Hello again fellow music fan. Ready to discover something new and refreshing? This week on our MySpace Trawl, we're going to look at an artist who is just under the radar. It’s your chance to hear about him now, before he becomes famous and is featured on the cover of every glossy music magazine out there – and you’ll be able to say you’re not jumping on the bandwagon.
This week, our trawl leads us to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Stuff usually related to the Irish includes drunkenness, Guinness, leprechauns and bloody Bono from U2. But hopefully they’ll be another association with Ireland, and Duke Special be his name. Duke Special is a singer-songwriter so to speak, but please don’t be fooled into believing it’s the usual gubbins of a bloke plonking himself down in a studio with a beaten up acoustic guitar and just spewing out some words whilst strumming away. Duke Special is the total opposite of this.
Most of the time, MySpace Trawl does genuinely involve us checking out various MySpace profiles and picking the best music we can find to bring to your attention. But for a change, this week’s Trawl is a report on someone we have been tracking for a few years, and now just seems about the right time to bring him to the attention of the world.
In the beginning we actually came quite close to missing Duke Special's first gig, and the same probably happened to many people as well. We’ve all been there, arriving at a gig and not knowing who the support act is. So the bar nearby is the destination until the main attraction roles up to the stage. For some reason, this time we stuck around to see what was on offer. Usually it's a stupid band that picks a support act that are actually better than them and, sadly, Aqualung made this mistake.
But at first we weren't too impressed when we first laid eyes on Duke Special. On came a bloke with long dreadlocked hair, sporting a scruffy military-style jacket and wearing eye make-up, like something from Slipknot. As he slithered towards to a knackered looking piano, he began to play songs that would melt even the coldest heart. With his soft Irish voice floating over the top, the crowd was in awe. Nobody in the room was talking, all the sounds belonged to Mr Duke Special. Six songs in all were performed, all of them taken from an EP called Lucky Me.
After then seemingly fading in to oblivion, Duke Special returned with more of the goods with the release of another six track record, My Villain Heart, where each track in itself was worthy of being released as a single. The one track in particular that we love, entitled Love Is a Series Of Scars. Imagine the saddest part of a movie without a soundtrack. Add this gem and instant emotion comes flowing out.
Despite these two releases being on a tiny label, demand for them was constant, resulting in various re-pressings. Finally, the two EPs were sandwiched together to become Duke Special's technical first album called Adventures in Gramophone.
So we’ve bleated on for a bit and given you a few details about this guy's career. But what about the music, we hear you scream? Well, up on the Duke Special MySpace page are four tracks for you to listen to. Out of the four there, three are sneak previews of songs from his proper first album, Songs From The Deep Forest. But in our opinion, the best song on display is the track not featured on the album. There is a track called Maps, a cover version of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song which featured as a B-side to his last single Portrait, which is also available for listening. With Maps, Duke Special has managed to control a song with a lot of kick to it, and turn in to a beautiful sounding ballad which is as good as the original version.
But if you think it's all gloomy-sounding music then avert your ears to the other songs on offer. Portrait, for example, is purely piano and is one of the songs you can’t help tapping you fingers to. Creeping in are less traditional instruments too; cheese graters and whisks are just two of the instruments that can be heard.
These two instruments are now incorporated in to the new and improved Duke Special show. Now Duke Special is joined on stage by Chip Bailey, who has created a bizarre array of instruments designed to put some fun back in to live music. It’s not every day that you see a grown man playing stuff you make an omelette with, is it? But it does make you laugh. And if you want to see him do it, you can do!
Starting on September 21, Duke Special is supporting The Divine Comedy around Europe on their new tour. With about 30 dates in all, we’re sure he’ll be rolling up near your town. Its not the first time that we’ve known this guy to commit to huge touring schedules, either. His own last headline shows took him to over 35 different venues around the UK. We can’t even name that many places! Interestingly enough, one of our other favourite artists who we’ve already looked at here on MySpace Trawl, Thomas Truax was there in support.
V2 Records obviously likes Duke Special as much as we do. Whilst we can't sign him to a record label for obvious reasons, it can. And has. With Duke Special on their books, we feel V2 has all the right ideas to push him in to the mainstream where he belongs. Look out for the new album which should be coming out in October. Extra special copies of the album will be pressed on vinyl – with twelve tracks on the album, the songs have been split on to six 7” records, housed in their own sleeves and housed in a wooden box. We already have one and are quite frankly scared to play them in case we scratch the records. It’s like art in itself.
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[story by Matthew Laidlow]