A joyous debut, equally assured as soundtrack to a tear-stained pillow or as spur to the dancefloor.
The Quietus
Arthur and Martha are Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley, two long-socked, London-based Moog-twitchers making music that yearns for the future. Quite the thing to be doing at the moment, of course, but while Little Boots and La Roux bring cosmic gloss to the party, Arthur and Martha sit on the sidelines, nerdily fixing their drum machines. Their songs do something different too, combining the geeky sounds of C86 indie pop with krautrock's motorik rhythms and giving teh while album a sheen of strange innocence. On the relentless Autovia and the dreamy Vallorian they recall Stereolab and Hubley's deep, occasionally off-key vocals have teh same askew beaty as Sarah Cracknell from Saint Etienne. But Navigation has harder moments too, and that's when it really soars. Music For Hairproducts is a squelchy Goldfrapppish classic, while Turn to Dust is an epic about leaving the city that has teh kitchen-sink charm of Dubstar and the ambition of ABBA. "Sometimes I want to get away, shall we leave today?" Hubley says, before adding, rather sweetly "I'm glad you're with me." So should we all be.
Jude Rodgers - Word
They've constructed a really diverse album, taking in quite hardy, familiar sounds from years gone by & forging fresh, durable, feisty songs that stick in your head like audio glue, putting a smile on this man's face for ooooh, maybe the second time this week! It's a wonderful journey, spanning decades of inspiration, largely built around analogue-soaked cool European anthems whilst simultaneously offering up some sturdy, modern dancefloor friendly action with remarkable finesse. Get this, it's a total winner!
Norman Records
The production is predictably warm and rotund sounding, but this is no nerdy love-in - these two make electronic pop music in the classic mold, deriving influence from the likes of New Order and Pet Shop Boys, whilst also often recalling Piano Magic and Rephlex easy listening popsters The Gentle People. Singles 'Autovia' and 'Music For Hair Products' are especially immediate, but there's plenty of vintage synth fun to get stuck into right across the LP.
Boomkat
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Monday, 6 July 2009
Navigation out today
The debut Arthur and Martha album 'Navigation' is out today.
The cheapest place to buy the album is from our Botshop, though you can also buy the album from...
UK
Norman Records
Rough Trade
Sweden
Fraction Discs
Spain
Zona de Compras
USA
Darla
And HMV, Amazon and Play.com too, but do your bit support your local independent record shop!
The album can also be found on all good download services and onSpotify for those feelin cheap.
Lots of nice reviews and blog mentions in Spanish, gran materia! Will update the blog again soon
Love
The Happy Robots xx
The cheapest place to buy the album is from our Botshop, though you can also buy the album from...
UK
Norman Records
Rough Trade
Sweden
Fraction Discs
Spain
Zona de Compras
USA
Darla
And HMV, Amazon and Play.com too, but do your bit support your local independent record shop!
The album can also be found on all good download services and onSpotify for those feelin cheap.
Lots of nice reviews and blog mentions in Spanish, gran materia! Will update the blog again soon
Love
The Happy Robots xx
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Reviews of Navigation...
"Engaging indie tweetronica debut
With a whiff of 'performance art project' about them, Alice Hubley and Adam Cresswell dress like Enid Blyton characters and play self-consciously cute retro-indie with a Krautrock slant. Over a bubbling analogue backdrop of Moogs, Korgs, Stylophones and Theremins, the duo croom pulse-pop lullabies like the cut-price Kraftwerk homage "Autovia" or the shiny yet wistful "Follow The Path".."
Uncut 3/5
"The lyrics may be tender, amusing, sometimes just silly, but ultimately there is always a stonking tune that takes you away to a special place – somewhere filled with fragile and tenders things, but which you want to dance around."
Narc 4/5
"...it will take a Herculean will to not be won over by ‘Autovia’ and its smooth, caressing vocals.
...‘Kasparov’; Which bridges the gap between James Yuill and New Order, in both sound and quality stakes, with ease and is undoubtedly one of the high points this LP has to offer... 'Navigation' isn’t going to cross over and blow people out of the water, sell millions and be left on everybody’s shelf, but those who do grab a copy will more than likely feel pretty pleased with themselves and play it half to death."
This Is Fake DIY 7/10
"We’ll start by saying a gorgeous record and a gorgeous debut full length to boot....Found cruise controlling pop’s ever expanding cosmos patrolling star crossed hand holding twee tweaked avenues, there’s a beautifully becoming symmetry about Martha and Arthur’s craft as it sweetly transposes the spacey and optimistic future echoes of Krautrock’s more cosmic inclines with the silken synth pop sensibilities of the 80’s that embellishes it with a disturbingly affectionate tug that’s both immediate and familiar and most importantly acutely chilled and sophisticated..."
Losing Today
"The secret of being a successful artist is, in my opinion, being instantly recognisable. So that by the time a song has been playing for less than a minute the listener knows who it is. Having a sound that is immediately your own, irrespective of influences or frailties therein. I think Arthur and Martha have cracked it... Female-fronted electronica with an unashamed glance back to Eighties beepy purveyors like OMD, Visage and New Order."
Sounds XP
With a whiff of 'performance art project' about them, Alice Hubley and Adam Cresswell dress like Enid Blyton characters and play self-consciously cute retro-indie with a Krautrock slant. Over a bubbling analogue backdrop of Moogs, Korgs, Stylophones and Theremins, the duo croom pulse-pop lullabies like the cut-price Kraftwerk homage "Autovia" or the shiny yet wistful "Follow The Path".."
Uncut 3/5
"The lyrics may be tender, amusing, sometimes just silly, but ultimately there is always a stonking tune that takes you away to a special place – somewhere filled with fragile and tenders things, but which you want to dance around."
Narc 4/5
"...it will take a Herculean will to not be won over by ‘Autovia’ and its smooth, caressing vocals.
...‘Kasparov’; Which bridges the gap between James Yuill and New Order, in both sound and quality stakes, with ease and is undoubtedly one of the high points this LP has to offer... 'Navigation' isn’t going to cross over and blow people out of the water, sell millions and be left on everybody’s shelf, but those who do grab a copy will more than likely feel pretty pleased with themselves and play it half to death."
This Is Fake DIY 7/10
"We’ll start by saying a gorgeous record and a gorgeous debut full length to boot....Found cruise controlling pop’s ever expanding cosmos patrolling star crossed hand holding twee tweaked avenues, there’s a beautifully becoming symmetry about Martha and Arthur’s craft as it sweetly transposes the spacey and optimistic future echoes of Krautrock’s more cosmic inclines with the silken synth pop sensibilities of the 80’s that embellishes it with a disturbingly affectionate tug that’s both immediate and familiar and most importantly acutely chilled and sophisticated..."
Losing Today
"The secret of being a successful artist is, in my opinion, being instantly recognisable. So that by the time a song has been playing for less than a minute the listener knows who it is. Having a sound that is immediately your own, irrespective of influences or frailties therein. I think Arthur and Martha have cracked it... Female-fronted electronica with an unashamed glance back to Eighties beepy purveyors like OMD, Visage and New Order."
Sounds XP
Monday, 29 June 2009
BOT03 Music For Hairproducts out now on download
The EP is out today, with five tracks there's a lot to get stuck into and enjoy, you can download the EP from...
Itunes
Play.com
Amazon.com
Emusic
Will update the blog very soon with links to some of the nice reviews the band have been receiving.
Enjoy
The Happy Robots xx
Itunes
Play.com
Amazon.com
Emusic
Will update the blog very soon with links to some of the nice reviews the band have been receiving.
Enjoy
The Happy Robots xx
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Music For Hairproducts Video
Music For Hairproducts is out on 29th June, enjoy the video in the meantime...
6music's Nemone on Music For Hairproducts
Russell Reviews on Navigation
Arthur and Martha will be playing two special shows to support the album and single releases
27th June - Meat Raffle at Catch, 22 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London
22nd July - Supporting Still Flyin' at Camden Barfly, 49 Chalk Farm Road, London
Buy tickets now
More shows are to be confirmed for September.
6music's Nemone on Music For Hairproducts
Russell Reviews on Navigation
Arthur and Martha will be playing two special shows to support the album and single releases
27th June - Meat Raffle at Catch, 22 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London
22nd July - Supporting Still Flyin' at Camden Barfly, 49 Chalk Farm Road, London
Buy tickets now
More shows are to be confirmed for September.
Monday, 8 June 2009
Bot03 - Arthur and Martha - Music For Hairproducts
Digitally Released 29th June 2009
Written on kiddies instruments, moogs and old-school drum machines, the innocent pop-sensibility of Arthur and Martha’s second single, ‘Music for Hair Products’, won’t fail to bring a smile in these times of economic doom and gloom.
Preceding the debut album, ‘Navigation’, is the new single ‘Music for Hairproducts’. Knowingly stupid, and archly clever; it’s an anthem for Head and Shoulders and hair-gel adverts worldwide. We defy you not to sing it’s infectious ‘sha-la-la’ chorus next time you’re foaming yourself in the shower.
This EP also includes the reflective, melodica-driven ‘Dance Dance Dance’ and three remixes including one from Hood (Domino Records) offshoot band The Declining Winter. Arthur & Martha debut album ‘Navigation’ is out on Happy Robots on 29th June.
The single has already been played on the Gideon Coe and Nemone shows on BBC 6music and Nemone has featured the track in the Lunchbox section of her website, see more here.
Artrocker have called the single "all good being the earproduct of a generally cool pairing. The title track is all mundance concerns, fake handclaps and futuristic grooves. And said remix of Autovia is blooming marvellous".
Arthur & Martha’s debut single ‘Autovia’ received rave reviews from the likes of the NME and Artrocker and multiple Radio 1 plays from Huw Stephens. The band built on this success, gigging with the likes of Lo-Fi Fnk, Grovesnor, Plastic Operator, Sportsday Megaphone and others. The band are flattered to have been compared to Kraftwerk, Add N to X, Pet Shop Boys and Soft Cell.
Arthur and Martha will be playing Meat Raffle at Catch on the 27th June, further shows to be announced imminently.
Even the brightest Japanese scientist couldn’t make robots as happy as this release makes us. We hope this record will make you a very happy robot too!
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
New Botcast and Competition!
Afternoon! Hope you are well and enjoying May, the robots enjoyed seeing the BBC Radiophonic Workshop at the weekend as well as the spectacular of Eurovision (we're still gutted that Ukraine didn't win!) and are looking off to jetting off on our jollys soon to soak up the sunshine! Fun times!
Happy Robots are pleased to announce the return of the Happy Robots Botcast (podcast for robots!). We thought this time we'd ask our friends to contribute mixes so first up we have none other than Monster Bobby to start the proceedings. In the coming months we'll also have mixes from Katsen, The Bridal Shop and Elika too.
Monster Bobby of course contributed an awesome track, 'Say F*ck Me' to our Botpop compilation which came out last year. He seems to be playing loads of shows at the moment, check his myspace for more details and go see!
The mix has none other than 106 (lordy!) tracks on it. To make things more fun we're running a competition, the person that can name the most tracks on the mix will get a prize bought back from the robots from sunny California (and probably some cds and stuff we have lying about too). Please email your entries to info(at)happyrobots.co.uk with the subject "Botting all over the world"
As people have been asking us about this I thought it best to announce that we're planning on doing a repress of the Botpop compilation cd, we should receive the new cds in a month or so so hang tight! The stunning Arthur and Martha album, 'Navigation' will now be released on the 6th July however we do have copies to sell ourselves now, pick it up from the Botshop now.
You can listen to the mix in the player on this page and download it from here (right click link to download the mp3).
Subscribe to the podcast by clicking on http://happyrobots.libsyn.com/rss
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Monday, 6 April 2009
BOT4 - Arthur and Martha "Navigation" has landed
After three years in the making, Happy Robots are proud to announce the release of ‘Navigation’ the debut album from Arthur and Martha. Those three years have been tumultuous ones; in which the band battled personal demons driven by the loss of loved ones and broken relationships. Yet the band remained resolute throughout, a fact which is reflected in the innocent charm, and upbeat nature, of these 10 new songs.
Arthur and Martha are Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley. As Arthur and Martha they employ all manner of kiddies instruments, moogs and old-school drum machines to build their songs. The album itself ranges from the bleak M83-esque moodiness of the title track to the kraut rock stomp of live favourite ‘Squarewave to Heaven’. The album features an extended version of the band’s debut single ‘Autovia’ and forthcoming foamy pop hit ‘Music for Hairproducts’.
Arthur & Martha’s debut single ‘Autovia’ received rave reviews from the likes of the NME and Artrocker and multiple Radio 1 plays from Huw Stephens. The band built on this success, gigging with the likes of Lo-Fi Fnk, Grovesnor, Plastic Operator, Sportsday Megaphone and others. The band are flattered to have been compared to Kraftwerk, Add N to X, Pet Shop Boys and Soft Cell. Preceding the album, is the new single ‘Music for Hair Products’ due for a digital release on the 15th June.
The Arthur and Martha live experience is a sensory treat, featuring some of the aforementioned collection of old synths and playground instruments, complimented by electronic beats and live projections. More shows are planned for Summer 2009 to coincide with the album release.
The album will hit the shelves on the 29th June 2009 however you can now order copies from the Happy Robots Botshop http://happyrobots.bigcartel.com
Arthur and Martha are Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley. As Arthur and Martha they employ all manner of kiddies instruments, moogs and old-school drum machines to build their songs. The album itself ranges from the bleak M83-esque moodiness of the title track to the kraut rock stomp of live favourite ‘Squarewave to Heaven’. The album features an extended version of the band’s debut single ‘Autovia’ and forthcoming foamy pop hit ‘Music for Hairproducts’.
Arthur & Martha’s debut single ‘Autovia’ received rave reviews from the likes of the NME and Artrocker and multiple Radio 1 plays from Huw Stephens. The band built on this success, gigging with the likes of Lo-Fi Fnk, Grovesnor, Plastic Operator, Sportsday Megaphone and others. The band are flattered to have been compared to Kraftwerk, Add N to X, Pet Shop Boys and Soft Cell. Preceding the album, is the new single ‘Music for Hair Products’ due for a digital release on the 15th June.
The Arthur and Martha live experience is a sensory treat, featuring some of the aforementioned collection of old synths and playground instruments, complimented by electronic beats and live projections. More shows are planned for Summer 2009 to coincide with the album release.
The album will hit the shelves on the 29th June 2009 however you can now order copies from the Happy Robots Botshop http://happyrobots.bigcartel.com
Monday, 30 March 2009
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