Pale Saints
Encyclopedia
Pale Saints was formed in 1987 by Ian Masters
(bass/vocals), Graeme Naysmith (guitar), and Chris Cooper (drums) in Leeds, England
. The group began as a jangly indie pop
band
, influenced by Primal Scream
's early sound.
, Barging Into the Presence of God released in 1989, the band went into a direction that displayed a mix of Ian Masters' choirboy-like vocals along with dark atmospheric and noisy pop tunes. Ashley Horner from Edsel Auctioneer
briefly joined the band on guitar in the same year. The band was signed to 4AD Records records after their first London
show
, by the label's chief Ivo Watts-Russell
.
The group's first album, The Comforts of Madness, was released in 1990, and reached the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart
. The album's tracks were produced
by John Fryer
and Gil Norton
. The album includes a cover version
of "Fell From the Sun" by Opal
.
In late 1990, Meriel Barham, the original vocalist of Lush
, joined the band as second guitarist and vocalist. Barham contributed backing vocals and guitars to the Half-Life EP, then joined permanently for the Nancy Sinatra
cover
"Kinky Love", which gave the band a minor hit single
, and the Flesh Balloon EP. In 1992 the band recorded their second full-length album, In Ribbons, which was produced by Hugh Jones. Ian Masters left the band in 1993. Former Heart Throbs bassist Colleen Browne joined afterwards.
Sticking with producer Hugh Jones, the group released the EP Fine Friend in mid-1994 followed by their third album Slow Buildings.
The group toured Europe and the United States in late autumn of 1994. Their final studio recording was a version of "Jersey Girl
" for the Tom Waits
tribute album Step Right Up. Meriel Barham departed in September 1995 and the group eventually disbanded in 1996.
with former A.C. Temple
member Chris Trout. They released their self-titled debut album in 1993, and their second album, Hibernation Shock was released in 1996. In 1994, Masters teamed up with His Name Is Alive
auteur Warren Defever
and they began to release music as ESP Summer. In autumn 1998, Masters released a 7-inch EP under the name Friendly Science Orchestra entitled Miniature Album, which became an NME
'Single of the Week'. , Masters lived in Japan
. His current projects, including Wingdisk with Mark Tranmer of Gnac and The Montgolfier Brothers, can be viewed on his website, The Institute of Spoons.
Naysmith and Cooper formed Lorimer, and later continued working together in the Leeds band The Terminals. The band released a single in December 2006, entitled "Dictator" on Double Dragon Records. Naysmith and Cooper are currently working on a new project of atmospheric instrumental music under the name The Program.
Barham has gone on to record melodic electronica under the name Kuchen. She has released two albums on the Karaoke Kalk label: Kids with Sticks in 2001 and the collaboration Kuchen Meets Mapstation in 2003 with Stefan Schneider of To Rococo Rot
(who also records as Mapstation).
Horner is a film producer based in Newcastle upon Tyne
.
Browne went on to play with Warm Jets
, Rialto
, and White Hotel before briefly returning to Canada in 2001, then relocating to San Francisco in 2002. There she played with local rock noir
chanteuse Rykarda Parasol, appearing on her "Here She Comes" EP and "Our Hearts First Meet" album.
Ian Masters (songwriter)
Ian Masters is a multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/producer.He is best-known for being a founding member of the English indie pop band Pale Saints. Masters was their vocalist/bassist from their formation in 1987 until his departure from the group in 1992...
(bass/vocals), Graeme Naysmith (guitar), and Chris Cooper (drums) in Leeds, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The group began as a jangly indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, influenced by Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
's early sound.
History
By the time they recorded their first EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Barging Into the Presence of God released in 1989, the band went into a direction that displayed a mix of Ian Masters' choirboy-like vocals along with dark atmospheric and noisy pop tunes. Ashley Horner from Edsel Auctioneer
Edsel Auctioneer
The Edsel Auctioneer was a band formed in Leeds in 1988 by Ashley Horner , Phil Pettler , Aidan Winterburn and Chris Cooper . They were named after the ill-fated Ford automobile whose front grille was supposed to have resembled a woman's pudenda...
briefly joined the band on guitar in the same year. The band was signed to 4AD Records records after their first London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
show
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, by the label's chief Ivo Watts-Russell
Ivo Watts-Russell
Ivo Watts-Russell was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the English indie record label 4AD. He has also produced several records, himself preferring to use the term "musical director" to explain his role in the creation....
.
The group's first album, The Comforts of Madness, was released in 1990, and reached the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. The album's tracks were produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by John Fryer
John Fryer (music)
John Fryer is an English record producer. Best known for his production work, he also branched out as a musician as one of only two constant members of This Mortal Coil , providing keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing for the band, and its offshoot, The Hope Blister.- Career :Starting out...
and Gil Norton
Gil Norton
Gil Norton is a British record producer known for his work with such bands as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo Park, Counting Crows, Terrorvision, The Triffids, Del Amitri, James, The Feelers, The Beekeepers,...
. The album includes a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Fell From the Sun" by Opal
Opal (band)
Opal were an American alternative/psychedelic band in the 1980s. They were part of the Paisley Underground musical style.The group formed in the mid-'80s under the name Clay Allison, featuring guitarist David Roback , bassist Kendra Smith and drummer Keith Mitchell...
.
In late 1990, Meriel Barham, the original vocalist of Lush
Lush (band)
Lush were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1998. They were one of the first bands to attract the "shoegazing" label...
, joined the band as second guitarist and vocalist. Barham contributed backing vocals and guitars to the Half-Life EP, then joined permanently for the Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
"Kinky Love", which gave the band a minor hit single
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and the Flesh Balloon EP. In 1992 the band recorded their second full-length album, In Ribbons, which was produced by Hugh Jones. Ian Masters left the band in 1993. Former Heart Throbs bassist Colleen Browne joined afterwards.
Sticking with producer Hugh Jones, the group released the EP Fine Friend in mid-1994 followed by their third album Slow Buildings.
The group toured Europe and the United States in late autumn of 1994. Their final studio recording was a version of "Jersey Girl
Jersey Girl (song)
"Jersey Girl" is a song composed and originally sung by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits from his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.-Waits original:Waits wrote the song with his future wife Kathleen Brennan, who had been living in New Jersey...
" for the Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
tribute album Step Right Up. Meriel Barham departed in September 1995 and the group eventually disbanded in 1996.
Post band projects
Masters continues to create music, often of an experimental nature. His first project after Pale Saints was Spoonfed HybridSpoonfed Hybrid
Spoonfed Hybrid were a dream pop duo in the north of England in the early 1990s.The band was formed in 1993 by Ian Masters and Chris Trout, initially as The Long Lost. Masters had just left the band he founded in 1987, Pale Saints, which continued without him. Trout had been guitarist in A.C...
with former A.C. Temple
A.C. Temple
A.C. Temple were an alternative rock band from Sheffield, England, formed in 1985. They released four albums before splitting up in 1991.-History:...
member Chris Trout. They released their self-titled debut album in 1993, and their second album, Hibernation Shock was released in 1996. In 1994, Masters teamed up with His Name Is Alive
His Name Is Alive
His Name Is Alive is an experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label...
auteur Warren Defever
Warren Defever
Warren Defever is a musician and producer from Livonia, Michigan. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in numerous other circles...
and they began to release music as ESP Summer. In autumn 1998, Masters released a 7-inch EP under the name Friendly Science Orchestra entitled Miniature Album, which became an NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
'Single of the Week'. , Masters lived in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. His current projects, including Wingdisk with Mark Tranmer of Gnac and The Montgolfier Brothers, can be viewed on his website, The Institute of Spoons.
Naysmith and Cooper formed Lorimer, and later continued working together in the Leeds band The Terminals. The band released a single in December 2006, entitled "Dictator" on Double Dragon Records. Naysmith and Cooper are currently working on a new project of atmospheric instrumental music under the name The Program.
Barham has gone on to record melodic electronica under the name Kuchen. She has released two albums on the Karaoke Kalk label: Kids with Sticks in 2001 and the collaboration Kuchen Meets Mapstation in 2003 with Stefan Schneider of To Rococo Rot
To Rococo Rot
To Rococo Rot is a Berlin-based trio who combine electronic and acoustic elements to create instrumental post-rock and electronic music. The group is composed of bassist Stefan Schneider and brothers Robert and Ronald Lippok . Ronald Lippok has also gained praise for his work in Tarwater...
(who also records as Mapstation).
Horner is a film producer based in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
.
Browne went on to play with Warm Jets
Warm Jets
Warm Jets were a British pop indie band, who had two UK top 40 singles and a top 40 album in 1998.-History:The band formed in 1995 by Louis Jones, Paul Noble and Ed Grimshaw and signed to This Way Up records in early 1996...
, Rialto
Rialto (band)
Rialto were a Britpop band of the late 1990s. They released their self-titled debut album in 1998, and Night on Earth in 2002. Their most famous single was their debut, "Monday Morning 5:19", however "Untouchable" charted higher at number 20 in the UK Singles Chart.-Band members:* Louis Eliot -...
, and White Hotel before briefly returning to Canada in 2001, then relocating to San Francisco in 2002. There she played with local rock noir
Rock noir
Rock noir is a term used to identify a sub-genre of rock characterized by dramatic performances of theatrically rendered lyrical storytelling. It was originated by Italian band Belladonna, whose debut album Metaphysical Attraction is the first full-length Rock noir album ever released...
chanteuse Rykarda Parasol, appearing on her "Here She Comes" EP and "Our Hearts First Meet" album.
Studio albums
- The Comforts of Madness (1990) UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#40 - In Ribbons (1992) UK #61
- Slow Buildings (1994)
Compilation album
- Mrs. Dolphin (1990, Japanese release containing "Barging into the Presence of God" and the "Half-Life" EPs with the tracks "Colours and Shapes" and "A Deeper Sleep for Steven")
Singles/EPs/demos
- "Children Break" (1988)
- Barging into the Presence of God EP (1989) UK IndieUK Indie ChartThe UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
#3 - Half-Life EP (1990, 12" contains a bonus spoken-word track "Colour of the Sky")
- "Kinky Love" (1991) UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#72 - Flesh Balloon EP (1991)
- "Porpoise" (1991)
- "Throwing Back the Apple" (1992)
- Fine Friend EP (1994)
- "Fine Friend" (1994, U.S. promo including "One Blue Hill" live acoustic @ KCRW)
Video
- Time Thief (1990)
- Half-Life,Remembered (1990)
- Kinky Love (1991)
- Blue Flower (1992)
- Throwing Back the Apple (1992)
- Fine Friend (1994)
- Angel (Will you be my) (1994)
Compilation albums with various artists
- Diamonds and Porcupines - "She Rides the Waves" (1988, demo version)
- Gigantic! 2 - "A Deeper Sleep for Steven" (1990)
- Indie Top 20 Vol. VIII - "Sight of You" (1990)
- Music for the 90's: Vol 2 - "Time Thief" (1990, edit)
- Peel Session - "Time Thief" (1990)
- Indie Top 20 Vol XI - "Half-Life, Remembered" (1991)
- Knowing Where it All Leeds - "Two Sick Sisters" (1991)
- ...and dog bones, too - "Neverending Night" (1992)
- Lilliput - "Throwing Back The Apple", "Featherframe", "A Thousand Stars Burst Open" (1992, Tintwhistle Brass Band version)
- Precious - "Kinky Love" (1992)
- 4AD Presents The 13 Year Itch - "One Blue Hill" (1993, demo)
- All Virgos Are Mad - "Fine Friend" (1994)
- No Balls - "One Blue Hill" (1995)
- Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits - "Jersey Girl" (1995)
- Joyride - "1000 Stars Burst Open" (1997)
- Shoe Pie - "A Thousand Stars Burst Open" (1997)
- Forward - "Sight of You" (2005)
External links
- Colours and Shapes - Unofficial Pale Saints site
- Pale Saints on MySpace
- The Institute of Spoons - Ian Masters site.
- Rykarda Parasol - Colleen Browne's current band.
- Kuchen - Meriel Barham's current project.
- Eyesore Discography
- Pale Saints Lyrics
- The Program - Graeme Naysmith & Chris Cooper's current band.