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Bio |  |  | | CINERAMA is the group formed by The Wedding Present's David Gedge. Their debut long player Va Va Voom was released in 1998 to universal critical acclaim. The Melody Maker described the album as "Pop, as it should always be written," while the NME joked that Gedge had transformed himself into Serge Gainsbourg with his "string-kissed serenades and lounge-core laments. "The daily papers were no less kind: "Turbo-driven melodies and bittersweet vignettes taking in everything from John Barry to the Zombies" bubbled The Times enthusiastically, while The Daily Mail noted that: "The only real surprise is not the quality, but that it took so long for Gedge to try something new."
When questioned about the need to launch a new group, Gedge recently stated: "I've always enjoyed a much wider variety of music than fans of The Wedding Present might imagine. I'm a big fan of pop music! I adore the John Barry scores on those Bond films, for instance... The problem is that The Wedding Present is perceived... by group members as much as fans... as a guitar band, first and foremost. So if I'd turned up one day with a string section, I'd have been laughed out of the rehearsal studio. I did manage to inject a small amount of sound track type stuff into The Wedding Present when we covered the themes from Shaft, Twin Peaks and U.F.O. ... but it has always been a bit of a struggle. Ironically, Simon Cleave, the guitarist on Saturnalia, has now joined me in Cinerama, anyway. I do really miss the band, but people have got to understand that I've been playing that kind of thing for well over a decade, and starting Cinerama was like stepping into a new world for me!" |
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Links | | | www.scopitones.co.uk |
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Press | | Reviews
"The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the Rock 'n' Roll era. You may dispute this, but I'm right and you're wrong!" - John Peel, BBC Radio 1
"[David Gedge is] one of the most consistently brilliant songwriters in Britain" - NME
Covers
(Hi-Resolution JPEGs For Promotional Use)
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(Hi-Resolution JPEGs For Promotional Use)
 
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Releases | |  | | |
| | Cinerama Holiday features Cinerama's four three-track EPs, which were released in conjunction with the fine Disco Volante album, plus the collectible Spanish-language 7-inch "Superman." The clattering, incandescent "Wow" and the string-drenched "Your Charms" will be familiar to fans, but the B-sides make this album soar. There's charm to be found in the handclaps and orchestration of "10 Denier," the bittersweet tone to the ballad "Girl on a Motorcycle," and the guest narration by comedian Sean Hughes on "Sly Curl." The special charm one experiences when digging out favorite old singles and flipping them over to find something just as engaging permeates this collection. For a lesser band, an EP compilation would feel like mere filler between proper albums; with Cinerama, it's a joyous reminder that their pop alchemy is never spread thinly. |
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| | Torino, the new album from CINERAMA, was recorded by Steve Albini at his Electical Audio studio in Chicago and by Dare Mason in Parr Street Studios in Cornwall, and in Liverpool. Torino plunges the band into the even darker, more guitar-heavy territory that fans of The Wedding Present will love and remember, while retaining Cinerama's colorful cinematic backdrop, and is sure to garner even more praise. One track, "Health & Efficiency," has already made it to No.3 in John Peel's Festive Fifty - which is no surprise, as the founder of BBC 1's John Peel program is a long-time fan of David's songwriting." |
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Heath & EfficiencyCD [Click Here To Purchase] |
| | The title track was originally taped for a John Peel session in May 2001, and has now been re-recorded by the legendary Steve Albini in Chicago. It's lush, string-laden epic, rising to a crescendo of guitar-noise. The subject matter, as we've come to expect from David recently, is sex - this time, alfresco - and we get the first (possible) orgasm out of the way as early as the first verse. It's a wistful look back at looking forwards to being thirty - with things that didn't seem remotely innocent back then seeming so now, in retrospect. In addition, there is a new song called "Swim" and a version of the classic James Bond theme, " Diamonds Are Forever." |
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| | The Wedding Present has had a long association with BBC Radio 1's John Peel Program, recording eleven sessions for the show since 1986. Now, Cinerama has continued in this tradition and Manifesto will be releasing the first two Cinerama Peel Sessions recorded at the BBC's famous Maida Vale Studios in London. Also included on this CD are two songs extracted from an acoustic set performed and broadcast live and direct from Peel Acres (John's home in Suffolk) and two from the band's appearance at Peel Night, a concert staged at Maida Vale in celebration of the presenter's sixtieth birthday. |
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| | Former WEDDING PRESENT front man David Gedge has definitively left his former band behind with his new outfit, CINERAMA. The guitar-driven lower-case pop of the Wedding Present has been upgraded to Pop with a capital P. Lush, adventurous, and beautifully melodic, CINERAMA'S second release is a veritable feast for the senses. Stretching beyond the usual pop-rock instrumentation to include accordion, vibes, xylophone, horns, and blankets of swoony strings..., Disco Volante manages to sound big but not bombastic, familiar but completely fresh. Admirably aided by co-producer Steve Albini, the clear-eyed Pop of CINERAMA is joy incarnate and sexy to boot. --Carl Hanni |
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