Category: U.N.P.O.C.

From wiki:-

Tom Bauchop (born 1978), best known by his stage name U.N.P.O.C., is a Scottish musician and member of the Fence Collective. He has released two albums on Domino Records, Fifth Column and the limited edition Live at King Tut’s. Fifth Column featured only two musicians: Bauchop, and drummer Stu Bastiman.

From the Domino Records website:-

The mysterious U.N.P.O.C. – affiliate of the Fence Collective, gnostic troubadour – released Fifth Column in 2003.

Fifth Column is a lo-fi production where the sentiment is high; it’s an out of time pop masterpiece. As well as melodic nods to The Kinks, Buddy Holly and The Ronettes, it’s also reminiscent of Roky Erickson’s field recordings and the outsider pop-art of Brian Wilson.

And here’s the full contents of the main page of the U.N.P.O.C. website (which consists of 6 pictures and a few sentences) :-

Hi, I’m Tom. There I am in 2003. This is my website for my band, unpoc, and especially for my 2003 record, Fifth Column. Maybe you’re here from Greece, and heard my song on the 2022 Sky Express TV ad? Hello to you!

Have a little (6-picture) read about unpoc below, if you like.

1/6: Edinburgh, 2001: I had been writing music for a few years.

My musical friends said my latest songs were sounding good, and I should do something with them. So we sent a demo tape to London.

2/6: Domino Records liked the songs. We got things organised and put out a record.

Unpoc means “unable to navigate, probably on course”.

3/6: The album got some nice press reviews, especially in Sweden.

4/6: I was invited over there to play some shows. There we are, in Stockholm.

5/6: One of the songs was used in a film, Hallam Foe (Best Music award, Berlin Film Festival) and also in a cinema advert (Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan).

Then it was used in a TV ad campaign in Greece, and got into the Greek Shazam Top 200, peaking at number 7.

6/6: I still write music now, but my Fifth Column songs are my most popular ones.

It’s nice when I meet people who like the album or were at my concerts, so make sure to say hello if you see me.

Bye for now./Tom

——

I caught U.N.P.O.C. at King Tut’s  as the opening act for James Yorkston in late 2003.  It appears that was when the live CD album was recorded.  I don’t have a copy (and it’s going for nearly £100 on Discogs) but I did enjoy the show so much that I bought a copy of Fifth Column from Tom the same evening.  It’s going for £1.32 on Discogs.

It’s a hugely enjoyable listen.  Here’s the song that was included on the Hallam Foe soundtrack and which seemingly later became a hit in Greece.

mp3:  U.N.P.O.C. – Here On My Own

JC

From wiki:-

U.N.P.O.C. is the name under which Tom Bauchop of the Fence Collective records. He has released two albums on Domino Records, Fifth Column and the limited edition Live at King Tut’s.

In 2007, his single “Here on my own” was used in both the theatrical trailer and film Hallam Foe, the film going on to win the award for “Best Music” at that year’s Berlin Film Festival. The song was also used to soundtrack the theatrical trailer for the 2007 Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei, Taiwan.

Discography

Albums : Fifth Column (2003); Live at King Tut’s (2004)

Singles : Amsterdam/Here on My Own (2003)

It turns out that I have two-thirds of the entite U.N.P.O.C. back catalogue. The only thing missing is the live LP which was released in a very limited edition….but bizarrely enough I was at the gig. It took place on 21 December 2003 and was the first proper U.N.P.O.C. gig as part of a Fence Collective evening. It was such a great performance that I bought the album on the night.

This is a cracking single:-

mp3 : U.N.P.O.C. – Amsterdam
mp3 : U.N.P.O.C. – Here On My Own

Enjoy