gjyjyjyjy

Morton Valence – Sailors (Cheap Date)
Debut single from a hearty crew of Colombians, Irish, English and a couple of girls from Hong Kong who may or may not be named after a car dealership in Gloucestershire. The brilliant Sailors opens with the screech of seagulls before a repetitive toy keyboard launches a dramatic journey of beats and electronics down from the mountains and "across the border / through the straits of Gibraltar" and on to the ocean. Its pulsating rhythms, subtle harmonies and quirky melodies create a cerebral, celebratory pop song. Think a sea-faring Stereolab.

http://www.clashmagazine.com/singles-5th-november/ - Clash Magazine

New band of the day
No 211: Morton Valence
Today, Paul Lester calls your attention to a conceptual glam-vaudeville electro rock'n'roll band that covers Cameo in Cantonese

Hometown: London.

The background: Morton Valence, the first half of their name a sleepy town in Gloucestershire and the other half a misspelled province on the east coast of Spain, are a conceptual glam-vaudeville electro rock'n'roll band. They've got Ideas and Imaginative Presentation Techniques which combine with the harsh but melodic electronic pop noise that they make to create a sense of cerebral brutishness and arty thuggery. It's hardly rock's most sophisticated ever assault on the senses due to the fact that Morton Valence are a new group with no money, but you've got to admire their audacity and willingness to experiment and explore the silly and seamy sides of Life In Britain Today. They write songs about ice-cream salesmen and cider-drinkers, use all manner of unusual instruments and found household detritus - maracas, trumpets, xylophone, guitars, a keyboard positioned on an ironing board - and write their set-lists on toilet paper, a) because it's environmentally friendly but also b) because it's jarringly inappropriate and disconcertingly vulgar, and maybe that means something. Describing their music, rather disingenuously, as "electronic love ballads", they recall Art Brut, Earl Brutus and World Of Twist, those other very British troupes who have attempted to put their love of prole pop through a leftfield filter.
But when all's said and done - and you can imagine, when they finally get to do their first interviews, there will be a lot of saying about all the things they will be doing - Morton Valence are a pop group, or one of those indie bands who desperately want to be a pop group and would be if only they weren't cursed with these overactive imaginations, with an (over)arch idea of what constitutes classic British pop: Xenomania or Chinn & Chapman? Sailors, their debut single, is a sort of brutalist pop-electro take on long-forgotten mid-70s fag-end-of-glam band Sailor and their number two smash Glass Of Champagne, which is probably some people's version of pop heaven, and other people's conception of pop hell.
For some, it will be Morton Valence's idiosyncrasies - lead megaphone fiend Hacker aka Morton Valence Junior, described as a cross between Del Boy and Hunter S Thompson and "the greatest singing pervert since Serge Gainsbourg"; the band's cover of Word Up by 80s codpiece electro-funkateers Cameo sung in Cantonese - that appeal the most. Others will be waiting to see if they have a Common People in their repertoire that will connect with the common people. Meanwhile, interested parties should attend their interesting party: tomorrow night,
Thursday, October 25, on the Battersea Barge,
Nine Elms Lane,
SW8 5BP.
Watch out for Mr Whippy.
The buzz: "Just about the most intriguing band on these shores at the moment... Sailors is an electro-pop hybrid of Gary Numan and the Magnetic Fields."

The truth: If Art Brut can be Big In Germany...

Most likely to: Increase sales of megaphones.

Least likely to: Increase sales of frozen confectionaries.

File next to: Art Brut, Earl Brutus,
World Of Twist, Pulp.

What to buy: Sailors/Man On The Corner is released by Cheap Date on November 5

- The Guardian

MORTON VALENCE / CHANDELIER (BASTARD RECORDINGS)
18/05/08

This is how lullabies should sound. 'Chandelier' delights with it's irresistible melancholy and effortless imagery. “We’ll let the ugly disappear / We’ll be waltzing home tonight”. Marry Me Morty, Mort.

- Artrocker

Word by Rosana Alam

The loyalty of British Sea Power fans is ever present tonight, as some have travelled the extra mile bearing branches and fondling twigs in admiration. The room reaches full capacity by the time they are on, leaving a queue of a further two hundred people gutted, because security just won't let them in.

All in all it's a perfect platform if you're a new band in need of some attention. Which is exactly what Morton Valence receives in abundance. Comprised of an international lineup, they are able to weld a corking tune with a sophisticated stage presence. Notably genius is their cover of Cameo's 'Word Up', in Cantonese.
- Live with British Sea Power

June 2008

Vaudeville, Londoner’s Morton Valence offer up a swooning, gorgeous tale of unrequited love, conjuring up images of couples entwined in stately ballrooms, Boy/girl vocals effortlessly trip from the tongue: chorusing on lines that see the hopeless beauty through a blurry end of the night low. ('We’ll see the ugly disappear/ we’ll be waltzing home tonight’) Whilst a soundtrack twinkles with elegant waltzing rhythms, pulsing glocks, and neon swathes of synthesizer drift around your head. The sound of the literate male/female electro indie of Black Box Recorder, clutched to the bosoms of the aching psychedelia of Oooberman.

Bside Go To sleep spotlights Anne Gilpin’s delicately hushed vocal tones: are whispered warmly, while subtle guitar lines rock you off into the land of slumber.

Morton Valence want you to share in their success too, selling shares in their forthcoming new debut album ‘Bob and Veronica ride again’ to fans spurning traditional record label model in favour of cutting out the label middle men. I suggest you buy yourself a piece in this band’s record, frame it and place it on your mantelpiece for prosperity.


- God is in the TV

Ged M
First single ‘Sailors’ was infectious electro-pop but this is completely different: an epic teen opera that swoons under the weight of vocal harmonies, tinkling glockenspiels and great sweeps of synthesizers. This sweet-but-just-the-right-side-of-cloying boy/girl duet is prom-night pretty and hopelessly romantic: “let the ugly disappear/ we’ll be waltzing home tonight”. On ‘Go to Sleep’, Anne Gilpin’s spun-sugar voice intones a delicate lullaby over minimal backing. Both tracks show a fearsome pop intelligence at work; if you like this and want to support them to make more records, you can cut out the middleman and buy shares in their debut album Bob and Veronica Ride Again (potential investors should write to mortonvalence@googlemail.com).

- Ged M

Morton Valence

Morton Valence's singer looks like a zany intermix of Del Boy and Hunter S Thompson.

For a band that are named after a sleepy town in Gloucestershire, Morton Valence are a surprisingly rainbow-bright, vivacious collective. Their ouevre comprises maracas, trumpets, xylophone, guitars and a keyboard positioned on an ironing board.

MV's songs veer from the deliciously twee topic of Mr Whippy to tales of bleak cider-drinking antics. Their setlist is written on a piece of toilet paper ('It's environmentally friendly,' proclaims the singer, 'I'll be wiping my arse on that later!').
At one point we are treated to a Cantonese version of 'Word Up'.

All in all, Morton Valence are just about the most interesting and intriguing band on these shores at the moment.

- Fliss Collier

MORTON VALENCE CHANDELIER/GO TO SLEEP ****
This quartet's single is full of boy/girl harmonies. There's a retro romance and an interesting interplay of instruments, including glockenspiels and a slow drum march. An infectious tune. - Avril Cadden

May 2008
Morton Valence
Chandelier

Emphatic niceness and 'electronic love ballads' from London-based indie pop troupe who like to play dress-up. At the same time they're selling shares of their in-process debut album in a bid to 'return the power to people who matter the most...the fans and artists'. You even get a contract which sounds exciting (to me) www.myspace.com/mortonvalence


- Plan B

April 27 2008

Hottest Download - The Sunday Times - Culture