of:

JANUARY
Finish sweet baboo EP Girl Under a Tree
Help H Hawkline record his second album ‘The Strange Uses of OX Gall’
Play on Cate Le Bon’s records ‘Cyrk 1′ and ’2′

FEBRUARY
Help H Hawkline mix his album
Make Video for Sweet Baboo song ‘The Day I lost my Voice’ with Film Ryan in a petting zoo in the dark.

MARCH
Finish H Hawkline’s album.
Join Slow Club the band and start rehearsing

APRIL
Mix Spencer McGarry Season album ‘Episode 3′
Help record a live free improvised record with Euros Childs, H Hawkline, Laura J Martin, Megan Childs, and R Seiliog under the name Short and Curlies to be released sometime in 2012
Sweet Babs plays at Laugharne Festival, H Hawkline and Cate Le Bon also play. We watch Robert Wyatt in chat.
First gig with Slow Club on the day of the Royal Wedding. Am proud to be British.

MAY
Sweet Baboo, Cate Le Bon and Slow Club all play at Fence Collective’s Home Game in Fife, I get blown away by Francois and the Atlas Mountains, I also get dangerously close to water while I am under the influence. A good time is had.
Record Saxophone for Slow Club’s song Hackney Marsh

JUNE
Help record album for Cate Le Bon and Meilyr Racehorses band Yoke
Play Saxophone at the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury for Gruff Rhys
Play bass for Jonny at Glastonbury and on tour
Release Sweet Baboo e.p (Girl Under a Tree) on Shape Records

JULY
Nothing of note as far as I can tell, all I’m doing is going through my diary whilst sat on the sofa being all Johnny big balls and unfortunately July seems to be pretty empty. I must have done something I think.

AUGUST
Play at Applecart Festival with Cate Le Bon, I go watch Kevin Rowlands sing along to his own songs while djing.
Play at Green Man Festival with H Hawkline and R Seiliog. Loudest and most fun gigs of the year, All right!
Play at Rough Trade East in London with Slow Club

SEPTEMBER
Go on tour with Slow Club, Sweet Babs supports.

OCTOBER
Swim in the sea in Margate
Sweet Baboo and band do Marc Riley session for six music
Sweet Baboo song gets played on Radio 3 – Mum and Dad boast to friends that University Education was worthwhile.
Wickes record and Scrap album.
H Hawkline, Slow Club and Sweet Baboo play at Swn Festival in Cardiff
Sweet Baboo album, I’m a Dancer gets nominated for the Welsh Music Prize. It doesn’t win but I get royally excited (pissed) at the ceremony and embarrassingly whoop when I see myself dressed as a hedgehog on a projection screen.

NOVEMBER
Go to America with Slow Club.
Get Fatter in America with Slow Club.
Meet (See) Jo Whiley and Francis Rossi from Status Quo.
Record Saxophone for Voluntary Butler Scheme’s new album

DECEMBER
Go to Sweden and Denmark with Slow Club and dance to techno music.

Still to come in December as of Tuesday the 6th of December

Wickes Farewell tour of Berlin, London and Dresden – 2 years, 5 songs and 7 gigs we decided to call it a day due to laziness
Gruff Rhys christmas ep comes out where I play a very squeaky saxophone on one song.
Slow Club play some christmas gigs

END

***So I realise this sounds like a long list of boasting, but hey ho, the internet is a perfect platform to do such things.
There’s one other thing I’m really proud of too – Helping to record H Hawkline’s EP Run Zatopek Run which sounds like the most obnoxious and loudest thing we’ve ever recorded. I don’t even know if it’s available. It sounds cool though. I should have put this in July I suppose.

2012

I’m not quite sure what’s gonna happen. There will be a new Sweet Baboo record out at some point, tentatively called Ships (sounds like a bit like shits though done it!)
I’m also gonna help out on records by The Pictish Trail, H Hawkline and Euros Childs. Cate le Bon and The Voluntary Butler Scheme’s albums will be out sometime next year and Cousins, an album by Meilyr Racehorses and Euros Childs which I helped record last year will be out too!!! I’m off with Slow Club too so hooray for life!

***Please see sentiment above as regards to 2012 too.

END OF TOUR RUNDOWN / WELSH MUSIC PRIZE

END OF TOUR RUNDOWN

So two weeks ago yesterday, the first ever sweet baboo tour proper, supporting Slow Club, came to an end in Brighton.
Needless to say I had a good time. Thanks to the people who came and listened.

Short, but a rundown none the least.

Below is a clip of me playing sax at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

I come back in at the end too, incase you turned it off early.

WELSH MUSIC PRIZE

My album, I’m a Dancer / Songs About Sleepin ‘ has been nominated for the first ever Welsh Music Prize. It’s gonna be announced next Friday, I’ve penciled down some ideas for my speech and my mum’s bought 3 bottles of Cava just in case. If the decision goes on smallest record sales and the fact that the same song is on there twice then I’m a shoo-in. Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed.

Finally, there’s a few more gigs this year. Swn Festival and The Halloween Music Fair.

And my other band WICKES (with Rob from the Voluntary Butler Scheme) have been doing some recording before our 3 gigs in December. They are going to be pretty hilarious.  We’re playing at the Royal College of Art, then two Gigs in Germany. We’re possibly the most artschool band ever.

LIVE VIDEO

Below is a video of me playing at the pot cafe in Cardiff earlier this year. It was filmed and edited by my friend filmryan (of Dr Who fame) with help from some of his friends. He took all the chatting out cause he said I sounded like a nob. It looks pretty cool huh!!!

Ryan is gonna be making a noise genius album soon, I’ll let you know when it’s finished.

Finally, a few more gigs have been added to the gigs page.

H Hawkline Album Out Now / Sweet Baboo Tour / Live Video / Daniel Johnston / Euros Childs Video

H HAWKLINE ALBUM

It’s the end of Summer, nearly, and to celebrate, the good ship shaperecords are about to release the second album by my friend and collaborator, Huw Evans a.k.a H.Hawkline.

It’s called The Strange Uses Of Ox Gall, is limited to 150 handmade copies, and is, even if I do say so myself*, Fantastic!

You can listen to it below.

*I helped make the record.

SWEET BABOO TOUR

I’m off on tour in September around Britain supporting and playing for a band called SlowClub It’s the first ever Sweet Baboo tour proper, LOOK!

12/09/11 – Nottingham, GB (Bodega Social Club)
13/09/11 – Birmingham, GB (HMV Institute)
14/09/11 – Newcastle, GB (The Cluny)
16/09/11 – Sheffield, GB (The Leadmill)
17/09/11 – Lancaster, GB (Lancaster Library)
18/09/11 – Glasgow, GB (King Tuts)
19/09/11 – Edinburgh, GB (Cabaret Voltaire)
21/09/11 – York, GB (The Duchess)
22/09/11 – Manchester, GB (The Ruby Lounge)
23/09/11 – Liverpool, GB (The Kazimier)
25/09/11 – Bristol, GB (The Cooler)
26/09/11 – London, GB (Shepherds Bush Empire)
27/09/11 – Southampton, GB (The Joiners)
28/09/11 – Norwich, GB (Waterfront)
29/09/11 – Brighton, GB (Audio)

I am super psyched about it.

LIVE VIDEO

We are putting together the final touches to a live video filmed at the Sweet Baboo EP Launch. It’s nearly done, and as soon as it is, I’ll pop it up here.

DANIEL JOHNSTON

I had the amazing pleasure to play as part of Daniel Johnston’s backing band at Wilderness Festival in Oxford. I can’t find any videos, or pictures but that’s pretty exciting Huh!!!

EUROS CHILDS VIDEO

Finally I, Huw, mentioned above, and our friend Robin, played alongside, Euros Childs at Natnight in Cardiff.
Natnight was a night of celebration in honour of legendary Cardiff musician Nat Rowson who sadly passed away earlier this year.

The night was a great, success raising money for whizzkids and rockwoodspur

Here’s a video of us performing a medley on the night.

EP LAUNCH

It’s already been a busy month so far, this June. I’ve been helping make an album with my friends band, Yoke. It sounds pretty cool, even if I do say so myself.

Here’s a film my friend film ryan did, documentary style, explaining all about the band. The songs in the film are positively poptastic compared to the album which is a lot more messed up and weird. To me, it sounds like a band from the sixties that no one liked, which, of course, is a good thing.

Anyway, I’ll let you know when the album is out.

On other news, to celebrate the release of my new ep, we (me and shaperecords) are having not one, but two gigs to celebrate.
They are on the 30th of June and the 1st of July respectively in the Pot Cafe in Cardiff. The 1st of July is sold out, amazingly, but there are tickets left for the 30th.
You can get em here

Some friends are going to play too, although I’m not sure who yet.
The Pot Cafe is the shit. Here is their website.

Finally, and boastfully, I am saxing it up (technical term) with Gruff Rhys at the Royal Albert Hall on the 23rd June, and then again in Glastonbury on the 26th.

Here’s a video of me playing with him earlier this year at Bristol’s St.George’s Church so you know what to expect.

NEW EP AVAILABLE TO BUY AND DOWNLOAD

Just what I thought might happen, even after just one little post I’ve started being slow updating the website,
My excuses are vague.

I’ve spent the last month hurtling round the country, rehearsing and playing with various different bands, I’ve done a couple of Sweet Baboo gigs which were fun, but mainly I’ve been having a good time, learning how to roller skate, growing my hair for the summer and generally trying to keep out of mischief.

My ep is now available to download and pre order here. They should, if all goes according to plan, come back from the printers on the 16th of May.

I’m off to one of the best festivals ever this weekend to eat macaroni cheese pasties and to party like never before. It’s the Fence Collective’s Home Game up in Fife, If you ever get a chance to go, then I heartily recommend it (although I’ve never been myself before)

Visit their website here, it is cool!

New Website! New Record! New Video!

Hello and welcome to my all new, easy to use website: beautifully made by my good friend Kirsten Mcternan.

I’ve been a bit internet shy in the last few months, apart from constantly twittersearching my own name obviously. I hope this website will rectify the situation and I can keep you up to date with any exciting sweet baboo based news.

To coincide with the website, it just so happens that Cardiff’s finest record label Shape are set to release a new sweet baboo  6 song ep.

It’ll be released sometime in May on limited 10 inch white vinyl.

You can pre order it from  http://shaperecords.co.uk/order.html but in the meantime here’s a picture of the front cover

We also made a video for one of the songs.