JEFF The BROTHERHOOD, the project of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall,
started in a basement in Nashville, TN in 2002. From their basement
beginnings they have traced a journey that has taken them around the
world several times over, from DIY shows and self-released albums to
major label contracts, network television appearances and the
international festival circuit. The BROTHERHOOD WAS STARTED WITH ONE
GOAL IN MIND: to do or create whatever they feel with no rules or
boundaries, but despite the freewheeling creativity that has
underpinned their career, the band's 13th full length album, Magick
Songs (out September 7th on Dine Alone) marks a radical departure from
their catalog to date.
Recorded in a bare bones studio, built in Jake Orrall's Nashville
living room, over a 5 month span, the album involves a host of new
collaborators including Jenna Moynihan of Daddy Issues, Bully's Reece
Lazarus, and the majority of the album's compositions were written in
collaboration with Kunal Prakash (Viva L'American Death Ray
Music/Quintron's Weather Warlock Band) and Jack Lawrence
(Raconteurs/The Dead Weather) who became fully fledged members of the
band. It was a unique experience for the brothers, who had recorded
each of their preceding 12 full lengths in studios under the guidance
of professional engineers.
"It was a huge change for us," Jake Orrall says, "but the music that
we had been making up to this point had just kind of fizzled out. It
got stale for us. We felt like we’d hit a dead end and we were
really excited to try some new things. We built this record from
scratch with all of us in a room together which was a really different
approach than anything we'd done before, and spent 5 months working
day in and day out. Our average time for recording a record before
this was 3 days, so there wasn’t really any room or time for this
kind of experimentation."
Magick Songs explores a host of new influences, while emphasizing
different shades of sounds that have coloured The Brotherhood's
previous releases. Elements of 80's and 90s Japanese experimental
music (Orrall, who recently contributed liner notes to a Light In The
Attic compilation of Japanese "New Music," sites Yellow Magic
Orchestra, Haruomi Honso, Midori Takada, Satoshi Asakawa and Motohiko
Hamase) meld with Indonesian Gamelan forms (derived from the releases
in the Nonesuch Explorer series and the music of 70s experimental
collective Geinoh Yamashirogumi), clever improvisation and abundant
hand percussion and synthesizer. Elsewhere heavy psych, drone and the
brother's rarely tapped interest in extreme metal blends with the
kraut rock that has long inspired them to stretch their sound towards
the outer reaches of space rock squall. Thematically they toy with a
broader concept for the first time in their career, synthesizing
Asimov's Foundation trilogy, Studio Ghibli films, sci fi anime like
Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira, and their own meticulously recorded
dreams into a loose narrative that informs the albums lyrics.
Their compositional approach has also shifted, with the album
constructed from a series of extended improvisations that were then
edited down and reassembled into more conventional song structures by
Jake Orrall and tied together with overdubs in later sessions. This
technique results in frequently unusual arrangements that rarely
repeat exactly, instead cycling through subtle variations around each
chord progression. In a sense it's the total opposite of the garage
rock and pop songwriting style that has popularly defined the band,
and feels like an exorcism of the last ghosts of the band's Warner
days.
"There’s so much preconception now about our band, and people have
already made up their minds about what kind of band we are, which
isn’t really what we’re about at this point in our lives," says
Orrall. "At one point we took a shot at being a radio rock band, and
it was an interesting experience and the record that we made taught me
a lot about songwriting and production. You've gotta try these things
and it was an interesting opportunity artistically as much as
anything. This record is another opportunity, with no restraints
outside of taking our sound in the directions we want to take it."
The benefit of the experience, won over what has remarkably already
been a 16 year career, is apparent throughout Magick Songs, and it is
the combination of that discipline and deliberation with a boundless
creative spirit that drives the album. More than a new chapter, Magick
Songs reads like a whole new book.
https://www.facebook.com/JEFFtheBrotherhood/
[https://www.facebook.com/JEFFtheBrotherhood/]
Half Stack is a five-piece band from Oakland, CA. The band blends the
country stylings of Cosmic American Music with indie rock sounds of
the Bay Area. At the end of 2018, Half Stack released its debut full
length LP Quitting Time, produced by Melina Duterte, on Oakland Label
Processional Cross Records.
Formed from a desire to combine the outlaw country and psychedelic
music of the late 1960’s with modern indie rock sounds, Half Stack
has developed its own unique sound. Drawing on influences suchas The
Byrds, The Grateful Dead, and Gram Parsons, the band creates its own
blend of Americana influenced indie rock. From dually trucks to remote
country drinking outposts, the lyrical content of Half Stack’s music
contains a hardworking spirit that is matched only by the wholesome
and warm tones of three guitars, lap steel, and harmony. Their
relentless yet refined riffage defines the songs and produces a
digestible and relatable catalogue.
LP2 is on the way. Choogle on, yeehaw.
https://www.facebook.com/halfstackband/
[https://www.facebook.com/halfstackband/]
https://halfstack.bandcamp.com/ [https://halfstack.bandcamp.com/]
HALF STACK
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