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▓█▓▓█ Artist.....[ Chrisopher Blue ▀████▄█▓
██▓▀ Album......[ Room Tones ▀▓██
▄ █▓█ █ Label......[ Sarathan Records █ █▓█ ▄
█▒█▓█▄▀ Catalog #..[ SAR010 ▀▄█▓█▒█
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▓█▀ ▀▀█▓█▒ Source.....[ CD ▒█▓█▀▀ ▀█▓
▓█▄ ▀▄ ██▓ Genre......[ Indie ▓██ ▄▀ ▄█▓
▓▓█▓▀ ██ Language...[ English ██ ▀▓█▓▓
▀ ▄████ Rip Date...[ 2007-04-23 ████▄ ▀
▄ ▀ ▓█▓ Store Date.[ 2007-04-17 ▓█▓ ▀ ▄
█▀▀ ▄▓█▀ Rip Tool...[ EAC ▀█▓▄ ▀▀█
▓█▄████▀ Encoder....[ LAME v3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ▀████▄█▓
▀█▓▀ Quality....[ 174 kbps AVG VBR 44.1/Joint Stereo ▀▓█▀
▄ █▓█▄▓█▓ Url........[ http://www.chrisopherblue.com ▓█▓▄█▓█ ▄
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█▓ 01 Ghost In The Night 3:34 ▓█
█▓ 02 After All I've Heard You Say 3:27 ▓█
█▓ 03 Such Love 2:42 ▓█
█▓ 04 Equanimity 2:47 ▓█
█▓ 05 The Moon I Dream Of 3:41 ▓█
█▓ 06 These Times 2:42 ▓█
█▓ 07 Good Time Baby 4:05 ▓█
█▓ 08 Alone 3:13 ▓█
█▓ 09 What You Need 3:50 ▓█
█▓ 10 Mandrake 3:11 ▓█
█▓ 11 Outtake 0:33 ▓█
█▓ 12 Disquietude 4:35 ▓█
█▓ 13 Scarecrow 2:51 ▓█
█▓ ----- ▓█
█▓ 41:11 ▓█
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█░█ Down and out, tired of the Seattle music scene █░█
█░█ and his place in it, Chrisopher Blue was ready to █░█
█░█ call it quits. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ ôI was walking around telling myself æIÆm fucking █░█
█░█ done with this shit, I donÆt want to do it █░█
█░█ anymore and was ready to stop music entirely,Æö █░█
█░█ explains Chrisopher Blue. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ And then there was one fateful day. Mark Lanegan █░█
█░█ doesnÆt seem like a likely guardian angel. But █░█
█░█ perhaps he is. There he was, the former Screaming █░█
█░█ Trees frontman, dressed in black, sitting in a █░█
█░█ car in a 7-Eleven parking lot and waiting for a █░█
█░█ beautiful woman to buy his cigarettes. ôHe saw me █░█
█░█ and said æChrisopher, keeping singing, man, keep █░█
█░█ doing what youÆre doing.Æö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ A fellow Pacific Northwestern musician, Lanegan █░█
█░█ and Blue had met years prior through mutual █░█
█░█ friends but whether Lanegan could read BlueÆs █░█
█░█ obviously distressed face that day or not remains █░█
█░█ unknown. However, it was those words of █░█
█░█ encouragement that kept him going. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ ôItÆs happened a few other times as well,ö Blue █░█
█░█ says. ôHeÆll just randomly pop up in my life.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ ItÆs strange to think that if it wasnÆt for that █░█
█░█ chance encounter, Blue may have never created his █░█
█░█ evocative new album, room tones, years later. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ The story of room tones couldn't be more █░█
█░█ incongruent: A man spends his days and nights in █░█
█░█ a shoe on wheels otherwise known as a Dodge Neon, █░█
█░█ homeless and utterly alone, writing songs as the █░█
█░█ waves crash and the miles crunch by. Yet somehow, █░█
█░█ the voice arising out of those songs is not that █░█
█░█ of a man who is lost and adrift, but one who has █░█
█░█ finally found home. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ ôIt's almost as if these songs were written for █░█
█░█ where I am now,ö says Blue of the rooted sound. █░█
█░█ ôPsychologically I was in a different place than █░█
█░█ I was physically. I'm home today in my heart and █░█
█░█ my head, and the songs reflect that process. █░█
█░█ They're the stories of how I got home.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Now based in Mendocino, California, after █░█
█░█ spending several less than successful years in █░█
█░█ Seattle, Blue's home, and for that matter, █░█
█░█ lifestyle, is the very definition of rustic. No █░█
█░█ mod cons, no cell phone reception for miles... █░█
█░█ the man lives in a geodesic dome made of trees █░█
█░█ felled from the spot, for crying out loud. █░█
█░█ (Actually, it's a historic dwelling, built in the █░█
█░█ 60Æs by the grandson of Hiram Bingham IV, a █░█
█░█ diplomat who performed heroic acts during WWII █░█
█░█ and the brother of the discoverer of Machu █░█
█░█ Picchu.) █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ The mental image is a head-shaker, to say the █░█
█░█ least. Here's a guy who worked with John Cale and █░█
█░█ once fronted 10 Minute Warning, a raging band █░█
█░█ that among its members included Duff McKagan ù █░█
█░█ fresh off the ultimate in balls-out rock and roll █░█
█░█ trips, Guns N' Roses. McKagan eventually bailed █░█
█░█ when Geffen started waving wads of cash and a █░█
█░█ solo career in his face, and Blue did what most █░█
█░█ guys in his position would have done: he got █░█
█░█ wasted and tried to put the pieces back together. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ What he did put together was Sensation Junkies, █░█
█░█ which Blue ruefully describes as ôa band that █░█
█░█ didn't exist.ö The recordings were well received, █░█
█░█ but the label sent him on the road as a solo act. █░█
█░█ ôI toured alone, playing first on bills,ö says █░█
█░█ Blue laughingly, ôand it was like Willie Nelson █░█
█░█ showing up to support Radiohead. I'd walk on █░█
█░█ stage, and people who came to see Sensation █░█
█░█ Junkies looked at me like 'who the hell are █░█
█░█ you?'...Well, I'm that guy! It's was a █░█
█░█ cringeworthy experience the labels like to call █░█
█░█ 'Profile Building,' he chuckles.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Then there was that little incident in Kansas, █░█
█░█ where Blue landed himself in the clink. ôIt was █░█
█░█ just like in the movies,ö he says. ôThe patrolman █░█
█░█ walked up to the van and called me 'son,' and a █░█
█░█ few minutes later I was in handcuffs. They don't █░█
█░█ like you driving around with a bunch of green █░█
█░█ stuff in the car. It seemed like a good time to █░█
█░█ move to Mendocino,ö Blue recalls. ôI became a █░█
█░█ vegan, and decided to take responsibility for █░█
█░█ myself and my health. No one else was going to █░█
█░█ take care of me.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Statements like that are what inform room tones █░█
█░█ with its poetic sense of painful lessons finally █░█
█░█ learned. Track after track play out like a █░█
█░█ journey, and each is a story rich with cinematic █░█
█░█ imagery. Whether Blue is walking down railroad █░█
█░█ tracks thinking about what was and what could be █░█
█░█ (ôSuch Loveö), looking for simplicity by ôTurning █░█
█░█ out the lights and letting the wheels spinö █░█
█░█ (ôEquanimityö), or seeing things in front of his █░█
█░█ face for the first time (ôAloneö), everything █░█
█░█ he's saying can be seen as well as heard. Lyrics █░█
█░█ play out against sparse piano, drums, and guitar █░█
█░█ effects that unfurl gloriously despite their █░█
█░█ resigned melancholy. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Although Blue may be happier now than in the █░█
█░█ past, room tones is far from a joyful sounding █░█
█░█ record. It is filled with paranoia, narcissism, █░█
█░█ remorse and ruminations on the human condition █░█
█░█ and manÆs place in the world. ôItÆs mellow but █░█
█░█ agitated,ö Blue asserts. ôItÆs still an unsettled █░█
█░█ record.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ For instance, although love is a common thread on █░█
█░█ the album, he focuses on the regrets. ôA lot of █░█
█░█ the lyrics are about squandering relationships █░█
█░█ with beautiful women,ö Blue reveals. ôItÆs about █░█
█░█ my inability to love without the fucking ugliness █░█
█░█ attached to it.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Rich with musical clarity and a new-found █░█
█░█ emotional language, Blue's new work calls to mind █░█
█░█ artists as diverse as Nick Drake and Joseph █░█
█░█ Arthur. Spareness provides a subtle backdrop for █░█
█░█ the thoughts of a man who has finally figured out █░█
█░█ what he wants, and realizes he has only himself █░█
█░█ to rely upon to get it. room tones is warm and █░█
█░█ simple in tone, but entirely complicated in █░█
█░█ thought and sentiment. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ The cinematic quality of room tones is something █░█
█░█ Blue credits to producer DC Cooper, a lifelong █░█
█░█ friend with experience in the film industry. ôDC █░█
█░█ heard what I had and asked if I could put it in █░█
█░█ his hands, because he had a vision of what I █░█
█░█ needed to become. I said 'hell yes!Æ áI was █░█
█░█ excited to be taken in a new direction. áWe █░█
█░█ worked on making the songs sound sexier, which is █░█
█░█ something I didn't know how to do with lyrics █░█
█░█ that were so personal. His idea was to simplify █░█
█░█ rather than complicate. It was recorded in three █░█
█░█ days, after I'd labored over the course of █░█
█░█ years.ö █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ ôIÆm really trying to redevelop my vocabulary,ö █░█
█░█ Blue offers, ôI want to steer away from the 20th █░█
█░█ century self loathing poetic irony. I feel like █░█
█░█ IÆve mastered the art of being down. IÆm just █░█
█░█ trying to grow past all that and do something █░█
█░█ honest and pure and unpretentious.ö █░█
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▄▀▀██ 1way AMOK BCC BUTT CMS EGO ██▀▀▄
▀▓█ ESC FNT FTD gF HiT2000 iTS █▓▀
▄▄ ▀▓█ JUST MTD NuHS pyt rH RNS SDR █▓▀ ▄▄
▓▓█████▓▄ SER soup SSR twee UKi WUS ▄▓█████▓▓
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▄ ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ASCii By AyL!cRO 2oo5 ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ▄
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