The Music Lovers

The Video for the song 'Saturday' off our new LP 'Masculine Feminine' :



Universal Praise for 'Masculine Feminine'

The Big Takeover 04/09

The MUSIC LOVERS should, by all rights, be major cult figures. The San Francisco band has a distinctive, immediately identifiable sound, an elegant blend of SCOTT WALKER sweep, SERGE GAINSBOURG slyness, British guitar pop hooks and DUSTY SPRINGFIELD soul. Even better, the group’s leader MATTHEW EDWARDS can lay fair claim to being the best songwriter in the world right now, and I don’t say that lightly.



http://www.bigtakeover.com/reviews/the-music-lovers-masculine-feminine-le-grand-magistery



Blender 03/09



3.5/4 stars



"Their idea of romance is "The Land of the Beautiful Girls", their idea of movie heroes are the unillustrious Coburn & Robards - but their idea of heartbreak is nothing that an extra accordion solo can't cure"



PopMatters.com:

8/10

"That the band can work in such opposing emotions and styles without ever feeling like they're giving one short shrift speaks highly of their talent as both musicians and storytellers. Masculine Feminine is rife with plenty of examples of the same, a roundly solid record of thoughtful, mature pop that never chokes itself with pensiveness. If you ever see their name on a cabaret marquee, be sure to stop in."



http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/69233-the-music-lovers-masculine-feminine/



The Aquarian:

A-



"San Francisco's Music Lovers, true to their pretentious name, have a list of favorite artists that reads like a schizophrenic DJ's setlist at a gay bar in Paris. It may not make much sense at first glance, but there's something about it that keeps it in heavy rotation on the radio station in the back of my head."

http://www.theaquarian.com/aq/2009/01/29/the-music-lovers-masculine-feminine/



Frantik Magazine:

3.5/4 stars



"Like a savior from uninspiring pop music comes The Music Lovers 'Masculine Feminine.' With all the ingredients, musings and the pop sophistication of a great pop band, The Music Lovers hit a high note with 'Masculine Feminine.'"



http://www.frantikmag.com/09/91/cd91j.htmlmusic



SF Bay Guardian:



"Both menacing and beautiful at the same time, the lush strings and the precision piano and harpischord on the Music Lovers' new album, Masculine Feminine (Le Grand Magistery), make to a sound that's rich and full enough to make Phil Spector cream his trousers. "



http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/music/2009/01/mash_note_for_music_lovers.html



Baltimore City Paper:



"the Music Lovers take selected pages from pop, soul, and rock from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s to weave together Masculine, Feminine, a 12-song tapestry that entertains despite the familiarity."

http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14390



Reviews for 'Music Lovers Guide for Young People' and 'The Words We Say Before We Sleep'



WORD MAGAZINE 01/07



We at THE WORD fell discreetly in love with The Music Lovers - San

Francisco-based, Birmingham/Brixton-born, Bacharach-marinaded and probably unique in pop - when their debut CD arrived last year. With their

gin-spritzed string arrangements and cocktail-bar melancholy, they came off

like a Rat Pack version of Lloyd Cole. Japanese pianist-accordionist Jun

Kurihara now replaces the Brixton component, bassist Jon Brooder, and for

some reason they rock somewhat harder, *Plain Boyish* and *The Sailor And

You* roaring past like a Vegas Morrissey. But grand, glossy and slightly

seedy ballads like *The Sea And The Sun* are what really sets them apart.

That, and the sense of literature-deranged mission: singer Matthew "Ted"

Edwards eulogises Maoist minimalist composer Cornelius Cardew, transplants

Jean Genet to Birkenhead and suggests we throw in our petty jobs for a

precarious life in pursuit of pop perfection. The way he sings it, it

doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.



ALL MUSIC GUIDE Review 11/06



"4 stars After a listen to The Music Lovers Guide for Young People one thing is certain, the Music Lovers do indeed love music, to be more specific, the golden age of U.K.-based pop music that first bloomed in the mid-80s with artists like Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, Prefab Sprout, and the Bluebells, and which was later perfected in the late 80s and early 90s by bands such as the Trash Can Sinatras and the Beautiful South. Like them, the Music Lovers are hopelessly heartbroken and romantic, literate almost to a fault, and totally committed to being as sophisticated as possible at all times both lyrically and musically. Indeed, the sound of Guide for Young People is rich and warm; the chiming guitars and restrained drumming that form the foundation are backed by a rotating array of strings, keyboards, and percussion. Above all this float the charming and sophisticated vocals of Matthew Edwards, which are joined by some lovely harmonies and the occasional appearance of Jun Kuriharas earthy vocals and provide a welcome female viewpoint to balance the restrained male angst."-AMG



WORD Magazine (UK) Dec '06



'. it's stately cha-cha rhythms and Vegas-grade musical lexicon - bells, orchestras, woodwind, extravagently picked guitars - combine with Edwards love-broken lyrics to suggest a lost Graham Greene novel about seedy Brits shipwrecked in Caesars Palace rather than Port-au-Prince. immaculate'



'When The 'Lovers craft romantic songs as gorgeous as these, you'll want to stick around for the pillow talk' -MAGNET 2005



Hints of '60s AM-radio fodder regularly poke through the creamy, dreamy layers of piano, acoustic guitar, concertina, strings and mellotron, and the results are seductive. -MAGNET 2006



'Gorgeous and knowing work' - AMPLIFIER 2005



Discography

Released November 2003 - "Cheap Songs Tell the Truth" EP, Marriage Records/LGM Released November 2004 - "The Words We Say Before We Sleep" Album, Marriage Records/LGM

Released October 5th 2006 - "The Music Lovers Guide for Young People" Album, Le Grand Magistery (Enough-ho, Japan October 2008)

RELEASED ON JANUARY 20TH 2009 - 'Masculine Feminine' on Le Grand Magistery USA and Sleeping Star (IT) AVAILABLE NOW EVERYWHERE!

Coming soon - digital only release 'Stop Turning Me On' theme to Steve Balderson's new movie 'Watch Out'

All the Music Lovers records are available from www.darla.com, Amazon, itunes, or you local record emporium!



For Radio (Traditional or Internet) Airplay inquiries, please contact Team Clermont:

http://teamclermont.com/contact