ARTIST: Frankel
TITLE: Lullaby For The Passersby
LABEL: Red Rockets Glare
GENRE: Indie
TIME: 43:02 min
SIZE: 49,9 MB
RIP DATE: May-22-2007
RELEASE DATE: Jun-12-2007
WEBSITE: n/a
Track List:
01. Thermostat 03:50
02. Tooth Decay 02:28
03. Dressed In Uniform 03:01
04. X Marks The Spot 02:52
05. New Authority 03:48
06. Found Out 04:48
07. Previous Life 03:41
08. Red Part of Town 03:43
09. Lullaby 04:20
10. Curtain Calls 02:28
11. Becoming You 08:03
Release Notes:
Who or what is a Frankel? Michael Orendy, the
singer-songwriter behind the indie recording
project, reveals that the name came from a fearsome
piece of orthodontia that he had to wear as a child,
"a giant retainer that filled your whole mouth -
huge, kind of like what a boxer wears in the ring."
Despite the trauma that it caused, Orendy embraced
the term as his musical moniker. Frankel is a
strangely fitting choice, for Orendy's music finds
the the good in life's little slights. He mines
sadness and yearning to create lilting, sun-drenched
melodies that are sweet and bitter at the same time.
A Los Angeles native, Orendy grew up steeped in the
music of Southern California, from the Byrds to
Beachwood Sparks, and you can almost hear the
deserts, canyons and the chaparral in his songs. His
first musical instrument was a little-used organ in
his parent's living room. Too small to reach the
pedals, he remembers lying on the floor to hit the
bass pedal, perhaps inspiring his later embrace of
the bass guitar, Orendy's primary instrument when he
played with the noise-pop quartet Meow Meow (Devil
in the Woods). However, Orendy is a true
multi-instrumentalist who played every instrument on
his debut EP, Chatterbox (Three Ring) and - except
where drummer Norm Block and banjo/ukulele player
Kirk Hellie lent a hand - all of the instruments on
his latest record, Lullaby for the Passersby (Red
Rockets Glare).
For Lullaby for the Passersby, Orendy aimed to
replicate the intimate feel of his previous record,
but with a little more polish. A chance meeting with
Raymond Richards, the owner of L.A. recording studio
Red Rockets Glare, led to a recording collaboration
that added some high fidelity to Orendy's lo-fi
sound. Although Lullaby's core remains Orendy's
straightforward piano and acoustic guitar
arrangements and tight vocal harmonies, Orendy also
layers the album with some unexpected instruments,
from theremins to the Twirly Whirly, a children's
toy that Orendy says "sounds cool when you swing it
above your head."
Despite employing some quirky "bells and whistles,"
Orendy's focus remains squarely on songwriting, to
which he says he takes a "very traditional
approach," much like his influences, which range
from Harry Nilsson and The Beatles to Elliot Smith
and Jon Brion. Like those artists, Orendy mixes
catchy pop melodies with dreamy arrangements and
dark, incisive lyrics, like "run faster than your
skin can crawl." Orendy completed Lullaby for the
Passerby in early 2007, and as with Chatterbox, he
didn't have to look far to find a label. During
recording, Richards had become so enamored of
Frankel's songs that he offered to make Lullaby the
debut release on his new label, also titled Red
Rockets Glare. After mixing by Aaron Espinoza of
Earlimart and mastering by Dave Trumfio (Wilco,
Grandaddy, Built to Spill), the album is now ready
for release on June 12, 2007.