SITTING TARGET MUSIC

John Aldington

is the featured artist on

http://www.icarusradio.co.uk

from Monday 14 Dec.

They'll be playing a message from John

followed by a track

every odd hour

(7pm/9pm/11pm etc,

Give or take 10 mins either way)

"It's Only Christmas - It'll Soon Be Over"

is the new Christmas song from PENGUIN PARTY

and it's available as a free download

from the Penguin Party Player page

or directly from

http://ppssb.reverbnation.com/controller/audio_player/download_song_direct/2901201

or you can sing along on YouTube

It's our present to you, you cynical old sausage!

The Icarus Club

Hither Green

Thu Nov 12th 2009 at 08:00 PM

The Station Hotel, 14 Staplehurst Road, Hither Green, London, SE13 5NB, UK

Playing 2x15min sets at this great acoustic night.

"Tomorrow's Saturday" from John's October 15th 2009 performance at the Lantern Society, featured on The Lantern Society Radio Hour. You can hear the whole show on the "John Aldington Player" page on this site:

http://sittingtarget.webs.com/johnaldingtonplayer.htm

JOHN ALDINGTON

plays his gorgeous acoustic songs

at The Good Ship, Kilburn, London

at 8:20 pm on Sunday 11th October 2009

-and-

the Lantern Society folk club

at the

Betsey Trotwood, Clerkenwell, London

at 8:00 pm on Thursday 15th October 2009

just 2 miles from both Notting Hill and Camden. The Good Ship is at the top end of Kilburn, located at 289 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR, neatly sandwiched in betwwen the Tricycle Theatre and The Luminaire. Making that stretch of 100 yards one of the most culturally rich in this place called England.

Trains:

Brondesbury - North London Silverlink (1 minute)

Kilburn - Jubilee Line (3 mins)

Kilburn High Road - British Rail (9 mins)

Kilburn Park - Bakerloo Line (11 mins)

Buses: 16, 31, 32, 98, 189, 206, 316, 328, 332 plus night buses N16, N28, N31, N98. All these stop within an 8 minute walk of the venue, most of them right outside.

-and-

The Icarus Club

Hither Green

Thu Nov 12th 2009 at 08:00 PM

The Station Hotel, 14 Staplehurst Road, Hither Green, London, SE13 5NB, UK

Playing 2x15min sets at this great acoustic night.

Neil Alcock of Superchap blogs hilariously* about film almost daily. Keep up with his highly opinionated rantings here: http://theincrediblesuit.blogspot.com/#

* Blog not entirely hilarious

John Aldington's got some live dates coming up... check back here for details as they come in.

A burst of activity in recent weeks means that the remarkable album Under Water by Nicola Harrison is almost finished. Can't wait!

Welsh psych/swamp-rock band The Seaside are currently working on a concept album about geographical and psychological displacement, for release next year on Sitting Target Music.

The wonderful John Aldington album Songs From The Garden has been reviewed in Rootstime. You can read it on the John Aldington Reviews page or at Rootstime itself.

Folkforum.nl, the Dutch authority on all things acoustic, has given John's lovely album 8/10. You can read their review here, assuming you can read Dutch...

The review (Sitting Target's first magazine review) includes such on-the-nail phrases as

"?fabulously written songs, with lyrics that have been considered long and hard?

?heartfelt delivery?"

The Penguin Party live band hit a setback this week when guitarist Jake Milligan dislocated his shoulder for the third time in a free-running accident.

Jake, a dedicated free-runner, skateboarder, karate expert and musician is in a lot of pain, and with his right arm in a sling rehearsals are unlikely for the next few weeks.

Eveyone at Sitting Target wishes him a speedy recovery.

The Penguin Party live band has begun rehearsals for some forthcoming live gigs, having been unable to take up the offer of a Levellers support slot earlier in the year due to an incomplete lineup.

The current lineup is:

Dave Milligan : Vocals / Guitars / Uke

Chris Healey (Arco) : Keyboards / Guitar / Backing Vocals

Jake Milligan : Guitar / Bass / Backing Vocals

Gareth Hall : Basses / Guitar / Backing Vocals

Dave McGrath : Electric Drums / Backing Vocals

Dave says the live band is really helping to "gel the varied styles of the album together. The songs have taken on a new life, full of the personalities of the blokes in the band"

Review of John Aldington - "Songs From The Garden" from Leonard's Lair

Never having been a follower of singer-songwriters such as James Taylor and Cat Stevens, there was a danger I could have overlooked the first album from John Aldington, a modern day solo artist who is compared to those early-70?s stalwarts. However, having been enchanted by his contributions on Sitting Target label?s ?The Germinal Disc? compilation, I have been looking forward to listening to his works again. Like a cross between the starry-eyed romance of Gilbert O?Sullivan and the gritty intimacy of The Montgolfier Brothers? Roger Quigley, there is something magical about the songs of Aldington which transcend nostalgia and sound fresh and alive.

Aldington is a narrator of romantic tales; one such story is ?It?s Too Late? where ?hearts get broken? and the gentleman at the centre of a love triangle has ?got a woman at home?. It?s a simple subject but one where Aldington?s old-fashioned style of songwriting works extremely well. Indeed, by voicing third-person disapproval in his lovely, haunting tones and employing addictive key changes, this song and most of the album are elevated to something special.

Not many artists could get away with ?Looking back through the years of that endless summer? and ?some dreams get lost along the way? (as on ?Looking Back?) but Aldington?s performance in front of the mic seems so pure and unsullied that the innocence is captured perfectly; the fact that he accompanies it with a fine piece of jangly guitar certainly helps too. Similarly, the beautiful ?Growing Pains? aches with melancholy and is another stunning track.

Whilst listening to his songs, I can almost visualise Aldington sitting on a sturdy tree branch and observing another failed love affair from afar. He shakes his head sadly and then is inspired to write a new tune about what he has just witnessed. My overactive imagination aside though, ?Songs From The Garden? proves that Aldington is not only a fine vocalist and tunesmith but he has also captured that lost art of storytelling. More of the same next time please.

"...ten tracks of musical excellence...the tracks here are wonderful in their own individual rights but they're also great choices in the way they tease, tantalise and whet the appetite leaving you wanting more of the same...the choice was inspired...loosely acoustic music with a cutting-edge, nu-wave bent...Sitting Target are making a very hard-hitting statement here; they're showing off a bit, really telling the public and potential new clients where they stand on the scene, what they're aiming for and what they're trying to do. As far as the artists are concerned, Sitting Target are obviously doing everything they can to get names and music out there and established - and you can't ask for too much more from a relatively small label can you?

So, top marks for the crew at Sitting Target but, massive credit to Urko Daniels, Penguin Party, Superchap, Nicola Harrison and John Aldington."

The lovely Toxic Pete has written a wonderfully insightful review of "See Thru Songs" by Penguin Party at www.toxicpete.co.uk

Here it is in full:

Penguin Party is the new project from musical all-rounder Dave Milligan (Arco), with a little help from a few friends; 'See Thru Songs' is an album packed full of typically British pop charm, a quirky but stylish, funtime work that's like a cross-over between Difford/Tillbrook, Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt - the classic observational pop writing of the former pairing, the sparkling light-rock individuality of the inbetweeny and the uniqueness and vocal acrobatics of the latter. Quite a combination, quite a blend, quite a strangely-strange but oddly-normal coming together! Hey, it works though!

Milligan aka Penguin Party makes smart pop music; his writing is naively intelligent (if that makes sense) and his scores are beautifully and sensitively crafted to colour the poetic lyrics, to emphasise, to adorn and enhance rather than clutter or choke down on the refreshingly individualistic but mature words. Milligan tends to keep it all quite low-key preferring light jangly guitars, expressive keys and militaristic percussive beats to add just the right amount of clever playfulness and hookiness to the mix. Left-field pop maybe but certainly on the brighter side of the odd-ball fence; that's 'brighter' as in somewhat more joyous rather than totally uplifting cuz Penguin Party's music aint actually cheery and all bright whistles and bells, oh no, it can be thought provoking and evocative as much as it can be childlike and coy.

'See Thru Songs' by Penguin Party is a strange but nicely rewarding album; it's well conceived, superbly written and beautifully performed and Milligan certainly puts a bit of fun back into the pop world - well, at least this album puts a smile on yer face purely for its quirkiness if nothing else!! Quite whether 'See Thru Songs' has the ability to be a true hit I'm not at all sure - perhaps Penguin Party will prove to be just too clever for the fickle record buying public, perhaps 'See Thru Songs' will be just too individualistic and too 'grown up' to be a hit - perhaps Penguin Party is destined to remain a cult act and 'See Thru Songs' an 'underground' album. Who knows, Penguin Party sure is an interesting concept/project and 'See Thru Songs' is an enjoyable and fascinating work; pop for pop's sake, good, old fashioned, honest-to-goodness, simplistic pop music, no frills, no big statements, no excuses, and really no surprises - just beautifully crafted, melodic songs that err on the gentler and cosseting side of the pop spectrum.

Aldington's music is all clean-lined, unplugged and refreshingly optimistic sounding. Aldington's guitar style is one of relentless, crisp, clean picking and punctuative strumming whilst his vocals are lightly weighted but cleverly assertive - Aldington's voice cuts through and across his busy but descriptive guitar work resulting in a joyfully vibrant but workmanlike and mood-enhancing vibe. Aldington certainly knows how to deliver his poetic ramblings; his style can be boldly rhythmic and wordy or sparsely augmented and concise - whatever, whichever, Aldington definitely gets his music across and certainly begs to be heard.

'Songs From The Garden' is almost a step back in time; it's open but expressive simplicity reminiscent of Sarstedt, Donovan, McLean and Rose. But, Aldington's very much on-the-money here with his wonderfully honest acoustic wares that also blend in the nuances of Fretwell, Rice and Young to result in a warmly enticing sound that's musically rich in emotion and loaded with meaningful lyrics - pretty cool stuff all-in-all!

John Aldington's 'Songs From The Garden' pretty much takes acoustic music back to basics; just voice and wonderfully executed but restrained guitar delivering Aldington's open but enticing musical poems. It's simple but it's pretty compelling. Maybe not quite having the commercial appeal of albums such as 'O' or 'Magpie' by the aforementioned but possibly just as worthy and equally 'timeless'. 'Songs From The Garden' by John Aldington is a pretty cool and sophisticated album of ezy 'folk' songs that offers a bit of respite from some of the more overly-produced works of late - 'Songs From The Garden' benefits from its inherent accessibility brought about through its totally stripped-down approach and equally simplistic but deferential production.

Peter J Brown aka toxic pete (www.toxicpete.co.uk)