- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Hotel Eden
Album: A Way Back Home
Label: Solar Set Records
Playtime: 17:23 min
Genre: Rock
URL:
Rip date: 2009-06-06
Street date: 2009-05-23
Size: 23.28 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 177 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
ôI feel that his works make the viewer want to be part of them,ö Kelly Warner
says describing the work of Joseph Cornell, the withdrawn, New York City
assemblage artist whose work inspired the name of Warner's music project,
Hotel Eden. "Cornell was able to create elegant, compelling microcosms out
of found pieces arranged in small shadowboxes, luring you in and inviting
you to explore their tiny classrooms, galaxies or snowy forests he set in
motion with bits of wire, paper and cork.ö It is no wonder that Kelly was
drawn to this art, considering his own past: ôback in college when my friends
were out partying, I was in a basement apartment gluing bits of borrowed
drums and synths and voices and strings together to create what I hoped would
become magical little wonderlands of sound.ö And now with years of musical
exploration under his belt, the producer/songwriter offers an eclectic
collection of poetic, genrehopping songs for his first solo EP, A Way Back
Home. This Solar Set Records release vibrantly displays Hotel Eden's
ever-evolving vision that results in comparisons to Peter, Bjorn & John;
Feist; Kings of Convenience and Beck.
As a one-man production team, Kelly writes, sings, plays and records his
irreverent pop songs with a mix of vintage instruments and new technology in
his home studio. With a background of well worn white label electronica
releases, this DJ/beatmaker/multi-instrumentalist was also one half of the
visionary but now historic hip hop duo, The Lab Rats. Kelly and his Lab Rats
band-mate were loved in part for replacing samples with original music that
included beats, self-samples and live instrumentation. Song craft, live
performance, recording, studio production and stylistic experimentation were
just a few of the lessons Kelly learned in the lab. Moving through phases as
any artist does, he takes from the past, but now more fully realizes live
instrumentation in production and uses his own songwriting inspiration to
create Cornell-like havens of beauty, chaos and solace.
The EP opens with ôTell Me where You've Beenö a modern, airy, piano-centric
contemplation of time and the human condition. This track has already been
selected for Columbus Alive's (weekly arts and entertainment newspaper) 2009
compilation CD of best new music. ôA Way Back Home,ö track two and this EP's
title track, was motivated by a visit to the Pacific Coastline. Another side
of Kelly bursts out on ôHere,ö the release's most up-tempo, psych-infused
roller. The track delivers rockin' drums, a fuzzed out bass line, and
intense atmospherics juxtaposed with the track's spacey vocals. Track four,
ôThe Take Home,ö sinks deeply into the hero's empty pockets with possibly the
coolest bass line since Archie Bell and the Drells' funky R&B classic ôThe
Tighten Up.ö It's a song written from the perspective of a lamenting man
escaping his dreary life as a postmodern, factory-working dreamer. In
contrast, the closing ballad on this seminal EP is ôNever Go,ö an endearing
song desperately written to a lover. It's a beautiful recording that features
acoustic and pedal steel guitars, piano, and subtle percussion that brings a
soothing end to your first stay at Hotel Eden. The EP may be over, but you'll
want to check back in, press play, and never go.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Tell Me Where You've Been ( 3:43)
02. A Way Back Home ( 3:32)
03. Here ( 3:50)
04. The Take Home ( 3:24)
05. Never Go ( 2:54)
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