E145 - Top 5 EPs & Mini-Albums (with PAUL HANDYSIDE from Hurrah!)

Hurrah!  It's a brand new O3L, where we discuss our Top 5 EPs & Mini-Albums with singer/songwriter Paul Handyside.  We love the EP, or Extended Play, perched somewhere in between a traditional single and a full length album.  Sometimes they compile album tracks or previous singles, and other times they are conceived as complete works designed to stand up on their own.  Either way, they're short, they're fun, and leave you wanting more.  Other than being short, sounds a lot like this podcast, eh?  ("Yes."  The correct answer is "Yes.")  Oh, and spoiler alert: We have the rare "triple crossover" in this episode.  Can you guess what it is?

So join us for a rousing chorus of "Shubby Shubby Go!", won't you?

 

About Paul Handyside:

Paul Handyside is a folk and roots singer/songwriter. His song writing style has been compared to artists as varied as Chris Difford, Billy Bragg, Robyn Hitchcock, Green Gartside, Elvis Costello, Jeff Buckley and Martin Carthy.

He began his musical career with eighties indie darlings Hurrah! The jangle pop band had a run of classic singles (including Paul's "The Sun Shines Here", "Hip Hip", and "Sweet Sanity") and album releases on Kitchenware and Arista Records from 1982 to 1991, and toured extensively worldwide. During the nineties he toured and recorded with friend and Kitchenware labelmate Martin Stephenson.

Handyside formed Bronze in 2001. Still embracing chiming, Rickenbacker driven pop, and increasingly alt country, they released two albums, The Statue in the Stone and A Common Prayer. His debut solo album Future's Dream, a combination of pop, country and modern day hymns was released in 2007 to great reviews. The second album Wayward Son followed in 2013 and further developed his own brand of folk-tinged americana. Tide, Timber & Grain was released in 2016 with elements of traditional British folk and sixties protest songs emerging in Handyside's now well established and diverse musical palette.

The fourth album Loveless Town was released 21st of May 2021. As is evident in the title track he songs have an even stronger resonance with country and americana, the counterpoint to which is “Hartley Pit Catastrophe”, a true story from his native North East with its English folk sensibilities. Handyside is aided and abetted by long time cohorts Dave Porthouse on double bass and melodeon and by Rob Tickell, who also produced the album, on guitar and dobro.