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http://www.balconytv.co.uk 26/05/2009
PRESENTED BY LAYLA ANNA-LEE

The Miserable Rich, whose prescient name derives from an experience they had playing at the wedding of two ultra-rich aristocrats in Rome, grew from a 'bedroom electro-songwriterproject'. Cellist/pianist William Calderbank and singer/percussionist James de Malplaquet formed their string quintet intending to 'produce quirky acoustic modern music' - and they do just that. But not just that. The Miserable Rich's bar-room chamber music, styled with fierce but beautiful vocals backed by serene, acutely arranged strings, has been described as 'pop music that could soundtrack a nursery rhyme created by Tim Burton'..

Last year, following the reaction to both their barnstorming cover of Hot Chip's 'Over and Over' and their debut singles 'Pisshead / Boat Song' and 'The Time That's Mine', their debut album "Twelve Ways To Count' was released and toured in Europe, to critical acclaim. The album, released in November in the UK, made many best of 2008 album lists, was album of the day on BBC 6Music, and was described as 'so heartbreakingly beautiful, it reduces anyone who hears it to a weeping mess' in the NME.

The band have recently recorded a new album in ten days, and plan a free ep of cover versions for the Spring- but it is they're intoxicatingly passionate, intimate and witty live performances that have won them hearts across Europe and across demographics.

Having toured extensively in many countries, sometimes playing three shows a day in different cities - in headlines, festival slots, and major supports for the likes of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - the band have honed their sound; and the intensity, honesty and closeness to be found at their concerts is unlike any other band currently touring.

Alongside The Miserable Rich, the band are founder members of a wider movement called the Willkommen Collective, a group of Brighton-based bands who share various members, including The Leisure Society, Sons of Noel and Adrian and Shoreline.

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