Cat and Bird Split 7″

The Cat and Bird 7″ is a very limited edition split between us and the late Break Mission Kills. This collaboration, however, is more of a marriage than a split, with each of our band’s derelict post-pop aesthetic supporting the other’s. The entire run is limited to 100 copies, though the record (and bonus tracks) can be downloaded for free at www.catandbird.info.

(Read the rest of this story…)

Enright House merch now on trade-me

I suppose it took me long enough, really, but after reading this interesting article (albeit, a bit annoyingly written) this afternoon, I thought - hell yeah, why not! - and put up some of our new shirts, badges, EPs and 7″s, as well as a few copies of our album. If you live outside of New Zealand and fancy buying something off us, just hang tight a wee while longer. We’ll have a proper paypal store up within the next few weeks! In the meantime:

2 1/4″ Badges/Buttons (5 NZD, including shipping):

(Read the rest of this story…)

The Enright House and HDU at Al’s Bar 04.30.2008

We’re stoked to be part of HDU’s album release tour, by bringing you the last-ever performance of our acoustic set! We religiously rehearsed the set for almost four months and then took it on a 10-day South Island tour, where we played these songs for hipsters, adults, children and grandparents. It will be hard to part with the wonderful experience of playing these tender renditions, so it will undoubtedly be an emotional farewell.

Not only will it be the last-ever show in this format, but Thomas, our dear friend and former guitarist, will be down from Wellington to reunite us as the same 4-piece line-up that debuted the acoustic set at Camp A Low Hum earlier this year. If you missed us at camp and didn’t make it out during our tour, this is a show I think you won’t want to miss… I mean, for Pete’s sake, it’s a show with HDU, right? Don’t sit this one out if you like our music - you’ll be sorry you did, attract heaps of rancid Karma, and get smashed in the face by a crash-landing flying saucer.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

• Add this post to:

This Monday: EH at Real Groovy in ChCh [5 pm]

Real Groovy, one of our local record stores, is holding a series of instore performances this coming week to honor New Zealand’s music month (an annual “celebration” of New Zealand’s local music).

Anyhow, Simon, our drummer, is away on a school trip this Monday, so Evan and I will be playing the upcoming instore performance as a duo. Evan will be on piano and brushed snare, and I’ll be playing guitar and some accordion. In contrast to the acoustic set we took on tour, I’m actually bringing my looping pedal with me.

In addition to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which we’ve not played acoustically to date, we’ll also be debuting a new “song”.

Aside from the HDU gig on the 30th, this will be your last chance to catch us playing acoustically, and almost certainly the last time you’ll catch me playing an accordion :).

Be there or be triangular.

-M.

• Add this post to:

South Island Acoustic Tour

• Th. 24 Apr: The Penguin Club - Oamuru
• Fr. 25 Apr: Arc Cafe - Dunedin
• Sa. 26 Apr: The Glue Pot - Invercargill
• Su. 27 Apr: Wharfside Cafe - Stewart Island
• Mo. 28 Apr: Old Schoolhouse - Okarito
• Tu. 29 Apr: Saracen’s - Karamea
• We. 30 Apr: Drifter’s Cafe - Granity
• Th. 01 May: Yaza Cafe - Nelson
• Fr. 02 May: Hot Mama’s - Motueka
• Sa. 03 May: Dux De Lux - Christchurch

All dates with Shaun K Anderson!

• Add this post to:

Friday 28th: Gig with So So Modern and O’Lovelys

Friday night at Christchurch’s the Jetset. We go on 10.30 sharp. We’re playing one 20 minute song that you will never have heard before and will, most likely, never hear us perform again. Instrumental rock meets overly self-indulgent reality TV. Don’t be late.

• Add this post to:

Free Remix Package: Darkwave = MC Squared

Would you like to have the opportunity to create a remix of one of our songs and have us share it with others through our website? We promise to post every remix you send us! In fact, after you’re fully satisfied with your own creation, you can even opt to give us permission to release it in some capacity in the future, either as a CD, a free downloadable remix album, as bounes tracks on a USB stick - anything’s possible. However, all these things aside, your number one priority should just be to have a hassle-free and fun time experimenting with music you enjoy and are curious about!

This remix package includes everything from samples and loops, to the full vocal and instrument tracks as used on the recording. All samples, loops and tracks are 16 bit, 44.100 kHz, and 107bpm.

If and when you’ve downloaded the files, please let us know how your remix is coming along, and be sure to share the results with us and everyone else. Have fun!

Get your free remix package here:

• Darkwave Remix Package [38.7mb]

The Darkwave Remix Package by The Enright House is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License (full legal code). Based on the song Darkwave Equals MC Squared by The Enright House.

• Add this post to:

Help build a winter dome around Chicago

First we had the space race with Moscow, now we have a race for the first domed city. Who said the cold war was over?

The fight’s on, baby!

• Add this post to:

What’s in store for the next 6-8 weeks

I’m about to head off to the States for a five week holiday (Chicago - New York - Chicago). Consequently, things will be a bit quiet in terms of the band until the four of us reconvene in January. However, despite not being able to play shows et cetera, I’ll actually be incredibly busy working on the following:

First and foremost I will be adding a lot of interesting and unique content to this website. For one, I will be implementing Bruce Warila’s concept of songpages. However, his idea of what songpages should contain strikes me as rather bland; our way of doing it won’t be. Whereas Warila suggests including standard items, such as who wrote and recorded a song, the lyrics, licensing blurbs and a courtesy song stream in his songpages, I can’t help but think he’s got a solid idea, lacking, ultimately, in enough substantive content to get music enthusiasts seriously interested in the idea.

So, the songpages I’m working on will include all of the above, but will also make available media such as videos, live performance mp3s, live and rehearsal videos, prior demo recordings of the song, remixes et cetera. But that’s not even the half of it:

The thing I’m most excited about, is creating hand-drawn scores of every song that you will be able to download as PDFs. These scores will sometimes be a collection of guitar tabs, or traditionally notated scores, or graphical scores explaining what sounds occur when and where. They will all be entirely unique, and if I like how they turn out, I might even get them bound affordably and make a super limited edition (maybe 10) available for sale through the website.

In addition, every songpage will feature an 8-15 minute “making-of” podcast, including anecdotes, a few secret blunders, as well as segments on song production, instrumentation and song-writing.

Finally, some songpages will even go a step further and include downloadable remix packages, containing all the individual instrument and vocal tracks, as well as drum-loops and samples - all as 16 bit wave files. So, if you’re interested in remixing our stuff (and possibly having us include your efforts on our site, or even releasing them as part of upcoming singles or EPs) you will be able to download these remix packs as zip files, import them into your sequencer of choice, and have a go at doing your own thing!

So, far from taking a break from The Enright House, I’m simply going to be doing a lot behind-the-scenes activity, which, hopefully, will eventually culminate in one the most involved, content rich, and - fingers crossed - exciting band websites on the web! Five weeks, of course, might well not be enough time to get it all done, but you know what? I’m totally looking forward to trying! :)

• Add this post to:

Guardian newspaper’s song of the day!

What!? No way! The Guardian newspaper (!!!) has just featured our song Darkwave = MC Squared on their music and entertainment blog as the song of the day! That’s insane!

• Add this post to:

A Maze and Amazement album now out

Thanks to A Low Hum and Border, our brand new album, “A Maze And Amazement“, is finally out in New Zealand.

Now most bands would at this point immediately ask you to go and buy their new album. Truth be told, I couldn’t care less about persuading you to buy it. What really matters to me is that you take a chance on it and give it a few minutes of your precious time and just listen to a few songs… if you live in New Zealand, just go to any decent record store, ask to have a listen, skip to a random song, press play and close your eyes for a few minutes.

Now I know that even asking you to listen to a few songs of ours is in many ways a big favor to ask, living as we do in an era of total media over-saturation and in which the incessant clamor of the mediocre drowns out so very much. Maybe we’re ultimately just part of the static buzz, but I need to believe that this record can lift itself out of the all-pervasive fog and into someone’s very own private heart. I know it all sounds far too corny and serious at the same time, but please give this record a chance… of course it won’t be for everyone, but this record is like a child to me, and I will be loyal to it beyond reason, because that’s just what it takes to create things in a world where things fall apart so readily and without a murmur.

So… in the spirit of things, I put the entire album up on last.fm where you can stream all tracks whenever and how ever-often you like, and should you eventually decide that owning this record might contribute something valuable to your life, then you can trade your money for our creative efforts by purchasing the album in New Zealand record stores or online at amplifier.co.nz or smokecds.com.

• Add this post to: