The Bastards

Ben Cooper (aka Radical Face, and yes, it's just one extremely talented person) started—and completed—an ambitious three-album project entitled "The Family Tree", the three albums being "The Roots", "The Branches", and the completed but (at this writing) unreleased third album, "The Leaves." While making the final cuts for each album, there were certain tracks that "didn't fit" into the flow of the album. These were fully produced, high-quality tracks; they just didn't fit into "The Family Tree" project in Ben Cooper's opinion. So, he released them as free EP (Extended Play) albums as he went along, in a series titled "The Bastards." (I hope you get the humor.)"The Bastards: Volume One" was released alongside of "The Family Tree: The Roots" circa October 2011, and contained three songs. (All three superb.) This volume included the gem "We're On Our Way", which has received some commercial play; I've heard it in various places and was happy it was getting some fraction of the attention it deserves."The Bastards: Volume Two" was released alongside of "The Family Tree: The Branches" circa October 2013. "The Bastards: Volume Two" also contained three songs, the most notable in my opinion being "West". ("Second Family Portrait", another from that EP, is unearthly, it is so good—but it is almost too potently emotional for me to listen to.)I'm not quite sure why, but recently there were two additional EPs rather than only one: "The Bastards 3 EP" and "The Bastards Vol. 4". (I know, the naming convention doesn't match.) I assume these are cuts from "The Family Tree: The Leaves." Between them, these EPs have five songs. I've only downloaded them recently, but my favorite from a few times listening through is "Baptisms", from vol. 3.Don't mistake my recommending a few specific songs for denigrating the others, though: ALL the songs are good, and in my opinion "a cut above" any mainstream music being produced today. But if you want to check out just a few singles to see if you like them, I've named the songs that really stand out for me.Interestingly, the sequence of songs in "The Bastards" has been adjusted—you're not just listening to the EPs volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 in sequence. Instead, the songs are arranged in a nice sequence so the album actually has a beginning, middle and an end.To quote Ben Cooper, from an email of 6 November 2015 (I removed links so Amazon's filtering wouldn't do it for me) :"I went ahead and got the final volume of The Bastards wrapped up, which is officially out today. As I said from the beginning of this project, all these EPs will be free, so for those who would like to download it, it's available on Noise Trade. But all the EPs are also being collected into a complete release, titled The Family Tree: The Bastards, which will be up for sale at all the usual places. So if you'd like to support and purchase it, that's cool, too. The option is there either way."As Ben says, The Bastards EPs are still available for free on Noise Trade, and I personally got them all for free as they came out, but now they are collected together into a single proper album. I paid for that as well. The music is the best I have ever heard, and it's worth my patronage.(I also purchased both currently released Family Tree albums, which are worth every penny and more, and I eagerly await the third installment!)

I came across Radical Face a few years back and Ben Cooper/ Radical Face is my favorite musician. So many of the lyrics speak to me, and this album is no different. I had many of the songs prior, but bought the compete album when it was released. I really hope to get a chance to see him when he tours the US for his upcoming album The Leaves.

Great music and wonderful art

Benjamin Cooper describes this release as ”A Frankenstein of random genealogy charts, my own family history, some of my personal experiences and plain old fiction,” all revolving around the Northcote family.It’s hard to know whether the man is putting us on or not, as his entire Family Tree catalog is based around the assumption that these songs are based on himself and his relationship with his family, both real and unrealized. It’s also evident that the songs themselves are perhaps the family he's talking about where strikingly sparse, yet gently layered songs nearly rise from the moss laden earth, or drift down from ancient trees, in a place that’s off the map, that’s been forgotten by time, where the intermingling of familiar relationships has become so intertwined, that perhaps this spot on no one’s map should remain out of step, out of time, and shielded from the eyes of the outside world.Yet Cooper himself has been spiriting out these musical postcards of sorts laced with snips of information, faded photographs, and dauntingly smooth expectations of atmospheric intensity. There is nothing hurried on this release, one laid out with the simplicity of a steady hand, though perhaps unsure or incomplete conceptual thoughts, played out with only an acoustic guitar, limited percussions and a piano.The term ‘bastards’, and this is why I believe the songs are his family, is that Benjamin Cooper claims that these numbers didn’t contribute to the rest of the family tree [or albums], that they didn’t manifest themselves in a manner that allowed them to thematically unfold in the way he had intended … in short, making them outcasts. Yet even these outcasts [songs] have lives of their own, are beautiful in their own right, bigger than life, standing with pride and purpose, even if alone. For the first time he’s gathered these misfits together in one place, his B Sides and superlative singles, creating a separate branch on this family tree that will grow and morph into a wholly realized grouping that needs to be recognized and given sanctuary, no longer held at arm’s length, but embraced for all the beauty and wisdom they embody.There’s a cinematic presence to this album, presented with ambitious indie folk story telling, revealing not so much supernatural secrets, but secrets of the heart that too many of us keep hidden, compartmentalized, yet sustained in the dark with nurturing breath.The Fun Facts: Cooper chose the name Radical Face upon seeing it on a flyer. He later found out it was a plastic surgery flyer saying 'Radical Face-Lift' with the word 'lift' ripped off.Ben Cooper claims that his bodies of work are all about the ability or not, to trust.Review by Jenell Kesler

We've been in love with the Family Tree since "The Roots" and have had all three as they each were released on vinyl in succession. Though we had to go back for Roots which is exorbitantly expensive now and I'm glad we did earlier on, even though it has a nasty pressing imperfection ruining one of the track... even so, I still receive offers for that album once in a while. It's not for sale.All this to say we never really listened on digital media much, at least to these albums and I only heard one or two of "The Bastards" as they trickled out. This could be seen as a mistake now, because today I finally played the album on Qobuz and it blew my mind. Quite honestly, all of these bastards, strung together in this way, this absolutely lovely, rich and storied album, might just be my second favorite of the entire Tree. "The Roots" will always remain my favorite bu this one is going to get a lot of play for a long time. I hope someday he releases a vinyl pressing of these little bastards..... these little dead-end kids.... they deserve.Needless to say, Ben's work is sublime and this project is a masterpiece. We'll be listening for years. Many of them to come.

Another stunner from Ben. I have yet to find anything bad to say about anything he has done. The best song writer I have coma across.

thank you

Perfect, thanks!

Je suis une grande grande fan du Family Tree de Radical Face et de ses trois opus. Je ne me lasse pas de les écouter... Ce dernier album qui contient les "laissés de côté" des trois autres est à mon avis un peu moins bon et moins homogène (ce qui est normal, je suppose) mais néanmoins bien meilleurs que le tout venant commercial, à condition d'aimer la musique calme.

Aaa+++