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Pulco 
Creeping
stealthily from his attic studio, Pulco is the current
recording project of ex Derrero singer / guitarist Ash
Cooke. Ash started making ambitious home recordings in
his adolescence before forming Derrero with Falmouth College friends
Andy Fung and Dave Hirst in 1995. Relocating to Cardiff a year
later, Derrero released their debut album on big noise records, with
three EP’s and two albums to follow. The Radar Intruder and
Unstraightforwardtune singles got played almost everywhere, and were
particular favourites with John Peel and Steve Lamacq. Not to mention
being b-listed on Radio 2 and gaining lots of plays on daytime Radio 1.
Both videos for these singles were broadcast on MTV’s alternative
nation. The band also recorded three sessions and a live broadcast for
John Peel. During their career, Derrero toured with the likes of
Super Furry Animals, Sebadoh, Gorkys Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia and
Grandaddy before heading to Europe with ex Boo Radley Martin Carr’s
Brave Captain Project in 2001. The bands last album, Comb the Breaks,
was recorded and released by the Welsh group Melys on their Sylem label.
The record got rave reviews and still stands as a confident and
multicoloured collection of songs.
With the birth
of his son in 2002, ash decided to bow out of band commitments to
concentrate on the Pulco project, and has continued to record via his
attic studio.
His first sonic
adventure, Cactus Fog was released in 2003 by cardiff
label musicbox records and received lots of support from the likes of
BBC DJ Adam Walton and the BBC session in Wales.
Second album Wengen
made a few appearances on John Peels show before his sad passing and saw
Ash set up the Redlip Record label. Wengen has since been re-released on
Folkwit Records (f0010).
So far Ash has
released 2 new albums on Folkwit - Undersea Adventure & Sorepaw.
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home
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A
series of unique home-recorded, home-packaged CDs
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TRICERATOPS
- Pulco
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Folkwit Records
(f0038)
CD
Album - £7.99(GBP) +
P&P
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Track list:
 drinking song for days long gone
wearing down well
jacuzzi
clean face
ifans friends
billy d horsey
close forms
i have of late
brain museum
vari speed
next to water
the swimmer
saunter days
a russian dance
picker hymn
fire
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About
Triceratops
- Triceratops
was recorded during stolen moments in his wardrobe studio
and on Dictaphone beneath the desk at work.
- Themes this
time include shaving, expanding waistlines and a tribute to Burt
Lancaster in The Swimmer
- The album
digs deeper into Ash's evolving love of cut and paste 4
track home-fi.
- Recordings
made on minidisc and Dictaphone were assembled and caressed
into life back in the wardrobe studio where vocals and
extras were added
- Triceratops
also features Ash's son Ifan who committed to tape
the spontaneous masterpiece that is Billy D Horsey
one afternoon out behind the shed.
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Dictaphone experiments in the garden have resulted in the
companion album Dictaphone Home which can be
downloaded for free from Folkwit Records - here
"Home
recording carries on becoming ever more popular all the time,
with the more creative and experimental of musicians able to
put together sounds in their bedrooms on their laptop – in
amongst the chaos and busy-ness of the rest of their life. The
great myth that music would die out if we stopped paying for
CDs is further being exposed as a result, but does it mean a
shift in the way that we’ll view music differently as a
result? I hope so.
Singer/guitarist
Ash Cooke is one of the latest contributors to such a
philosophy, assembling bits and pieces together using a
four-track recorder and Dictaphone ‘during stolen moments in
his wardrobe studio’. It’s music for music’s sake –
with no pomp or overblown ceremony to speak of.
It’s not
even to say that this stuff is just for those weird muso types
that squirrel themselves away clutching armfuls of dusty
vinyls, espousing over which valve microphone gives the
warmest tone - with the likes of ‘tUnE-yArDs’ getting
big-label support from 4AD.
Sound-wise,
it has elements of the likes of softly-sang Iain Archer, but
with all the added cut-and-paste obscurity of Highland
songster Calamateur. It has the child-like innocence of
someone exploring the world with fresh eyes and observation
(and in fact, Ash’s son Ifan played his part on the track
‘Billy D Horsey’), and enough wonder to draw you in. All
of that aside, Who can dislike a record that starts with ‘booze,
booze, beautiful booze’?"
-
Stephen McLeod, ArtRocker
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SOREPAW
- Pulco
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Folkwit Records
(f0017)
CD
Album - £7.99(GBP) +
P&P
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Track list:
Tudor Grains
Coral Visions
Taking Time
Glitches
Whiskey Song
Pony Munchin
Policies Placed
Gonzalez Instrumental
Growing Hard
Altered Blogs
Strange Hail
Choppy Seas
Killer Set
Dino Song
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“For his
latest album, Ash Cooke, aka Pulco, has gone right back to
basics and he seems to be thriving on it. “Sorepaw” was
recorded on a Tascam Portastudio in the bedroom of his new
home whilst waiting for the studio to be built. He also had to
do it without waking his two young daughters. The result is an
enchanting and delicate album that’s pretty much stripped
back to guitar and voice. The impact however is huge. It has a
charm that weaves around the deceptively simple phrasing. The
guitar almost as expressive as the voice as they carry you off
to a safe place”
- FATEA/Cambridge
& Beyond
"Recorded
in Ash's attic Portastudio, there's an attractive immediacy about
the final product, which is matched by the sweet, quirky intimacy
of Ash's songs. This quality in turn probably reflects Ash's
conversion to fatherhood and all the commitment that involves
(sessions took place in evenings when babes were asleep - you can
even hear little snorings and sneezes from time to time!). Ash
accompanies himself on guitar, ably and with a gentle melodic
charm (and a touch of occasional mouth-percussion), there's a bit
of glockenspiel on the closing track, and he doubletracks all his
backing harmony vocals. One track also employs some backwards-tape
stuff, but this doesn't interfere with the mood. Most of the time
minimalist is indeed best, for the songs radiate their own sense
of relaxed contentment and don't really need any special pleading
- rather like those of Syd Barrett, you just need to let them work
their genial magic - which they will."
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David Kidman, NetRhythms
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WENGEN
- Pulco
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Folkwit Records
(f0010)
CD
Album - £7.99(GBP) +
P&P
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Track list:
Vein
Song 37
Ifan
Sleazy Paddocks
Enjoy Your Ride
Jungle
Struggled To Wander
Frazzle (The Story Of Husker Du)
Glowing
Tide
Wengen
Plants Know
Old N Bold
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UNDERSEA
ADVENTURE - Pulco
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Folkwit Records
(f0007)
CD
Album - £7.99(GBP) +
P&P
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Track list:
Haul Away
Squid
Kid Kippling
Paddle People
Love Of The Ocean
Sardines
Whistle For A Breeze
Kursk Flute
Ocean Trench
Snorkeling The Hours
Mrs Haines
Middle Ear Discomfort
Poseiden Adventure
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"Kid
Kipling, Paddle People and Whistle for a Breeze
are clear, enchanting and very tuneful, with Cooke employing
great harmonies and an interesting range of instruments (tin
whistles and ukuleles among them). The lush and jaunty Love
of the Ocean could have been performed by a pared down
version of The Thrills. The subject matter is also often
interesting, from the sinking of the Kursk to a sailor
delivering news of a lost comrade (standout track Mrs
Haines)."
-
Jenny Alder, Americana UK
"...some
truly fantastic phrases, both of music and lyrics"
-
Neil King, FATEA
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| PUCLO
BUNDLE - Wengen, Undersea Adventure, Sorepaw + I Dreamt Of
Cows EP |
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Folkwit Records
3
CD
Albums + EP - £20.00(GBP) +
P&P
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A great introduction to the
irrepressible talent of Pulco - skillfully crafted home
recordings lovingly packaged.
LEFT-FIELD
FOLK WHICH TRANSPORTS THE LISTENER TO A SOMETIMES STRANGE BUT
WONDERFUL WORLD THROUGH IMAGINATIVE LYRICS, COLOURFUL
INSTRUMENTATION AND RICH VOCAL HARMONIES.
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