UNFAIR / FUNFAIR (2006)

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Unfair / Funfair Album Artwork

About Unfair / Funfair

Release date: March 2006 (Library of Nothing Records)

The first Simon Bookish album, comprising a series of bilious, electronic agitprop sketches, ranging from the dystopian musique concréte of "London Bunker", to the kaleidoscopic synth pop of "Richard of York", the eerie calm of "Topography" and the histrionic disco of "Handsome Girls".

Bizarre, literate and full of black humour, the songs owe something to the likes of Coil, DAF, Scott Walker circa Tilt, the smashed remains of the Electroclash scene, and the experimental electronica emerging from London clubs in the mid-2000s.

Album Credits

Written, performed and produced by Leo Chadburn
Spoken word by Gemma Saunders
Artwork and layout by Yehrin Tong
Photography by Matt Irwin
Additional recordings and mix by Chris Branch and Tom Haines
Mastered by Shawn Hatfield at Audible Oddities

Press for Unfair / Funfair

Luke Turner, 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...

Drew Daniel, "Richard of York" (album track from Unfair / Funfair), Pitchfork Review, 2006

"After some scene-stealing remixes for Grizzly Bear and Franz Ferdinand, my expectations were high, but Bookish brings it. Following a Delia Derbyshire-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 Chadburne, in flight from a classical composition background, which has rubbed off here in the best possible way.