Skytone (band)
Encyclopedia
Skytone are a vocal instrumental duo from Ottawa
, Canada consisting of brothers Sol and Darius. Their sound is generally considered indie/pop/alternative with Sol and Darius singing and playing a variety of instruments on their albums. Sol plays guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and percussion. Darius plays guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, mandolin, accordion and some drums.
Skytone have so far released two albums: Echoes in all Directions (2006) and Shining Over You (2010). Recording and mixing is done at their home studios and albums are produced by Sol. Although they record to computer they favor using older “vintage” equipment during the recording and mixing process, for example a Multivox MultiEcho Tape Delay machine was used on every song on the album “Shining Over You”. Skytone incorporates an eclectic range of influences and styles in their music such as Britpop, fuzz pop, reggae, jangle pop, new wave, blue-eyed soul
, post punk, garage rock, surf and acoustic folk.
For the album Shining Over You they site King Tubby
, Augustus Pablo
, Lee Scratch Perry, The Skatalites
, The Sandals
, Factory Records
Compilations for their recording and production techniques and the pet sounds era Beach Boys for their harmonies. The Television Personalities inpired the fuzz pop psychedelia on songs such as We Are One, while Taking the Long Way Home touches on AM radio 70's production with the instrumentation influenced by The Smiths
. For the song "Rolling Stone" influences are early Joe Jackson
Look Sharp era, and Sha Na Na
. Shadow across my door was written after Sol watched a documentary featuring Yiddish folk music, Darius learned accordion just for the song.
Album tracks "Lindbergh", "The New York Song" and "Just a Little Attention" have proven popular on campus radio charts. They have also appeared on CBC Radio 3.
In the spring of 2008, Skytone won the regional final of the Canadian Radio Star National Songwriting Competition for the song "String of Pearls".
Both albums have been released on the Ottawa-based label The Beautiful Music
.
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada consisting of brothers Sol and Darius. Their sound is generally considered indie/pop/alternative with Sol and Darius singing and playing a variety of instruments on their albums. Sol plays guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and percussion. Darius plays guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, mandolin, accordion and some drums.
Skytone have so far released two albums: Echoes in all Directions (2006) and Shining Over You (2010). Recording and mixing is done at their home studios and albums are produced by Sol. Although they record to computer they favor using older “vintage” equipment during the recording and mixing process, for example a Multivox MultiEcho Tape Delay machine was used on every song on the album “Shining Over You”. Skytone incorporates an eclectic range of influences and styles in their music such as Britpop, fuzz pop, reggae, jangle pop, new wave, blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
, post punk, garage rock, surf and acoustic folk.
For the album Shining Over You they site King Tubby
King Tubby
King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Augustus Pablo
Augustus Pablo
Horace Swaby , known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s onwards. He popularized the use of the melodica in reggae music...
, Lee Scratch Perry, The Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
, The Sandals
The Sandals
The Sandals, also known as The Sandells, were an early, influential surf rock band formed in 1964. They are most famous for scoring the surfing documentary The Endless Summer.-History:...
, Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
Compilations for their recording and production techniques and the pet sounds era Beach Boys for their harmonies. The Television Personalities inpired the fuzz pop psychedelia on songs such as We Are One, while Taking the Long Way Home touches on AM radio 70's production with the instrumentation influenced by The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
. For the song "Rolling Stone" influences are early Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
Look Sharp era, and Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....
. Shadow across my door was written after Sol watched a documentary featuring Yiddish folk music, Darius learned accordion just for the song.
Album tracks "Lindbergh", "The New York Song" and "Just a Little Attention" have proven popular on campus radio charts. They have also appeared on CBC Radio 3.
In the spring of 2008, Skytone won the regional final of the Canadian Radio Star National Songwriting Competition for the song "String of Pearls".
Both albums have been released on the Ottawa-based label The Beautiful Music
The Beautiful Music
The Beautiful Music is a Canadian record label started in 2002 by Wally Salem, specializing in indie pop. Acts include Skytone , Nick Danger & the Danger City Rebels, The Mules, Jeremy Gluck, The Higher Elevations and The Social Icons....
.
Skytone Discography
- Echoes In All Directions http://www.notlame.com/CDSKYTONE1.html (2006) The Beautiful Music
- Shining Over You http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/shining-over-you/id383380212?ign-mpt=uo%3D4 (2010) The Beautiful Music
- Skytone meets the Jackhammer in the House of Dub (2011) The Beautiful Music
External links
- http://www.thebeautifulmusic.com/skytone/ - Official Site
- http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=193360794&MyToken=deaf244e-b6a8-4243-8d5f-5c8f877f2f0d - Official MySpace Page
- http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/skytone - OurStage Fansite