Discography
Therapy? - Crooked Timber (2009)
Andy produced the tenth studio album for Irish alt. rock/ metal stalwarts Therapy? Andy also co-wrote the track “Exiles”.
“When we came out from recording the album with Andy Gill, we all knew it sounded exactly like we wanted. Our frame of mind was write it from the ground up rather than all bring ideas into the song writing process. We did a lot of jamming and making a racket, which we really enjoyed. We then kicked the ideas into the shape of a song. Because of that, it still sounds great – although it’s always odd listening to my own record. We’re still really happy with it.” – Neil Cooper, drummer in Therapy?, Phonotonal, 2009.
“At this point in time I’d just suffered from a really bad illness and I’d been debilitated really bad, so a lot of the songs I’d written were really dark. I was listening to a lot of modern classical, electronic and dub music as well, and very little in the way of rock; because we’d lost another record deal, I thought maybe it was over for the band and I just lost myself in lots of music outside of rock. I also thought if we went and made another Troublegum and it flopped then I couldn’t take the rejection, so I wanted to do something completely left of centre. We went to the record label and said that Andy Gill from Gang of Four was the man we wanted to work with, because he’d done an album with Killing Joke [Killing Joke, 2003] that sounded great. I was expecting them to say, ‘Who’s Andy Gill?’ but instead they went ‘No problem, we’ll give him a ring.’ I’m a massive Gang of Four fan and he called me at home asking me to send him some tracks, then he phoned me back after he’d heard them and we had a good chat about what we were trying to achieve. We spent two weeks at Blast Studios in Newcastle and then we took a rest before going down to Andy’s studio in London to finish off the rest of it. So much thought and artistry went into the album; ‘The Head That Tried to Strangle Itself’ is based on this concept of consciousness but it’s put to this bizarre time rhythm that Neil worked out from listening to this avant-garde piece of music. ‘Clowns Galore’ is based on a short story about people eating each other in order to survive and ‘I Told You I Was Ill’ is based on Spike Milligan’s idea for a headstone, as he’s one of our favourite comedians. The verse rhythm for ‘Bad Excuse for Daylight’ is taken from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring too, and then we had a dubstep chorus come in. So we had all this stuff going on and I think it all sounds very artistic and sophisticated, and for us it was almost like a fresh start. By the time the record was finished my health had improved and I was in a lot better place, and I remember saying when it was done, ‘No matter what this record does it’s a really good piece of work.’ When it did come out all the reviews were fantastic and most of our fans loved it, and we hadn’t seen gold or silver discs since 1996 so that was brilliant. I’m not sure where it would stand on our fans’ lists, but from a personal point of view I’d put it at number two because it’s got a really special place in my heart.” –Andy Cairns, vocalist and guitarist in Therapy?, Louder, July 26th 2016.
Andy Gill said: “The recording is about celebrating people’s quirks, the things which make us unique. These days everyone tries to fit it, instead of just being themselves. The songs examine what it means to be human. To realise that we are the only living things on the planet aware of our own deaths.
Album reviews:
“The outstanding musicianship of the whole trio is backed by a crystal clear production by Andy Gill. The sound is exceptional with bass and drum trackings being highlighted. The playing of endlessly inventive rhythm section paired with massive guitar riffs makes for a gripping listening experience alone.” – Sputnikmusic, July 26th 2009.
“Crooked Timber is proof that a band can keep on reinventing itself and sounding fresh while still rocking out in a big way rather than sticking to a self-made formula” – PunkRockTheory.com, May 27th 2009.
“Andy Gill has done a perfect job producing this album” – Metal-Revolution.com, September 2009.
“Crooked Timber is an album that inspires with its abandon for hypnotic rhythms, vivid guitar textures and hallucinatory atmospheres. It is heavy, nuanced, well balanced, memorable and as a result – a very good trip indeed.” – Metalstorm.net, April 27th 2009.
Discography
Therapy? - Crooked Timber (2009)
Andy produced the tenth studio album for Irish alt. rock/ metal stalwarts Therapy? Andy also co-wrote the track “Exiles”.
“When we came out from recording the album with Andy Gill, we all knew it sounded exactly like we wanted. Our frame of mind was write it from the ground up rather than all bring ideas into the song writing process. We did a lot of jamming and making a racket, which we really enjoyed. We then kicked the ideas into the shape of a song. Because of that, it still sounds great – although it’s always odd listening to my own record. We’re still really happy with it.” – Neil Cooper, drummer in Therapy?, Phonotonal, 2009.
“At this point in time I’d just suffered from a really bad illness and I’d been debilitated really bad, so a lot of the songs I’d written were really dark. I was listening to a lot of modern classical, electronic and dub music as well, and very little in the way of rock; because we’d lost another record deal, I thought maybe it was over for the band and I just lost myself in lots of music outside of rock. I also thought if we went and made another Troublegum and it flopped then I couldn’t take the rejection, so I wanted to do something completely left of centre. We went to the record label and said that Andy Gill from Gang of Four was the man we wanted to work with, because he’d done an album with Killing Joke [Killing Joke, 2003] that sounded great. I was expecting them to say, ‘Who’s Andy Gill?’ but instead they went ‘No problem, we’ll give him a ring.’ I’m a massive Gang of Four fan and he called me at home asking me to send him some tracks, then he phoned me back after he’d heard them and we had a good chat about what we were trying to achieve. We spent two weeks at Blast Studios in Newcastle and then we took a rest before going down to Andy’s studio in London to finish off the rest of it. So much thought and artistry went into the album; ‘The Head That Tried to Strangle Itself’ is based on this concept of consciousness but it’s put to this bizarre time rhythm that Neil worked out from listening to this avant-garde piece of music. ‘Clowns Galore’ is based on a short story about people eating each other in order to survive and ‘I Told You I Was Ill’ is based on Spike Milligan’s idea for a headstone, as he’s one of our favourite comedians. The verse rhythm for ‘Bad Excuse for Daylight’ is taken from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring too, and then we had a dubstep chorus come in. So we had all this stuff going on and I think it all sounds very artistic and sophisticated, and for us it was almost like a fresh start. By the time the record was finished my health had improved and I was in a lot better place, and I remember saying when it was done, ‘No matter what this record does it’s a really good piece of work.’ When it did come out all the reviews were fantastic and most of our fans loved it, and we hadn’t seen gold or silver discs since 1996 so that was brilliant. I’m not sure where it would stand on our fans’ lists, but from a personal point of view I’d put it at number two because it’s got a really special place in my heart.” –Andy Cairns, vocalist and guitarist in Therapy?, Louder, July 26th 2016.
Andy Gill said: “The recording is about celebrating people’s quirks, the things which make us unique. These days everyone tries to fit it, instead of just being themselves. The songs examine what it means to be human. To realise that we are the only living things on the planet aware of our own deaths.
Album reviews:
“The outstanding musicianship of the whole trio is backed by a crystal clear production by Andy Gill. The sound is exceptional with bass and drum trackings being highlighted. The playing of endlessly inventive rhythm section paired with massive guitar riffs makes for a gripping listening experience alone.” – Sputnikmusic, July 26th 2009.
“Crooked Timber is proof that a band can keep on reinventing itself and sounding fresh while still rocking out in a big way rather than sticking to a self-made formula” – PunkRockTheory.com, May 27th 2009.
“Andy Gill has done a perfect job producing this album” – Metal-Revolution.com, September 2009.
“Crooked Timber is an album that inspires with its abandon for hypnotic rhythms, vivid guitar textures and hallucinatory atmospheres. It is heavy, nuanced, well balanced, memorable and as a result – a very good trip indeed.” – Metalstorm.net, April 27th 2009.