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GY13 004LP
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"Peter Jefferies, a living legend of New Zealand underground music, from his seminal bands Nocturnal Projections and This Kind Of Punishment, to his collaborative efforts in bands such as Plagal Grind and Two Foot Flame, is perhaps best known for his solo work on masterpieces such as The Last Great Challenge In A Dull World (1990) and Electricity (1994), as well as Elevator Madness (1996). All of these albums came out on vinyl but one of the best was the singular Closed Circuit (2001) which, unfortunately, only came out on compact disc and was somewhat lost to time until now. After Grapefruit released his collection of singles and unreleased songs called Last Ticket Home in 2019, Jefferies mentioned he'd always hoped one of his personal favorite solo albums could someday be heard on vinyl as it was intended. Grapefruit is proud to finally be able to highlight Jefferies' last album of lyric-based songs by releasing Closed Circuit on vinyl, remastered and with new artwork and insert. This album features all of Jefferies' signature tense and dark, piano-driven rock and moody balladry, along with themes of personal isolation and domestic ambivalence. It's a tour-de-force that has remained in the dark too long."
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2LP
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GY12 006LP
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"Camera Melancholia is a double album of instrumental music inspired by and dedicated to Kerry McCarthy (1967-2021) who was Montgomery's partner for twenty years and the mother of two children they had together. She died from cancer in early 2021 after first being diagnosed in 2014. McCarthy was a professional curator in the area of pictorial collections, particularly around photographic material, and her PhD used the work of Roland Barthes to theorize about the legacies of images associated with Antarctic exploration in the early 20th Century. The cover art for Camera Melancholia was provided by Ronnie van Hout, an Aotearoa New Zealand artist associated with the earliest graphic design work for Flying Nun Records. Van Hout was also a very close and long-standing friend of McCarthy. The gatefold album includes the text for ten poems written for and about McCarthy."
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GY12 005LP
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"Neutral's 2014 first LP, Grå Våg Gamlestaden, is widely considered ground zero for the explosion of creativity that has transpired in the Swedish Underground ever since. It is the noisy experimental rock album that opened the door and welcomed in so many artists working behind the scenes. Gothenburgers Dan Johansson (Sewer Election) and Sofie Herner had previously made music together in the band Källarbarnen when they started discussing a new methodology and a fresh sound for recordings under a new name as a duo. Grapefruit was proud to reissue that first LP in 2021 and they are equally excited to follow up that sold-out release with two more important Neutral releases, the self-titled sophomore LP from 2016 in a gatefold sleeve and the När mini album EP from 2017 which was originally limited to 300 copies. Grapefruit's reissue of the När mini album and the second LP is the first time these have been reissued. Both are limited to 400 copies."
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GY12 004LP
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"Neutral's 2014 first LP, Grå Våg Gamlestaden, is widely considered ground zero for the explosion of creativity that has transpired in the Swedish Underground ever since. It is the noisy experimental rock album that opened the door and welcomed in so many artists working behind the scenes. Gothenburgers Dan Johansson (Sewer Election) and Sofie Herner had previously made music together in the band Källarbarnen when they started discussing a new methodology and a fresh sound for recordings under a new name as a duo. Grapefruit was proud to reissue that first LP in 2021 and they are equally excited to follow up that sold-out release with two more important Neutral releases, the self-titled sophomore LP from 2016 in a gatefold sleeve and the När mini album EP from 2017 which was originally limited to 300 copies. Grapefruit's reissue of the När mini album and the second LP is the first time these have been reissued. Both are limited to 400 copies."
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CD
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GY12 001CD
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"Artists are not athletes. The career of the athlete is, by mortal necessity, compressed and brief. No one expects to see a professional slugger in their sixties out on the diamond, much less see them vying for a pennant. Artists, on the other hand, tend to age like wine -- think Dylan, Cohen, and Cash -- with the most rarefied among them capable of swinging for the fences with every at bat. Omaha singer-songwriter Simon Joyner, who recently turned fifty, is such an artist, and while I'd certainly enjoy seeing his face grinning at me from a box of Wheaties, I'd rather he continue making albums like Songs From A Stolen Guitar. Songs From A Stolen Guitar was recorded across several different cities. Joyner recorded his vocals and guitar live in Omaha; bassist Wil Hendrix added his parts at home in San Francisco, Michael Krassner recorded his guitar and piano overdubs at home in Phoenix, and drummer/percussionist Ryan Jewell recorded in Colorado. This musical chain letter then made its way back to Omaha where David Nance (guitars and backing vocals), Ben Brodin (organ and vibraphone), and Megan Siebe (viola and backing vocals) overdubbed -- separately -- their respective contributions The remoteness of the individual players on Songs From A Stolen Guitar, while necessarily eliminating some of the ragged spontaneity of much of Joyner's previous work, yields a sort of silver-lining effect: Joyner's songs, produced more meticulously and perhaps more intentionally here than on any of his previous albums, cut through that much cleaner, foregrounding both his dazzling wordplay and his clarity of vision. If Ghosts [2012] was his Tonight's The Night -- clamorous, naked, and unmoored -- Songs From A Stolen Guitar may just turn out to be his Harvest." --James Jackson Toth aka Wooden Wand
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GY12 002LP
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"Caroline No's third album was built around a set of songs I was writing in the summer of 2019. I built the songs around real events, but looped these narratives into stories from song histories. The result is like an intersection of Brill Building characters such as Carole King and Neil Sedaka with the bedroom fanaticism of historical music projects like Virgin Insanity. After a year of playing the songs live in various formations, we aimed to record in the Australian summer. We knew Jim [White] (Dirty Three, Crime & The City Solution, Venom P. Stinger, etc.) was going to be in Melbourne, and soon after he arrived in Australia, we met at Mick [Turner]'s (Dirty Three, Venom P. Stinger, etc.) studio. Nick [Imfeld] and Mick engineered, with Ian [Wadley] (Small World Experience, Mad Nanna, etc.) on bass, Jim on drums, Mick, Dee [Hannah] and me [Caroline Kennedy] on guitars, and Dee and me singing. The sense of intuitive knowledge and performance was exhilarating as we played. We spent two days in the studio, and when we listened back later, it seemed a compelling representation of what had happened, captured live. 'The band on this album are artists I grew up with. We were friends first, and engaging with the material, there was no formal structure to follow. Our interpretive approach meant the songs grew from simple structural frames and narrative poetics into full sonic landscapes, engaging across pop, folk, psychedelia and improvisation. Caroline No became -- for this iteration -- a shifting sonic space tied to intimacy, musical conversation and relationship, expressed in an open improvisatory way. The sound of the record is the result of trust, responsiveness and mutual knowledge. The name Caroline No was an imaginary character through much of the work, arising from the Beach Boys' melancholic paean to encountering a past lover who has cut her hair off. My idea was for Caroline No to become the locus for an ongoing composition project where I would write back into songs' history the perspective of patriarchal song's subjects. This is a recuperative project of easeful making; attempting reclamations of lost narratives, exploring love, loss and the psychedelic of the everyday." --Caroline Kennedy
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GY11 004CD
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"Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he has managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021, which can be purchased individually or via subscription. For his fourth album, appropriately named Audiotherapy, Montgomery builds his compositions from the subconscious, breaking down form and inviting in new techniques. 'Audioramble' features call-and-response singing between him, Emma Johnston and Arnie Van Bussel, both of whom act as a Greek chorus to Montgomery's reflections. 'Occlusione' sets a sturdy musical bed under Maria Eleanora C Mollard's whispered spoken word, like a voice in one's head that risks getting drowned out in the noise. For the sublime 'Audiotransport', guitars shimmer up the sides and weave through one another, reconciling the inner voices of doubt and worry into a meditation on the beauty of existence. The last track, 'Imperfect Intense', builds on disbalance as Johnston's vocals meet Montgomery's in broken harmony; both singers move at their own pace despite the other, embodying how uncertainty lies at the heart of how we live. Audiotherapy is the most intuitive and experimental entry of Roy Montgomery's 2021 (and--cough--2022) releases, closing out the series with introspection and transcendence."
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GY11 004LP
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LP version. "Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he has managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021, which can be purchased individually or via subscription. For his fourth album, appropriately named Audiotherapy, Montgomery builds his compositions from the subconscious, breaking down form and inviting in new techniques. 'Audioramble' features call-and-response singing between him, Emma Johnston and Arnie Van Bussel, both of whom act as a Greek chorus to Montgomery's reflections. 'Occlusione' sets a sturdy musical bed under Maria Eleanora C Mollard's whispered spoken word, like a voice in one's head that risks getting drowned out in the noise. For the sublime 'Audiotransport', guitars shimmer up the sides and weave through one another, reconciling the inner voices of doubt and worry into a meditation on the beauty of existence. The last track, 'Imperfect Intense', builds on disbalance as Johnston's vocals meet Montgomery's in broken harmony; both singers move at their own pace despite the other, embodying how uncertainty lies at the heart of how we live. Audiotherapy is the most intuitive and experimental entry of Roy Montgomery's 2021 (and--cough--2022) releases, closing out the series with introspection and transcendence."
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GY11 003CD
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"Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021, which can be purchased individually or via subscription. The third release of the series, Rhymes Of Chance, is the darkest entry of the four. Songs sound particularly spacious and minimal, with two tracks centering forlorn melodies around trusty collaborator Emma Johnston's singing and two others sung by Montgomery himself. While Side A presents the six-part 'Rhymes Of Chance' suite, Side B's 'Aspiratory' holds a clue to Montgomery's approach on this record; a floating dirge stretches time, much in the manner Mark Hollis (to whom the song is dedicated) approached music."
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GY11 003LP
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LP version. "Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021, which can be purchased individually or via subscription. The third release of the series, Rhymes Of Chance, is the darkest entry of the four. Songs sound particularly spacious and minimal, with two tracks centering forlorn melodies around trusty collaborator Emma Johnston's singing and two others sung by Montgomery himself. While Side A presents the six-part 'Rhymes Of Chance' suite, Side B's 'Aspiratory' holds a clue to Montgomery's approach on this record; a floating dirge stretches time, much in the manner Mark Hollis (to whom the song is dedicated) approached music."
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GY11 008LP
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"Megan Siebe is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and arranger from Omaha, Nebraska. She's cut her teeth as a member of bands such as Simon Joyner & the Ghosts, The David Nance Group, Cursive, Sean Pratt & the Sweats, The Jim Schroeder Sextet, and many others, touring nearly non-stop for the last decade. She's also written string arrangements for albums by Refrigerator, John Davis, the Renderers, Dennis Callaci, L. Eugene Methe, Justin Townes Earle, and Anna McClellan. But all the while she was writing her own intimate, finely-crafted songs in secret, only breaking them out around the occasional Nebraska campfire amongst friends. A break from touring in other bands these last fifteen months has allowed Siebe more time to focus on a powerful cycle of songs she's had brewing for some time. Grapefruit and Shrimper are proud to join forces to release Megan's humble yet astonishing debut. Swaying Steady is a gorgeous collection of literate and evocative singer-songwriter, country-tinged, melancholy pop songs about relationships in crisis, bad seeds, family, and emotional endurance. For fans of Lucinda Williams, Harry Nilsson, Elyse Weinberg, Nick Drake, and Sibylle Baier."
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GY11 002CD
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"Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021. The first installment, Island Of Lost Souls, arrived to great acclaim in January. The second and latest album, That Best Forgotten Work, features Montgomery's rare, brooding vocals across nine gorgeous tracks recorded from his home in Christchurch, New Zealand. That Best Forgotten Work follows the intense, all-instrumental Island Of Lost Souls. It departs in spirit with darkly buoyant variations on popular songs, including two highly anticipated covers of legendary songs by The Carpenters ('Superstar') and Tim Buckley ('Song To The Siren'). Montgomery shows the listener that these influences aren't such strange bedfellows after all; one need only listen closely. Where some might be inclined to relax and lean into their legacy at this stage in a sprawling career, Montgomery's new music continues to seek and challenge. His compositions are beautiful as well as disconcerting, and often speak to precarity and dread. That Best Forgotten Work is a title with tongue planted firmly in cheek, alluding to the artist's position of enjoying a peculiar bit of fame in relative obscurity. But listening to his dry wit and rich voice, one will find it isn't easily forgotten."
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LP
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GY11 002LP
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LP version. "Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021. The first installment, Island Of Lost Souls, arrived to great acclaim in January. The second and latest album, That Best Forgotten Work, features Montgomery's rare, brooding vocals across nine gorgeous tracks recorded from his home in Christchurch, New Zealand. That Best Forgotten Work follows the intense, all-instrumental Island Of Lost Souls. It departs in spirit with darkly buoyant variations on popular songs, including two highly anticipated covers of legendary songs by The Carpenters ('Superstar') and Tim Buckley ('Song To The Siren'). Montgomery shows the listener that these influences aren't such strange bedfellows after all; one need only listen closely. Where some might be inclined to relax and lean into their legacy at this stage in a sprawling career, Montgomery's new music continues to seek and challenge. His compositions are beautiful as well as disconcerting, and often speak to precarity and dread. That Best Forgotten Work is a title with tongue planted firmly in cheek, alluding to the artist's position of enjoying a peculiar bit of fame in relative obscurity. But listening to his dry wit and rich voice, one will find it isn't easily forgotten."
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2LP
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GY10 003LP
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2021 restock. "NYC's 75 Dollar Bill began its prolific career in 2012, after percussionist Rick Brown -- a veteran of the indie underground (Fish & Roses, Run On, V-Effect) -- and noise scene guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Che Chen -- connected via MySpace. Since that initial jam session, when Brown began experimenting with his signature plywood crate drum rhythms, they have released three LPs and a clutch of self-released cassette and digital releases. Last year's double album I Was Real received serious critical acclaim -- The Wire calling it 2019's Album of the Year. On their first live album, Live At Tubby's, 75 Dollar Bill assembled a unique 'little big band' [Sue Garner on bass, Cheryl Kingan on sax, Steve Maing on guitar, Jim Pugliese on percussion and Karen Waltuch on viola] for the small Kingston, NY club show. Recorded on the last day of their spring tour, the record puts a new perspective on themes from their body of work: a little more intimacy, a little more freedom, a little more controlled chaos. Brown's idiosyncratic rhythms are all the more hypnotizing in Tubby's cozy setting, and Chen's furious guitar work cuts and hums with sounds seemingly only attainable on stage. It's an album both challenging and immediate. The expanded 75 Dollar Bill's affinity for improvisation and the avant-garde even leads to a rousing take on the Ornette Coleman classic, 'Friends And Neighbors' that feels right at home in their own repertoire. The listener can't help but feel present and part of the communal joy and catharsis being shared here in this room. This performance at Tubby's turned out not only to be the last show of their tour, but the last show possible as the pandemic hit. Originally offered as a digital only release on 75 Dollar Bill's Bandcamp, Live At Tubby's now documents a highlight and closure of sorts; this kind of musical improvisation and community interaction being on hold for the foreseeable future. This double album on Grapefruit will have to tide everyone over until it can all happen again."
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GY11 001CD
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"Island Of Lost Souls is the first of four new albums by Roy Montgomery coming out in 2021 to commemorate Montgomery's forty years in music. His debut release was also Flying Nun's first, the Pin Group 7-inch from 1981. Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest album for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. Island Of Lost Souls follows his acclaimed 2018 LP Suffuse -- novel departure in which he consigned all vocal duties to ambient/experimental peers Liz Harris (of Grouper), Julianna Barwick, Purple Pilgrims, Haley Fohr (of Circuit des Yeux), Katie von Schleicher, and She Keeps Bees. But the veteran evolves again. On this release Montgomery creates resounding, aerial compositions for guitar. Where some might be inclined to relax and lean into their legacy at this stage in a sprawling career, Montgomery's new music continues to seek and challenge, moving like the eye of a storm. This latest album cries out like a chorus, though there are no vocals on the record. Its tracklist instead builds upon the lonesome and polyphonic dimensions of guitar in order to express universal feelings of communion and isolation, resisting conclusion but never resorting to fatalism. Life is all about navigating these contradictions and everyone is with Montgomery on this island whether they'd like to admit it or not. Here, the artist has created a work of wisdom and grit, a searing beauty, a new masterpiece for an uncertain and restless time."
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GY11 001LP
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LP version. "Island Of Lost Souls is the first of four new albums by Roy Montgomery coming out in 2021 to commemorate Montgomery's forty years in music. His debut release was also Flying Nun's first, the Pin Group 7-inch from 1981. Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest album for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. Island Of Lost Souls follows his acclaimed 2018 LP Suffuse -- novel departure in which he consigned all vocal duties to ambient/experimental peers Liz Harris (of Grouper), Julianna Barwick, Purple Pilgrims, Haley Fohr (of Circuit des Yeux), Katie von Schleicher, and She Keeps Bees. But the veteran evolves again. On this release Montgomery creates resounding, aerial compositions for guitar. Where some might be inclined to relax and lean into their legacy at this stage in a sprawling career, Montgomery's new music continues to seek and challenge, moving like the eye of a storm. This latest album cries out like a chorus, though there are no vocals on the record. Its tracklist instead builds upon the lonesome and polyphonic dimensions of guitar in order to express universal feelings of communion and isolation, resisting conclusion but never resorting to fatalism. Life is all about navigating these contradictions and everyone is with Montgomery on this island whether they'd like to admit it or not. Here, the artist has created a work of wisdom and grit, a searing beauty, a new masterpiece for an uncertain and restless time."
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GY9 005LP
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"Enhet För Fri Musik is a free-folk and experimental music collective formed in 2015 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The band features assorted members of the current Swedish underground from bands like Neutral, Makthaverskan, Arv & Miljö, and Blod. A local scene supergroup, the band also runs the labels Förlag För Fri Musik and the Omlott imprint to document their own releases as well as the fertile underground scene surrounding them (much like the Xpressway label founded by artists Bruce Russell, Peter Jefferies, and Alastair Galbraith showcased the early experimental music scene in Dunedin, New Zealand in the late '80s and early '90s). Enhet För Fri Musik is the natural extension of a rich lineage going back to legendary Swedish bands from the '70s, such as Pärson Sound, Trad Gras Och Stenar, International Harvester, and Arbete Och Fritid, whose music pushed boundaries and chose artistic innovation over any commercial concerns. Det Finns Ett Hjärta Som För Dig is the band's fifth release and it's a unique masterpiece. The mysteriously hypnotic album, released in July of 2017 in an extremely limited pressing of 300, sold out quickly without receiving distribution to greater Europe or the United States. The atmospheric record features atonal guitar, organ, tape effects, saxophone, and field recordings, in experimental song constructions that defy genre, moving like a river might through different environments, taking and leaving things as it moves, and coalescing around Sofie Herner's haunting vocals. Grapefruit is extremely proud to be reissuing this rare thing of beauty in a deluxe gatefold jacket and original artwork provided by the band."
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GY9 004CD
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"'Singer-songwriter' is a frustratingly confining term; to truly understand exactly just how confining, look no further than the recorded works of Simon Joyner, an artist whose work consistently transcends the narrow parameters of genre classifications and record shop bin cards. Though his music has always honored, reckoned with -- wrestled with -- the tradition set forth by his songwriting forebears (Cohen, Van Zandt, Ochs, Dylan, Reed to name a few), Joyner can always be counted on to defy expectations; as a lyricist, melodicist, and arranger, Joyner likes to keep us on our toes. For his new album Pocket Moon, Joyner opted to engage in a risky artistic challenge. Instead of leaning on his fertile pool of Omaha musicians (the amorphous Ghosts band), he asked friend and frequent collaborator Michael Krassner to assemble unknown players on his behalf specifically for this recording. He then traveled from his home base to Krassner's '7-Track Shack' studio in Phoenix to record the album, abandoning the literal and figurative comfort zone of old habits and home field advantage. Simultaneously sparser and more immediate than 2017's obliquely topical Step Into The Earthquake, Pocket Moon is instantly one of Joyner's finest albums since his redoubtable 2012 double album masterpiece, Ghosts, or to some ears the excellent, sonic 180 he managed with his follow-up, Grass, Branch & Bone. Krassner's wrecking crew is sturdy, versatile, and complementary. Utilizing a wide range of instruments and textures, the band contributes additional nuance to each of the ragged, sublime songs here. The result is another song cycle stylistically unified, dynamic and rich." --James Jackson Toth
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GY9 004LP
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LP version. "'Singer-songwriter' is a frustratingly confining term; to truly understand exactly just how confining, look no further than the recorded works of Simon Joyner, an artist whose work consistently transcends the narrow parameters of genre classifications and record shop bin cards. Though his music has always honored, reckoned with -- wrestled with -- the tradition set forth by his songwriting forebears (Cohen, Van Zandt, Ochs, Dylan, Reed to name a few), Joyner can always be counted on to defy expectations; as a lyricist, melodicist, and arranger, Joyner likes to keep us on our toes. For his new album Pocket Moon, Joyner opted to engage in a risky artistic challenge. Instead of leaning on his fertile pool of Omaha musicians (the amorphous Ghosts band), he asked friend and frequent collaborator Michael Krassner to assemble unknown players on his behalf specifically for this recording. He then traveled from his home base to Krassner's '7-Track Shack' studio in Phoenix to record the album, abandoning the literal and figurative comfort zone of old habits and home field advantage. Simultaneously sparser and more immediate than 2017's obliquely topical Step Into The Earthquake, Pocket Moon is instantly one of Joyner's finest albums since his redoubtable 2012 double album masterpiece, Ghosts, or to some ears the excellent, sonic 180 he managed with his follow-up, Grass, Branch & Bone. Krassner's wrecking crew is sturdy, versatile, and complementary. Utilizing a wide range of instruments and textures, the band contributes additional nuance to each of the ragged, sublime songs here. The result is another song cycle stylistically unified, dynamic and rich.' --James Jackson Toth"
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GY9 001LP
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"Peter Jefferies, a living legend of New Zealand underground music, from his seminal bands Nocturnal Projections and This Kind Of Punishment, to his collaborative efforts in bands such as Plagal Grind and Two Foot Flame, is perhaps best known for his solo work on masterpieces such as The Last Great Challenge In A Dull World (1990) and Electricity (1994), as well as numerous other albums of his singular songcraft. Grapefruit is proud to be releasing Jefferies' latest, Last Ticket Home, which leaves the station early in his career when The Last Great Challenge In A Dull World left off and takes us on a guided tour of a fascinating side street via rare singles, both released and unreleased, radical live interpretations, and a wealth of never released material dating from 1991-2019. Last Ticket Home redefines Jefferies' artistic journey, giving us a song cycle narrative which scorches, blisters and eventually heals on its relentless, ragged way home."
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GY8 001CD
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"Despite praise and acclaim throughout his career, Roy Montgomery hates his singing. From his point of view, it's done out of necessity, when he doesn't have anyone else around to substitute. Roughly one quarter of Montgomery's epic multi-album 2016 release R M H Q had his singing, and those are his least favorite tracks. Grapefruit has done the best they can to argue that his basso undertones are the center of his appeal throughout his entire body of work, from the first The Pin Group single on Flying Nun in 1981, through his work in Dadamah, Dissolve and on to his legendary '90s solo releases. However, is it a surprise he jumped at the idea of composing an album for other vocalists. This began as a series of alternate takes of the material on Tropic Of Anodyne, the tracks with vocals off his last release. That concept morphed into assembling vocalists to sing on new songs, and he conceived instrumental material that would fit each singer. Half of the songs came together, resulting in Suffuse. The album charts a slow progression from those who share similarities with Montgomery's rumbling vocal technique to those who come at singing differently, with minute contrasts throughout. Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux) and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees) bring the first two tracks, with Katie Von Schleicher following with a raw expression of emotional loss, and the sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon (Purple Pilgrims) expressing emptiness by stripping away words, weaving their voices together through Montgomery's elastic webbing. Julianna Barwick adds drive and nuance to the foamy sonic waves of 'Sigma Octantis,' as 'Landfall' crashes in slow motion chaos over Liz Harris's (Grouper) multi-tracked layers. These compositions generously embrace their guest leaders, and for the first time in his career, Roy Montgomery has made a cogent artistic argument as to why he shouldn't be singing these songs himself."
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GY8 001LP
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LP version. "Despite praise and acclaim throughout his career, Roy Montgomery hates his singing. From his point of view, it's done out of necessity, when he doesn't have anyone else around to substitute. Roughly one quarter of Montgomery's epic multi-album 2016 release R M H Q had his singing, and those are his least favorite tracks. Grapefruit has done the best they can to argue that his basso undertones are the center of his appeal throughout his entire body of work, from the first The Pin Group single on Flying Nun in 1981, through his work in Dadamah, Dissolve and on to his legendary '90s solo releases. However, is it a surprise he jumped at the idea of composing an album for other vocalists. This began as a series of alternate takes of the material on Tropic Of Anodyne, the tracks with vocals off his last release. That concept morphed into assembling vocalists to sing on new songs, and he conceived instrumental material that would fit each singer. Half of the songs came together, resulting in Suffuse. The album charts a slow progression from those who share similarities with Montgomery's rumbling vocal technique to those who come at singing differently, with minute contrasts throughout. Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux) and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees) bring the first two tracks, with Katie Von Schleicher following with a raw expression of emotional loss, and the sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon (Purple Pilgrims) expressing emptiness by stripping away words, weaving their voices together through Montgomery's elastic webbing. Julianna Barwick adds drive and nuance to the foamy sonic waves of 'Sigma Octantis,' as 'Landfall' crashes in slow motion chaos over Liz Harris's (Grouper) multi-tracked layers. These compositions generously embrace their guest leaders, and for the first time in his career, Roy Montgomery has made a cogent artistic argument as to why he shouldn't be singing these songs himself."
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LP+CD
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GY7 003LP
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"In 1971, at the age of 25, Pat Ament self-released his debut album, Songs By Pat Ament, in a very limited run for friends and local shops. The album is sparse and moody, conjuring a space not unlike the one that Songs Of Leonard Cohen occupies, featuring Ament on Wurlitzer with a jazz drummer and a guitarist alternating between acoustic and electric. It's dark and at times forlorn, with meditations on yearning and loss and love. It's ideal long-night-of-the-soul music. The lyricism evokes Dylan, Cohen, Tim Hardin and Bill Fay. When he released Songs, Ament was already a world renowned mountain climber, and he became famous for pioneering '60s and '70s ascents in Colorado and Yosemite. He wrote poetic books and essays on climbing, including biographies of legendary climbers Royal Robbins and John Gill. Through the years he's balanced multiple simultaneous careers as artist, photographer, filmmaker, chess master, karate black belt, lecturer, teacher, and, yes, singer-songwriter. Pat Ament's musical mastery was clear right out of the gate but it was only one of his many interests. Perhaps if he hadn't been moved to pursue life's other tempting summits and focused solely on music, he'd be as well known for his songs as for his climbing. Grapefruit is extremely proud to reissue this rare and virtually unknown singer-songwriter masterpiece, sourced from original sources and under Ament's supervision, with original artwork and deluxe Stoughton tip-on jacket. The record also comes with a bonus career retrospective CD entitled Time Moved On of additional songs hand-picked by the artist."
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GY7 004CD
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"Pat Ament is best known to record collectors for his 1971 debut Songs, a self-released masterpiece. This CD (which also comes free in the LP reissue of Songs) collects the best of his musical output since, all chosen by Ament himself. In addition to music, Ament is a world renowned mountain climber. He became famous for pioneering '60s and '70s ascents in Colorado and Yosemite. Additionally, he wrote poetic books and essays on climbing, including biographies of legendary climbers Royal Robbins and John Gill. Through the years he's balanced multiple simultaneous careers as artist, photographer, filmmaker, chess master, karate black belt, lecturer, teacher, and, yes, singer-songwriter. The beauty of his songwriting remains clear-eyed throughout Time Moved On, a worthy retrospective highlighting the breadth of his artistry."
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LP
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GY6 005LP
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"Third platter in four album collection harkens back to nineties work."
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