''Òran Mór Session'' is a live recording by

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indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

The Twilight Sad The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk revival, post-punk/indie rock band, comprising James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Johnny Docherty (bass), Brendan Smith (keyboards) and Grant Hutchison (drums). They have released five stu ...

, self-released as a limited edition tour-only CD EP in October 2014. The session was reissued with additional tracks and given a wider commercial release on 16 October 2015 via

Fat Cat Records FatCat Records is an English independent record label based in Brighton. The label's output reaches into many styles including experimental rock, electronica, psychedelic folk, contemporary classical, noise and post-punk. Notable artists that ...

. On 26 October 2014, the band announced via

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and

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that a limited edition CD entitled ''Òran Mór Session'' would be available at their live tour dates throughout 2014. The CD comes in a hand-stamped and individually-numbered cardboard sleeve, and features stripped-down versions of five tracks from their fourth studio album ''

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'', in addition to a cover of Arthur Russell's song "I Couldn't Say It to Your Face". The tracks were recorded at the

Òran Mór Òran Mór (Scottish Gaelic: "great melody of life" or "big song") is a theatre, restaurant, entertainment and music venue in Glasgow. From 1862 until 1978 the building was the Kelvinside Parish Church (Botanic Gardens) before becoming redunda ...

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, a music venue that was converted from the

Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, originally Hillhead Parish Church, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, serving the Hillhead and Kelvinside areas of Glasgow, Scotland. It is within the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow. Hist ...

. An expanded CD and 12" vinyl pressing of the recording session was released on 16 October 2015. The reissue features nine tracks recorded at the Òran Mór and Goodison House in Glasgow, with the addition of "Drown So I Can Watch", "Leave the House", and B-side "The Airport" which were not included on the limited CD release.

Critical reception

''Òran Mór Session'' was released to generally positive reviews. At

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, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 70, based on 9 reviews. Luke Beardsworth of Drowned in Sound said the acoustic reworkings allow "some reverb-heavy guitar and those bleak vocals to come to the front of the album and shine. As a result, this album is all the more accessible and immediate, and takes you to a completely different place. It's still miserable though. It's still got that dark treasure that you look for in a Twilight Sad record but this time you don't have to look so hard." His review criticized that the album will likely only appeal to existing fans, but concluded that, "The real strength of the record comes in giving you that reason to come back to ''Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave'' in a way that provides something new." '' Clash'' praised the album as "organic, intimate and well worth adding to anyone's collection" and awarded the album a 7 out of 10 rating.

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gave the album a lukewarm rating, stating that, "It's obvious that 'Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave''contained very good songs, but the reliance on the atmospherics created by synths, pounding basslines and heavy guitar passages added considerable weight to these songs; when you take all that away, it leaves a hole."

Track listings

Credits

*Recorded by Andrew Bush at Òran Mór and Goodison House on 1 September 2014 and 5 January 2015. *Mixed by Andrew Bush at Goodison House. *Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, New York. *DLT – artwork, design

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oran Mor Session 2014 albums 2015 albums The Twilight Sad albums FatCat Records albums