Twisted Nerve boss pulls all his fingers out.

Andy Votel is a busy man. As well as running Manchester’s eclectic Twisted Nerve label with Damon Gough and remixing the likes of Ian Brown, Elbow, Death In Vegas and Kings Of Convenience, he is by day a graphic designer.

He produces all the artwork for Twisted Nerve (including Badly Drawn Boy) and many of Grand Central’s sleeves, and has worked for Adidas, Levi's and “loads of other corporate companies who shall remain nameless”. Which explains why it has taken him so long to complete his debut album, All Ten Fingers. But it’s worth the wait.

“Some of the songs on there are four years old and some are four months old,” he explains. “I think I’ve gone through so many stages with that record.” Which is probably why it's so varied, swinging from dark and moody to cheeky and cheerful. “It’s really honest as to what I’m about,” he says. “It might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s exactly what I wanted to do, and it’s done everything that I wanted when I said I’d do an album.”

The album includes many of Votel’s Manchester contemporaries such as Homelife’s Paddy Steer, Martin Desai from J-Walk and, at-the-time unsigned, Elbow. The Viy features the heartbreaking damaged vocals of Guy Gavey. Andy: “We did this track that was slightly Rosemary’s Baby inspired and based on a Russian Fairy tale.” It also includes a contribution from Malcolm Mooney, the original vocalist with one of Andy’s favourite bands Can.

All Ten fingers is a very good record, so varied it's impossible to describe. It retains all that was good about his remix work, the quirky atmospherics, the dirty grooves, whilst being much more original and adventurous. In places it sulks and contemplates. Elsewhere it bounces and displays a quirky sense of humour.

“So many different mediums have influenced the album apart from just music,” Andy says. “If I can make a record that describes as many parts of my personality as possible, I think that’s the biggest asset I can pull out of a record.” And pull it out he has. Matt Walton 07 November 02

All Ten Fingers, out 11 November 02 on Twisted Nerve.

useful link: www.twistednerve.com