Whimsical Records

EMPORIUM on FACEBOOK

EMPORIUM on SOUNDCLOUD

DISCOGRAPHY:

SINGLES / EP's:

EMPS1 : ZOMBIE
Tracks: Zombie / Sleeping Dogs / Mother Nature

EMPS2 : ELEVATE (A TRIBUTE TO TRUMPTONSHIRE)
Tracks: Elevate (A Tribute To Trumptonshire)

EMPS3 : EMAIL EDDIE
Tracks: Email Eddie / Fever Tingle / Seven Moons From Home

EMPS4 : AMANDA
Tracks: Dreamer's Dead (single edit) / Amanda / Into The Dark (original version)

EMPS5 : LISA ON THE SCREEN
Tracks: Lisa On The Screen / Shine (single mix) / Into The Dark (mellow version)

EMPS6 : SIXES AND SEVENS
Tracks: Sixes And Sevens (2002 version) / Smoke / Blackened Blue (2002 version) / Sixes And Sevens (mellow version)

EMPS7 : WASTED (REMIX)
Tracks: Wasted / Don't Be Alarmed

ALBUMS:

EMPCD1 : A FINE FINE LINE
Tracks: Dream day / Parody(full version) / Don't Be alarmed / Sleeping Dogs / Elevate (A Tribute To Trumptonshire) / Mother Nature / Happy High / Caroline / Parody(instrumental) / Low threshold / Dream Day (edited remix) / Parody (instrumental reprise)

EMPCD2 : IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT GETS YOU HIGH
Tracks: Listen To The Noises / Night At The Fair / She Won't Come Out To Play / The Panama Canal / 'A 'B' Movie / Seaside(Kids Play The Fool) / Email Eddie / Mystical Girl / No Way Out / Listen To The Noises (Guitarist Magazine Fade-out version)

EMPCD3 : HALLUCINATIONS
Tracks: Shine (album mix) / Zombie / Amanda / Salisbury Plain / Behind The Veil / Parody (edited version) / Fever Tingle / Lisa On The Screen / Dreamer's Dead (full version) / Lyrical Girl / The Downside

EMPCD4: SILVER BRAINWAVES
Tracks: Intro / The Feeling / Dice Man / Wasted / Blackened Blue / Whimsical Theme / Mind Games / Wild Star / Rock For Sand / Fragments Of Knowledge / Mystic Angela / Baby Invisible / Sixes And Sevens

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MEDIA FEEDBACK:

Bonafidestudio (HALLUCINATIONS)
Relaxed vocal, easy listening, this album has so many of the hallmarks of classic pop. Good classic pop from Edinburgh.'

Modern Dance (HALLUCINATIONS)
'Emporium have a pretty distinct sound and many of the songs on this collection are very radio friendly. There are the odd phrasings and sounds that bring the Beach Boys and Xtc to mind... Rather pleasant..'

The List (HALLUCINATIONS)
'A kind of greatest hits from a band who havn't really had any hits yet. It all sounds quite dreamy and rather nice...melodic beauty...like 80's psychedelic demigods XTC. Which is probably a good thing.'

Phase 9 Entertainment. (HALLUCINATIONS)
'Keeping to the tradition of classic Beach Boys / Xtc style harmonies, Emporium have a way of producing instantly recognisable pop tunes with an air of familiarity that makes you sit and listen...With hypnotic harmonies and lush keyboard strings, this is complimented with sing-a-long choruses that get lodged in your head.'

Boston's 'Music Business Monthly' (LISA ON THE SCREEN)
'A delightful little pop tune which would have been a nice follow-up to 'Itchycoo Park' if Ian Mclagon(Small Faces) had got ahold of it. If there is a new British invasion Emporium intend to glide their way over.I like it.'

Edinburgh Evening News. (EMAIL EDDIE)
'A chirpy tale of boy meets computer. Sounds rather like BA Robertson meeting Belle and Sebastian for a nice wee lemonade.'

'Best for Music' magazine -single of the month. (EMAIL EDDIE)
'A bit Belle and Sebastian here,a bit Rezillos there...working extremely well...unique indeed.'

Listen.com. (LYRICAL GIRL)

'Buoyant sunny pop tunes from Scotland. Falsetto vocals wind in and out through mildly jerking dance beats and colorful keyboard accents while lyrics touch on personal themes with wit and irony.'

Reelscreen.com. (MOTHER NATURE)
'Scottish mayhem with swirling shapes and chilled beats. Let Emporium take you to their special place!'

Beat 106. (ELEVATE)
'It's brilliant,rather beautiful.'

BBC radio Scotland. (ZOMBIE)
'With Beach Boys harmonies,cute in its way' -The List.....'A very fine thing indeed.'

BBC radio Scotland. (SLEEPING DOGS)
'Extremely smart ,very very good.'

'Guitarist' magazine. (HAPPY HIGH)
'Melodic hooks are very much to the fore. A potential pop smash.'

'Making music' magazine (DREAM DAY)
'An enjoyable distraction...perfect pop.'

'Front' magazine. (A 'B' MOVIE)
'Whimsical pop with an adventurous sound. Promising.'

BBC radio Scotland.
'Some really cracking stuff.'

California's 'indieshop.org' (HALLUCINATIONS)
'The music is just brimming with greatness!'

Roughtrade.com (WASTED)
'The new single from emporium's 'Silver Brainwaves' album is the piano led indie anthem 'Wasted'. With a strong sense of melody and clinical but artistic production the song deserves to be a hit. The double A side is another fine little track named 'Don't be alarmed'. All in all this is a super little single from a band that are going to gain a lot of fans in the coming months.'

Daily Record (WASTED/DON'T BE ALARMED)
TWO summer-filled songs on lovely red vinyl which just brightens the mood. Like running through fields or sitting watching the water in a loch, this is music of happy abandon.
With the same fragile voice and melody structure of the best of Ian Broudie's Lightning Seeds, Emporium don't care if it's raining - every day is summer to them.
Sung with a Scottish accent like The Proclaimers, these two songs are the first new material for three years from Emporium.
But it's been worth the wait. Wasted is a psychedelic cross between the Small Faces and the Beach Boys with a swaggering rhythm and swirling melody.
Second song Don't Be Alarmed is tougher, but singer Ewan McKenzie's high-pitched voice keeps the distinct fragile quality that makes Emporium the natural successors to Teenage Fanclub rather than say Cosmic Rough Riders.
And the synth breakout that sounds like a Seventies television theme tune sample lifts an already amazing song into unforgettable territory.
Album Silver Brainwaves is due out on October 10 and, on the basis of these two songs, it should be well worth checking out www.emporiumtheband.com

The Rocker
(WASTED)
Swathed in psychedelic stylings and Dave Greenfield type keyboard rumblings, 'Wasted' belies initial misgivings and becomes increasingly addictive.

‘a very relaxing melodic backdrop…… so far removed from modern day music they could be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.’
- Alternative Links.com (SILVER BRAINWAVES)

'This album is very structured with each song sounding unlike the previous one….Emporium have a decidedly personal style with skilful stirring organ sounds…. constructed around falsetto vocals and harmonies which reflect atmospheres of the Small Faces, Beach Boys, and in more recent times the psychedelic sounds of XTC…… it is pop-rock of excellent making.’’
Munnezza.com (Italy) 4 Stars (SILVER BRAINWAVES)

’Delightful freak pop’
Arch Records (Japan)(SILVER BRAINWAVES)

'Holy cow! All crashing electro drum beats, keyboard synths and poppy arrangements all rolled together with lashings of sixties atmosphere, Brian Wilson-isms and the dancing falsetto vocals. This is so far off my radar I'm not sure I could do it justice in a review trying to describe it. But I think I kind of like it and it feels a bit naughty.'
tastyfanzine.org.uk (LISA ON THE SCREEN)

'Nick Drake sprang to mind when listening to Ewan McKenzie’s voice. This certainly adds something special to the mix…..McKenzie’s voice is a definite plus'.
Glasswerk.co.uk (SILVER BRAINWAVES)

‘This album has to be the most bizarre collection of pop tunes I’ve ever heard. The songs are well structured, they are exceptionally pleasant to listen to’.
Funkymofo.net (SILVER BRAINWAVES)

'This is the fourth album for this Edinburgh 3-piece.
Again, they don't disappoint by delivering some seriously cheerful but clever pop.
Cannot wait to see them in a London venue'.Bonafidestudio.co.uk (SILVER BRAINWAVES)

'Well it was recorded in Easter Road, so it has to be good. End of review.
Oh, alright then. The last time we encountered Emporium we said 'Swathed in psychedelic stylings and Dave Greenfield type keyboard rumblings'. Well the rumblings are still there, but there's an air of eighties synth homo-eroticism on the go. I would tell you it was like Soft Cell getting it on with the Stranglers while Brian Wilson watched from his sandpit but, frankly, who can afford the therapy from that kind of mental image.

For your buck you also get "Shine" which is much mellower, more Soft Cell meets the Mamas and the Papas and also "Into The Dark (mellow versio) which is end of the pier whimsical, a tad mad, and the most falsetto-ish of all the falsetto-ish vocals on offer.

It's all rather strange and eccentric but that's what people say about me, so I liked it. You won't hear many other tunes like these, so go get some.'
Zeigeist / Amazon.co.uk (LISA ON THE SCREEN - 4 stars)

I'm not sure of the place this album has in the modern world. After all, the outlet for XTC influenced electro-pastoral pop must be fairly limited. But at least when people point and laugh, you can hold your head up and say you followed your own path.

It's pop music from another planet with sixties keyboards, Beach Boys harmonies, ethereal falsetto vocals and slightly twisted melodies which give you the feeling that someone is looking at you through a telescope, unsettling but oddly exciting. At least for a while, until you get the restraining order.

It takes some getting used to, but is ultimately worth the effort, as songs like "Wasted" and "Mind Games" seep through your back brain in much the same way as late period Talk Talk did. The latter (my favourite) makes as good use of space and silence as Mark Hollis at his best - a rare compliment.

If you like to walk slightly outside the line, then this is for you.
Zeigeist / Amazon.co.uk (SILVER BRAINWAVES - 4stars)

Formed in January 1998, Emporium are an Edinburgh based band centred around the songwriting hub of Ewan McKenzie. With the release of WASTED from their latest long playing record SILVER BRAINWAVES, McKenzie carries on down the charming lo-fi road, delivering more upbeat melodic pop with its heart in the charity shop but its sights on the charts.

In the vein of Baby Bird and the like, WASTED is a shimmering pop tune thats all cheap casio keyboards, programmed drum beats, polite guitar work and whimsical vocals. Not unlike Belle And Sebastian on a much more limited budget, this is charming and sweet stuff, Ewan McKenzie singing in a fey vocal style that suits the musical backdrop perfectly. Backed by the equally charming DON'T BE ALARMED, another sweet pop song that gently caresses the senses, this is the kind of single that quietly creeps up on you and gently makes its presence felt.

While WASTED isn't exactly likely to change your life or start a riot, it is a charming slice of charming lo-fi whimsy that at least brightens your day somewhat, and sometimes in life, thats just enough.
UKMUSICSEARCH.co.uk (WASTED/DON'T BE ALARMED )

Hailing from Scotland's capital Edinburgh, Emporium formed in the winter of 1998 and released three albums by 2002. 'Silver Brainwaves' was actually their fourth record, but has been given a second shot at stardom with a digital re-release. On listening I can understand why Silver Brainwaves didn't quite take off in 2005. With the likes of Akon, Crazy Frog and James Blunt dominating the Charts, Emporium's sound was just way before its time.

Cut to six years later, Silver Brainwaves should find an approving audience with its fantastical ethereal, trippy feel. It is a very unique listen and I myself needed multiple replays to fully appreciate the delicacies of each track accompanied with the easy-biting vocals. Although music is ageless, I would very much like to hear Emporium's new studio works as I am sure they have used their exceptional flair to polish and develop their talent further.

On this release, my personal favourites were Mind Games, Whimsical Theme, Fragments of Knowledge and Wild Star.
Jenness Mitchell   (3 stars)
http://www.allgigs.co.uk/view/review/5725/Emporium_Silver_Brainwaves_Album_Review.html

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Originally released in 2005 with sponsorship from the Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh band Emporium have just digitally re-released their fourth studio album ‘Silver Brainwaves’. Formed back in 1998 and having released three studio albums by 2002, the three-piece have received much acclaim over the years from being featured on European radio shows to appearing on end-of-year lists for BBC Scotland. With ‘Silver Brainwaves’ not quite receiving the attention it perhaps deserved following its original release, it’s understandable why the trio have decided to give it another shot. The album features an almost 60s vibe and is fairly unique sounding, drawing influence musically from a number of different sources. Tracks like ‘The Feeling’ and ‘Dice Man’ are made up of lovely and interesting pop melodies whilst the piano-led ‘Mind Games’ shows a softer side. Ewan McKenzie’s vocals bring to mind a mix between Brian Wilson and Nick Drake and of course, the harmonies work very well indeed for example on ‘Rock For Sand’. The album drifts nicely to a close with final track ‘Sixes And Sevens’ which has some soft and slightly eerie instrumentation. Ultimately, ‘Silver Brainwaves’ is well-produced and a tad different; two factors which make it a worthwhile listen for anyone looking for something with a little bit more of an individual flavour.    (7 out of 10)

http://www.shout4music.com/album-reviews/emporium-silver-brainwaves/
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This band has a unique and yet hauntingly ‘familiar’ sound. This seems to be a very successful combination for huge bands of the past. I feel the "Brit" influence and almost hear a little Supertramp flavour, and that really makes the songs easy to digest. Great beats and rhythms, and when the vocals come in to tell the story you can really tell this group spent some quality time with the audio engineer during mix-down.

First up on my play-list was "Wasted". This one is nice. I liked the way it was put together and the beat was consistent. This song has a rich grouping of instruments and gives me a nice vacation back in time. It reminds me partly of the sixties and partly of the British invasion while floating a little bit around an eighties electro pop sound. It is difficult to say what the strongest influence is because the song is very unique and strong in its own way.

Next up was the song "Mind Games". This one seems a little somber and translates well with a powerful piano riff and some kind of ambient overlay. Very effective in a simple and understated way as well as entertaining, and the story makes you want to know more as it unravels. We all know there is no where to hide and this song gives a glimmer of acceptance while remaining independent. Very good track.

"Dice Man" starts with a simple yet strong vocal. This singer is very talented and sings on key without and apparent "auto-tune" effects - refreshing as there are so many bands that attempt to do what this group makes seem effortless. That is the right formula if they expect to grow an audience. Another quality track by this band.

Overall, I would give these guys the thumbs up and recommend them to anyone who really appreciates great music. The time it takes to make a good record is well spent with this band and one can hear that they all know what they are doing. The talent is there, the unique sound is there, and these performers should have no problem gaining a solid fan base.

-Mr. Lee
CEO, Absolute Media   July 6th 2011
http://absoluteceo-musicreviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/emporium-silver-brainwaves-album.html

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Sublime 1960's-influenced pop

'Silver Brainwaves', the inspired 2005 album from the Edinburgh based band Emporium, has just been re-released. Formed in 1998, Emporium centres on the songwriting of singer Ewan McKenzie. 'Silver Brainwaves', the band’s fourth studio effort is melodic pop, shimmering and engaging, exploring a similar direction to the work of bands like the High Llamas.

The song 'The Feeling' is warm and welcoming, very nostalgic and very 1960s, echoing the musical beauty of that classic era. The lyric expresses mixed emotions: “Something unseen is tugging at me… the feeling is dying.” Cautious optimism nevertheless accompanies an upbeat sound: “We’re looking for better days.”

'Dice Man' explores a repeated theme of luck on the album: “Go with the flow… Any way that you play, you just can’t lose.” Meanwhile, the sound, with lovely harmonies and layered instrumentation, brings to mind the influence of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.

'Wasted' expresses hints of melancholy, while 'Blackened Blue” is moody and thought provoking. 'Mind Games' is likewise a sombre tune, with distinctive piano playing. The lyric reflects the tone: “Still the storm’s inside my head/It will linger till I’m dead.”

Emporium’s work has received some notable critical acclaim and their songs are at once sun-soaked, trippy and enchanting. Like the High Llamas, their music is more indicative of the 1960s and California than either the current charts or their U.K. home.

'Wild Star' tells the story of a shining girl who, burning brightly, “torched the heavens every night.” 'Mystic Angela' is distinctive psychedelic-tinged pop with flowing instrumentation. The band meanwhile captures a healthy touch of magic in the sound they create.

'Sixes and Sevens' is the mellifluous closer, returning to the subject of luck: “You can rest in heaven/You can toast in hell/It’s all sixes and sevens/How we know it so well.”

In the end, 'Silver Brainwaves' is a novel effort from Emporium and a worthy re-release.

Carl Bookstein   (4 stars)
http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/CatPages/CatItem.aspx?id=78679
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This album is being re-released from 2005 and, on first listen; it’s kind of hard to see why. The band hasn’t become world-beating superstars since then, no one member has gone on to win a Grammy. Or an Oscar. Then, it all slowly clicks into place.

The Beach Boys are finally giving Smile an official release after years in the vaults and this album has several sonic similarities with it. Both are filled with guitar lines that are curved and long and seem to go on forever.

Both are also drenched in sweet harmonies that give your spirit a little lift every time the disc is spun. This album is, effectively, one song spun over 40-odd minutes but when the song is as diverse in mood and style as this, then who’s complaining?

Beach Boys-influenced these guys may be but their own voice shines through completely in the effort and emotion on display here. They have really become one solid (note: not stolid) unit who know how to give each other their own little moments in the sun.

And yet, they know they work best when they come together as a whole. Which they do here, on many joyous occasions. ****

©JONATHAN MUIRHEAD 2011 http://www.isthismusic.com/emporium