Learn to Swim

There's hardly ever any interesting news out of Learn to Swim as they're usually busy making music, watching DVDs and being miserable. That said, these pages are filling up aren't they?

November 2007

• NEW SINGLE - to cheer us all up as winter approaches, long time favourites Oh Joyous Diner return with three tracks expounding the simple pleasure of eating salad.

• FIVE YEARS - Where does the time go? All of us have grown a little older but barely any the wiser. Nevertheless, five years is a long time and a lot of music. In September we marked the 5th anniversary, and this month we hit two other landmarks: our THIRTIETH single now taking us over ONE HUNDRED individual tracks. Because we get a bit emotional from time to time, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for sticking by us through the years. Sometimes we fall silent for months on end, sometimes the music simply pours out. Whatever happens, it's good to know that you're out there, listening. If you fancy a trip back through time, our entire back catalogue is available on the website - Free, as always - click here to see what those five years have added up to.

• CURRENTLY IN THE STUDIO - And it still goes on....next month Acid Wilhelm will take us into the Winterval nights with possibly his most obscure offering yet.  You may have noticed that at the bottom of the releases page, there's a few ideas about what's in the pipeline. And yes, it's true: Griffin are finally at work.

• HANK: THE SOCIETY OF SIX. Our friends across-the-pond-and-up-a-bit, the mighty HANK COLLECTIVE have released a fabulous promotional film to accompany their new single The Society of Six. You can view what our favourite Canadians have been getting up to by clicking >here<.

August 2007

• NEW SINGLE - This month, Karswell return and with the rather kitsch sci-fi inspired La Devinette dans les Etoiles. Those of you who passed GSCE French should be able to work out what the title means. We have four tracks for you, ranging from fab, passing through groovy to the downright panic-stricken. You can listen to all the tracks via a specially arranged hyperspace wormhole thing which you can activate if you click here.

• DON'T FORGET THE ALBUM - The second volume of Learn to Swim, entitled Why Big Ideas Are Invisible From the Inside is still available, of course. Quite popular too judging by the number of downloads its been getting (must update the charts - Ed.) Click here to download the album. Free as always. And don't forget to tell us what you think of it on our messageboard. Please. We'd love to hear from you.

• CURRENTLY IN THE STUDIO - The rumours are all true: next month sees Acid Wilhelm return with possibly his most obscure offering yet. He seems to have been reading a book on biochemistry. That's all we can tell you right now. Despite still not having actually finished their third single,  Hair by Roger have been exceptionally busy in the studio lately. Expect big results in the not too distant future.

• THE COMPLETE WORKS - A reminder that, as of last month,  our entire back catalogue of 115 tracks (plus 28 tracks by Cab Williamson's Waxworks) is available on the website for the first time. Ever. That's over FOUR HOURS of music. Free, as always.

• HANK: THE SOCIETY OF SIX. Our friends across-the-pond-and-up-a-bit, the mighty HANK COLLECTIVE have released a short promotional film to accompany their new single The Society of Six. According to the Godfather of Swim Acid Wilhelm, the video is "f***ing brilliant" (and he's normally so genteel!). You can view what our favourite Canadians have been getting up to by clicking >here<. We commend it to you.

• BY THE WAY - we've had the place redecorated. Like it?

• RELEASE SCHEDULE - you can find it by clicking here but it's not something to organise your life by. Let's face it, we clearly don't.

July 2007

• THIS MONTH - At long last, we're pleased to announce the release of the second volume of Learn to Swim, entitled Why Big Ideas Are Invisible From the Inside.
  As long term Swimmers will recall, the "volumes" series is where we round up all that's best from the world of Learn to Swim, dust it off, polish its toenails and fling it back at you. As the Godfather of Swim, Mr Wilhelm explains: "One of the things we tried to do this time was take that whole things-flowing-into-each-other schtick from the first album and go a bit further. This time, not only do the tracks merge seamlessly into one organic whole [we're assuming he means that with a "w"... - Ed.], we thought we'd try to link them with a few ideas and generally mash up our own stuff. Maybe it's getting a bit too close to being a concept album. Or perhaps it's just one of those 'deep' conversations you end up having at 3am when you've spent all day in the pub. I don't honestly know. I wouldn't take it too seriously. That's why there's no Bagman on it." 
  Click here to download the album. Free as always. And don't forget to tell us what you think of it on our messageboard. Please. We'd love to hear from you.

• THE COMPLETE WORKS - To celebrate the release of Why Big Ideas Are Invisible From the Inside we've added a few other bits and pieces to the site. This includes Wiskin and Semlay's 25-minute head twisting epic An Egg Named Thought which was previously only available by contacting us directly. A number of tracks were taken offline recently due to server issues. They're now back. Best of all though, for the very first time, Learn to Swim Volume 1 is now available online in its proper form. 
  This means our entire back catalogue of 115 tracks (plus 28 tracks by Cab Williamson's Waxworks) is now available on the website for the first time. Ever. That's over FOUR HOURS of music. Free, as always.

• CURRENTLY IN THE STUDIO - The Submercibles are back at work on a new, as yet untitled, 2-track single. Expect more shouting and fuzzy guitars. Having got bored with the technical difficulties hampering their much-awaited third single, Hair by Roger have decided to relieve the boredom by starting work on the fourth instead - details on their homepage. And all the folk involved in Karswell have been adding their various talents to a new soundtrack which, we gather, sees them going all sci-fi...but in French. Lastly, if all the eerie noises coming out of The Hessian Palace are anything to go by, it would seem Acid Wilhelm is soon to reveal the workings of his odd little mind. Again.

• HANK: THE SOCIETY OF SIX. Our friends across-the-pond-and-up-a-bit, the mighty HANK COLLECTIVE have released a short promotional film to accompany their new single The Society of Six. According to the Godfather of Swim Acid Wilhelm, the video is "f***ing brilliant" (and he's normally so genteel!). You can view what our favourite Canadians have been getting up to by clicking >here<. We commend it to you.

• RELEASE SCHEDULE - you can still find it by clicking here but it's about as reliable as the British public transport system. We do like to be parochial.

June 2007

• THIS MONTH - Has it really been over 2 years since we last heard from our resident "auditory landscape performance artist" Pete Nitrous? He now returns with a new effort entitled The Abode of Stones. The three tracks could well be about anything. You can never tell with him. They're available to listen to here.

• New stuff from HANK. Our friends across-the-pond-and-up-a-bit, the mighty HANK COLLECTIVE have released a short promotional film to accompany their new single The Society of Six. According to the Godfather of Swim Acid Wilhelm, the video is "f***ing brilliant" (and he's normally so genteel!). You can view what our favourite Canadians have been getting up to by clicking >here<. We commend it to you.

• FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS - we promise there'll be some. At some point. Learn to Swim Volume 2 is delayed due to internal discussions about the exact tracklisting. We can report that those lovely men Hair by Roger have asked for one of their tracks to be removed because, in their words "It's a bit lame isn't it?". Those of you who haven't already spotted it in the albums section might be interested to know that Volume 2 has a proper title: Why Big Ideas Are Invisible From the Inside. Coming soon. Ish.

• RELEASE SCHEDULE - find it by clicking here. But we're making no promises.

February 2007

• THIS MONTH - Lonesome singer songwriter Ben Bloody Thompson is back with three more characteristically bare tracks. The title "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger" is a wonderfully wise saying of John McLoughlin to whose memory this release is dedicated.

• FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS - the third single from Hair by Roger is now long overdue but should be released in the next few months. And we can now reveal that, having lost their lead singer before they'd even got past their first release, discomaniacs Eyelash are now in rehearsals with a new lead vocalist. 

• RELEASE SCHEDULE - find it by clicking here.

January 2007

• THIS MONTH - The Ira Snowmelt Trio make a welcome return with two new tracks in their familiar laid-so-far-back-you-need-a-chiropractor style. Ways of Seeming has them the adding to their usual accoustic sound with a fresh palette of samples and other electronica. We detect the influence of a certain Mr Wilhelm at work...though the style is pure Snowmelt.

• FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS - So what does 2007 hold for Learn to Swim? As regards old favourites, we can tell you that Ben Bloody Thompson is busy at the moment so expect to hear from him in due course and both Hair by Roger and Karswell also have work nearing completion. We'll also see the return of Lipsmacker with the follow up to last year's debut. There are also some new acts on the horizon including Timbertoe, The Bolts and (if they can find a new lead singer now that Gaynor has left to spend time being pregnant) Eyelash. And, of course, Acid Wilhelm, besides maintaining his production duties, will no doubt return with another batch of gurgly noises. 

• RELEASE SCHEDULE - Subject as ever to being completely ignored, but it does have a bit of curiosity value...find it by clicking here.

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