PRESS
...more of this stuff soon, when I summon the energy, etc.
UNFAIR/FUNFAIR ... Playlouder, 2006
...'Unfair/Funfair' is aptly named, for this album is a scintillating epileptic fit on a roller-coaster, with a ghost train, some black magic roundabouts, and a disturbing hall of mirrors thrown in for good measure. Yet because of Bookish's unique voice and technical ability, it holds together perfectly, making the ride all the more intense...
(Luke Turner)
"Richard of York" (album track from 'UNFAIR/FUNFAIR') ... Pitchfork, 2006
After some scene-stealing remixes for Grizzly Bear and Franz Ferdinand, my expectations were high, but Bookish brings it. Following a Delia Darbyshire-esque sci fi synth bloopfest, we are plunged onto Bosworth Field, where "the royal meteorologist's expression is pained" because things look grim for the titular warring English monarch. Singing the phrase "Richard of York gave battle in vain" in a cascading canon built out of his own plummy voice, Simon Bookish brings more than a pinch of Adam Ant's camp anachronism to bear on his sparkling synth-pop, with winning results. The dragonslaying prog bonus round of harmony vocals, angelic choirs and percolating keys in the song's second half tips his hand, and reveals that Simon Bookish is in fact the nom de guerre of one Leo Chadbourne, in flight from a classical composition background (Kelley Polar, your Anglo twin is calling) which has rubbed off here in the best possible way.
(Drew Daniel)
"Terry Riley Disco" ... Barcode Zine, 2006
...The result of this rather bookish (geddit?) clash of identities is a surprisingly modernist lashing of electro pop, with a startling deadpan, tongue-in-cheek vocal supplied by Chadburn set to a background of mesmerically fluctuating analogue electronics and digital beats... ...Single of the year so far Ð by a distance!
"Terry Riley Disco" ... MusicOMH.com, 2006
...It does conjure images of the kind of record The Pet Shops Boys might make with Pulp - all skewed Roxy Music funk and clever lyrics. The Max Tundra remix takes the electro blueprint of the original and cut and shunts it into a twitchy bass heavy monster. The vocal snippets, dry drums and '70s synth blurbs make it a dance floor killer. Disco for the head and feet.
(Tony Heywood)
Simon Bookish live ... DrownedinSound.com, 2005
...His evocative words draw surreal and funny places around us. I think of Bowie and Baudrillard, Burroughs and Byrne (and not just because they alliterate). This spoken word journey isn't a finished thing, neatly tied up and delivered, but a jumping off point into another world, teeming with imagery and ideas...
...It's an utterly absorbing show, and hardly anyone says a word or moves an inch for the duration the performance - maybe because there really isn't much out there that's anything like this...
(John Brainlove)
