Roddy Frame | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Best known as the leader of Scottish pop group Aztec Camera, Roddy Frame burst onto the U.K. pop scene as a songwriting wunderkind who became a critical favorite while still in his teens. If the stardom expected of him never quite stuck, Frame has earned a reputation as a gifted, literate tunesmith who has enjoyed a long-running and uncompromising career. Roddy Frame was born in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland on January 29, 1964. In his early teens, Frame was inspired by the songcraft of David Bowie, the conversational realism of Mark E. Smith and the Fall, and the sounds of earlier rock innovators such as the Velvet Underground, the Byrds, and Love. Frame took up songwriting, and in 1980 he formed Aztec Camera with like-minded friends Campbell Owens on bass and Dave Mulholland on drums. After making an appearance on a cassette-only compilation of new Glasgow bands, Aztec Camera partnered with celebrated Scottish indie label Postcard Records, which issued their first single, "Just Like Gold" b/w "We Could Send Letters," in March 1981. A second single, "Mattress of Wire" b/w "Lost Outside the Tunnel," appeared a few months later, and Aztec Camera were soon making a name for themselves in the U.K. music press. Rough Trade signed Aztec Camera for the U.K. and Sire Records picked them up for North America; the bands debut album, High Land, Hard Rain was released in the summer of 1983, and critics on both sides of the Atlantic embraced the album, with Frames literate songs earning frequent comparisons to Elvis Costello. As Aztec Cameras fame grew, the original lineup of the band splintered, and by the time they began touring in support of their second album, 1984s Knife, the group had expanded to a five-piece, but Owens was the only original member left besides Frame. With Aztec Cameras third album, 1987s Love, the group essentially became a Roddy Frame solo vehicle, with the singer and songwriter using different combinations of session players for each project. While Love was a commercial success in the U.K., Aztec Cameras star began to fade in the 1990s, and after 1995s Frestonia, Frame retired the Aztec Camera handle and began releasing material under his own name. Released in 1998, The North Star became Roddy Frames first official solo effort, and his first record as part of a new deal with Sony. Dominated by acoustic pop sounds and jangling guitars, The North Star was a critical success but a commercial disappointment, and when Frame re-emerged with the low-key voice-and-guitar effort Surf in 2004, hed partnered with the independent Cooking Vinyl label. Frames third album, Western Skies, was released in 2006, and except for a pair of live discs, little was heard from Frame over the next several years, though he did occasional live shows and appeared on Edwyn Collins 2010 comeback album, Losing Sleep. In 2013, to mark the 30th anniversary of High Land, Hard Rain, a newly remastered and expanded edition of the album was co-released by Domino and Collins AED Records. Frame supported the reissue with a handful of solo shows in which he performed the album in full, and began working on his first solo album in over a decade. The resulting Seven Dials was a sunny, pop-focused record -- in comparison to the stark, stripped-back Western Skies -- and was released by AED in May of 2014. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Live at Ronnie Scotts Released: Tracks: 16 Duration: 51:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Abloom (02:37) 2 Small World (03:53) 3 Dry Land (02:03) 4 Your Smile Has Stopped the Hands of Time (02:38) 5 Stray (04:21) 6 Black Lucia (03:48) 7 Bigger, Brighter, Better (03:39) 8 Over You (03:29) 9 Tough (02:19) 10 Rock God (03:42) 11 Hymn to the Grace (02:40) 12 Surf (04:13) 13 The Bugle Sounds Again (03:25) 14 The Boy Wonders (03:20) 15 Down the Dip (02:43) 16 Birth of the True (03:07) |
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: The North Star Released: 1998-09-21 Tracks: 10 Duration: 37:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Back to the One (04:01) 2 The North Star (04:04) 3 Here Comes the Ocean (03:23) 4 River of Brightness (04:22) 5 Strings (04:10) 6 Bigger Brighter Better (03:27) 7 Autumn Flower (04:17) 8 Reason for Living (03:16) 9 Sister Shadow (03:37) 10 Hymn to Grace (02:54) |
| The North Star : Allmusic album Review : Roddy Frame emerges from his Aztec Camera moniker with a charming blend of jangling guitars and soulful crooning. "River or Brightness" is a particularly beautiful standout track, where Frames mandolin creates poetical dense waves of charm. Theres not really much sonic difference from an Aztec Camera release, as every album was basically a Roddy Frame solo affair, in that hes written almost every Aztec Camera song on his own. The North Star is a pleasure throughout the ten tracks, as he never fails to register sweet emotion or frolicking joy. "Bigger Brighter Better" suggests that Frame is both overjoyed with and at full-mastery of his endearing acoustic pop style. "Sister Shadow" sounds as if it has been produced by Phil Spector at the peak of his skills. For every song of happiness, theres a complementary track of subtle soul searching. The singer/songwriter has never sounded this confident over the full length of an album in the past. If The North Star isnt this artist at his best, then he must have purely transcendental songs up his sleeve for future releases. With this confident solo debut, as strong or stronger than any Aztec Camera release, Roddy Frame confirms his status as a first-rate emotional balladeer. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Surf Released: 2002-08-05 Tracks: 13 Duration: 44:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Over You (03:04) 2 Surf (04:14) 3 Small World (03:51) 4 I Cant Start Now (03:41) 5 Abloom (02:17) 6 Tough (02:17) 7 Big Ben (03:37) 8 High Class Music (03:09) 9 Turning the World Around (03:16) 10 Mixed Up Love (03:13) 11 For What It Was (03:03) 12 Crossing Newbury Street (04:27) 13 Your Smile Stops the Hands of Time (04:23) |
| Surf : Allmusic album Review : His first entirely solo release, with only vocals and acoustic guitar in the mix, Roddy Frame presents his considerable talents in a purely undiluted format. And while his intricate and accomplished guitar work, as well as his wonderful pop hooks, are consistently engaging, the final product is almost a bit too focused for its own good. His voice, while generally soulful and emotive, is, at times, a bit indistinctive and overwhelmingly mellow. Further, when paired with the wistful melodies and placidly fingerpicked guitar, a lack of both sonic and conceptual variation becomes the albums greatest weakness. Thats not to say that the songs arent entirely pleasant and the obvious product of a true master of the craft, as Frames knack for subtlety and nuance makes for near perfect acoustic balladry and sincerely rendered lullabies. As always, his songwriting is clever and consistent, although slipping dangerously close to the realm of modern singer/songwriter quasi-folk in this context. Ultimately, one ends up wishing for a little dissonance to break up the singularly good-natured mood of the album and add a little contrast. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Live in Osaka Released: 2006 Tracks: 14 Duration: 49:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 The Sea Is Wide (03:04) 2 Crossing Newbury Street (04:26) 3 Song for a Friend (02:06) 4 We Could Send Letters (04:10) 5 Western Skies (03:46) 6 Worlds In Worlds (03:51) 7 How Men Are (04:04) 8 Sun (04:21) 9 On The Avenue (02:40) 10 Portastudio (03:41) 11 Reason For Living (03:46) 12 Killermont Street (02:25) 13 Mattress Of Wire (03:20) 14 Somewhere In My Heart (04:10) |
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Western Skies Released: 2006-05-01 Tracks: 11 Duration: 40:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Western Skies (03:32) 2 The Coast (04:24) 3 Marble Arch (04:31) 4 She Wolf (02:48) 5 Tell the Truth (04:28) 6 Rock God (04:43) 7 Day of Reckoning (03:51) 8 Shore Song (02:37) 9 Dry Land (02:07) 10 Worlds in Worlds (04:08) 11 Portastudio (02:59) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Seven Dials Released: 2014-05-04 Tracks: 10 Duration: 37:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 White Pony (03:47) 2 Postcard (03:43) 3 Into the Sun (03:51) 4 Rear View Mirror (03:24) 5 In Orbit (03:15) 6 Forty Days of Rain (03:49) 7 English Garden (04:16) 8 On the Waves (03:25) 9 The Other Side (03:52) 10 From a Train (03:42) |
| Seven Dials : Allmusic album Review : Simply put, Roddy Frames fourth solo album, 2014s Seven Dials, is one of the finest things hes done, rivaling his best work with Aztec Camera and showing that even after over 30 years writing songs, hes not even close to running out of gas creatively. Coming a long time after his previous album, 2006s Western Skies, the record is emotionally honest, musically pure and warm, and filled with lots of insightful, stripped bare emotionally lyrics. Played by Frame and a small band, with very sympathetic production by longtime friend Edwyn Collins and his partner Sebastian Lewsley, the album has a very intimate feel and Frames rich and unaged vocals ring loud and clear throughout. Some of the tracks bring up memories of early Aztec Camera, with their quiet acoustic guitars and melancholy chord changes ("From a Train," "Rear View Mirror"), some are openhearted Dad rockers complete with harmonica ("Forty Days of Rain"), and quite a few are nicely jangling sophisticated songs that would have spruced up any AC album with their unvarnished sound. Theres even the cheekily titled "Postcard," which sounds like it could have been a smash hit in an imagined world where L.A. soft rock and U.K. sophisti-pop merged in a holy blend of dreamy backing vocals, smart chord changes, and super smooth playing. Nice tip of the hat to the legendary guitar solo on "Oblivious" too. Throughout, Frame sounds like hes looking back and taking stock, which gives the lyrics some real depth and feeling. Its not often that an artist whos been in the game this long can make an album this pure and true, touching on the past without reliving it and feeling like a rebirth instead of another installment in a career of similar steps. Thanks to his past triumphs, Roddy Frame will always have a place in the hearts of fans of smart, difficult-to-pin-down guitar pop. With Seven Dials, he shows that he still deserves it. | ||