Andrew Morgan

"An insanely enterprising flight of orchestral fancy...it conjures Liberaces's lost piano melodies preparing to march on Nick Drake's string-laden shores." - UNCUT - UNCUT

"…the debut from Elliott Smith associate Andrew Morgan plays like some exquisitely filmed yet ultimately tragic widescreen blockbuster. Morgan’s songs are as tender in tone as they are ambitious in arrangement, interweaving cello, piano and a strangely forlorn guitar into a series of hypnotizing, mellifluous cinematic lullabies. "

UNCUT - #49 on their list of 2004 top albums
- UNCUT

"A string drenched epic heavy on cello, harmonium and piano with more than a smattering of Brian Wilson-inspired timpani. "

Q Magazine
- Q Magazine

"A dark and searching string-laden labour of love"

NME
- NME

"A sprawling string drenched fanatasia, that at it's most cogent recalls Elliott Smith’s more baroque moments and US indie darlings Built To Spill"

-The Observer
- The Observer (UK)

"...a warm, dreamy journey awash with strings, piano and more offbeat instrumentation. Lovingly put together by Morgan it's fond undulating tunes will haunt you after a few listens."

-The Independent
- The Independent (UK)

Deliciously titled debut from 25-year-old Kansan and unashamed protégé of the late, great Elliott Smith. Budgetary constraints have always made for interesting albums. If an artist has been bankrupted as a result of artistic endeavour, it tends to add a certain something to the anticipation and the listening experience of an album. Liam Hayes of Plush overspent by an undisclosed five-figure sum in creating his grand folie ‘Fed’ and, as a result, it remains only available in Japan. Just when it looked like Andrew Morgan had blown his last few bucks on banjo strings and session timpanists, Elliott Smith entered the room (personal recording studio in tow) allowing Morgan to complete his vision free of charge. It took Morgan five years to mastermind Misadventures in Radiology. From the infectious bittersweet chamber pop that became the fruit of his labour, it was time extremely well spent. Although, this time has not been without its share of trauma if we are to believe Morgan’s claims on ‘Aligned on the Steps’, where he admits: “All this time I have spent as a flailing discontent”. A sombre string instrumental breaks us in to an album of unpretentious and lushly arranged pop, with ‘Pet Sounds’ and Smith’s own ‘X/O’ playing loudly in the background. It’s almost become a cliché, but one of the most striking things about this debut album is its maturity and consummate professionalism. Every track sounds as if it has been packed to its absolute limit with melodies so sharp you could take on a street gang with them, and win. And we’re not talking cheap, trashy, chart-friendly melodies. These are intricate, soulful and passionately realised melodies. ‘Brushes on Bronze’ contains the heartbreaking minor transitions which Brian Wilson formulated on his own ‘Caroline, No’. The title track is a multi-layered lexicon of pop hooks which recalls the late Smith at his most decadent. Morgan’s delivery is both imposing and powerful and in the man’s own words on the wonderful ‘Supine the Covers’: “Long may it last, this Nietzschean bombast”. Advice to fans of bands like Lambchop or Tindersticks as well as more recent acts such as Sufjan Stevens, Rufus Wainwright or Kevin Tihista: Stop reading. Start buying.

-Americana UK - Americana UK

"This beautiful album was recorded
at Elliott Smith's studio prior to his
untimely death, 12 stunning baroque
pop songs from this New England
based solo artist, brings all the lush
parts of The Beatles, Elliott, and
Plush together with his own unique
style, we have 100 copies up front,
so get them now before it explodes."
-Rough Trade Shop, London
- Rough Trade Shop

The product of a five-year gestation cycle that included a near-death
experience for its creator and the tragic suicide of its patron
Elliott Smith, Andrew Morgan's Misadventures in Radiology arrives
swaddled in the kind of drama and mythology typically reserved for
artists at the peaks of their careers, not the outset--fittingly, this
lush, nuanced record boasts a maturity and grace far beyond Morgan's
years, evoking in exquisitely fine strokes masterpieces spanning from
Odessey and Oracle to Ocean Rain. Comparisons to Smith are also
inevitable, but while its widescreen scope and orchestral grandeur
recall the late singer/songwriter's albums for DreamWorks,
Misadventures in Radiology is more celebratory than melancholy--few
records actually exalt in the sheer joy of making music, but even
Morgan's darkest and most deeply intimate songs revel in the power of
emotional release.

-All Music Guide
- All Music Guide

Following in the footsteps of Elliot Smith, Andrew Morgan creates an
orchestra-pop masterpiece that stands far above the current school of
chamber-pop progenies.

From the moment the bow hits the somber cello strings five seconds
into Andrew Morgan's Misadventures in Radiology, it becomes clear that
you're in for a bone-tingling listening experience. Each song on the
CD is a well-crafted exercise in orchestral-pop expertise. The Oxford
educated, Elliott Smith protégé builds a baroque-soundscape loaded
with lush string-laden melodies, colorful lyrical images, and jazzy
interludes. It's the perfect soundtrack to both lingering 3 am sadness
and a sunny afternoon walk through a green forest.

Partially inspired by Miles Davis' tendency to improvise song takes
and eventually save the best versions for the record, Andrew Morgan
develops a free-jazz style in many of the songs on Misadventures. The
title track, "This Awful Room," and "Shoulder Your Shovel," while not
exactly sounding like Miles Davis, hearken back to the
amphetamine-inspired blitz and sonic landscape on his classic
recordings such as Sketches of Spain. Every song flows in a sweeping
way, which enhances the lyrical story-telling of the record.

Similar in spirit to the school of early 70s singer/songwriters such
as Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Nick Drake, Andrew Morgan creates
mental pictures of well-educated (yet distraught) WASP-y figures
caught up in a creeping malaise. Melancholy images like confused
individuals fleeing to New York City ("Plight of an Exile"), depressed
and lonely socialites ("Joann, You'll be Happy Soon"), and people
mourning the death of loved ones ("Supine on the Lovers") permeate
throughout the CD. Each of these dark images is immaculately backed by
mid-period chamber-influenced Beatlesque melodies.

Taking orchestrated Beatles' classics like "Eleanor Rigby" and "Good
Night" (from The White Album) as a blueprint, Andrew Morgan expands on
the Fab Four's ocean of strings and creates beautifully baroque tracks
like "Bushes to Bronze," "Aligned on the Steps," and the closing
number, "Morpheus Calls." The wash of strings help enhance the somber
tone of the lyrics and jazz-influences.

Given the delicate and scholarly approach to Andrew Morgan's
Misadventures in Radiology, the album may appear slightly limp to
listeners not accustomed to his brand of chamber-pop music. However,
the true inspiration and craft on Misadventures should transcend the
orchestrated-pop stereotypes in most eclectic music fans' minds.

-Delusions of Adequacy - Delusions of Adequacy