Various - Willkommen Collective Volume 1 Sampler

tracklisting

1. MOONSHINE MOONSHINE Violet  2. LAISH QUARTET In The Morning  3. SONS OF NOEL AND ADRIAN 30 Boys With Bats 4. SHORELINE Jubeltane 5. KRISTIN MCLEMENT Planks 6. HAMILTON YARNS Search For The Underwater Town 7. THE MISERABLE RICH The Knife Thrower's Hand 8. REDWOOD RED In A Green World 9. CHRISTIAN SILVA 88 Key Alphabeat 10. ATLAS CREASE Four Corners 11. KOPEK The Way You Are 12. ROWAN COUPLAND Memories Of The Summer Of 2003 13. THE LEISURE SOCIETY Pancake Day 14. THE CLIMBERS Bookshop Folk

The Willkommen Collective is the name given to the group of musicians who play in Shoreline, Sons of Noel and Adrian, The Leisure Society, MoonshineMoonshine, Atlas Crease, Laish Quartet and The Miserable Rich. It's an ever expanding co-operative as evidenced by the stellar line up on this compilation - a group of like minded souls gathered along the way when Shoreline's Tom Cowan and Jacob Richardson from Sons of Noel and Adrian made their pilgrimage to Brighton's pastoral, bohemian climes with the view to creating a self-sufficient musical alliance. Influenced by a wide variety of musical traditions, and with the input from such a diverse pool of players, each band in the Collective has been able to create a truly unique sound.

The name, Willkommen, came from the fact that cellist and beard cultivator, Will Calderbank, happens to play on everyone's music. He also records under the name Atlas Crease and the song featured here, Four Corners, gives you glimpse into the hushed, idyllic space Mr Calderbank calls home. Keen followers of these lists have heard Nick Hemming's group the Leisure Society recently. Their debut album, The Sleeper, was released to unanimous praise and saw their fine song, Last of the Melting Snow, nominated for an Ivor Novello. Not bad for a guy with a part time job in a fabrics factory.

The Leisure Society's winsome chamber pop is only part of the Willkommen's rich tapestry. Delve into the compilation and you'll discover Daniel Green's soulful, rustic bonhomie under the name Laish Quartet. One of Willkommen's most obvious proponents of the British folk tradition is the Sons of Noel and Adrian, the mothership of the Willkommen operation. Here you'll be able to marvel at Jacob Richardson's whistling prowess and city leveling baritone. A Brighton via Rome collaboration between Tom Cowan, the collective and Beatrice Sanjust Di Teulada, Shoreline deal in sensuous, soft-focus soundworlds. Hamilton Yarns are Willkommen's purveyors of (un)easy-listening esoterica, embraced by the Wire magazine cognoscenti, while The Climbers are something of a Willkommen studio- super-group headed up by Tim West: the kind of flawless music cut by Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher out on the Strip in the late 60s re-imagined in the suburban environs of the South of England. That's just a smattering of the music on the compilation…

All the bands on Willkommen Collective have been playing live shows extensively for the last few years, with particularly busy summers at festivals around the UK and abroad, including The Big Chill, End of the Road, Mosely Folk Festival and Small World. Willkommen staged three successful sonic solemnizations as part of May's Brighton Festival celebrations. This year, expect more shows in Europe as well as a very special summer shindig at Stanmer House, Brighton, and more music from the likes of The Climbers, Shoreline and Sons of Noel and Adrian. We hope Willkommen Volume 1 acts as a perfect primer into our inclusive scene and look forward to seeing you at our shows. Do come and say hello.

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