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CHRIS BROKAW & GEOFF FARINA
'THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE TO ME'
DAMNABLY |
| FORMAT |
 | Catalogue No: DAMNABLY003
Format: CD
Barcode: 0797734821420
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| TRACK
LISTINGS |
1. THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE TO ME
2. GINSENG BLUES
3. GUITAR CHIMES
4. IN THE EVENING
5. MAKE ME A PALLET ON YOUR FLOOR
6. OH DEATH
7. SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD
8. ST. JAMES INFIRMARY BLUES
9. STAGGER LEE
10. POOR WAYFARING STRANGER
11. NEVER HAPPEN NO MORE
12. TROUBLE IN MIND
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INFORMATION |
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NEW LABEL TO FORTE: What about this new album then?
“The Angel’s Message to Me” sees Chris Brokaw and Geoff
Farina teaming up for their first studio collaboration
as a duo. The album will be released on CD digipack in
the UK via DAMNABLY.
Who are they?
They are US post-punk / post-rock legends!
Chris Brokaw was a founding member of Codeine(Sub Pop),
the band that kicked off the Slowcore scene in the late
80’s. He left Codeine to form Come(Matador/Sub Pop) with
Thalia Zedek. He now drums in The New Year, and plays
guitar for Thurston Moore, Evan Dando and a wealth of
other high achieving acts. His recent solo LP
‘Incredible Love’ is a genuine lost classic – little
known, but loved by everyone who owns it.
Geoff Farina is best known for his 12 years with Karate
(Southern), a band whose early records were clearly
influenced by Brokaw’s Codeine. Farina’s charismatic
voice, and versatile guitar playing are also heard on a
number of excellent solo albums, and as one-half of
Secret Stars, the seminal early-90s duo that passed
around home-made cassettes of songs now covered by the
likes of Ida and Death Cab for Cutie. He now fronts
Glorytellers.
How did they get together?
Chris and Geoff met in the small Boston music scene,
when Geoff used to go see Codeine and Come play. They
once played in a band together called Back Knife Spot
way back in 1988. This is the first time the two have
made an album together, and they tour the UK this March.
Chris Brokaw: “A few years ago, Geoff and I were
approached by a midwest hardcore label and asked to do a
split LP. we asked them if it would be okay for us to do
a project together, instead, and they said that that was
fine. I invited Geoff over to my house to do some
playing - having no idea what we'd play; I had no new
songs at the time. Geoff walked into my bedroom, saw a
Blind Blake boxset on a shelf and said, "Do you listen
to that stuff?" I said "Yes, i do" and he said "That's
all I've been listening to lately". So we sat down and
played a few Blind Blake songs, and some Reverend Gary
Davis songs, and within half an hour we'd decided that
that's what this record should be.”
What does it sound like?
Brokaw and Farina bring their dry and smokey, low-key
singing, and their clear-as-a-bell virtuoso guitarplaying
to a series of North American, pre-WWII
classics. Taken from the blues, folk and ragtime
repertoire, most of these songs will be known to
anyone with an interest in American music. But its
unlikely that anyone has heard them played like this
for many years – clean and clear, spared of all hokeyfolkiness,
and with a handful of fresh details that
really allow them to breathe again, as if they’d only
been written yesterday. Farina’s jazzy, Europeaninflected
acoustic flourishes, and Brokaw’s dusty
country finger-picking are a perfect compliment to one
another, and ‘The Angel’s Message To Me’ is a soothing
tonic: a collection of songs written in one economic
recession, then beautifully resurrected and updated.
These songs will provide solace to troubled times and
minds all over again.
How did this record happen?
Chris Brokaw: “I think the only reason this thing
works is because of the chemistry of the playing
between Geoff and I, which has been easy and natural,
and I think totally unaffected. Many of the songs on
'The Angel's Message to Me" are very familiar
standards - not exactly obscure or deep cuts. If you
treat them naturally, they breathe with enormous life.
It's satisfying to me in new and unique ways.”
The album was recorded at Mark G’s (formerly of LIVE
SKULL) apartment in New York, and Geoff’s HEV-E-KREEM
studio. Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Recordings.
On tour at the end of March!
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| PRESS |
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| BBC: “He twists and turns in a narrow stylistic
corridor, pulling shapes that, ultimately, only
resemble Geoff Farina. There’s no real reason why the
indie overground couldn’t lap this up.”
Time Out London: “Chris Brokaw's heritage is so
impressive he should really have his own coat of
arms… ravaged but beautiful beyond belief, reflecting
both the dark, blues-strung grief of Come, and the
lean-lined, horizon-fixed heft of Codeine…”
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| RADIO |
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| OTHER MATERIAL |
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THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE TO ME |
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| Website produced by Spyre Media |
© Forte Music Distribution 2008 |
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