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"hand actor part" - daniel prendiville

Daniel Prendiville gives us the lowdown on his 2006 CD, HAND ACTOR PART.

"My previous album, TREE RING CIRCUS, had been a wistful, backward glance at times past. By the time it had been released, I'd reckoned I'd got all the wistfulness out of my system, and I was anxious to look at the world around me with a more critical eye. My intention with HAND ACTOR PART is to examine various aspects of the world from a more sceptical, less accepting, perspective. As one gets older, one tends to look quizzically at a lot the attitudes that, one suspects, one is supposed to take for granted (that's a lot of "ones" there, sorry...). For example:-

is giving your all for "the company" really the best thing to do with one's time?
are "roots" really that important? Can they be as much tethers as anchors?
in a world where the consumer can access so much information electronically, is the creator or provider of that information under severe pressure to provide that information for nothing? And does that not devalue the work of the creator?

"These are some of the themes explored on HAND ACTOR PART. But it's not all about ideas. There are songs here about people, too - people who have either been let down or left behind by life. For the most part I have treated these people sympathetically, but there are exceptions, of course...:-)

"HAND ACTOR PART is a departure for me, because for the first time I have built an album solely around guitars. The only keyboards used were those for programming rhythms. For years, I'd wanted to make a noisy, guitar-based album - a change from my earlier synth-based work. Although I would never consider myself to be anything other than an inept guitarist, I think I have managed to put together quite a raw and raucous power-pop album. Because I didn't use synths, I deliberately prevented myself from using some old arranging "moves" that would have appeared on previous works. This forced me to change my arrangement mindset and to use guitars and vocals where I might have used synths heretofore. It was a challenge, but I think it was worth it..

"HAND ACTOR PART is being made available as an audio CD, but also as an MP3 CD which features demo versions of the songs which appear on the audio CD, together with unfinished tracks which never made it to the final album. These latter tracks are being made available to give an additional historical and artistic insight into the album. I'll be perfectly satisfied whichever version of the album people which to purchase."

Check out the tracks for yourself right here...

I Need New Friends - New Houses - Paper Ocean - Mr. Snugfit - Judy Obscure - Return To Sandra - Dandy Can Decline - Consumer As Thief - Trophy Husband - Nervous Traffic