Ellis Island Sound are an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

band from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, consisting of multi-instrumentalists

Peter Astor Peter Astor (born 1960) is an English songwriter and solo artist, known for his work with The Loft, The Weather Prophets, The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound. History Pete Astor was born in England, in 1960.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The ...

(formerly of

The Loft The Loft may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * The Loft (British band), a British indie band * The Loft (Danish band), a Danish band * ''The Loft'' (film) (2014) an American film * The Loft (Sirius XM), a music channel on satellite r ...

The Weather Prophets The Weather Prophets were a British indie band formed in London in 1986 after the break-up of The Loft. After two studio albums, the band split up, with singer Peter Astor going on to a solo career. History Following the breakup of The Loft, Pe ...

) and

David Sheppard David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool (6 March 1929 – 5 March 2005) was a Church of England Bishop of Liverpool who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth. Sheppard remains the only ordained minister to have played T ...

(of State River Widening).

Background

The band formed in 1996, and their music varies from electronic-tinged soundscapes to neo-

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

and folk and African-tinged reveries. Astor and Sheppard have also recorded and toured together with

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

recording artists

The Wisdom Of Harry The Wisdom of Harry was an experimental electronic music ensemble from London, England. The group was formed by Peter Astor, formerly the singer/songwriter of Weather Prophets and The Loft, in 1997 and began doing remixes for musicians such as ...

, while Sheppard makes records with State River Widening and in partnership with SRW's Keiron Phelan (for

The Leaf Label The Leaf Label is a British independent record label based in Yorkshire, England. Initially an electronic music label, releasing mainly instrumental music, the company's approach now features artists spanning jazz and post-punk. History The Le ...

) and for Anglo-Spanish group, Continental Film Night (Tinhorn/Dock) amongst others. As a duo, EIS recorded for labels including All City Chicago, Faux-Lux, Static Caravan,

Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

and

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, as well as remixing for other bands, including the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

single " Ocean Spray". The band released their debut album, in 2002, which was compiled from these recordings and released by Heavenly/EMI. This was followed by a limited edition, vinyl-only mini album (''Home Service'' released by Static Caravan in 2003). EIS regrouped to record a self-styled 'agrarian' album, ''The Good Seed'', in 2005. Released in February 2007 on the

Peacefrog Records Peacefrog Records is a British independent record label based in London, England. The label produces releases in many different styles of electronic music, as well as branching out into folk and indie artists such as José González, Nouvelle ...

label, it was recorded in a tiny, deconsecrated chapel in the

Waveney Waveney may refer to: * River Waveney, a river that forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England * Waveney District, a local government district in Suffolk, England * Waveney (UK Parliament constituency) * Waveney class lifeboat, a class ...

Valley on the

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

border. The Good Seed features twenty rustic-yet-sophisticated new recordings concocted from acoustic instruments that range from parlour guitars and ukuleles to pump harmoniums,

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

s, goat skin drums and washboards. Recorded on an arcane 8-track tape recorder, it presented a stripped down EIS, though still finds room for such instruments as stylophones, a mini-sampler, a

Bentley Rhythm Ace Bentley Rhythm Ace (BRA) are a British electronic music duo formed in Birmingham in 1995, consisting of Mike Stokes and Richard March. Career The band was formed in Birmingham by Richard March, formerly with the group Pop Will Eat Itself, and ...

drum machine and miscellaneous noise making devices. Josh Hillman (of the Willard Grant Conspiracy) contributed violin, viola and pedal steel. On completing the record, Astor and Sheppard expanded the band into a 12-piece 'The Ellis Island Sound Orchestra' for their 2007 tour of UK festivals. Apart from some low-key appearances on beneath-the-radar compilations, EIS fell largely silent while Astor and Sheppard attended to their other projects. Astor released his ''Songbox'' solo album on Second Language in 2010 while Sheppard released an album, under the name Snow Palms, in conjunction with producer Chris Leary, in 2012. EIS broke cover again in March 2014 with a 12" single, "Intro, Airborne, Travelling", on the Village Green label. A new album, ''Regions'', which fuses Krauftrock, African highlife and dub techniques and featured vocals from Radiohead associate John Matthias, was released on 7 April 2014.

Discography

Albums

*''Ellis Island Sound'' (2002), Heavenly/EMI *''Home Service'' (2003), Static Caravan *''The Good Seed'' (2007), Peacefrog *''Regions'' (2014), Village Green

Singles and EPs

*''All City EP'' *"Data Centre" (1999), Faux-Lux *"#7 Goes East" (2000), Static Caravan *"Gene Pool" (2006), Static Caravan *"Intro, Airborne, Travelling" (2014), Village Green

References

{{Authority control British instrumental musical groups English musical duos Musical groups from London Heavenly Recordings artists Peacefrog Records artists