Wednesday 30 September 2009

The Train now arriving...













The Underfall Yard will be released on 15th December. From today until the release date, the album can be pre-ordered here for an introductory price of just £8, which includes worldwide shipping. It will not be available from any other source before the 15th December. Pre-orders will be shipped so that the CD arrives on, or slightly before, the release date.

The Underfall Yard is the first Big Big Train album to feature our new singer David Longdon. Across the 60 minutes of the album there are also powerful performances from Nick D’Virgilio, Francis Dunnery, Jem Godfrey and Dave Gregory.

We have made all 23 minutes of the title track available for free download in high quality audio here.*  Even if you don't want to buy any Big Big Train music at the moment, please download the track and listen to what we think is a significant contribution to progressive music.

If you are new to Big Big Train, you can read about us here. If you want to buy a CD but are not sure which one(s) to splash out on, a beginner's guide to our CD's is here. Our shop, where you can buy CD's securely, is here. On the shop page, there is a music player where another song from The Underfall yard can be heard.

The Underfall Yard is a collection of songs which tell stories, some old and some new. The listener will travel through the tunnels made by the great Victorian engineers in England’s chalkhills, will hear the mournful laments of coastal villages lost to the sea on storm-filled nights, will meet the grand architect of castles, and hear the tale of the man who saved a great cathedral from collapse by diving under its flooded foundations.

We hope you enjoy our new music.

Greg Spawton

* Update - I've had a number of e-mails asking who plays what on the download track. The credits (and lyrics) can be found on the site, but I'll put them on here as well for ease of reference:

The Underfall Yard by Big Big Train

Performed by:

Nick D'Virgilio Drums

Dave Desmond Trombone

Francis Dunnery Guitar solo, guitar

Rich Evans Cornet

Jon Foyle Cello

Jem Godfrey Synthesizer solos

Dave Gregory Guitar solos, guitars, electric sitar

David Longdon Vocals, flute, glockenspiel

Andy Poole Bass, keyboards

Greg Spawton Guitars, keyboards, bass

Nick Stones French horn

Jon Truscott Tuba

To answer some of the specific questions I've had, Francis Dunnery's main parts are at 4.37 to 6.25, Jem Godfrey's at 6.26 to 7.20 and 19.18 to 20.10, and Dave Gregory's at 13.10 to 14.45 and 21.10 to 22.15. Dave Gregory also plays electric sitar in a number of places in the song.

Sunday 20 September 2009

Sheriff of Wimborne















At the risk of turning this blog into Hello magazine, I am going to mention that I just bumped into Keith Allen in Wimborne. Only two nights ago, me and the kids watched him get blown up in the last episode of Robin Hood.

I remember him being a very edgy character in the Comic Strip series, but he seemed like a nice bloke.

I can't help thinking, though, that my girlfriend would have much rather we'd bumped into Guy of Wimborne (Richard Armitage - also photographed above) rather than the Sheriff.

Spitfire overhead



A couple of weeks ago we had a short display from the Vulcan; yesterday we had a Spitfire appear low overhead. I frantically summoned my 13 year old son who is going through an Airfix phase at the moment (that morning he'd bought himself a P51D Mustang to build) and we had the pleasure of a few moments together looking up at the sky, hands shading our eyes, whilst the Spitfire threw us a few of its shapes, did a quick victory roll and then headed off to the east (to the Goodwood Revival I assume?)

Saturday 12 September 2009

Mixing

Just a quick update from the studio, where we are now well into the mixing stage.

Rob has completed initial mixes of Master James, Winchester Diver and Last Train. This evening we aim to finish the first mix of The Underfall Yard. We've got tomorrow off to do some listening to the initial mixes and then we have three more days next week for mixing Victorian Brickwork and Evening Star (plus any snagging.)

The Underfall Yard has proven to be quite a beast to tame - we're using 142 tracks, which is 100 more than the meaning of life.