LOST MAP 10
w/ Pictish Trail (solo)
L.T. Leif + Firestations
Wednesday 12th July, 7.30pm
Tickets are £14 (+ b/f) in advance (more on the door) and available from See Tickets.
*This is a standing show*
2023 marks ten years of Lost Map, the independent record label based on the Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Hebrides – formed with a pioneering DIY spirit to reassess how we discover and explore music amid the disorientating digital geography of the 21st century. Run by alt-pop musician, Pictish Trail, the label is dedicated to releasing truly unique records by some of the most innovative musical minds, putting on festivals, wild-parties and all-day showcases, as well as hosting an artist residency programme on the island, a postcard membership club, and a monthly podcast series.
To celebrate their first decade, Pictish Trail is taking to the road accompanied by various artists on the label roster, to present an eclectic night of songs and sound.
This special show in York will feature emotive indie-folk from Glasgow-based Canadian singer-songwriter L.T. Leif; Walthamstow shoegaze-pop 5-piece, Firestations; as well as an intimate solo appearance from the Eigg-man, Pictish Trail himself.
PICTISH TRAIL (solo)
‘One of my favourite artists’
Lauren Laverne, BBC 6Music
Throughout his career Pictish Trail has resolutely furrowed his own path, steadily creating a unique catalogue of recordings & performances, while eschewing the blueprint of the predictable singer-songwriter in favour of something untidily intriguing.
Island Family, the fifth album from Isle-of-Eigg dwelling electro-acoustic psych-pop artist Johnny Lynch aka Pictish Trail, was released in March 2022. A strange, unpredictable, sardonic and yet deeply personal record inspired by all from Fever Ray to The Flaming Lips, Liars, Mercury Rev and Beck, Island Family is Pictish Trail’s contrarian view of arcadia; a search for the euphoric in the bucolic.
When not putting out his own music as Pictish Trail, Johnny Lynch is a fulcrum of the British independent music community. Through his label Lost Map, he champions a diverse and idiosyncratic array of extraordinary talent, helping to elevate the likes of Rozi Plain, Alabaster dePlume, Bas Jan, Callum Easter and Free Love.
Secret Soundz Vol.1 & 2, his critically acclaimed first pair of albums, were gloriously eclectic slices of lo-fi folk-pop later revived as a deluxe double-vinyl by Moshi Moshi. Future Echoes, was released to further acclaim in 2016, and was shortlisted for Scottish Album of the Year Award. In 2020 Johnny released his 4th LP, Thumb World, a voyage to the outer rings of Pictish Trail’s mind at its darkest, funniest & most inventive – described by Clash as “his most dazzling, most exceptional yet”.
L.T. LEIF
An adopted member of the Scottish DIY music scene whose life and art has been heavily shaped by northern landscapes and climes, L.T. Leif is rooted in the self-sufficient spirit of the Canadian prairies, and carries with them the indelible experience of spells spent living in Iceland, Finland and drawing inspiration from the Pacific Northwest. Leif has been involved in many bands and projects, first entering the scene with Calgary orchestral pop sweethearts The Consonant C. Since the group disbanded in 2011, Leif has explored many configurations and approaches, from experimental noise collaborations with the infamous Bug Incision crew to playing sold-out shows with the punk-hearted OK JAZZ, drumming with slacker-rock bands (Hex Ray and Hungry Freaks), playing synths with Matt Swann (of Astral Swanns), and singing in a witch choir (Hermitess). Leif’s admirers include K Records maestro Calvin Johnson (they toured together with The Believer Magazine).
Releases under the solo-with-friends moniker L.T. Leif have included the 2016 double album Shadow on the Brim / Rough Beasts and Leif’s first release on Lost Map Records, the 2022 Lost Cat limited edition cassette compilation of live and unreleased tracks, improvisations and deep cuts Introducing L.T. Leif.
Leif’s latest album, Come Back To Me, But Lightly, was released on Lost Map in January 2023, in collaboration with fellow Scottish label, OK Pal.
FIRESTATIONS
Firestations are Michael Cranny, Laura Copsey, Martin Thompson, Tom Hargreaves and Neil Walsh. Together they make music spanning genres from shoegazey indie to synth pop and harmony-driven psychedelia.
Their first full album in 5 years, Thick Terrain sees Firestations find their way back to the full album format again at last, following a period of writing and reconfiguration. A clear-eyed and bold statement, deftly combining big ideas with pop sensibilities in a captivating way, it’s the band’s best work to date, and will be released on limited-edition 12” vinyl and digital platforms on July 14, 2023. It follows Firestations’ expansive and explorative 2021 EP trilogy Automatic Tendencies, which garnered strong support from BBC 6 Music including repeat plays from Gideon Coe, Cerys Matthews, Radcliffe & Maconie and in particular Marc Riley, who hailed the track ‘Small Island’ as “a perfect pop song”. Their previous album for Lost Map, The Year Dot, was released in 2018 and was hailed by The List magazine for “pursuing ambitious social commentaries while playfully teasing its own sonic glitches”.
LOST MAP 10
w/ Pictish Trail (solo)
L.T. Leif + Firestations
Wednesday 12th July, 7.30pm
Tickets are £14 (+ b/f) in advance (more on the door) and available from See Tickets.