Jane Weaver

Jane Louise Weaver[1] (born 1972 in Liverpool) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She runs the record label Bird. Weaver has performed as part of the Britpop group Kill Laura, the folktronica project Misty Dixon, and as a solo artist. She was brought up in the town of Widnes, Cheshire.[2]

Jane Weaver
Background information
Birth nameJane Louise Weaver
Born1972 (age 47–48)
Liverpool, England
GenresAcoustic, folk, alternative rock, electronica
InstrumentsAcoustic guitar, vocals
LabelsFire Records, Bird Records an offshoot of Twisted Nerve Records
Websitewww.janeweavermusic.com

Kill Laura

Kill Laura began when Weaver was in sixth form college.[3] Between 1993 and 1996 Kill Laura released five singles, two on Polydor and three on the Manchester Records label run by Rob Gretton, owner of The Haçienda and manager of New Order. Kill Laura disbanded in 1997.

Misty Dixon

Weaver formed Misty Dixon in 2002. The band originally consisted of Weaver, Anna Greenwood, Dave Tyack and Sam Yates. Misty Dixon released several singles, and one album, Iced To Mode (2003). However, the release of the album was shrouded in tragedy following the disappearance of Tyack in August 2002. Misty Dixon split up in 2004.

Solo career

Weaver's solo career began shortly after the demise of Kill Laura. She recorded an album for Manchester records in 1998, Supersister, but it was left unreleased following the death of Gretton in May 1999. A single, 'Everyone Knows Everyone Else', recorded in collaboration with Doves and Andy Votel, was released from the Supersister sessions.

Weaver continued her solo career alongside Misty Dixon. Following a number of singles Weaver's first album, Like An Aspen Leaf, was released in 2002.[4] It featured contributions from Andy Votel, Dave Tyack, Rick Tomlinson (Voice of the Seven Woods), Sam Yates, Naomi Hart and two members of Elbow, Craig Potter and Richard Jupp.[5]

Her second album, Seven Day Smile (2006) was a collection of home recordings and material from the Supersister era. By the time of her third album, Cherlokalate (2007), Weaver was exploring more psychedelic folk and Americana influences. The NME review of Cherlokalate (2007) declared that "Jane Weaver is the sound of Cat Power if she'd grown up next door to Oasis, stealing their Beatles records and outshining them at the school Christmas concert".[6]

The Fallen By Watchbird, Weaver's fourth album, was released in 2010. The Guardian wrote "Psych folk is back. It may have died out with the hippies in the 1970s, but now it has merged with folktronica, and the result here is not as twee and pretentious as one might fear… Weaver's fragile, unworldly voice is carefully balanced against more muscular backing".[7] The album also received a four (out of five) star review in Mojo.[8] Weaver wrote a fairytale book to accompany the album.[9] A remix album, The Watchbird Alluminate (2011), featured interpretations by electronic artists including Demdike Stare and The Focus Group.

In 2011, Weaver recorded the library music recording Intiaani Kesä for filmmaker and fashion designer Paola Suhonen of the brand Ivana Helsinki. A track from the project, 'Parade of the Blood Red Sorrows', was also featured in the 2012 film Kiss of the Damned.

The title of Weaver's sixth album, The Silver Globe (2014), is derived from the 1988 film On The Silver Globe by Andrzej Żuławski.[10] It features contributions from Cybotron, Badly Drawn Boy and David Holmes. Her song "The Electric Mountain" uses a sample of "Star Cannibal" from Church of Hawkwind (1982). The Silver Globe was critically acclaimed as an artistic breakthrough and named Piccadilly Records Album of the Year 2014.[11]

Weaver appears on the cover artwork of the 2002 Badly Drawn Boy album Have You Fed the Fish?.

Coldplay's song "Another's Arms", from Ghost Stories (2014), features a vocal sample from The Fallen By Watchbird album track, "Silver Chord". Weaver said that Chris Martin telephoned her directly for permission to use it.[12]

2015's The Amber Light album is an extension of The Silver Globe, with three remixes from that album alongside four new songs and three instrumentals. It was made available both with the "Deluxe Version" of The Silver Globe and as a separate release.

A new album, Modern Kosmology was released in 2017, with Can vocalist Malcolm Mooney performing guest vocals on the track "Ravenspoint".

During October and November 2018, Weaver completed the short "Loops in the Secret Society" solo tour of England and Scotland, in support of her two most recent albums.[13] Loops in the Secret Society is also the title of her new double album out in June 2019 on Fire Records. The album contains reimagined and remixed versions of songs from her two previous albums. The deluxe bookback CD edition, released on 15 November, also contains a DVD featuring the experimental film installation which was featured on her previous tour. It was directed by Nick Farrimond. [14] The first single from the album, Slow Motion (Loops Variation), was released in March.[15][16]

Together with Peter Philipson and Raz Ullah under the name of Fenella, Weaver will release on Fire Records a reimagined soundtrack to the 1981 animation cult movie "Fehérlófia" by Hungarian director Marcell Jankovics. The album was released on vinyl only on 8 November 2019 on Fire Records.[17][18]

Bird Records

Bird Records is an offshoot of Twisted Nerve Records and the Finders Keepers reissue label, and is run by Weaver. Bird was founded in 2002 and mainly releases recordings by contemporary female folk artists. These include early recordings by Beth Jeans Houghton and Emma Tricca.

Most notably, Bird released the 2007 compilation album Bearded Ladies. The album brought together both contemporary and vintage psychedelic folk female singers such as Brigitte Fontaine, Bonnie Dobson, Susan Christie and Cate Le Bon. The album has spawned a club night at the Dulcimer bar in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester.[19] Weaver, and many of the artists featured on 'Bearded Ladies', performed at the 2007 Meltdown Festival, curated by Jarvis Cocker as part of the 'Lost Ladies of Folk' event.[20]

Discography

Albums
  • Like An Aspen Leaf (mini album) (2002)
  • Seven Day Smile (2006)
  • Cherlokalate (2007)
  • The Fallen By Watchbird (2010)
  • The Watchbird Alluminate (2011)
  • Le Rose De Fer/Intiaani Kesä (Soundtrack, with Pierre Ralph) (2013)
  • The Silver Globe (2014)
  • The Amber Light (2015)
  • Modern Kosmology (2017)
  • Loops In The Secret Society (2019)[21]
  • Fehérlófia (2019) (By Fenella - Soundtrack, with Peter Philipson & Raz Ullah)[17]
gollark: Or the one-way hallway or the apiary.
gollark: Let alone the room of lethal visual cognitohazards.
gollark: You haven't even photographed the Apiaristics Division Labs or the Antimemetics Division chambers.
gollark: Why would I explain it? Watching you speculate is funnier.
gollark: Oh, you leaked the fake copies, that's okay.

References
  2. Higham, Paul (6 March 2015). "GIT Award 2015 nominee profile #11: Jane Weaver". Getintothis.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  3. "Bring Down The Stepford Wives! Jane Weaver Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  4. "BBC Manchester web profile". BBC Manchester. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  5. Clarke, Betty (3 May 2002). "Sigue Sigue sputter". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  6. Robinson, Rebecca (9 March 2007). "NME Reviews: Jane Weaver: Cherlokalate (Bird)". NME. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  7. Denselow, Robin (15 July 2010). "Jane Weaver: The Fallen By Watch Bird". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  8. Tyler, Kieron (July 2010) Spindle Wakes: Album Review of Fallen By Watchbird, Mojo, London;
  9. Gibb, Rory (10 October 2011). "Jane Weaver Writes Fairytale Book". The Quietus. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  10. "TRACK-BY-TRACK: Jane Weaver". The Quietus. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  11. "The Piccadilly Records Album of the Year 2014". Piccadilly Records.
  12. "'I'm dead nervous about playing live again...but nerves do help keep you on your toes'". Manchester Evening News. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  13. "Jane Weaver announces Loops In The Secret Society solo tour". Gigwise. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  14. Joe Banks. "Jane Weaver - Loops In The Secret Society album review". Louder Sound. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  15. Helfet, Gabriela (27 March 2019). "Vocalist and guitarist Jane Weaver announces new album Loops In The Secret Society on 2xLP". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  16. Banks, Joe (21 June 2019). "Jane Weaver - Loops In The Secret Society album review | Louder". Loudersound.com. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  17. "Jane Weaver's ambient ensemble Fenella announces new album Fehérlófia". Thevinylfactory.com. 22 August 2019.
  18. "Features | The Lead Review | The Heroine's Journey: Jane Weaver's Fenella Rekindles Old Myths". The Quietus. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  19. Rogers, Jude (2 January 2008). "Lie back and think of ukuleles". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  20. Barber, Lynn (10 June 2007). "Paris match". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  21. Munro, Scott (27 March 2019). "Jane Weaver announces new album Loops In The Secret Society". Loudersound.com. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
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