The Duckworth Lewis Method - Gentlemen and Players - Acoustic Versions (2009-2013)

Some weeks ago, I posted an album by the Duckworth Lewis Method, a relatively obscure group that writes and sings songs entirely about the sport of cricket. That was no joke. I posted that because I think they great. I have no interest in cricket whatsoever, but it doesn't matter for me, nor should it for you, because they write excellent songs and perform them well. They're a relatively new band (their two albums (so far) were released in 2009 and 2013), but they're heavily inspired by the music of the 1960s and 1970s.

This album consists of acoustic versions of songs from their two albums, with a couple of non-album cover versions thrown in. So this plays much like an acoustic version of their best songs. If you want one album to be introduced to the band, this is a good way to go, probably more than the other album of their that I posted.

By the way, the link to that one is here:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-duckworth-lewis-method-on-with-show.html

All the songs here are officially unreleased, but the sound quality is consistently very good anyway. About half of the songs were recorded in the studio, sometimes for radio shows. The other half were played live, but from intimate appearances at record stores on or TV.

This and the above link are all I have to post from the Duckworth Lewis Method. However, I'm very impressed with the music of Thomas Walsh (who writes and sings about half of these songs) and his band Pugwash. I hope to post a lot of Pugwash stuff in the future.

01 Flatten the Hay [Acoustic Demo] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
02 Meeting Mr. Miandad [Acoustic Demo] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
03 Norwegian Wood [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
04 Mason on the Boundary [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method with Matt Berry)
05 The Age of Revolution [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
06 What Becomes of the Broken Hearted [Acappella Mix] (Duckworth Lewis Method with Matt Berry)
07 Gentlemen and Players [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
08 Out in the Middle [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
09 Test Match Special [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
10 Boom Boom Afridi [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
11 Third Man [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
12 It's Just Not Cricket [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method with Henry Blofeld)
13 The Nightwatchman [Acoustic] (Duckworth Lewis Method)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15328237/DuckwrthLwisM_2009-2013_GentlemnPlayrsAcoustic_atse.zip.html

For the album cover, I used a band publicity photo. I think it dates from 2009. I took the text of the band's name from some other publicity material.

The Duckworth Lewis Method - On with the Show - Non-Album Tracks (2009-2013)

This is a strange and obscure album, but I really hope you give it a try, because the music is great.

The Duckworth Lewis Method (DLM) is a band made up of Thomas Walsh of Pugwash and Neil Hannon the Divine Comedy. Both of them are from Ireland. I appreciate Hannon's talent, even though I'm not really a fan of his band. I've only recently discovered Pugwash, and I'm really getting into them. I hope to post a lot of Pugwash stuff in the future. Pugwash is extremely influenced by the Beatles and ELO, and other 1960s and 1970s artists. But unlike most derivative bands, Walsh has considerable singing talent as well as songwriting talent.

As good as the Divine Comedy and Pugwash are on their own, they're even better working together as the DLM. But there's a very strange thing about the DLM: all, and I do mean ALL, of their songs are about the game of cricket! As an American, I know very little about cricket, and what I do know doesn't interest me in the slightest. And yet, I love these songs about cricket, even though I have no clue what they're about most of the time. That's because it's simply really excellent music.

The DLM have put out two albums, one in 2009 ("The Duckworth Lewis Method") and the other in 2013 ("Sticky Wickets"). I don't want to post either of them here, since you should support the artists by buying them. So instead this is compilation of stray tracks. Only three of the songs are versions of songs on their studio albums. But hopefully you'll see the quality level is so high that you'll want to get the albums too.

Many of the songs are covers. Some are cricket-themed, such as "Soul Limbo," which is a classic soul instrumental hit, but one that apparently was used as a theme song for cricket on the BBC for many years. Others appear to just be songs the band loves. Check out for instance their version of ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky," which they nail despite only being a small band.

There are a couple of non-album originals here too. One example is "Ireland, Ireland." Strangely, the band was commissioned by an Irish newspaper to write a new national anthem for Ireland, and this is the tongue-in-cheek result.

By the way, the band's strange name is a mathematical formulation relating to cricket. Again, I don't know or care much about cricket, so I can't explain it. But the name shows that they are extremely dedicated to their cricket obsession.

01 Gentlemen and Players [Demo] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
02 Pedalo (Duckworth Lewis Method)
03 Test Match Special [Demo] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
04 The Age of Revolution [Demo] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
05 Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime (Duckworth Lewis Method)
06 Ireland, Ireland (Duckworth Lewis Method)
07 Mr. Blue Sky (Duckworth Lewis Method)
08 Soul Limbo [Instrumental] (Duckworth Lewis Method)
09 When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease (Duckworth Lewis Method)
10 What Becomes of the Broken Hearted (Duckworth Lewis Method with Matt Berry)
11 On with the Show (Duckworth Lewis Method)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15328230/DuckwrthLwisM_2009-2013_OnwithShw_atse.zip.html

I made the album cover using a screenshot from a DLM video. The man playing guitar is Thomas Walsh, and the man playing accordion is Neil Hannon.