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Thread: Mancunian Candidate

  1. #1

    Mancunian Candidate

    Hi there.

    My name is Matt and I would like to introduce myself to the Progressive Ears community.
    I was hesitant to make this my first post, however after talking to one of the moderators here they suggested I should post this in main.

    Some of you may know me as drummer/vocalist for Moth Vellum a progressive rock band that I was involved with for more than five years. We released a successful independent album in 2008 and played many successful shows including a memorable performance at Rosfest.

    I wanted to introduce you all to my latest band and musical offering Mancunian Candidate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3r0...V4U3f3VlahZPSD

    http://www.mancuniancandidatemusic.com

    Mancunian (pronounced Man Q Knee Un) Candidate is a nine song (14track) full length continuous play album.

    I think the music would appeal to anybody who loves melodic/symphonic prog rock. The tunes range from 2.5 minute pop/rock arrangements to 15 minute epics. There is an hour of music in total.

    I play drums, sing, play keys and acoustic guitar on the record. I am joined by some massively talented musicians including Matthew Charles Heulitt (Moetar) on guitar, Matt Bissonette (Elton John) on bass and Neil Fairclough (Queen/Adam Lambert) also on bass.

    I am wondering if there are any people here on Progressive Ears who would like to review Mancunian Candidate for the site? I would like to offer a free copy of the CD for review purposes to the first two people who PM me.

    You can check more of the music out here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3r0...vVSbR6uV08GoKm

    I look forward to hearing from you all and also to getting involved in the PE community.

    Thanks for having me here!

    Matt (Bradley George)
    Last edited by Bradley George; 01-16-2018 at 02:21 AM.

  2. #2
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Great name.

  3. #3
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    Well-done pop-prog. The songs are solid, with decent melodies and reasonably interesting chord progressions, and the playing first-rate (which you'd only expect with a sideman list like that). They seem to be mostly short, straightforward, and stylistically consistent, at least for prog. The voice may take a bit of getting used to - the guy seems to really be trying to sound like Sting, but is probably a natural baritone rather than a high tenor, and has some kind of regional British accent on top of that.

  4. #4
    Old man of prog
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    Wow. Love the samples. Loved Moth Vellum. Just purchased the FLAC download on CD Baby. Nice work.

  5. #5
    Hi Progmeister.

    Thanks for supporting Mancunian Candidate!
    If you're playing the album on itunes please make sure you change your settings to gap-less or continuous play. The longer songs "Operation Brightstar", "Waltz 57" and "Too Much to Lose" are split up with separate track id's. This was really done for the purpose of radio, so that DJs could play shorter sections of the songs to fit their format. The separate movements or tracks within those songs should play seamlessly from one to the next without added gaps.

    Thanks Again!

    Matt

  6. #6
    Old man of prog
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    I downloaded it in FLAC because sadly 44.1/16 is the best CD Baby offers but FLAC won't play in iTunes. You should investigate bandcamp as a better artist to consumer format. You could then deliver in multiple codecs and quality eg ALAC, FLAC, and offer higher resolutions such as 24/48, 24/96, or even 24/192 as well as the physical. I would love to pay you $20 for a 24/96 to have better quality, gapless, etc. CD Baby is totally Old World.



    Quote Originally Posted by Bradley George View Post
    Hi Progmeister.

    Thanks for supporting Mancunian Candidate!
    If you're playing the album on itunes please make sure you change your settings to gap-less or continuous play. The longer songs "Operation Brightstar", "Waltz 57" and "Too Much to Lose" are split up with separate track id's. This was really done for the purpose of radio, so that DJs could play shorter sections of the songs to fit their format. The separate movements or tracks within those songs should play seamlessly from one to the next without added gaps.

    Thanks Again!

    Matt

  7. #7
    Hi Progmeister.
    Thanks for letting me know. I will look into band camp. As far as I know the album is only mastered at 44.1/16. The music was recorded at 48/24 simply because this was the limitation of my home studio at the time when I started the record. Otherwise I would have recorded at 96.

    What player do use to play FLAC files?
    Does it play the tracks without adding gaps?

  8. #8
    Member Mark Newman's Avatar
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    What I want to know is which Matt decided to let Neil join in?

    With three Matts in the band, think of the possibilities: The Anti-Static Matts, The Turntable Matts, The Floor Matts, The Car Matts, The Door Matts, The Algal Matts (OK, I'll stop now).

    In all seriousness, glad to hear you (Matt Swindells) are back in the prog scene. Still playing jazz as well?

  9. #9
    Old man of prog
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    On my MAC I use VLC to play FLACS and it does not play back gapless. On my ipod I use the Onkyo HF app for playback and I haven't tried yet. Will report back.


    Quote Originally Posted by Bradley George View Post
    Hi Progmeister.
    Thanks for letting me know. I will look into band camp. As far as I know the album is only mastered at 44.1/16. The music was recorded at 48/24 simply because this was the limitation of my home studio at the time when I started the record. Otherwise I would have recorded at 96.

    What player do use to play FLAC files?
    Does it play the tracks without adding gaps?

  10. #10
    Hi Progmeister.

    I just sent you private message!

  11. #11
    Haha Mark!

    There are actually five different bass players on the record! It was really an excuse to see them all, have a cup of tea and get a free meal!
    Besides Matt and Neil I have a couple of other great bass players from Manchester UK, Ollie Collins and Andy Shepley who are both old friends of mine.

    Ollie is comfortable and capable playing many different styles of music and has played with everybody from Badly Drawn Boy, Black Rivers, Nearly Dan (Britain's premier Steely Dan tribute band) to Alan Parsons(I think he played on a record Alan Parsons was producing). A great player and friend.

    Andy Shepley is one of the most solid bass players I have ever worked with and should be better known. He is definitely from the Paul McCartney, Sting, melodic school of bass players and we have played music together since we were kids.

    Jon Evans who plays bass on Waltz 57 on the record also engineered half of the drum takes at his old studio in Oakland CA. Jon is a "Bad Ass" on the bass and he has played with a whole host of mega stars, his main gig being Tori Amos.

    One day I plan on getting them all together and having them perform an arrangement of Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom". haha.

    To answer you're other question, yes I still play Jazz, however I have been focused on getting this album finished and it has been taking up the majority of my spare time.

  12. #12
    Old man of prog
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    On my second time through this. Don't snooze on this. Great symph prog completely out of leftfield but early contender for Rookie of the Year!

  13. #13
    Member Mark Newman's Avatar
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    Congrats on the new record. The samples sound great and I've happily ordered my copy.

    You probably don't remember, but we met at ROSfest and talked for quite a while at the hotel party. Later you were kind enough to send me copies of your solo CD. Been waiting for you to show up in another prog band. Good luck with the project. Love the play on the name.

    p.s. I first saw Matt Bissonnette 35 years ago (March 22, 1982 to be precise) when he was touring with Maynard Ferguson, which dates him and me! He got a mention in my review so he must have been pretty decent even as a young buck.

  14. #14
    Yes, Mark Newman. I do remember you at the party. That was a fantastic hang at Rosfest. Hopefully am gonna get there again someday. It's a fantastic bunch of people who go there and George gets some great bands. Thanks so much for supporting this record!

    Yes, Matt is an amazing person, bass player and an inspiration to me!

  15. #15
    Ha ha top name! the samples sound ace too. nice one.

  16. #16
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    Sounds decent.

  17. #17
    Hi Matt! Good to have you here! Moth Vellum was quite possibly my favorite album of 2008 (not the year it was released, but the year I discovered it), and I still get a lot of enjoyment from that CD. I thought you guys were great.

    Very glad to see you're still making music. The samples sound really nice, so I'll be ordering this one. Thanks for the heads-up!

  18. #18
    Thanks for the support aith01. I forget myself that Moth Vellum came out in 2007. Time flies!
    Last edited by Bradley George; 05-09-2017 at 12:35 PM.

  19. #19

    More Mancunian Candidate on Youtube!

    I put up some more songs on youtube from Mancunian Candidate for those that are interested.

    The first entitled "Operation Bright Star" is one of the longer more symphonic tracks from the Mancunian Candidate album.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W7fpH4EWdw

    The second is a reprise of the theme from the opening track "Garden Party" entitled "Leslie's Friends".

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97LxItK8AKM

    Enjoy!

  20. #20
    You can now stream Mancunian Candidate for a limited time only at http://progstreaming.nl/pages/play-a...an%20Candidate

    The stream however does put gaps in between each separate song. To listen to the album in continuous play you will need to purchase CD or download and play in itunes or any digital player with gap-less play.

    Enjoy!

  21. #21

  22. #22
    Also for folks in Europe,

    You can now purchase the Mancunian Candidate CD at George's Shop.
    https://m.facebook.com/rockprogressif/

    Buying from George could possibly be a good way to avoid the hefty US shipping costs so give him a call or email at the above link and request your copy of Mancunian Candidate.

    Also, a reminder to UK folk that Mancunian Candidate does have UK distribution for the CD. Use the buy now yellow button at
    www.mancuniancandidatemusic.com
    UK folk who buy directly from MancunianCandidateMusic.com will receive a partial shipping rebate after purchase.

  23. #23
    Ken at https://www.lasercd.com just restocked his supply of Mancunian Candidate CDs.

  24. #24
    Clocking in at a cozy 14min 23 seconds, I present "Too Much to Lose" by Mancunian Candidate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiW0Q6mPIdE

    Enjoy.

  25. #25
    New Youtube upload for Circle Lies Unbroken by Mancunian Candidate. Featuring Matthew Charles Heulitt on guitar and Ollie Collins on bass. Matt Swindells drums, vox and keys.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KusKfCkf_ac

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