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CD
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TR 594CD
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$16.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 8/22/2025
Welcome to Bobby's Place, the new split personality album from long time musical mischief maker and cultural provocateur Bobby Conn! Side A finds Bobby living in a tent somewhere on the astral plane surrounded by synthesizers, woodwinds, hand drums and a pulsating psychedelic fog. Planet Earth and the temporal plane are only faintly visible in the distance. Bobby is joined by his partner in crime Monica BouBou on violin, and DJ LeDeuce on unknown electronics making three long form journeys through polyrhythmic soundscapes. Master percussionist Michael Zerang (Peter Brötzmann Tentet, among many others), virtuoso flautist Constance Volk (Ensemble Dal Niente, Twyla Tharp Dance), and bassoonist Airan Wright (Mucca Pazza) come along for the ride. While sonic exploration has always been an aspect of Bobby's music, this is his purest expression to date. Side One finds Bobby starring in an alternative reality workplace sitcom also called "Bobby's Place." In each episode Bobby starts a new small business, like a restaurant or a nail salon, with a team of puppets, but the business inevitably fails and ends in bankruptcy by the end of the show. Bobby sings odes to blind (emphasis on blind) optimism in the face of rising Fascism and the decadent decay of late capitalism, joined once again by Monica BouBou and his band from 2020's Recovery release (TR 450CD): Josh Johannpeter, Jim "Dallas" Cooper, Devin Davis, and Billie Howard. The album was recorded at Bobby's home studio in Chicago over the summer of 2024 and mixed by the brilliant Cooper Crain (Bitchin' Bajas). Bobby Conn is a vocalist, songwriter, and performance artist working in Chicago. He came out of the Chicago "No-Wave" noise and performance scene in the mid-90's but quickly developed a reputation for extravagantly excessive performances, satirically political lyrics, and experimental, electro glam art rock. He collaborates with his partner and violinist Monica BouBou, DJ and sound designer Adam "DJ LeDeuce" Greuel, longtime rhythm section Jim "Dallas" Cooper and Josh Johannpeter, as well as many talented players in the Chicago classical, jazz and improvisational scene. With Monica, he often performs as a minimalist electro duo with sequenced backing tracks, and also performs at larger events with his seven-piece Superband.
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LP
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TR 594LP
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$26.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 8/22/2025
LP version. Welcome to Bobby's Place, the new split personality album from long time musical mischief maker and cultural provocateur Bobby Conn! Side A finds Bobby living in a tent somewhere on the astral plane surrounded by synthesizers, woodwinds, hand drums and a pulsating psychedelic fog. Planet Earth and the temporal plane are only faintly visible in the distance. Bobby is joined by his partner in crime Monica BouBou on violin, and DJ LeDeuce on unknown electronics making three long form journeys through polyrhythmic soundscapes. Master percussionist Michael Zerang (Peter Brötzmann Tentet, among many others), virtuoso flautist Constance Volk (Ensemble Dal Niente, Twyla Tharp Dance), and bassoonist Airan Wright (Mucca Pazza) come along for the ride. While sonic exploration has always been an aspect of Bobby's music, this is his purest expression to date. Side One finds Bobby starring in an alternative reality workplace sitcom also called "Bobby's Place." In each episode Bobby starts a new small business, like a restaurant or a nail salon, with a team of puppets, but the business inevitably fails and ends in bankruptcy by the end of the show. Bobby sings odes to blind (emphasis on blind) optimism in the face of rising Fascism and the decadent decay of late capitalism, joined once again by Monica BouBou and his band from 2020's Recovery release (TR 450CD): Josh Johannpeter, Jim "Dallas" Cooper, Devin Davis, and Billie Howard. The album was recorded at Bobby's home studio in Chicago over the summer of 2024 and mixed by the brilliant Cooper Crain (Bitchin' Bajas). Bobby Conn is a vocalist, songwriter, and performance artist working in Chicago. He came out of the Chicago "No-Wave" noise and performance scene in the mid-90's but quickly developed a reputation for extravagantly excessive performances, satirically political lyrics, and experimental, electro glam art rock. He collaborates with his partner and violinist Monica BouBou, DJ and sound designer Adam "DJ LeDeuce" Greuel, longtime rhythm section Jim "Dallas" Cooper and Josh Johannpeter, as well as many talented players in the Chicago classical, jazz and improvisational scene. With Monica, he often performs as a minimalist electro duo with sequenced backing tracks, and also performs at larger events with his seven-piece Superband.
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CD
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TR 450CD
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Bobby Conn on Recovery: "What's the point of recovery if we were never really healthy to begin with? I started working on this record about four years ago, thinking of the American obsession with self-help, self-care, and self-empowerment as a cruel and cheap substitute for helping each other. It's a concept that rewards those that have the money to help themselves, and blames those that don't for not trying hard enough. Then there were some elections. Now there is a narrative of 'recovering' our stronger, bolder, racially pure, cultural and economic glory days. And then some of my friends started getting sick, or dying or committed suicide . . . I was really into 10cc, J Dilla, Liaisons Dangereuses, Jean-Claude Vannier, Anna Meredith, Slade, D'Angelo, etc. when writing this record, but I'm sure you can hear it for yourself. Musically, this is a collaboration with my partner Monica BouBou on violin and vocals and our super-band of drummer Josh Johannpeter, bassist Jim 'Dallas' Cooper, keyboardist and string player Billie Howard, guitarist Devin Davis, and longtime sound artist DJ LeDeuce. We recorded it over many months in a basement. There is a cameo by synth genius Felix Kubin on 'Brother'. Mixed by the brilliant Tobias Levin and Hannes Plattmeier in Hamburg, Germany. Some notes on each tune: 'Recovery' -- the never-ending journey and an addiction unto itself. 'Disposable Future' -- amazing new technology gives us unlimited choice delivered through devices we cannot control; is this what we were dreaming of? 'Good Old Days' -- nostalgia for the lies of old white men will kill us all. 'No Grownups' -- from the perspective of a teenager trapped in a world where all the adults are self-deluded, irresponsible narcissists in terrible clothes. 'Brother' -- it's easy to ignore the suffering that surrounds us everyday. 'On The Nose' -- grandpa's racism now rebranded as edgy rebellion for the internet generation. 'Bijou' -- an ode to a recently closed gay porn theatre in Chicago that was part of the struggle for sexual liberty. 'Disaster' -- our masters imagine themselves as heroes when the mob storms the gates and burns the palace to the ground. 'Young Man's Game' -- you can't play the same game forever. 'Always Already' -- a misreading of Derrida, Marx and Foucault turned into a nihilist anthem. With apologies to Lionel Richie."
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LP
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TR 450LP
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LP version. Bobby Conn on Recovery: "What's the point of recovery if we were never really healthy to begin with? I started working on this record about four years ago, thinking of the American obsession with self-help, self-care, and self-empowerment as a cruel and cheap substitute for helping each other. It's a concept that rewards those that have the money to help themselves, and blames those that don't for not trying hard enough. Then there were some elections. Now there is a narrative of 'recovering' our stronger, bolder, racially pure, cultural and economic glory days. And then some of my friends started getting sick, or dying or committed suicide . . . I was really into 10cc, J Dilla, Liaisons Dangereuses, Jean-Claude Vannier, Anna Meredith, Slade, D'Angelo, etc. when writing this record, but I'm sure you can hear it for yourself. Musically, this is a collaboration with my partner Monica BouBou on violin and vocals and our super-band of drummer Josh Johannpeter, bassist Jim 'Dallas' Cooper, keyboardist and string player Billie Howard, guitarist Devin Davis, and longtime sound artist DJ LeDeuce. We recorded it over many months in a basement. There is a cameo by synth genius Felix Kubin on 'Brother'. Mixed by the brilliant Tobias Levin and Hannes Plattmeier in Hamburg, Germany. Some notes on each tune: 'Recovery' -- the never-ending journey and an addiction unto itself. 'Disposable Future' -- amazing new technology gives us unlimited choice delivered through devices we cannot control; is this what we were dreaming of? 'Good Old Days' -- nostalgia for the lies of old white men will kill us all. 'No Grownups' -- from the perspective of a teenager trapped in a world where all the adults are self-deluded, irresponsible narcissists in terrible clothes. 'Brother' -- it's easy to ignore the suffering that surrounds us everyday. 'On The Nose' -- grandpa's racism now rebranded as edgy rebellion for the internet generation. 'Bijou' -- an ode to a recently closed gay porn theatre in Chicago that was part of the struggle for sexual liberty. 'Disaster' -- our masters imagine themselves as heroes when the mob storms the gates and burns the palace to the ground. 'Young Man's Game' -- you can't play the same game forever. 'Always Already' -- a misreading of Derrida, Marx and Foucault turned into a nihilist anthem. With apologies to Lionel Richie."
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CD
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THR 012.23CD
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"In a move designed to further Bobby's recent success, Thrill Jockey presents 5 interpretations of the global hit song 'Winners'. In addition to the album version, Tortoise's John McEntire turns this pop gem into a rumbling no-wave engine. Hot Detroit electro duo Adult. get the kids on the dancefloor with their 'losers mix', Mr. Pot Bear emphasizes the tune's magnificent horn arrangement and upstart Chicago techno-maven Magas strips the tune down to its raw essence. There are winners and losers, and Mr. Conn certainly falls into the former category."
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