‘A Million Ways to Make Gold’ is the third full-length LP from The Voluntary Butler Scheme, aka Rob Jones. A one man band with some smart and intellgent pop songs that have a hint of Divine Comedy, Left with Pictures and the Leisure Society.
Best let Rob explain himself, “On the last record, I got really into tinkering with electronics,” he says. “For this one, I’ve taught myself trumpet, tenor sax and baritone sax. I learnt by watching clips on YouTube. Even being able to play in a fairly rudimentary way, you can get great results if you can arrange it right. I’ve always been into lots of soul things, roots reggae. I wasn’t looking for slick, ‘90s Blur kind of brass, more that Studio One sound – warm, with imperfections.”
In the years since his last album, 2011’s ‘The Grandad Galaxy’, Rob has built his own mini-studio in his Muswell Hill home. He’s produced an album, ‘Ships’, by his friend and sometime collaborator Sweet Baboo, and recorded electronic music under the name Flipbook, (have we run out of band names yet?)
The record is not something that I connected with imediately but,it sure is a 'grower', and one that should make any summer playlist.
‘A Million Ways to Make Gold’ is released 23rd March on the London independent label Split Records. Rob will be going back to his roots, digging out the loop pedal for some special one-man shows, and he is also in the process of putting together a four-piece live band, with a full UK tour planned for later this year.
Pete
7/11
1. The Q Word
2. Looking for Nearby Water
3. Honey in the Gravel Mixture
4. Brain Freeze
5. That's How I Got to Memphis
6. Quinzhee
7. Believe
8. So Tired (So Tired)
9. No Easy Way Out
10. The Regulatory Reform
11. A Million Ways to Make Gold
