Music Style Mostly Pop

Artist History Morris 8 are: Ben Aitchison, Robert Blanchet and John MacRae. Band members John MacRae and Ben Aitchison have been transferring electrons between Australia and Canada since the mid 90's. The guys met through an Internet newsgroup advertising the AlgoRhythm Music label's first compilation album. AlgoRhythm produces Internet compilation CDs featuring a variety of international artists. Client Sausage will be the label's third CD release and is Morris 8's debut album. John and Ben’s respective bands participated in the production and distribution of the first compilation. After the release of the CD in 1996, Ben set out on a solo acoustic tour of North America. This included a stopover in Toronto to meet John in person. The pair also contributed material on the second Algorhythm compilation released in 1998. By this time they had a firm appreciation of each other’s material, with the idea of collaboration definitely on the cards. The Internet had enabled John and Ben's chance meeting in 1995. In the latter part of the decade it was that same technology that gave birth to mp3 audio compression. With the fast transfer of high quality audio at their fingertips, the pair figured, why let the Pacific Ocean get in the way of a good artistic relationship? Robert Blanchet was recruited as a vocalist through a local Toronto music mag and Morris 8 was born. Robert brought with him not only an amazing voice, but a groove inspired by his strong love of R&B. "Ben and I are definitely children of the 80’s " says John, "so it was great to have Robert’s modern R&B vibe influence our production styles.” For about a year, the trio started to collate mp3 demo's on their website. Ben then left Australia for Toronto to continue the collaborative process in person. During this visit, John, Ben and Robert teamed up with ex-Philosopher Kings drummer Craig Hunter to begin the recording stage of Client Sausage. After Ben returned home to Brisbane, recording, overdubs and co-production continued via the Internet. The tracks were mixed in Brisbane and Toronto Studios. The project was then mastered at Toronto's The Lacquer Channel in June 2002. Client Sausage is an eclectic mix of styles and genres displaying the raw talent of these three versatile, focused musicians. The tracks range from the tube-guitar, wall-o-sound Silk; Kraftwerkesque The Tide Hits; clavinet, funk-driven Aci~tate to the 70's retro disco sound of All Because of Me. Versatility aside, the common thread running through all of Morris 8’s material is their immaculate production style and tongue-in-cheek melancholy. A balance between complex and simple arrangements gives their music an instant appeal with layers of intricacy to be discovered on the 2nd and 3rd listen. "Their songs have a lyrical eloquence, delivered by a melodic blend of pop and R&B vocals. A rhythmic groove evolved from performed & programmed percussion inspires versatile expressions on guitar and bass. With an embellishment of sounds, samples and moods from vintage synthesis, an overall clear and clean sensibility prevails."

Albums Client Sausage

Location Toronto, Ontario - Canada

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