Latest is part of three-song
EP feat. Nicole Atkins, out Dec. 30th. Hear “Faded” via The
Bluegrass Situation. Title cut
from “Girl With A Blue Guitar” EP gets deep
dive from Atwood.
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Robert
Harrison of Cotton Mather as photographed by Valerie Fremin.
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Cotton Mather – In The Press
“Harrison’s
gifts are as strong as ever.” – AllMusic
“An exemplary specimen from Harrison’s seemingly endless collection of instant classics.” – Austin Chronicle
“Harrison
and his comrades have retained their retro vitality. 8/10.” – Uncut
“Save money on the next (Beatles) reissue and try this colorful extension of their sonic
legacy.” – Los Angeles Times
“A record that is not to be missed. Grade: A.” – Goldmine
“Cerebral aspirations grounded in a classicist’s grasp
of melody.” – MAGNET
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PLAY, POST
& SHARE
Hear “Faded”
from the “Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins” EP via The
Bluegrass Situation or at the links below!
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Texas
Monthly kicked off the “Songs From The I Ching” project way back on November
16th, 2015 with this
article and the first
track premiere!
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.
27 tracks from this treasure trove of new tunes,
released in “real time and real weather” as Harrison describes this creative
process, have already been made available as of December 21st, 2016. These
included non-album cuts, the full-length LP Death of The Cool (the band's first
in 15 years!), the four-song EP "Girl With A Blue Guitar," and now a
three-song release with singer Nicole Atkins that arrives on December 30th,
which includes the final version of the song "Faded," previously
issues as part of the project with a Harrison vocal only.
“‘Faded’
corresponds to the 64th, or final hexagram of the I Ching. I am writing these
songs experientially, not sequentially, and that reading is 64,” Harrison says. “Before ‘Completion/ Not
Yet Fulfilled’. Strange right? Logic would suggest that ‘After Completion,’
which is the 63rd hexagram, should wrap things up. But the I Ching states that disorder and
chaos immediately follow ‘After Completion,’ and always precede 1. ‘The Creative’,
where it all starts all over again. It’s like moving out of a house where you’ve
had a life, and starting over in a new place. At first, everything’s in boxes
and you don't know where the light switches are.”
Robert
Harrison of Cotton Mather is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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PLAY, POST
& SHARE
Hear the title track from the “Girl
With A Blue Guitar” EP and read a comprehensive take on the tune via Atwood
Magazine!
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Except from the full “Girl With A Blue
Guitar” commentary by Robert Harrison which can be found in
full here.
“The night before I wrote this song, just before dawn,
I dreamt I was lying in my bed, holding and looking at a gold-framed oil
painting of my life that looked like a Dutch master. Then suddenly the muted
colors on the canvas began to crack and all the paint began flaking off until I
was staring at a radiant palace that was washing me in light. I held the frame
before me and let the light engulf me. It felt so amazing. My arms began to
tremble, and I noticed I was waking up but didn’t want to. I didn’t want this
to ever stop! Then my eyes opened to the sight of a drab popcorn ceiling, which
I stared at for a while. But that – was a good dream!”
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Cotton Mather
“Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins” EP
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Dec. 30th, 2016
01. Call Me The Witch
03. Girl Friday
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Cotton Mather
“Girl With A Blue Guitar” EP
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Out Now
03. Better Than A Hit
04. I Volunteer
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Cotton Mather
Death
of The Cool
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
Out Now
Track Listing:
03. The Middle of Nowhere
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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“Songs From The I Ching” Master Song List
(as of Dec. 21st, 2016)
Hexagram # | Song Title | “I Ching” Hexagram Name |
Where Available | Listening Links
#2 | The Middle of Nowhere | The Receptive | on Death of The Cool
#3 | The Land of Flowers | Beginning | on Death of The Cool
#5 | Never Be It | Waiting | on Death of The Cool
#7 | The Army | The Army | non-album track | (STREAM)
#9 | High Society | Little Accumulation | non-album
track | (STREAM)
#11 | California | Advance / Peace | non-album track | (STREAM)
#12 | The End of DeWitt Finley | Standstill | on Death of The Cool | (STREAM)
#13 | The Cotton Mather Pledge | Seeking
Harmony/Fellowship Among Men | non-album track | (STREAM)
#14 | “Call Me The Witch | Possession In Great Measure
| on “Cotton Mather with Nicole Atkins” EP
#15 | It’s Better Not To Be The King | Modesty | non-album
track | (STREAM)
#16 | Girl Friday | Delight | on “Cotton Mather with
Nicole Atkins” EP
#18 | Shadow The Star | Remedying | non-album track | (STREAM)
#23 | Queen of Swords | Falling Away | on Death of The Cool
#25. I Volunteer | Without Falsehood | on “Girl With A
Blue Guitar” EP
#28 | Carnival Off My Back | Great Exceeding | non-album
track | (STREAM)
#29 | Waters Raging | The Abysmal | on Death of The Cool
#37 | King William | The Household | non-album track | (STREAM)
#44. Better Than A Hit | Encountering | on “Girl With A
Blue Guitar” EP
#52 | Way of The Samurai | Keeping Still/The Mountain |
non-album track | (STREAM)
#56 | Hijinx Dad | The Wanderer | non-album track | (STREAM)
#64. Faded | Before Completion/Not Yet Fulfilled | non-album
track (Robert Harrison vocal version) | (STREAM | MP3)
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“Kontiki gave me something to shoot
for.” – Britt Daniel (Spoon)
“The best record I’ve heard in ten years.” – Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
“100 Great Albums You’ve Never Heard” (#2) – NME
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Cotton
Mather’s 1997 album Kontiki
was reissued on CD in 2012 with a bonus disc of demos.
Now, with renewed interest in the band, and this
underground classic, Kontiki has been released on vinyl
for the first time along with a bonus 7-inch, limited to 300 copies, containing
two Cotton Mather tracks (“I’ll Be Gone,” and “Animal Show”) that were previously
only available on a now out-of-print single.
Cotton
Mather released its debut album Cotton
Is King in 1994, but it was Kontiki, famously recorded on
four-track cassette and released in 1997, that drew praise from critics and
rock-stars alike, so much so in the UK that many thought the band originated
there.
Uncut 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.”
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Cotton Mather Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
