KING HITS AND GOLDFISH MEMORIES
Welcome to Winter, in Australia at least. I’ve desisted from sending an update for a while as I’ve been putting together the release of my first official live album. I’m letting all of you know about this first as I’m only putting out 100 copies of this on 12″ vinyl. Each LP will come with a slip case CD and will be lovingly hand numbered and signed by yours truly. The album is called King Hits And Goldfish Memories, it was recorded in one night over two sets at The Camelot Lounge in Marrickville on November 1st 2018. You may well have been there.
These are in manufacture as I type so rather than crowd fund this exercise I am keeping it relatively simple by making it available to be purchased as a pre-sale. The album will ship on August 14th 2019 or earlier if I get it earlier. Your pre-ordering it will of course make the funding of it a possibility and will ensure you don’t miss out given it’s limited availability.
I have made it available in three pre-order packages.
1. LP/CD + Teeshirt (my first ever solo tee designed by me)2. LP/CD + Bedsit LP + Teeshirt3. LP/CD
Go here to pre-order/get details
I will announce tour dates as soon as I have them all together. They will be happening in late October through until November.
In the short term The Tall Grass (Peter Fenton and myself) play Moshpit, Newtown next week Fri Jul 5th, it’ll be fun. Details here
If you’re still reading here is a blurb about King Hits And Goldfish Memories –
King Hits And Goldfish Memories is my fifth solo release, and my first ever official live album. If I’m not moving forwards then I at least hope to move sideways in regards to my output. This album is a sideways move – a diversion, a chance to compile and compress my now fairly sizeable catalogue whilst I work out what’s next. On King Hits I take these songs back to where they started – with me, a guitar and my capricious voice.
Some of these are radically reshaped – Monsoon when performed by Infinity Broke is a hypnotic, noisy ten minute beast. The version here is the first time I ever did it solo, it becomes a loose, swamp soaked narrative that surprises even me. Ounce Of Your Cruelty was possibly the closest Bluebottle Kiss ever came to a hit. On this version I’m reminded of it’s conception, of sitting on a bed with a cheap acoustic guitar and writing it in about ten minutes and knowing I didn’t need to spend a minute more.
I love live solo acoustic albums – Townes Van Zant’s Live At The Old Quarter, Neil Young At Massey Hall, Mark Eitzel’s Songs Of Love. I compared these albums to mine sonically when fine tuning the final mixes, this was of course a silly idea. King Hits And Goldfish Memories was recorded at The Camelot Lounge by the front of house engineer on the night, it was mixed by my friend Darren Cross in his lounge room. It’s a casual affair, limited to only 100 copies on vinyl plus an accompanying CD, or in the digital/streaming world. Whether as an introduction or as a bunch of reinterpretations I believe it’s worthy of your ears.
Praise for Bedsit, Jamie Hutchings last solo album
“’Opener Second Winter acts as a good litmus test: if you’re entranced by a seven-minute song that begins with a Kafkaesque short story, then you’re definitely in the headspace for what’s to come. It’s a gorgeously intimate work, with Hutchings’s voice cracking with emotion and blue notes in what sounds like a series of first takes…’”
Andrew P Street, The Australian (Mar 31, 2018)
“’Bedsit is a challenging listen, as fragile and introspective as it is darkly humorous, but those who invest the time in unpacking its intricacies will be richly rewarded.’”
Daniel Johnson, The Courier Mail (May 06, 2018)
“Hutchings has played in several bands of note, to reasonable success – the fierce and flexible Blue Bottle Kiss, Infinity Broke (with Wills, brother Scott Hutchings and BBK member Jared Harrison), The Tall Grass (with Peter Fenton, of Crow) – but to my mind he is at his best in solo mode, and has rarely been better than here.’”
Bernard Zuel, Bernardzuel.net (Apr 24, 2018)
“Bedsit is up there with the best music that Jamie Hutchings has made throughout the many years he has been making music. Despite the sparseness of the backing it’s strangely one of the most accessible and rewarding set of songs we’ve so far heard from this singer-songwriter. “
Malcolm Carter, Penny Black Music UK (Apr 20, 2019)
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JH