DOVES Winter Hill 2009 UK limited edition 2-track 7″ vinyl single – Known locally, ‘Winter Hill’ is a beauty spot between Chorley and Bolton in the West Pennine Moors. It’s famed for its UFO sightings, mining activity, aeroplane disasters and murders but to Doves it clearly means something altogether more magical and ethereal. Already a fan’s favourite, ‘Winter Hill’ ushers the listener in via a pop Reich repetition, all looped effects and soaring synths before morphing into what canonly be described as a love song. Furthermore, on the b-side, there’s a totally different change of pace with the Dylanesque ‘Brazil’, a new track that adds yet another dimension to Doves repertoire!.
Winter Hill is released July 20th. It is expected the download single will feature a host of Jetstream remixes.
clickmusic.com states that the Winter Hill 7″ vinyl will feature the b-side Brazil. There is a CDR promo doing the rounds, which features an image of a snowy railway track. Tracks on the promo are:
1. Winter Hill (Radio Mix) Mixed By Dave Bascombe 2. Winter Hill (Instrumental)
Doves official website doves.net is now back online with a temporary homepage. The site had been hosted by Mubito, who recently went bust. We hope to see a fully functioning doves.net back soon.
Whilst the nominations for the Mercury Music Prize are not announced til late next month. Doves have already been installed joint favourites to win along with Little Boots. So that’s that then!?
The prize is scheduled to be awarded on September 8th in London. Rumour has it, the Silver Fox fan club already have a winners party booked. More as we have it!
Here we have another review of the Delamere Forest show. This time from gibbo1968 , who previously submitted his photos & videos of the show to the blog, which you can view here. Gibbo wrote this review originally for u2.com.
Me,mrs gibbo and mulls ventured into the forest at the weekend to see Doves again(this was my 3rd Doves gig of the year).
I know I keep bangin on about them but they are just a great band that are so underrated it’s scandalous.I have Kingdom of rust on constant play,it’s my album of the year and yes I am starting to lean towards Doves more than U2,which although alarming is justified,anyway about the gig.
We ambled down to the arena set in a clearing in the forest with a banked hillside full of picnickers,deckchairs and kids.Jimi quoted during the gig it was like a creche,certainly the widest ranging audience of any gig i’ve been to.
We positioned ourselves on the rail andy’s side and watched support band Delphic,never heard of them but they were actually quite good,on first glance they were like A.N.other skinny indie kid band but sounded like New order/Kraftwerk with an indie edge.Check out their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/delphic
On to the main event and tour opener Jetstream kicks off as usual with(corny I know) a jet coming in to land on the video screen in the background.It’s a kraftwerk tinged belter that opened the album and sets the mood for the rest of the gig.There’s so many layers and styles to Doves songs from country rock Kingdom of rust to melancholy of The last broadcast,chilled out vibe of Almost forgot myself and Cedar room,motown/soul influenced Here it comes,all out dance rock of Black and white town and Pounding to the set closer and rave blast from the past pre Doves incarnation sub sub choon Space face.
So they cover all bases really so go and check ’em out PLEASE! if only for Cedar room alone which was my highlight of the evening.
Thanks Gibbo!
If you are planning on seeing doves at Glastonbury this Friday and you fancy writing a review, we would love to hear from you. Just email us your review here. We will post all reviews submitted to us. More on doves at Glastonbury coming later this week. Including some live footage from previous Glastonbury sets.
Info, thanks to tricky6 over at doves board. You can watch doves performance from Glastonbury’s John Peel tent on BBC Three on Friday night from 10:30pm. Its a shared show with Bloc Party.
With a bit of luck we will have doves Glasto performance for you here also.
We have another excellent review of the Delamere Forest show. This one was submitted to us by Si. He was checking us out whilst on the train back to Manchester. Got to love modern technology.
Delamere Forest 13 June 2009
How many bands can close a gig with a cover of a song that they made famous themselves when they were a different group? Such is the enigmatic attraction of Doves. A band who’s recent Kindgom of Rust album has finally got them the critical acclaim that many have known they deserved for a long time. Set alongside the recent belated recognition for Elbow by the music industry and general public alike, it feels like the Manchester music scene is once again the centre of the world.
What better place to celebrate this musical epiphany than a gig in a forest in their home county of Cheshire. On a perfect summer evening which brought not clear blue skies, but just enough clouds to create the perfect sunset to form a backdrop to one of the gigs of the decade.
Delphic put in a solid performance, but despite their best efforts still looked dwarfed by the setting. Their studied mix of electronica and indie guitar set the right tone though, and provided ample entertainment as the waiting gathering tucked into picnics, enjoyed copious quantities of alcohol and chatted amongst themselves, pausing only to comment how the nice man from the Forestry Commission really should have been told that it’s just Doves and no definite article is required, but no harm done.
The gentle opening waft of Jetstream brings recognition and approval from the audience. This is a crowd that range from the under 5’s (free –thanks Forestry Commission, darn fine idea!) to the majority of 30 and 40 somethings, and whilst many are clearly long time fans, they love and respect the brilliance of the new and the old. After all, isn’t reinvention, rebirth and recreation the history of Doves?
Slipping back a few years for Snowden and then returning to the now with the superb new local favourite Winter Hill, Doves demonstrated with some style that they can keep the classics in reserve, and the crowd would be equally happy if they only played new tracks. Rise is followed by Pounding and with the light fading, the crowd are well and truly ready to let it all out. Almost Forgot Myself brings a touch of pop before the reset button is hit by the lyrical opening of 10:03 which builds towards it’s climax as the darkness falls and the crowd is readied for the anthemic Words. More perfect English summer brilliance of sweeping highs and lows courtesy of The Greatest Denier gives way to the country overtones and telstar chords of Kingdom Of Rust.
My son nervously checks my watch. Worried that they won’t have much longer on stage. He just wants more and more. This is his first ever proper concert and he is loving it. Dancing to every track, throwing shapes in the liberated way that only a 8 year old can. Black and White town puts everyone back in the singalong mood before we are dragged into the maelstrom by the riptide that is The Outsiders.
Caught By The River tops up the summer mood but no-one believed that they would close a show this special with it. A few years ago, maybe, but not now. Returning to the stage with The Cedar Room, the fans knew that they would get all that they wanted tonight. Keyboard, guitar, drums and voice, simple progression, perfectly delivered. Last Broadcast brings a lilting comedown before There Goes The Fear reminds us that we had been waiting for that night, but somehow we’d forgotten about it, everything else had been so great, we wouldn’t have noticed it was missing.
Some of the crowd start to leave. After all, it makes sense, they closed on one of their best known songs, a real sing along and of course it has the cowbells at the end. But the faithful remain, baying for more. The amps are still live and we are treated to a second encore. As the premature ejectors turn and face the stage, there are a few puzzled glances as it dawns on us that we are about to be treated to Space face, live. For those of us that came to God’s own City of Manchester because of the music and the attitude of the early 90’s, it was a belting, aching reminder of how long we had held the music of Doves close to our hearts. 18 years since their first single they came home tonight and showed that they have come of age and can at last be recognised for the genius that is Doves.
Summer people indeed, summer people.
Thanks Si! That’s great that your son saw doves for his first concert. What a way to start!
Thanks to Beth, for letting us know about this Boston Review. Check it out, for some of the best pictures of the US tour.
In my experience, the most difficult show to review is the one embroiled in mediocrity. Luckily for me, Doves wasted no time creating a dense wall-to-wall melodic soundscape in the House of Blues: a perfect compliment to the massive scrim onto which clever Danny Boyle-like music videos danced for the duration of the concert. The best live acts let you know right from the get-go that you’re going to enjoy yourself.
In the final performance their 2009 North American tour, Doves opening number “Jetstream” from their most recent release Kingdom of Rust functioned as a veritable “look what we can do,” comprised of a three or four minute crescendo that rolled together layers of programmed bass drums and snares, wobbly synthesizers, and surging guitar licks as it tumbled forward. Critics have hailed Kingdom as the group’s most ambitious project, and their performance showed that this ambition translates to the stage.
To read the full review, and see more stunning photos, click here.
Ahead of doves tour of Australia, Jez spoke to The vine.com.au about the new album and his past memories of touring Australia.
Four years is a long time in the music industry and even longer when it comes to technology. What was it like coming back and suddenly needing a MySpace, a Facebook, Twitter, free downloads et al?
We literally went away and the whole music landscape changed. Giving away a free download was a new one for us. It’s pretty mad really but once you get your head around it, the whole new digital domain makes sense in its own strange little way. It’d be nice to get paid for each record we sell, but most people seem to download it for free now, don’t they?
And then they justify it by saying ‘it’s okay, I’ll see them when they play live” but you can only play so many shows a year.
A lot of bands make their money that way but for us to come to Australia, it costs twice the amount we make from tickets. It’s a fucker, man. To be honest I wish our Australian tour was longer but somebody didn’t put their neck out. Some bright spark reckoned we should only do four shows but I think we could have done the whole east coast.
The official Splendour In The Grass website has confirmed that doves will be appearing at the festival. This will be doves third appearance at Spendour, having appeared at the festival in 2002 & 2005.
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