British Sea Power

	Chart positions ; Explanation of the data
	Albums
	The Decline of British Sea Power
	Open season
	Do You Like Rock Music?
	Man of Aran
	Valhalla Dancehall
	Machineries of Joy
	Let the Dancers Inherit the Party
	Singles
	The Lonely
	Childhood Memories
	Carrion / Apologies to Insect Life
	Remember me
	It ended on an Oily Stage
	Please Stand Up
	Waving flags

British Sea Power 2009

British Sea Power is a band from Great Britain that produces melodic guitar pop with experimental elements from post-punk, electro and also herb rock. The musicians Yan Scott Wilkinson (vocals, guitar), Martin Noble (guitar, keyboard), Neil Hamilton Wilkinson (bass, vocals, guitar), Matthew Wood (drums), Abi Fry (violin, keyboard) and Phil Sumner (keyboard, guitar ) come from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Ealing and Shropshire. The band lived and worked in Brighton for a long time . Today the musicians live in East Sussex and on the Isle of Skye in Scotland .

Band history

The band is known for their spartan cover art, which schematically depicts nature motifs such as bears, and for their extravagant stage shows. In the early years, natural props and ambiguous steel helmets were part of the stage decoration. The band, also known under the abbreviation BSP, was influenced by, among others, New Order / Joy Division , the Manic Street Preachers , New Model Army and Echo and the Bunnymen and is therefore musically often assigned to the so-called post-punk. Like Joy Division, British Sea Power plays with fascist symbols.

The early single Remember Me hit the UK charts, but as a concept band the bulk of sales are on the album market, with all albums hitting the official UK sales charts since their debut The Decline of British Sea Power (2003). The six-piece band's most successful album to date was Do You Like Rock Music? , which was ranked 10th in the UK top ten.

In addition to the four regular studio albums so far, British Sea Power released a film soundtrack in 2009, which is a special feature. It is a newly set version of the documentary Man of Aran (German title: Die Männer von Aran ). The American Robert J. Flaherty shot this in 1934 on the Irish Aran Islands off the Irish west coast. It has now been released on DVD including a soundtrack CD. The British Sea Power musicians were made aware of the film during a tour of the Republic of Ireland. The film, which was presented with live concerts at the Edinburgh Film Festival, among others, is now accompanied by experimental guitar pop. The inside cover of the soundtrack CD released by Rough Trade Records contains a quote by guitarist Martin Noble: "We made this soundtrack because we liked the romantic notion of people living on the edge of existence. It's something I'd like to think I could do, but know I never will. " The soundtrack CD reached number 68 on the official UK sales charts.

At the end of 2010, the EP Zeus was released on Rough Trade, followed by the associated fifth album Valhalla Dancehall in early 2011 . After this album, the band also began to revive their own label Golden Chariot . The first single Fear of Drowning was released on this label in 2001 . British Sea Power has been releasing new EPs with remixes and alternative versions on this label since 2011, and EPs with live recordings from their own hospital club night in Brighton are also distributed via this label .

On April 1, 2013, the band released the album Machineries of Joy through Rough Trade . The long player combines ten songs that had been presented the year before at their own club nights and in demo versions on the associated EPs.

Literature & Film Music

In 2011, Do It for Your Mum, a novel about the history of the band, was published by the Rough Trade label. The author of this work is Roy Wilkinson. The brother of the two band founders Yan Scott Wilkinson and Neil Hamilton Wilkinson is known in England as an author and journalist, he wrote for magazines and daily newspapers such as The Independent , The Guardian and Q for many years . Until 2005, Roy Wilkinson was the manager of British Sea Power.

After the music for the documentary Man of Aran , which was celebrated by critics and audiences alike , the band continued their work in the field of film music. In January 2013 the DVD for the documentary From the Sea to the Land Beyond by director Penny Woolcock was released. For this documentary about the coastal landscape of the British Isles, film material from 100 years from the archives of the British Film Institute (BFI) was used. As with Man of Aran, the complete soundtrack for these pictures comes from British Sea Power. In December 2013 the soundtrack for From the Sea to the Land Beyond was released on the label Rough Trade as a CD + DVD combination .

Discography

Albums

The Decline of British Sea Power , 2003
Open Season , 2005
Do You Like Rock Music? , 2008
Man Of Aran (CD + DVD), 2009
Valhalla Dancehall , 2011
Machineries Of Joy , 2013
From The Sea To The Land Beyond (CD + DVD), 2013
Sea of Brass , 2015
Let the Dancers Inherit the Party , 2017

EPs

Remember Me , 2003
The Spirit Of St. Louis , 2004
Hospital? , 2007
Zeus , 2010
Valhalla Dancehall: Alternative Versions and Demos , 2011
Valhalla Dancehall: Remixes + Water Tower , 2011
BSP EP 1 - BSP EP 6 , 2012
RE-JOYS, Machineries of Joy remix CD , 2013
MOJ Bonus Songs and Alt. Versions , 2013

Singles

Fear of Drowning , 2001
Remember Me , 2001
The Lonely , 2002
Childhood Memories , 2002
Carrion / Apologies to Insect Life , 2003
Remember Me , 2003
A Lovely Day Tomorrow , 2004
It Ended on an Oily Stage , 2005
Please Stand Up , 2005
Remember Me / I Am A Cider Drinker (with The Wurzels ), 2005
Waving flags , 2008
Fear Of Drowning (Re-Release), 2011
Who's in Control / Living Is So Easy , 2011
Georgie Ray / Mongk II , 2011
Facts Are Right , 2013

Video albums

Man Of Aran , 2009
From The Sea To The Land Beyond , 2013

swell

↑ Charts UK
↑ Music Sales Awards: UK

Web links

Commons : British Sea Power - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

[1] Charts UK

[ausz-2] Music Sales Awards: UK