ARTiST : Ben Weaver
ALBUM : The Ax In The Oak
LABEL : Bloodshot Records
GENRE : Indie
RELEASE : 2008-09-03
STREET : 2008-08-12
ENCODER : LAME v3.97 -V2 --vbr-new
QUALiTY : 207kbps avg / 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo
SiZE : 67.63 MB
PLAYTiME : 00:45:31
+ TRACK LiSTiNG +
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[#] [Track Name] [Time]
1. White Snow 3:14
2. Red Red Fox 3:43
3. Soldier's War 4:26
4. Anything With Words 4:04
5. Pretty Girl 2:58
6. Hawks + Crows 3:15
7. Dead Bird 4:08
8. Said In Stones 3:06
9. Alligators + Owls 3:22
10. Hey Ray 6:19
11. Out Behind The House 4:27
12. The History Of Weather 2:29
45:31
+ RELEASE iNFORMATiON +
-----------------------
Tracks 9 and 12 were recorded the way they sound. A little strange,
but whatever works, right? Enjoy!
After years of chopping wood to keep his house warm, Ben Weaver has
left the ax in the oak. ItÆs a statement of confidence as well as an
artistic metaphor for Weaver, whose sixth studio album, The Ax in the
Oak, is his most realized and mature work to dateùthe culmination of
personal and musical growth for the 29 year old, and his time to enjoy
the fire heÆs stoked.
For the recording of The Ax in the Oak, Weaver traveled from the Twin
Cities where he is based, to ChicagoÆs Engine Studios where he teamed
up again with Brian Deck (Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse), the producer
with whom he worked with on his 2007 release Paper Sky. Drawn together
by mutual friends and a love for the shimmering, electronic pop of
Austrian-based musician Christian Fennesz, Weaver and Deck made a conscious
effort to take a more experimental approach to create the mise en scene
for WeaverÆs songs; Weaver came into the studio with only half of the basic
melodies and chord structures written for each song, and the duo took turns
going in and out of the live room working on each othersÆ previous idea.
Apropos to DeckÆs work with Califone, the result is an organic album
with electronic elements, thoughtfully complimenting WeaverÆs earth-honest
and indelicate delivery, while also not completely neglecting his folk-roots.
It also yielded WeaverÆs first instrumental composition (ôSaid in the Stonesö).
Joining Weaver and Deck in the studio were cellist Julia Kent (Antony and The
Johnsons), vocalist Erica Froman (Anathallo), and some of BenÆs friends: Will
Duncan (drums), Blake Sloan (bass), and Steve Reidell (bass, Hood Internet).
Ax was recorded in Chicago, but the writing took place in Berlin, where Weaver
bunked in a 4th floor courtyard apartment for several weeks during July 2007.
WeaverÆs approach to songwriting is not your typical verse-chorus-verse
arrangements, but rather little song-stories about birds, phone booths, empty
parking lots, strangers in the checkout line, plastic bags stuck in trees and
other things that may go unnoticed in lifeÆs overstuffed Wunderkammer. WeaverÆs
mood is double-edged; darkness and melancholy always live in close proximity to
a romantically hopeful and redeeming view of the human condition. His songwriting
took criticÆs notice on his selfreleased 2004 album, Stories Under Nails,
with accolades collected both in the US and abroad in The New York Times,
CBS Sunday Morning, Harp, Mojo, and Q Magazine.
http://www.benweaver.net