Greg Weeks
The Hive

A Norman Records recommendation (30th October 2008)

	Description:	CD on Wichita (Espers chap)
	Format:	CD
	Label:	Wichita
	Price:	£10.29
	Cat#:	WEBB181CD
	Availability:	despatched in 2-5 working days (on average!!)

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Rating: ecstatic
This record left our Phil feeling ecstatic.

Greg Weeks is the dude from Espers and here's his first solo album for Wichita. He's done a couple of solo albums before which were US only releases on Ba Da Bing. I seem to remember hearing one of 'em after becoming dangerously obsessed with that first Espers album and not being that impressed. So I'll try again with his new album called 'The Hive' which features a bunch of new songs and a covers of Madonna's Borderline (which is actually pretty good). There's 2 sides from what I can gather to Greg's music... there's the wistful psychedelic medieval sounding folk and there's the wanky guitar solo side of things. If it's not immediately obvious I prefer the former and the latter can fuck right off. Fortunately this album sounds chocka full of great folky sounding psyche pop tunes not a million miles away from Espers (without the female vocals though). Excellent songwriting as well which is what you'd expect from someone called Greg Weeks. Smashing.

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What their label says...

TRACKLISTING: 1. You Won’t Be The Same Ever Again, 2. The Lamb’s Path, 3. Lay Low, 4. Borderline, 5. Burn The Margins, 6. The Hive, 7. Funhouse, 8. Not Meant For Light, 9. The Wait, 10. Donovon, 11. Division.

OVERVIEW: Frustrated with new methods and mindset in recording technology I threw up my hands and built my own analog recording studio. My last album, Blood Is Trouble (as well as the first Espers record) was recorded on a 1⁄2" 8 track machine. Eventually I was able to upgrade to an MCI 2" machine and professional recording console which have allowed for better sound quality and greater experimentation. Having a home studio has allowed me to record and produce albums at a comfortable pace consistent with my own levels of inspiration.
Key to the album's sound was the acquisition of a vintage Mellotron keyboard. The Mellotron is doubtless my spirit animal in instrument form and is certainly one of the main inspirations behind The Hive. No other instrument conveys the characteristics of hive insects as well as this legendarily warbley tape based sampler. It's an instrument used by most all of my heroes: Robert Wyatt, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, The Pretty Things, Krokodil, Canadian band Harmonium and all nine trillion Italian prog bands that I love!

The Hive is primarily a response to the atmosphere of apocalypse that permeates the lives of those who are open and receptive to their environment (not to mention the general global condition). That's not to say the album's entirely about misery and despair. Quite the contrary; I have a good amount of fun trolling through the backwaters of my own dank grey matter (often darkly comical), and each of these songs have multiple meanings, so glean from them what you will.
The Hive also contains a cover of Madonna's "Borderline", my first recorded cover since tackling Cat Power's "King Rides By" on Fire In The Arms Of The Sun. This was meant to be a future Espers release but I got antsy waiting for the next covers record to come about so here it is (after three years of simmering on my mental back burner).