son of everyone e.p.
CD released on Autoclave Records CLAVE004
Released November 2003
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Effectively a full length album, even though it's called an EP. Think of it as a double EP on one disc, or a single with a bucketload of great b-sides. It's also 9 songs long, even though it claims to be only 8 tracks. The lead tracks are 'Son of Everyone' and 'Here Beside', which are both alternate versions of songs taken from The Old Fox of '45. The EP also has a strong supporting cast of instrumentals and brand new tracks that won't be appearing anywhere else.
1. Son of Everyone
2. Here Beside (cheap & dirty version)
3. Reply All
4. Walk or Run
5. Talitha K
6. Hold Your Stare (acoustic version)
7. Disappointed
8. Shame"...Ideal for late night listening, even at lunchtime. 4/5." - Logo Magazine
"...nothing short of brilliantly absorbing..." - Is This Music?
"...bloody good..." - The ListREVIEWS IN FULL
Logo Magazine
"Not many EP’s clock in at forty-five minutes, that’s a whole album in old (vinyl) money, still fewer can fill each of those minutes with interest. More remarkable still is that Calamateur is the work of one pair of hands, those of Andrew Howie. He shares an outlook, if not a sound, with Ed Harcourt, and he shares a sound (if not an outlook) with the likes of Damien Rice and Josh Rouse. Confused? Don’t be, Howie is a simple man who writes as though guided by voices, massaging his words through a voice as swoonsome and melancholic as the finest American roots singers, yet his basic palette includes not just acoustic guitars but also a light drizzling of understated electronics. Ideal for late night listening, even at lunchtime. 4/5."
Is This Music?
"It's as if acoustic music in Scotland, once the preserve of wooly-pullovered real ale-quaffing beardies, has been liberated. Rejoice! because while actual folk music deon well is a rarity, alternative songs done on acoustic guitar are exploding around us. theonewhoflew, Ally Kerr and even Aereogramme can all captivate an audience with some spellbinding stripped-down songs. Joining this group are Calamateur, last spotted making atmospheric soundscapey samplefests, but the 8 tracks here are nothing short of brilliantly absorbing, indeed on 'Here Beside' you forget it's just one man and a guitar. With reverberant haunting vocals and occasional augmentation by keyboards, the stark production only adds to an impressive set of eerie 'folk' tunes."
The List
"...Fellow weegies Calamateur are bolder still. Their 'Son of Everyone' EP (Autoclave) (3/5) is not only ludicrously long at 45 minutes (OK, let's call it a mini album then, though a fair chunk of the running time is silence) but it still manages to be bloody good with it, coupling alt.country strumming with tortured lyrics."
- Inverness City Advertiser
"Another local CD (9 song EP!) that I've had for a few weeks. On first airing I must admit I thought "Mmm, interesting production" on hearing the mix of raw electro-acoustic guitar and (home) studio electronica noodlings and soft chorused vocals. Then I thought "Mmm, actually comes across as a pretty straight singer/songwriter that's managed to dress up some pretty MOR pop-ish songs". Then I came back to it a little later and allowed myself to be drawn into Andrew Howie's relaxed yet earnest and melancholic wolrld. And I was put in mind of Elliott Smith (famous in part for contribution to the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to Good Will Hunting). I dug out my copy of Smith's 'Either/Or' album to see if it was a fair reference. The following day I found out that Elliott Smith had died just 72hrs earlier. Made the comparison somewhat poignant. Probably significant is that Calamateur's songs contain more hope - both lyrically and musically. 2nd track 'Here Beside' stands out as a song that could see Calamateur move into the 'coffee table' market - I'm not sure if he desires that or not. I'm inclined to a)see him play live and b)watch this space."
