Robert Harrison’s collection honoring “extraordinary
book about ordinary life” praised as “instant classics,” “nothing short of a
triumph.”
+++
Robert
Harrison of Cotton Mather as photographed by Valerie Fremin.
+++
+++
Cotton Mather – In The Press
“Does not lack for chutzpah. An extended odyssey.” — Rolling Stone
“Nothing short of a triumph.” — Austin Monthly
“Smart melodies and lyrics. Heady, catchy, fun.” — Paste
“Instant classics.” — Austin Chronicle
“Everything this band touches is gold.” — Popmatters
“Always ruling on the riffs.” — KUTX 98.9, Austin (NPR)
+++
PLAY, POST
& SHARE
Check out
the premiere
of “Eleanor Plunge” by Cotton Mather at Innocent
Words or listen via the links below!
[YOUTUBE]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xwcrcarWnA
+++
Visit
Noisetrade to download
a “Sampler From The I Ching,” and read
an extended interview with Robert Harrison.
+++
Texas
Monthly kicked off the “Songs From The I Ching” project on November 16th, 2015. Read
about it here.
+++
It took 15 years for Cotton Mather to follow-up its last
album (2001’s The Big Picture) with 2016’s Death of The Cool, the first
collection of songs compiled from band leader Robert Harrison’s ambitious,
possibly impossible aim to write 64 tracks, one for each hexagram of the I
Ching, the ancient text which he refers to as an “extraordinary book about
ordinary life.”
As the year continued, one-off tunes were issued online in, as Harrison terms it, “real time and real weather.” Then, another official release, the three-track “Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins EP” came along to close out the year. On April 7th, 2017, in what now seemed like the passing of just 15 minutes in the world of Cotton Mather, the band brought out the Wild Kingdom album, bringing together another 11 tracks, and landing Harrison near the half-way mark on the “Songs From The I Ching” project.
As the year continued, one-off tunes were issued online in, as Harrison terms it, “real time and real weather.” Then, another official release, the three-track “Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins EP” came along to close out the year. On April 7th, 2017, in what now seemed like the passing of just 15 minutes in the world of Cotton Mather, the band brought out the Wild Kingdom album, bringing together another 11 tracks, and landing Harrison near the half-way mark on the “Songs From The I Ching” project.
Now, Cotton Mather has crossed that line with the release of the “Young Life E.P.,” adding six more originals to the “Songs From The I Ching” project (bringing the total number of tracks released to 35), while also offering up a more somber tone than Cotton Mather fans may expect.
“I never have perspective on my own work, but this one was
an especially difficult release to get my head around, Harrison explains. “In
short, I think this is a deep, poignant and gorgeous life journal offering. A
dark collection of short stories in between novels.”
+++
More about Cotton Mather
Iconic Spoon front man, Britt Daniel once said of Cotton
Mather’s 1997 underground classic album Kontiki that, “It gave me something to
shoot for.” In addition to praise from
musicians, the record was especially loved by the UK press, with both Uncut and
The Guardian awarding it five-star ratings.
Like the instantly memorable pop songs that made (and make)
Kontiki influential – a two-disc reissue released in 2012 received similar
praise all over again – Cotton Mather’s “Songs From The I Ching” project continues
in the Robert Harrison tradition of impeccable song craft that doesn’t ever let
up on the hooks.
“Many successful bands are fairly monochromatic, which strikes me as both difficult and uninteresting,” Harrison explains. “My aim has always been to escape. To change the scenery behind the singer.”
A visit to the “Songs From The I Ching” website (ichingsongs.com) reveals a visual take on this idea, with imagery for each song from the project depicting Harrison standing in front of different scenes and locations such as Mt. Fuji, the Jardin des Tuileries, The Kansas City Monarchs, and the Terra Cota Soldiers, among others.
“But the problem always remains,” Harrison jokes, “It’s
always just me.” For Cotton Mather’s loyal fans, that doesn’t seem to be much
of a problem at all.
+++
The “Young Life” E.P., the latest release by Cotton Mather,
is out today and contains six tracks comprising another portion of the 64-track
“Songs From The I Ching” project that also includes the 11-song Death of The
Cool album (released July 19th, 2016), the three-track “Cotton Mather with
Nicole Atkins EP” (released December 30th, 2016), and the 11-song Wild Kingdom
album (released April 7th, 2017), along with additional one-off, online-only
songs released “in real time and real weather.”
Robert Harrison of Cotton Mather is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
+++
PLAY, POST & SHARE
Listen to the “Songs
From The I Ching” playlist at Soundcloud
here,
including commercially released tracks, demos, alt-mixes, and online-only cuts.
Tracks are presented
in order of corresponding I Ching hexagram number. See below for commercially
available “Songs From The I Ching”
releases along with a master song list with listening links of every song
written, recorded, and released to date.
+++
Cotton Mather
“Young Life E.P.”
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Out Now
Track Listing:
01. Mighty Girl
02. Death of The Cool
03. Dutch Light
04. Eleanor Plunge
05. Shepherds Purse
06. Postcard Home
+++
Cotton Mather
Wild
Kingdom
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Out Now
Track Listing:
01. The Cotton Mather Pledge
02. Fighting Through
03. High Society
04. Hijinks Dad
05. Better Than A Hit
06. King William
07. California
08. Girl With A Blue Guitar
10. The Army
09. It’s Better Not To Be The King
11. I Volunteer
+++
Cotton Mather
Death
of The Cool
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Out Now
Track Listing:
01. The Book of Too Late Changes
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
10. Child Bride
11. The End of DeWitt Finley
+++
Cotton Mather
“Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins” EP
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Out Now
Track Listing:
01. Call Me The Witch
02. Faded
03. Girl Friday
+++
“Songs From The
I Ching” Master Song List (as of Oct. 13th, 2017)
#13
| The Cotton Mather Pledge | Seeking Harmony/Fellowship Among Men | on Wild Kingdom | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
#14
| Call Me The Witch | Possession In Great Measure | on “Cotton Mather with
Nicole Atkins” EP (SPOTIFY)
#24 | The
Book of Too Late Changes | The Return | on Death of The Cool | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
#36
| Dutch Light | Darkening of the Light | on “Young Life E.P.” | (SPOTIFY | APPLE)
#37 | King William | The Household | on Wild Kingdom | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY)
#37 | King William | The Household | on Wild Kingdom | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY)
#38
| Eleanor Plunge | Diversity | on “Young Life E.P.” | (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE
| SOUNDCLOUD
| MP3)
#55
| Postcard Home | Abundance | on “Young Life E.P.” | (SPOTIFY | APPLE)
#56 | Hijinks Dad | The Wanderer | on Wild Kingdom | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY)
#56 | Hijinks Dad | The Wanderer | on Wild Kingdom | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY)
#64 | Faded
| Before Completion/Not Yet Fulfilled | non-album track (Robert Harrison vocal
version) | (SOUNDCLOUD)
#64 | Faded
| Before Completion/Not Yet Fulfilled | on “Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins”
EP | (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
Cotton Mather Links
+++
Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
No comments:
Post a Comment