A Brief History Schuman The Human (who also goes by the name Mark Foster) began his musical life with a brief stint in the mid 90's as guitarist for veteran punk/soul/country legend 'Vic Godard'.
Soon after Schuman began writing songs that somehow ended up being sort of 'country' taking in influences ranging from The Modern Lovers to the genius of Lee Hazelwood, and before long he had his own band, 'Corman'...
While writers block soon put paid to this it none the less formed the seeds of the album 'Showtime for Schuman', but for a while after the split it seemed to be the end of the road....
In the intervening years Schuman listened to much strange music and even stranger films before buying a Pc and returning afresh to making music, experimenting with exotic sounds and loops and funny things called 'Plug-ins'...
But ultimately Schuman knew his heart lay with the dying art of the 'song', so he slowly returned to his old roots and much to his surprise this time things seemed just a little easier...
Soon an albums worth of demo's were ready and he began searching for a suitable 'Nancy' to his 'Lee'. This came in the form of local chanteuse, the former child progeny of 'Boney M' ubermeister Frank Farrian, current star of cult comedy horror movie hit 'Freak out' and an all round sweet lady by the name of 'Chilli Gold'......
Before long drummer Mick Frangou and bass/keyboardist Gordon Maguire (sorry... no sexy pictures!) and many other wonderful musicians were employed in the project.
Soon after and much to their surprise the much renowned Toerag studio agreed to fit them in between the likes of 'Madness' and 'Jon Spencer'. Thus under the helm of producer Edryd Turner 'Showtime for Schuman' was finally completed...
Comprising of eleven songs ranging from punky bluegrass such as 'Coming to Pieces', to the Lee inspired baroqueness of 'Dark Regrets' and a countrified version of the Edwynn Starr penned northern soul classic 'Oh How Happy', this is an album that refuses to fit the all too predictable Alt-country blueprint and simply plows its own peculiar furrow of pop/punk/country/bluegrass etc etc........
SVC-010 - Jan 2007 Schuman The Human - 'Showtime For Schuman'
01. Klutz
02. Charlie Varrick
03. Oh How Happy
04. Dark Regrets
05. Tow That Line
06. Coming to Pieces
07. The Ballad of Robert Crumb
08. A Weekend Away
09. The Pier-end Incident
10. Marlena's Game
11. The Wares to Make it Through
Schuman The Human has now signed for
Ugly Nephew Records, who will be releasing 'Showtime For Human' on CD.
Visit Shuman's MySpace page for updates and news.
Reviews "For fans of upbeat country, nothern soul and British folk and songs played so close you can feel the artists breath on your face."
"Oh How Happy... The sort of song that’d blow away all sort of Northern-Soul-Coral/Zutons-types"
"The album is a damn good way to start the year - the sort of album that helps work through winter, stick to resolutions and make you realise rain isn’t all that bad."
Review at Nothing But Green Lights
"Schuman the Human is an alt-country band unafraid to experiment."
"Tow the Line is one I like for its reverberating guitar, elliptical vocals, let's-all-hold-hands protest, and hints of mournfulness giving way to joyous hoedown."
Review at Tuwa's Shanty
"music merry and coloured, perfect to brighten the morose winter days"
Review in French at No Surprises
