Albums.
At the Races - 2011.
The 4th outing from acoustic based Pavlov's Cat and the first full length studio recording since 2004's Burlington Road bristles with articulate venom and intrigues with story songs and a cast of eccentric characters.
Singer-songwriter James Hibbins explains, "The objective was a make an old-fashioned, honest album with a coherent feel and look, a sleeve with notes and lyrics". The sound is stripped back with just enough ornamentation on each track from Hibbins (acoustic & electric guitars), producer/percussionist/keyboard player David Booth and long-term live collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Bernard Hoskin (guitars, mandolin, violin, bass). "We took an early decision make it feel real, almost like a live performance. We chose more expressive takes over the most perfect, leaving in squeaks, creaks and the occasional bum note. Minimal compression was applied during the mastering which means it should all sound natural and unproduced but you might need to turn it up a bit." The resulting feel is reminiscent of Wings' Band on the Run on full band arrangements or early Elliott Smith on more intimate tracks.
Drawing on the best of band's live set and specially written new compositions, these are Hibbins' most overtly political songs yet, referencing 9/11, economic crisis and Middle East warmongering but somehow within an optimistic context of real characters awaiting a rendezvous in a greasy cafe, telling ghost stories or making drunk reminiscences of half remembered loves.
As ever, the band are difficult to categorise drawing on and re-writing elements of English and Irish folk but with a sound which could equally well be filed under acoustic pop/rock, singer-songwriter or indie.
Personnel
James Hibbins - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars
Bernard Hoskin - acoustic, hybrid & electric guitars, mandolin, violin, acoustic & fretless basses.
David Booth - keyboards, percussion & backing vocals
Nick Anderson - guest electric basses & sleeve
Features
- First album in 7 years.
- Full band and stripped-back acoustic performances.
- Deluxe, 70's LP style, triple gatefold sleeve by photographer and guest bass player Nick Anderson.
Burlington Road - 2004.
Pavlov’s Cat is the project of London singer-songwriter James Hibbins taking various formats since 1999 from solo to 4 piece band.
The 2004 album “Burlington Road” features 11 tracks including stripped back acoustic arrangements but primarily harder edged full-band songs capturing the energetic sound of the festival lineup.
Producer/Engineer and in-demand session drummer Jason Bangers brought out the punchier side of the band with the sound of tracks such Traditional English murder ballad 'Lord Thomas' being compared to Led Zeppelin III's driving acoustic rock.
Strong, rolling melodies and tight three part harmonies abound with Hibbins' dark wit and love of both English Folk and hook-laden classic pop songwriting much in evidence.
Songs include the infuriatingly catchy 'Stripped to the Bone', a treatise on drunkenly putting the world to rights, plaintive power-folk 'Wash Away' and slice-of-misery live favourite 'Burlington Road'.
Personnel
James Hibbins - vocals & acoustic guitars
Nick Anderson - electric & acoustic basses
Darren Tansley - keyboards & vocals
Jason Bangers - drums, acoustic bass & vocals
Kelly Jones - violin
Features
- Full band acoustic folk-rock album by festival line-up
- Features Blyth Power and The Wickermen keyboard player Darren Tansley.
- Guest violin by Kelly Jones of Jack's Family on an etherial re-working of 'She Moves Through the Fair'.
- Sleeve by Nick Anderson
Motes of Dust - 2002.
Does the name Pavlov’s Cat ring a bell? We know about 1904 Nobel Prize winner the Russian physiologist Pavlov and his experiments on dogs but cats are altogether smarter and more cynical.
Pavlov’s Cat is the project of London based singer-songwriter James Hibbins and occupies the musical territory fast becoming recognised under the genre label “Acoustic”. fRoots magazine described their music as “determinedly acoustic” with “an eye on life’s shadowy side”.
This 2002 eight track mini-album features the four piece, mostly acoustic, lineup of Hibbins (voice, acoustic guitar), Nick Anderson (electric & acoustic basses, vocals), Darren Tansley (piano, Hammond organ, vocals, whistles) and Ken Holland (bodhran).
Recorded in short, intensive stints over 2 weeks, the album has an organic feel and rolling, darkly melodic sound. Tracks include anthemic live favourite 'Rain Song', a sparkling arrangement of the English traditional song 'Death & the Lady' and a reworking of 'The Wind and the Rain' from the end of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The cast of characters could have walked out of a darker Sondheim musical or sprung from the warped mind of Richard Thompson.
"Pavlov's Cat play well, sing well & write very good songs. Highly recommended!"
Clive Gregson - singer-songwriter, Nanci Griffith, Richard Thompson Band.
"....an interesting mix of traditional & original songs...I really like it"
Mike Harding - BBC Radio 2
"Determinedly acoustic....an eye on life's shadowy side" fRoots Magazine
Personnel
James Hibbins - vocals & acoustic guitars
Nick Anderson - electric & acoustic basses
Darren Tansley - keyboards, vocals, whistles & bodhran
Ken Holland - bodhran
Features
- Critically acclaimed acoustic album.
- Original line-up + Bodhran percussion (frame drum used extensively in Irish Traditonal music).
- Features Blyth Power and The Wickermen keyboard player Darren Tansley.
- Sleeve by Sue "Lildil" Dilley