David Wrench
Encyclopedia
David Wrench is a singer, musician and studio producer/ sound engineer from Anglesey, Wales. His music has ranged from camp
synth pop to Doom inspired Folk.
He first came to public attention while still at school in 1989 with his first group Nid Madagascar, who recorded "the first Welsh language acid house
record" Lledrith Lliw as a 12" single in 1990.
Reappearing some years later as a solo artist he was signed first to Ankst Records
of Cardiff and later to Manchester
-based Storm Music. Wrench has made three albums, Blow Winds Blow, The Atomic World of Tomorrow, and Spades & Hoes & Plows, as well as a number of singles and EPs. He was also a member of the 33 piece "cosmic supergroup" The Serpents, with whom he also released a single and an album.
His first full-length solo album, Blow Winds Blow includes Wrench acting as a multi-instrumentalist
.
His 2004 single "Superorny" was backed by "Fuck You And Your War On Terror", which was recorded live for Sheffield
's radio2XS
.
The Atomic World of Tomorrow and its supporting singles are best described as camp
synth pop, with a resemblance to artists such as the Pet Shop Boys
and Scissor Sisters
.
In 2010 he released the album Spades & Hoes & Plows on Invada records. The album comprises 3 re-workings of old revolutionary folk songs and one original instrumental piece based on the Rebecca Riots. The album was produced by Julian Cope and received widespread critical acclaim. Writing in the Sunday Times, Stewart Lee described it thus: "In the face of young people's new enthusiasm for trad-lite, the Welsh weirdo David Wrench threatens to reunpopularise folk music, foregrounding puritanical politics over unpalatable instrumentation at funereal tempos. Fans of Lisbee Stainton are unlikely to enjoy Wrench's punishing, 24 minute rendition of The Blackleg Miner despite the invigorating and apocalyptically primitive Mellotron interludes supplied by Julian Cope's Black Sheep band. These weary recitations of traditional protest songs require patience, but by Helyntion Beca, a wordless closing workout inspired by 19th-century black-face transvestites attacking Carmarthenshire toll gates, the LP achieves a tortuous transcendence."
When not working on his own music, Wrench is a studio Record Producer and Engineer. His credits as Producer include albums for Alessi's Ark, Race Horses, Zun Zun Egui, Kathryn Williams, Y Niwl, Gwyneth Glyn, and Euros Childs. As an Engineer he has worked on albums by Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything, Guillemotts, Beth Orton, James Yorkston, Nancy Elizabeth and Fanfarlo. As a mixer, he mixed the award winning "Swim" album by Caribou, as well as previous album "Andorra". He has recently mixed albums by Is Tropical, and Rich Aucoin. He was awarded the BBC C2 Producer of the Year award in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Wrench recently appeared (3 May 2009) in session on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone alongside Julian Cope
and his flock of Black Sheep
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
synth pop to Doom inspired Folk.
He first came to public attention while still at school in 1989 with his first group Nid Madagascar, who recorded "the first Welsh language acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
record" Lledrith Lliw as a 12" single in 1990.
Reappearing some years later as a solo artist he was signed first to Ankst Records
Ankst
Ankst was a Welsh independent record label formed in 1988 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by Alun Llwyd, Gruffudd Jones and Emyr Glyn Williams...
of Cardiff and later to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
-based Storm Music. Wrench has made three albums, Blow Winds Blow, The Atomic World of Tomorrow, and Spades & Hoes & Plows, as well as a number of singles and EPs. He was also a member of the 33 piece "cosmic supergroup" The Serpents, with whom he also released a single and an album.
His first full-length solo album, Blow Winds Blow includes Wrench acting as a multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
.
His 2004 single "Superorny" was backed by "Fuck You And Your War On Terror", which was recorded live for Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
's radio2XS
Radio2XS
radio2XS is programmed and edited in Sheffield, England and uses the on-air slogan "New Music, Live Sessions and 60 Years of Rock’n'roll".The station was formed in 2002 by ....
.
The Atomic World of Tomorrow and its supporting singles are best described as camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
synth pop, with a resemblance to artists such as the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
and Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
.
In 2010 he released the album Spades & Hoes & Plows on Invada records. The album comprises 3 re-workings of old revolutionary folk songs and one original instrumental piece based on the Rebecca Riots. The album was produced by Julian Cope and received widespread critical acclaim. Writing in the Sunday Times, Stewart Lee described it thus: "In the face of young people's new enthusiasm for trad-lite, the Welsh weirdo David Wrench threatens to reunpopularise folk music, foregrounding puritanical politics over unpalatable instrumentation at funereal tempos. Fans of Lisbee Stainton are unlikely to enjoy Wrench's punishing, 24 minute rendition of The Blackleg Miner despite the invigorating and apocalyptically primitive Mellotron interludes supplied by Julian Cope's Black Sheep band. These weary recitations of traditional protest songs require patience, but by Helyntion Beca, a wordless closing workout inspired by 19th-century black-face transvestites attacking Carmarthenshire toll gates, the LP achieves a tortuous transcendence."
When not working on his own music, Wrench is a studio Record Producer and Engineer. His credits as Producer include albums for Alessi's Ark, Race Horses, Zun Zun Egui, Kathryn Williams, Y Niwl, Gwyneth Glyn, and Euros Childs. As an Engineer he has worked on albums by Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything, Guillemotts, Beth Orton, James Yorkston, Nancy Elizabeth and Fanfarlo. As a mixer, he mixed the award winning "Swim" album by Caribou, as well as previous album "Andorra". He has recently mixed albums by Is Tropical, and Rich Aucoin. He was awarded the BBC C2 Producer of the Year award in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Wrench recently appeared (3 May 2009) in session on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone alongside Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
and his flock of Black Sheep
Albums
- 1997: Blow Winds Blow (vinyl LPGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
/audio CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
) - 1999: You Have Just been Poisened by The Serpents (audio CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
with The Serpents) - 2005: The Atomic World of Tomorrow (audio CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
) - 2010: Spades & Hoes & Plows (audio CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
)
Singles and EPs
- 1990: "Lledrith Lliw" (12" vinyl EP with Nid Madagascar)
- 1997: "Black Roses" (7" vinyl)
- 1997: "The Ballad of the Christmas Tree and the Silver Birch" (7" vinyl)
- 1998: "No Mask, No Cloak, Dim Gobaith" (7" vinyl with The Serpents)
- 1998: "Sings the Songs of the Shangri Las" (7" vinyl EP)
- 2004: "Superhorny" / "Fuck You And Your War On Terror" (12" vinyl & CD EP)
- 2004: "World War IV" (CD EP)
External links
- Head Heritage-Spades & Hoes & Plows Mini-site for Spades & Hoes & Plows album
- BBC "mini site" for David Wrench
- Storm Music, the label Wrench was signed to
- http://www.discogs.com/artist/David+Wrench#t=Credits_Technical&q=&p=2 List of David Wrench's technical credits at Discogs.