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2LP
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EDDA 045LP
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Double LP version. Dell'Orso Records present a reissue of Butterfly Child's debut Onomatopoeia, originally released in 1993. In the early summer of 1993, Rough Trade released Onomatopoeia, the first album by Belfast native Joe Cassidy's Butterfly Child. Having first come to the public's attention after a wave of press resulting from two EPs released on dream pop legends' A.R. Kane's H.ark! label, an incendiary first BBC John Peel Session, and a UK tour supporting The Sundays, Cassidy recorded Onomatopoeia in a couple of weeks with the help of longtime friend and collaborator Gary McKendry of the now infamous Papa Sprain. Gleefully using a shoestring budget that felt like a one-million dollar advance, Cassidy and McKendry bought an 8-track tape machine, a cheap drum machine, an even cheaper reverb unit, a secondhand synthesizer, and a bunch of tea. They then proceeded into the album's recording sessions with a classic Irish carefree attitude and confidence. As Cassidy recalled: "I always felt that no matter how little audio equipment or musical instruments we had back then, that it was always possible to make something really special, despite our limitations. In fact, having extreme limitations often helped push us to get the most out of the solitary synth or the one bad drum machine with silly tom sounds that we had at our disposal. I love that the song 'Our Lady Mississipp', for example, is like the nursery school jazz version on the album, and then by the time we did the second Peel Session six months later, I had Pendle on guitar, James Harris on bass, and a fantastic drummer (Richie Thomas of Dif Juz, Moose, The Jesus And Mary Chain, This Mortal Coil), finally realizing what the adult version of that song could sound like." Part of Onomatopoeia's charm that still holds true almost 25 years later is its child-like, timeless quality -- it sounds nothing like anything of its time. It is a unique and beautiful collection of "almost songs" that flourish as a whole body of work that beg the listener to delve deeper, to get lost in the aether of its lyrics, and to let it quietly roar all over you.
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CD
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EDDA 045CD
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Dell'Orso Records present a reissue of Butterfly Child's debut Onomatopoeia, originally released in 1993. In the early summer of 1993, Rough Trade released Onomatopoeia, the first album by Belfast native Joe Cassidy's Butterfly Child. Having first come to the public's attention after a wave of press resulting from two EPs released on dream pop legends' A.R. Kane's H.ark! label, an incendiary first BBC John Peel Session, and a UK tour supporting The Sundays, Cassidy recorded Onomatopoeia in a couple of weeks with the help of longtime friend and collaborator Gary McKendry of the now infamous Papa Sprain. Gleefully using a shoestring budget that felt like a one-million dollar advance, Cassidy and McKendry bought an 8-track tape machine, a cheap drum machine, an even cheaper reverb unit, a secondhand synthesizer, and a bunch of tea. They then proceeded into the album's recording sessions with a classic Irish carefree attitude and confidence. As Cassidy recalled: "I always felt that no matter how little audio equipment or musical instruments we had back then, that it was always possible to make something really special, despite our limitations. In fact, having extreme limitations often helped push us to get the most out of the solitary synth or the one bad drum machine with silly tom sounds that we had at our disposal. I love that the song 'Our Lady Mississipp', for example, is like the nursery school jazz version on the album, and then by the time we did the second Peel Session six months later, I had Pendle on guitar, James Harris on bass, and a fantastic drummer (Richie Thomas of Dif Juz, Moose, The Jesus And Mary Chain, This Mortal Coil), finally realizing what the adult version of that song could sound like." Part of Onomatopoeia's charm that still holds true almost 25 years later is its child-like, timeless quality -- it sounds nothing like anything of its time. It is a unique and beautiful collection of "almost songs" that flourish as a whole body of work that beg the listener to delve deeper, to get lost in the aether of its lyrics, and to let it quietly roar all over you.
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LP
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EDDA 037LP
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LP version. Anyone with affection for treasure of a particularly luminous dream-pop vintage will know about Joe Cassidy and his alias Butterfly Child. Having recorded three albums and a handful of EPs in the '90s, Cassidy returned in 2012 with the No Longer Living In Your Shadow 7". Now, the first Butterfly Child album since 1998 is here. Futures is a radiant 54-minute journey invested with Cassidy's usual melodic richness -- both musical and vocal -- and a more widescreen production, though the album was recorded at Cassidy's LA home. Sonically, the album lives somewhere between The Beach Boys and dream pop, but with a much more direct emotional impact, between bliss and melancholy. It combines new songs with previously unreleased older material, reaching as far back as Cassidy's very first demos as a teenager. The lush, sun-dappled climes of LA can be felt in the expansive folds and grooves of Futures, both on the softer, heartache-y side and on pop-centric songs such as "A Shot in the Dark" and "Holding On." "Holding On" was inspired by a string loop that Guy Sirman of Dell'Orso Records sent to Cassidy, which reminded him of Dionne Warwick, though the eventual track was inspired by Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell. This being LA, Cassidy could call on his pals Justin, James, and Christiaan, Webb's three sons, to add backing vocals, while Campbell's son Cal plays guitar and percussion. The track also features drummer Matt Walker (also on "A Shot in the Dark") and keyboardist Brian Liesegang. Other Futures guests are Ryan J Rapsys of Euphone (drums), Pendle Poucher (a Butterfly Child accomplice back in the '90s, on "glitch" guitar), Merritt Lear (another Butterfly Child accomplice, and Assassins co-singer, on violin and backing vocals), and Oliver Kraus (strings and horns on the exquisite finale "Beauty #2"). The album is released in advance of a single featuring a remix of "A Shot in the Dark" by Assassins producer Stephen Hague (also of Pet Shop Boys and New Order fame). "All I can do is hope that people out there are into slow heartache music, and will get it!" says Cassidy. Having waited since 1998, Cassidy might only wait another year for the next album: "I told Guy, I have a great Phil Spector-style pop record here! There's little point in repeating myself."
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CD
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EDDA 037CD
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Anyone with affection for treasure of a particularly luminous dream-pop vintage will know about Joe Cassidy and his alias Butterfly Child. Having recorded three albums and a handful of EPs in the '90s, Cassidy returned in 2012 with the No Longer Living In Your Shadow 7". Now, the first Butterfly Child album since 1998 is here. Futures is a radiant 54-minute journey invested with Cassidy's usual melodic richness -- both musical and vocal -- and a more widescreen production, though the album was recorded at Cassidy's LA home. Sonically, the album lives somewhere between The Beach Boys and dream pop, but with a much more direct emotional impact, between bliss and melancholy. It combines new songs with previously unreleased older material, reaching as far back as Cassidy's very first demos as a teenager. The lush, sun-dappled climes of LA can be felt in the expansive folds and grooves of Futures, both on the softer, heartache-y side and on pop-centric songs such as "A Shot in the Dark" and "Holding On." "Holding On" was inspired by a string loop that Guy Sirman of Dell'Orso Records sent to Cassidy, which reminded him of Dionne Warwick, though the eventual track was inspired by Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell. This being LA, Cassidy could call on his pals Justin, James, and Christiaan, Webb's three sons, to add backing vocals, while Campbell's son Cal plays guitar and percussion. The track also features drummer Matt Walker (also on "A Shot in the Dark") and keyboardist Brian Liesegang. Other Futures guests are Ryan J Rapsys of Euphone (drums), Pendle Poucher (a Butterfly Child accomplice back in the '90s, on "glitch" guitar), Merritt Lear (another Butterfly Child accomplice, and Assassins co-singer, on violin and backing vocals), and Oliver Kraus (strings and horns on the exquisite finale "Beauty #2"). The album is released in advance of a single featuring a remix of "A Shot in the Dark" by Assassins producer Stephen Hague (also of Pet Shop Boys and New Order fame). "All I can do is hope that people out there are into slow heartache music, and will get it!" says Cassidy. Having waited since 1998, Cassidy might only wait another year for the next album: "I told Guy, I have a great Phil Spector-style pop record here! There's little point in repeating myself."
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