Artist : Phonograph
Album : Phonograph
Label : Arclight
Genre : Indie
Bitrate : 173 kbps avg
Source : CD (LP)
Playtime : 00:48:18 (63 MB)
Rls date : 2007-01-20
Store date : 2007-02-06
[Track List]
1. Proem 1:07
2. In Your Mind 4:31
3. Watch And Ward 4:31
4. Radio Waves 3:34
5. Parsons White 3:13
6. Have I Told You 4:05
7. Waltz From Jonas 4:52
8. Interlude 2:16
9. Thinking Of You 3:29
10.T.V. Screens 4:09
11.Nu Americana 2:51
12.You're A Giraffe 4:32
13.Isobel 5:08
It's not every day that a band receives accolades in magazines before their
debut album is released, but that's precisely what is
happening to Phonograph. The Brooklyn-based quintet has already garnered
attention in NYCÆs L Magazine ("7 NYC Bands You Need
to Hear"), Relix Magazine (a new artist profile in their November Æ06 issue) and
is featured on Jane MagazineÆs fall CD sampler. The
band has also found themselves making believers out of renowned musicians
including Mekons/Waco BrothersÆ Jon Langford and
WilcoÆs John Stirratt. Phonograph vocalist and songwriter, Matthew Welsh
explains. ôJon found us by accident. He walked into
the recording studio where we were recording, and he kept saying it was
brilliant [laughs]. We've been friends ever since,
and he's been a really big supporter, helping us anyway he can, including
getting us airplay on ChicagoÆs WXRT. [Wilco bassist]
John Stirratt and sister Laurie (Broadmoor Records) stumbled upon the band and
has been incredibly helpful, having us open for Wilco
as often as possible.ö
Phonograph is a relative newcomer to the oft-fickle New York City music scene,
forming in 2005. ôWe've been fortunate enough to get
amazing opportunities. Playing Irving Plaza, headlining Mercury Lounge and in a
few weeks weÆll tape a session for WNYC. In a short
amount of time, we've already exceeded our expectations.ö confides Welsh.
Beginning as WelshÆs solo effort with the help of Pere UbuÆs Tony Maimone, the
groupÆs current line-up began taking shape when a
then-studio engineer, John Davis, befriended Welsh. Davis in turn introduced a
pair of friends, guitarist Abe Seiferth and drummer
Dave Burnett, to the fold, before multi-instrumentalist Phil Sterk recently
rounded out the line-up. The additional players added
new elements to Welsh's vision and expanded the range of sounds and experiences
the group had to draw on. ôEven though weÆre known
more for an alt-country aesthetic, we experiment with a variety of instruments
and instrumentation. We're always going to have that
element of stripped down Americana, but we want a healthy balance between
interesting psychedelic sounds and
good-old-wholesome-American-songwriting.ö points out Welsh. ôJohn, aside from
playing bass, also plays a Moog to get all the
background sounds going. Abe goes through as many different combinations of
pedals as he can do simultaneously û a lot of the
stuff that sounds like synth lines on the record is actually Abe. When we opened
for Wilco, Nels Cline was standing about a foot away
from him watching everything he was doing!ö
ôA lot of the songs have an outlook of the way society is run and its effects on
how we perceive ourselves,ö explains Welsh. [In] "In
Your Mind,ö there's a line emphasizing the bandÆs perception, "wishing lives of
foolish stars keeping up with all your magazines.ö A
consistent listen from beginning to end, Welsh and Davis cite the albumÆs
leadoff single, ôT.V. Screensö as a favorite. Davis
also points out that the song came about as a happy accident. ôMatt sat down at
this Optagon ûa weird home organ from the æ70s that
uses transparent records û and started playing what you hear as the intro.ö
Feb. 6, 2007 sees Phonograph's self-titled debut album arrive in-stores via
Arclight Records. Following on the heels of release
is a performance at SXSW as well as a national tour in March. Members of the
band are also featured as part of an all-star line-up
on The Book of Knots upcoming release on Tom Wait's ANTI label.
http://www.myspace.com/phonographny