Comprised of 11 songs, “Death of The Cool” is part of ongoing
64-song collection representing I Ching’s 64 hexagrams.
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Robert
Harrison of Cotton Mather as photographed by Valerie Fremin.
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PLAY, POST
& SHARE
Stream two songs from Cotton Mather’s
Death
of The Cool now! Hear “The
Book of Too Late Changes” via Texas
Monthly and “Child
Bride” via KUTX,
Austin.
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Listen and learn more
by visiting ichingsongs.com to hear four additional tracks
not found on Death of The Cool, including “The
Cotton Mather Pledge” (based on I Ching hexagram #13: Seeking Harmony),
and to read commentaries on
each track by Robert Harrison.
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“Kontiki
gave me something to shoot for.” – Britt Daniel of Spoon on Cotton Mather
It didn’t take 15 years for Cotton Mather’s Austin-based main man, Robert Harrison to write the 64 songs (64 songs!) that comprise his
latest musical vision: one song for each hexagram (or reading) of the I Ching. That’s actually the amount of time that has
passed since the last full-length album of new Cotton Mather songs was released.
With so much new material on deck, it seems like Harrison is making up the difference.
Half
a dozen tracks from this treasure trove of new tunes have already been posted
one-by-one in “real time and real weather” as Harrison describes this creative process, and now the first of an
eventual four albums that will ultimately contain much of the entire song
cycle, has been announced.
Arriving on July
29th, the eleven-track Death of The Cool contains another
nine of Harrison’s pure pop
meditations on Chinese philosophy, along with the two currently available
tracks that initially announced the project – “The
Book of Too Late Changes” (based on I Ching hexagram #24: The Return)
and “Child
Bride” (based on #4: Youthful Folly.)
15 songs deep into revealing such an ambitious
undertaking to the public, Harrison
reflects, “These are my reactions in song to illuminations from the I Ching
about life unfolding. Some of the songs directly reference the text and others
use the readings as a starting point. Until I started this project, it had
never before occurred to me to seek counsel with respect to songwriting, but
after I turned to the I Ching for artistic guidance on several occasions with
nice results, I thought ‘Why not go for the whole cycle?’”
Harrison’s commentaries about each of the songs can be found
at the website for the project, ichingsongs.com.
“Each song’s commentary at ichingsongs.com reflects
how a translator traditionally shares thoughts on the reading,” Harrison says. “However, I will limit
my commentary to the readings themselves, and let the songs enjoy a free-range
lifestyle.”
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For anyone thinking that 64 songs written around a
single theme can’t possibly maintain a standard of quality, then welcome to the
unlikely world of Cotton Mather. Founded by Robert Harrison in Austin in the early 1990’s, the band initially
had an experimental sound, but soon evolved into a guitar-driven pop group
defined by accessible melodies, strong vocal harmonies and lyrical wit. Cotton
Mather released its debut album Cotton Is King in 1994, but it was
the follow-up album Kontiki, famously recorded on four-track cassette, that drew
praise from critics and rock-stars alike.
Uncut
Magazine gave Kontiki five stars
calling the record “music to smile yourself to death to.” Mojo said the songs were “brought to life with daring vitality,”
and in its own five-star review, The Guardian
called Kontiki “a bewildering, dizzy thrill.” On our shores, the
bounce back of influence from across the pond was finally felt with Britt Daniel of Spoon being just one artist to say “Kontiki gave me something
to shoot for.”
Death of The Cool, the first of four anticipated albums comprising Robert Harrison and Cotton Mather’s endeavor to write and
record 64 songs for each of the I Ching’s 64 hexagrams is set for release on July 29th, 2016 via The Star Apple Kingdom. Four additional non-album tracks can be heard
now via ichingsongs.com with
additional non-album tracks forthcoming.
Robert
Harrison of Cotton Mather is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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Cotton Mather
Death
of The Cool
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
July 29th, 2016
Track Listing:
02. Close To The Sun
03. The Middle of Nowhere
04. Candy Lilac
05. Life of The Liar
06. The Land of Flowers
07. Never Be It
08. Queen of Swords
09. Waters Raging
11. The End of DeWitt Finley
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Cotton Mather Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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