Mike Vass · 2012
Decemberwell
Twelve pieces for December, written and played by Vass on his own.
Recorded Rusty Squash Horn Studios · Mixed and mastered Gloworm, Anniesland
The back of the sleeve
- Produced
- Mike Vass
- Recorded
- Mike Vass, Rusty Squash Horn Studios, Beaton Road, Glasgow
- Mixed and mastered
- Iain Hutchison, GloWorm Studios (the old Anniesland studio)
- Artwork and design
- Lizzy Doe
- Catalogue
- Rusty Squash Horn Records RSH003CD, released 9 December 2012
- Mike Vass
- fiddle, acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, cittern, piano, melodica, glockenspiel, percussion, vocals
People
- Produced
- Mike Vass
- Recorded
- Mike Vass, Rusty Squash Horn Studios, Beaton Road, Glasgow
- Mixed and mastered
- Iain Hutchison, GloWorm Studios (the old Anniesland studio)
- Artwork and design
- Lizzy Doe
- Catalogue
- Rusty Squash Horn Records RSH003CD, released 9 December 2012
- Mike Vass
- fiddle, acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, cittern, piano, melodica, glockenspiel, percussion, vocals
- Recognition
- Composer of the Year, MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2012
The record
In the winter of 2010 Vass was a peripatetic fiddle teacher travelling to schools in Argyll, and the snow closed the roads. Stranded at home in Glasgow with a battered upright piano and every stringed instrument he owned, he set himself a December diary in music: written, played and recorded on his own, between the first of the month and the last. Every sound is an instrument of his or a sample caught that December: hailstones rattling the window of the home studio are on Pane, and Wintro is played in a guitar tuning of his own, DECEBE. Hallan is a chant inspired by a solstice celebration on South Uist.
It was praised in the Financial Times, The Independent and The Irish Times, and made him Composer of the Year at the 2012 Scots Trad Music Awards. Ten years on he did it again with a band: Decemberwell Decade.
Film
Tracks
- 01Wintro2:41
- 03Snowfall2:02
- 04Slide4:01
- 05Lights3:31
- 06Maxwell Park1:07
- 08Pane2:48
- 09Cycles3:28
- 10North4:22
- 11Hallan5:19
- 12Light Out6:13
Cuttings
A line from each piece. Where the full piece is online, it is linked.
The Living Tradition
“I think December Well has slowly drifted onto my 2012 Top Ten list, and should probably be on your wish list too.”
Bright Young Folk
“This harsh and wintry tone is relieved at intervals by tracks that celebrate midwinter festivals and evoke cosy firelight and good company.”
Folk Radio UK
“Decemberwell live is a unique event. Inspiring, welcoming and thought provoking; it reminds us of our relationship with everything that winter brings, both light and dark.”
The Irish Times★★★
“There’s no room for Shane McGowan or Bing Crosby in this tasteful seasonal treat.”
Mardles
“The album is extremely well crafted, and if, like me, you are a fan of ambient, plucky, layered sounds, then this is for you.”
Folk Radio UK
Mike, in interview
“No pre-written stuff, no pre-conceived ideas, it all had to be done in December.”
Connections
- Decemberwell Decade Ten years on