Miloco Clients Dominate August Album Charts
The Milo force has conquered anew. Never willing to evade the headlines, August saw our frontline launch two AOMDs (Albums Of Mass Destruction) at the unsuspecting public. The albums in question are a result of months of hard work deep within the Miloco laboratories, and the folks in white coats have frighteningly declared that their new weapons are both made of bricks and hand built by robots! Now for the comically gullible, please rest-assured, Camp Miloco have not blasted any machine-made brick bombs at anyone. We have however been flexing our muscles in the album chart arena, with Kate Nash's 'Made of Bricks' and Newton Faulkner's 'Hand Built By Robots' shrugging off stiff competition in August, to both lay claim to being the unrivalled debut successes of the summer. First to arrive in pole position was Kate Nash, who on the back of her smash-hit single 'Foundations' was destined for a grand reception when the subsequent album was unveiled on August 6. She had been in The Pool and The Neve in the first half of 2007 tracking 'Made of Bricks' with producer Paul Epworth and engineer Mark Rankin. However Kate's stay at number one was cut short by a certain party-pooper who calls himself Presley, who gate-crashed the Nash bash and slam-dunked his beyond-the-grave compilation, 'The King', down onto Kate's throne. The reveller's booed. "Down with the King, bring back the Queen". Worry not. Queen Kate still rides high in the charts, and with more singles on the way has her eye on reclaiming the album crown. Released a week earlier to 'Made of Bricks' was Newton Faulkner's 'Hand Built By Robots', which after a steady and hard-fought climb over three weeks deservedly jarred its victorious flag and pole into the chart's summit on August 26. Consequently, Newton told party-pooper Presley where to shove it, and so Elvis commenced to roll down the mountainside like a giant pink beach ball. Newton made the album with producer Mike Spencer at Miloco's Leroy Street HQ in Bermondsey. 'Hand Built By Robots' is now enjoying a second week at the top spot. So September starts to swing with no better a chart-leader than one of Miloco's exceptional clients, with another albeit former number one Milocee still knocking 'em dead in the top five. We raise our chalices and propose a toast to Kate, Newton and all those involved in making both records the successes they deserve to be. As for us, we add another two Milo-conceived number-one albums to the gleaming mantelpiece of 2007, where they join fellow chart-conquerors Arctic Monkeys' 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' and The Chemical Brothers' 'We Are The Night'. Four number-ones so far this year... well it's hardly all that surprising, as the old saying goes, 'want a number one, go to Miloco', well we think it's something like that. Genius. To check out what's going on in the world's of Kate Nash and Newton Faulkner, follow these links: www.katenash.co.uk www.myspace.com/katenashmusic www.newtonfaulkner.com www.myspace.com/newtonfaulkner Toyshop news flash: Great value long-term rates!
Throughout its life, Miloco 2: The Toyshop has consistently proved a hugely inspirational studio, responsible for the creation of many acclaimed albums over the last two decades. We believe the success of The Toyshop stems from its natural aptitude for serving as a hugely creative hub for people to use for long-term periods. Having seen the huge popularity of our other long-term let rooms, we have decided to employ a similar scheme to enable clients to reap the rewards The Toyshop offers through longer sessions, just as many high-profile artists have done in the past. So, we are introducing a monthly rate for The Toyshop at just £4000 (excluding staff costs), which, considering the standard monthly rental of a Pro Tools rig amounts to nearly £5000, essentially means you are getting use of this excellent studio's space and extensive collection of gear for free, and you can't get a much better offer than that! So what are you getting exactly? Well... since the 1980s, The Toyshop has been one of the busiest and most popular programming rooms in London. Before becoming the studio it is now, the room was home to The Chemical Brothers who used it to make albums such as 'Exit Planet Dust' and 'Dig Your Own Hole', and have returned to make use of the room for every album since. Inside the room you will find a naturally-lit vocal booth, generous amounts of outboard, high-quality mics and mic pres, a great selection of analogue keyboards and a choice of Genelec 1031 monitoring or NS10's, all of which are supplemented by plenty of daylight, a stylish and comfortable control room lay-out, plus all of the other amenities and luxuries within Miloco's main site at Leroy Street. Recent long-term Toyshop clients include Jamie T, Plan B and Ali Love, who all made the majority of their respective debuts in the room, as well as a diverse selection of other artists including Sugababes, These New Puritans, Sunshine Underground, Audiobullys, Charlotte Hatherley and Ms. Dynamite. To follow in the successful footsteps of those listed above, and to take us up on an offer you simply can't refuse, give Sophie a call today on 020-7232-0008 or email sophie@miloco.co.uk. To view the official web pages for The Toyshop, click on the following link: The Toyshop. 
Studio HighlightsAugust simply rocketed by with the amount that was going on across our studios. We welcomed everyone from K T Tunstall to Hadouken!, and a whole army of artists in between. This month we've endeavoured to pick out a few of the highlights... Miloco One - The Neve Room
After investing in The Pool in July, The Rascals packed up their things and moved to
The Neve Room next door at the beginning of August for some mixing. They of course did not
forget to bring with them producer Ben Hillier and his trusty engineer
Ferg Peterkin, who were obviously vital to the cause! Producer James Lewis
snatched up a short session in the Neve last month with another one of his
never-ending list of projects, Answering Machine. Next up were Red Light Company,
who were in for the best part of two weeks tracking material
for their forthcoming album with producer/engineer Adrian Bushby. Following them came
The Rushes and producer Victor Van Vugt. They are currently working on
their debut album, but for now stay posted for the release of their first single, 'What Are
You Waiting For'.
An engineer CV: Ferg Peterkin Miloco Two - The Toyshop
The Toyshop has seen many changing faces and genres put it to the test over the years, but
it certainly did enjoy the somewhat rare occurrence of having a beat-box duo named Duke
in at the start of last month. They were tracking tunes for a future album with
the production and engineering team Desert Eagle Discs. The Toyshop's regular Aussie
troubadour, Charles Campbell-Jones was also back in August accompanied by no other than
his ever-present engineer, Miloco's Ben Thackeray.
Another CV: Ben Thackeray Miloco Three - The Square
A scattering of contemporary favourites popped in to our Hoxton tracking room at the start of
August with the sole purpose of tracking on their minds, amongst them Mumm Ra,
Bono Must Die and Fields. The Cordwood Draggers used up some time to do
some overdubbing on their new album, with the fine assistance of Miloco engineer Mark Rankin,
and shortly after them came the intriguing Shadow Orchestra who worked mighty hard over a
weekend to lay down album tracks a-plenty with Miloco's James Aparicio engineering. It
was also great to see the Love Music Hate Racism project come to Miloco. The guys are
working on a track which will appear on a compilation campaign, and artists featuring on the record include Drew McConnell
(Babyshambles) and Seb Rochford (Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear, Basquiat Strings and many
more...!). Check out the article on our digest column to the right of this page for more info on
Love Music Hate Racism. Finally it was a pleasure to see a glimpse of The Metros
at Hoxton, who were using The Square with producer Baxter Dury and Miloco engineer Finn Eiles.
Two more CVs: Mark Rankin and Finn Eiles Miloco Four - The Garden
Moving on from The Square, we shall take a short walk down the ever-extroverted Shoreditch
High Street to our Garden studio. The Garden too enjoyed its usual concoction of interesting
bands last month, including Late Of The Pier who were tracking singles with producer
Erol Alkan and engineer Jimmy Robertson. It was great to see The Music
back at Miloco, tracking with producer Tim Holmes and Miloco's Darren Simpson.
Finally Kid Harpoon saw out the last stretch of August with producer/engineer Iain Gore.
Miloco Five - The SSL
Our SSL mix room in Highbury saw the North London band Eight Legs dominate proceedings in
August. They were mixing album tracks with John Fortis and Miloco engineer Martin
Jenkins. Around their lengthy session were a number of smaller ones, including those with
The Ramekins (engineered by Miloco's Joe Hirst), and The Tunics
(produced and engineered by James Lewis).
Two more: Martin Jenkins and Joe Hirst Miloco Seven & Eight - Musikbox & The Pool
First up at Miloco 7 was the brilliant K T Tunstall, who with producer/engineer
Rick Morris mixed some forthcoming album tracks. Not long after, Respond had moved
their album project to our Kentish Town Neve room to mix tracks with Miloco's Matt Hyde
at the helm. The hip, happening Hadouken! kids gobbled up the best of the rest of
August, but a few other familiar faces popped their heads round the Musikbox doors, including
Pete Reynolds who was mixing his debut single with Miloco engineer Pete Hofmann.
The magician who created our extreme live tracking room, Ben Hillier, returned for most of August. He was first in with NME favourites The Courteeners for a week, and then later with the excellent Lea Shores. Ferg Peterkin engineered both those sessions, and also found some time over a weekend to work with Josh Weller. Elsewhere we also welcomed back to Miloco 8 Nick Harrison, who returned to work with producer Paul Epworth and Miloco engineer Mark Rankin. Last two CVs: Matt Hyde and Pete Hofmann And so we drop the blinds on August and put it to bed, where it could dream sweetly about all the great musical folk it had met. Looking forward to September, and indeed the final quarter of the year (my word where's all the time going???), the diary seems never willing to have a cool-off period, in other words it's filling up faster than a Titanic lifeboat. To join the scramble for Miloco studio time, call Sophie today on 020-7232-0008, or drop her a line at sophie@miloco.co.uk. |
In this edition
Miloco Clients Dominate August Album Charts
Klaxons bag the Mercury!
Our bragging rights are really escalating this month. Ha ha ha!! Miloco clients Klaxons have defied the bookies' odds to claim the most prestigious award in British music, The Nationwide Mercury Music Prize. The 2007 winners out-sprinted the likes of Amy Winehouse and Dizzee Rascal to the finishing line, and swiped gold for their debut album 'Myths Of The Near Future', recorded in The Garden in 2006. So our third, and probably final toast of the month goes to Klaxons for their fine achievement. Oh go on then, while we're at it, a big up for our other three Mercury-nominated clients: Jamie T, Fionn Regan and 2006 winners Arctic Monkeys. We're so proud of you all, we feel like grandparents at sports day!
'Love Music Hate Racism' record at Miloco
As mentioned in this month's Studio Highlights, it was great to see the hugely commendable Love Music Hate Racism campaign make use of our studios in August. The anti-racism campaign group are currently working on a compilation album - lead by Babyshambles' Drew McConnell and Lisa Moorish - which will feature a staggering 25+ tracks from some truly cool acts, amongst them Lethal Bizzle, Billy Bragg, Bloc Party and Dirty Pretty Things. The tracklisting includes an exclusive recording by Drew McConnell, London scenester Seb Rochford, the Mercury award-nominated Fionn Regan and Strokes superstar Albert Hammond Jnr. The track, entitled 'Ampersand' was recorded and mixed at Miloco's Square and Pool studios in August 2007, under the guidance of Miloco engineer Mark Rankin. As well as securing the NME cover mount slot for the 13th October issue, the compliation will also be significantly aimed at schools to promote the anti-racism message, and to educate youth against racial prejudice and facism in politics. For more information on the Love Music Hate Racism school compilation, click on the following link: www.lovemusichateracism.com. Stay posted for more information on LMHR on the Miloco website.
New Session Photos feature on Miloco Website!
Just in case there was any doubt over whether all these sessions we tell you about in our monthly bulletin actually do happen, we have added a new session photos feature to each studio page. The three links below take you to the ones we have already - some are great, others even greater! Plenty more where these came from... The Square - Session Photos The Garden - Session Photos The Pool - Session Photos
Latest Releases
Released 6th August 2007 Kate Nash - 'Made Of Bricks' 
She's arguably the biggest newcomer of the year so far, with debut album, 'Made of Bricks' taking the world of music by storm with a number one entry. Ladies curtsy and gents bow, it's the future Queen of Pop. Kate Nash's 'Made of Bricks' was partly tracked in The Pool and The Neve in the first half of 2007. She was in the studios with producer Paul Epworth and Miloco engineer Mark Rankin. www.katenash.co.uk Released 30th July 2007 Newton Faulkner - 'Handbuilt By Robots' 
Not so long ago, Mr. Faulkner was struggling to secure a record deal, as he claims numerous label bosses deemed him as "schizophrenic". Now of course he has jostled Elvis Presley off the album chart's peak, as a result of his debut LP's soaring success. His top trump card excels in witty lyrics, great voice, exceptional acoustic guitar playing and brilliant hair. Newton Faulkner's 'Handbuilt By Robots' was produced and mixed by producer Mike Spencer at Miloco's Leroy Street HQ. www.newtonfaulkner.com Released 2nd July 2007 Foy Vance - 'Hope' 
An interseting youth Foy Vance had, it would appear. Claiming Belfast has his hometown, his childhood would see his preacher father however moved the family to and from Louisiana, Alabama and Oklahoma, meaning that young Foy could soak up plenty of diverse musical strands. Some years later, an album called 'Hope' appeared, casting shades of Tom Waits Van Morrison, Richie Havens and Otis Redding. In the company of Miloco engineers Matt Hyde and Mark Rankin, Foy Vance tracked and mixed the album in a variety of Miloco's Square, Garden and Pool studios, with producer Tchad Blake also contributing. www.foyvance.com To check out more of the Miloco releases of 2007, please look this way: www.miloco.co.uk/news/ newreleases |
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