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The 1975 Hit No.1

The long-awaited debut album from The 1975 has gone straight to number one in its first week of release.

It seems the band’s playful mix of 80’s sensibilities, minimalistic instrumentals and catchy guitar riffs really won the public over. Since their first single, Chocolate, hit our airwaves, the band’s success grew as they found themselves playing numerous festivals and featuring on various national radio stations.

The deluxe album version features a whopping 6 discs including various remixes and EP tracks – a hefty collection for your music library! Produced by the legendary Mike Crossey, he recorded and mixed ‘The 1975’ at Miloco’s The Motor Museum and Livingston 1 studio.

If you missed our review, you can read it here.

Daughter Album Wins Big At AIM Awards

Released back in March, Daughter’s debut album, If You Leave, has gone from strength to strength. Firstly reaching number 4 and 16 respectively on the UK Indie and Top 100 album charts, and now a big win a the AIM Awards.

After nominations were submitted, with many categories involved, the results were announced yesterday (4th September) proving it was yet another triumphant year for Independent music. With performances from Franz Ferdinand and Outstanding Contribution To Music winner, Billy Bragg, the night was a true success.

Nominated for the Independent Album Of The Year trophy, Daughter was up against some tough competition, the likes of David Byrne & St Vincent for their album, Love This Giant, as well as other acts such as Ghostpoet, Jagwar Ma, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Jon Hopkins and Vampire Weekend. But, If You Leave took the winning spot, thanks to its dreamy blend of Indie Folk and beautifully haunting melodies.

If You Leave was part-recorded at both 123 and Musixbox studios in London, engineered by Brett Shaw and produced by Igor Haefeli and Rodaidh McDonald.

Check our Online Mastering Studios, for quick and easy record perfection

Following the success and popularity of our Online Mixing service, we have set up a similar mastering option where clients can choose from our brilliant Online Mastering Studios and engineers to provide smashing masters of their records quickly and affordably.

Our great range of mastering facilities spreads across Europe and even into Africa (we have a mastering studio in Cairo!). This is the beauty of unattended online mastering; you don’t have to move an inch but you can still make the most of these state-of-the-art studios and the top-level mastering engineers who work in them, wherever in the world they may be.

Miloco’s online mastering studios operate in a quick and easy way to make mastering your tunes simple and perhaps more importantly, affordable. Here’s how it works…

Firstly, get in touch with our bookings team on +44(0)207 232 0008 or email bookings@miloco.co.uk to discuss the basics: number of tracks to be mastered, your budget, the timescale and the kind of sound you are after. It is always good to send us a few examples of tracks that have a similar feel to what you want for your record.

We will then pass this information on the mastering engineer we think would be best for the job (there are more details on the available engineers and online mastering studios below). We will put you in touch with the engineer who can liaise with you over the finer technical details of the work, the format in which to send the tracks and any artistic matters – you can send them some example ideas too to pinpoint the perfect sound.

The mixes can then be sent to the mastering engineer and studio over the internet using an FTP server or similar delivery method. Having established a timeframe in which to get the masters completed, we’ll get to work on putting the finishing magic touches to your records before sending back the wrap, again over the internet. Satisfaction guaranteed.

So, below is the selection of mastering studios and engineers on offer at Miloco. We can provide all sorts of mastering services: CD mastering, vinyl mastering, MP3 mastering and more.

24-96 Mastering in Germany is the home of acclaimed mastering engineer Robin Schmidt. Robin has won widespread praise from numerous leading producers including Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Two Door Cinema Club), John Leckie (Radiohead, The Coral, Stone Roses, Muse) and Guy Massey (Manic Street Preachers, James Blunt) for his mastering work on albums by the
likes of Ben Howard, Jake Bugg, The Black Keys, The Kooks, Emeli Sande and Mumford & Sons. Find out more on 24-96 Mastering Studio here.

Babajim Mastering in Istanbul, Turkey, is the brainchild of the internationally renowned mastering engineer, Pieter Snapper, who has built this world-class mastering studio around the principals of thorough communication with clients and fine attention to detail. His studio is pretty special; a Roger D’arcy (Recording Architecture UK) designed room incorporating a unique “stealth bomber” shape to maximise the accuracy of the master. Find out more on Babajim Mastering here.

The Fisheye Music Network is a portfolio of mastering studios based in Rome, Cologne and Cairo, with more planned facilities on the horizon. Mastering engineer Stefan Heger is the barin behind this highly popular online mastering operation. Stefan’s career has taken him all over the world in the last two decades, and seen him build a highly impressive CV. His recent projects have included Dragonette and Cody ChesnuTT. View information on Fisheye Music Mastering here.

Back in the UK, we have the Bristol mastering studio Optimum Mastering. Another Roger D’arcy-designed mastering studio of the highest acoustic quality, Optimum is run by the hugely successful engineers Shawn Joseph and Jack Adams who between them specialise in a wide range of genres. Their client list includes names such as Portishead, Roni Size, Funeral For A Friend, Courtney Pine and Gilles Peterson. Read up on Optimum mastering by clicking here.

Lastly, we have two of London’s most established mastering studios available on our online mastering service. The first is Unity Mastering in Maida Vale, North-West London. Unity is the home to veteran masterer Chris Parmenidis, the ‘old school don’ of vinyl mastering. Check out Unity Mastering here. In North London are the CD mastering specialists, Blue Pro Mastering who also provide a CD and DVD Manufacturing service. Find out more on Blue Pro Mastering by clicking here.

To make an enquiry for any online mastering projects, please contact the Miloco Bookings team on +44 (0) 207 232 0008 or email bookings@miloco.co.uk.

www.miloco.co.uk/studios/online-mastering.php

Introducing Question De Son Studios, Paris

With so many great French recording studios, we are pleased to add a fifth to our collection of facilities across the Channel this August, and the second that is based in Paris. Question De Son is the creation of Jordan Kouby and Frederic Vectol whose no-compromise ethos has resulted in an amazing choice of recording, mixing and writing facilities. It houses one of France’s very best equipment collections and each of its three studios boast outstanding acoustics.

Studio A has a vast stone and wood live room that is great for live sessions. It includes a Yamaha C3 Baby Grand piano and many other vintage keyboards including a Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hammond B3. Clients also have access to a DW drum kit and many guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and pedals. You can choose from countless microphones, and there is a Studer 2” Tape Machine for all tape enthusiasts. The control room is built around a Neve VR console, stacks of outboard and custom TAD monitoring, making Studio A an equally impressive mix room as it is a tracking space. View Studio A’s full equipment spec here.

If you prefer mixing through an SSL then Studio B is the one for you. It houses an SSL 4048G+ console and has the same custom TAD monitors as Studio A. It has already been identified by many leading sound engineers as one of the most comfortable and efficient listening environments in Paris. An amazing collection of outboard is complemented by a 5.1 monitoring system with a Martinsound MultiMAX surround controller, available on request. The iso booth next to the control room allows for vocal, guitar and keys overdubs. You can view Studio B’s equipment spec here.

Studio C is mainly a writing and editing room, however it has been designed with as much attention to detail as A & B and serves as an excellent room for all kinds of projects. Studio C shares the same booth as studio B, so it is great for recording vocals and other overdubs.

A modern and luxurious lounge/kitchen is available for clients to relax in, and central Paris is literally on your doorstep with the Gare du Nord (Eurostar) only 5 minutes away. Immediately outside the studio, trendy cafes mix with Pakistani tailor shops and the nightlife is of course brilliant – a typical melting pot of Parisian culture.

“With excellent equipment and acoustics this studio was my base whilst making the new Babyshambles album and it delivered on all fronts! Packed with an impressive array of microphones and instruments, QDS was an inspiring place to work. The staff were extremely friendly and efficient and I can’t wait to go back and work there again” – Stephen Street (Producer: Babyshambles, Blur, The Smiths).

Find out everything you need to know on Question De Son Studios by visiting www.miloco.co.uk/questiondeson. Contact the Miloco office on +44(0)207 232 0008 or email bookings@miloco.co.uk for all enquiries.

Miloco Engineer Matt Lawrence Receives His Grammy

So, here’s some pretty decent news…

Miloco engineer Matt Lawrence received a package in the post recently, straight from the USA’s National Academy of the Recording Arts and Sciences.

Inside the package was this… a brand new shiny Grammy Award in recognition of Matt’s work on ‘Babel’ by Mumford & Sons, which won Album of the Year at the 2013 Award Ceremony. Matt engineered on a selection of the tracks and vocal parts on ‘Babel’.

The sessions Matt worked on with producer Markus Dravs and engineer Robin Baynton took place at Miloco’s Angelic Studios in 2012. They also did some early work on the record in The Pool.

Miloco would like to congratulate Matt, Markus, Robin, the Mumfords and everyone else involved in the success of ‘Babel’. May this be the first of many Grammy gongs.

You can check out Matt Lawrence’s CV and bio on the Miloco website at www.miloco.co.uk/engineers/mattlawrence.php

Nadine Shah – Love Your Dum And Mad

The long awaited debut album from Nadine Shah, Love Your Dum And Mad is finally here.

After a hugely successful past few months, the Whitburn singer’s debut has been highly acclaimed across the music scene. Featuring tracks from her previous EP, Dreary Town, the record was produced by Ben Hillier (The Horrors, Depeche Mode), recorded at Miloco’s The Pool studio and mixed in Ben’s room, Panarific.

Check out our full review here.

New Equipment at The Bridge and The Yard writing studios in London

Since re-launching as a high-end London writing studio last year, The Bridge continues to go from strength to strength. Lately we have been busy upgrading the equipment spec. Firstly, we have treated you all to a Neve 1073 mic pre/EQ, a remake of the classic vintage 1073, which has been added to boos the vocal recording chain in the studio. The 1073 was first launched in 1970 and quickly became the first choice mic pre for many leading producers and artists. It has delivered the unique Neve sound on some of the most famous recordings of the past 40 years – its big, punchy sound complements any musical genre – from rock to pop, hip-hop to rap, thrash to classical.

To enhance The Bridge’s reputation as a leading writing studio, we have also purchased Native Instruments Komplete 9 a software package for songwriting, and its larger version Native Instruments Komplete 9 Ultimate has been installed at The Yard – another one of our top writing studios in Highbury, North London. Komplete 9 and Komplete 9 Ultimate features countless great products for songwriting, including synthesizers, strings & cinematic plug-ins, creative & studio effects, drums & percussion, guitar & bass and piano & keys.

Check out the full equipment spec at The Yard’s equipment spec here.

For all bookings enquiries contact bookings@miloco.co.uk or call +44(0)207 232 0008.

Exclusive Video Interview with Producer Craig Silvey at Toast Studios.

Last week Miloco were proud to launch a brilliant vintage Neve mixing studio in West London alongside its owner and long-term partner, producer Craig Silvey. For the opening of Toast as a commercial studio, we carried out an exclusive interview with Craig and filmed the whole thing. You can now watch the finished video interview on Youtube.

Through his prolific work over the years with the likes of The Horrors, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Anna Calvi, Editors, Arctic Monkeys, The National, The Arcade Fire, Magic Numbers and many more, Craig has become one of the most highly-regarded producers and mix engineers in the business. Find out about his ideas behind the studio, his amazing collection of vintage gear, and his career to-date by clicking on the link below.

Click here to view the video on Youtube

A full interview transcript can be read here.

Introducing Toast Studios, West London.

This week we have launched a fantastic new mixing studio in Ladbroke Grove, West London, with leading record producer Craig Silvey. Toast Studios is the reincarnation of two studios that Craig has worked in during his career; The Garden Studios in Shoreditch and the original Toast Studios in San Francisco, which he owned during his time on the California. Both of these famous studios were well-known for their large collections of vintage gear and much of it is now at Toast MKII.

Toast is split into two areas: a large, day-lit control room and a good size overdub booth. At the heart of the equipment specification is an incredibly rare and sought-after vintage Neve 8026 console circa 1972. It features a 24-channel monitor section some of the very best Neve modules: 1084s, 1076s and a 1066. The board is joined by some custom Boxer T2 monitors and stacks of great vintage outboard.

The booth is a good space for overdubs and can accommodate a drum kit. There is a choice of synths, amplifiers and other instruments, that is supplemented by a selection of excellent microphones. This means Toast is an equally brilliant writing / overdub studio for anyone looking to use top-end vintage equipment.

Toast is based in a complex used by many musicians, record producers, song writers and other artists, which has created a melting pot of creativity. Its West London location is a real draw for artists – who so far include Goldfrapp, Editors, The Horrors and The National – and the many West London labels. The studio is close to some of the best locations in the West including Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill and Kensal Green and there are excellent transport links to the rest of the City.

Welcome to Toast, London’s latest vintage studio gem…

The Bullitts – They Die By Dawn & Other Short Stories

It’s been 2 years since we were first teased with Close Your Eyes, and now the wait for The Bullits’ debut album is finally over.

Recorded and mixed at Miloco’s Musikbox studio, the record is an intriguing mix of Hip Hop, Rap and Electronica curated by super-connected, all-round talent, Jeymes Samuel – a songwriter, producer and filmmaker.

They Die By Dawn… is an interesting concept to say the least and is made even more appealing by the somewhat supergroup status. Essentially a collective recruited by and revolving around Samuels, The Bullitts consist of various members who dip in and out, including actress Lucy Lui, Jay Electronica and Idris Elba, but also enlisted are other famous names including Cornflake Girl, Tori Amos on track, Wait Until Tomorrow. With each release there is an accompanying short piece of cinema, perhaps an excuse to show off some more famous faces, but also to add another dimension to the music, too.

The title track and lead single is a modern take on a classic Spaghetti Western–style soundtrack, complete with the conventional Wild West brass, guitar finger picking and whistling, but infused with ultra cool beats and slick productions, topped off with some seriously skilled rapping. Tongue clicking imitates the clip-clopping of horse shoes as they gallop off into the distance. You can find out more about the film, They Die By Dawn here.

Murder, Death, Kill opens with a monoluge from Luicy Lui, with the evokative line “Killing someone is difficult…lying about it afterwards is the easy part”, before kicking into an authoritative falsetto from Samuels and some witty rapping from Jay Electronica – “A picture’s worth a thousand words, so welcome to the cinema”.

Continuing along the cinematic/soundtrack theme, Close Your Eyes sparks into action with majestic strings before another ‘in character’ narration by Lucy Lui is executed over a synth heavy accompaniment. If you’re going to listen to one track, make it this one – the rapping is oozing with American style and coolness, whilst still managing to remain dream-like and relaxed.

Landspeeder is one of the standout tracks on the record. With a simple, repeated guitar riff played throughout, it’s a laid back jam with big beats and smooth vocals. An occasional reverberating bass line and a catchy hook make this a real summer song. As the only acoustic track on the album, A World Inside Your Rainbow  is a tender, beautifully simple song featuring just Samuels’ vocal and guitar, a welcome step back from the polyphonic chaos of the rest of the album.

The Bullitts have delivered so much more than just a standard album with this record. It takes elements of the concept album from the 70’s, acts as a soundtrack to it’s own cinematic work and is a refreshing step outside the musical genre boundaries. With so many ideas, themes and plots, this easily could have been a disjointed and confusing offering, but somehow this just works!

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The Bullitts’ debut album was released 9th July Via Kilburn Lane Music.

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