Urchin PR
New Member
Foggy Notions Presents…
CASS MCCOMBS
+ Goodtime John
Whelan’s, Dec 3rd, Doors 8pm
Tickets €15 incl. booking fee from WAV Box-Office (Lo-Call 1890 200 078), City Discs, Sound Cellar, Tickets.ie, Ticketmaster outlets nationwide
“…it’s (Catacombs) every bit as aurally hypnotic as his previous work. It seems like he realized there was someone he really did want to sing to.” – Pitchfork, 8.2
“Unobtrusively brilliant.” - John Peel
“A maverick already saddled with accusations of genius.” – Uncut
“One of the most gifted lyricists the indie-rock world has seen in a long -time.” - Time Out New York
“On the pointedly titled Catacombs, the willfully enigmatic Cass McCombs further seals his status as one of the 21st century’s most gifted and under-appreciated singer-songwriters.” – Pop Matters
California’s Cass McCombs blends mordant humour, dazed lyricism, deadpan surrealism and real tenderness into songs full of surreptitious confidence. All told, it's something special - offbeat, intriguing, and rewarding in the extreme.
Now something of an auteur, the fourth installment in Cass McCombs’ life and art is CATACOMBS, and it is a thing of rare imagination from an artist whose wisdom and mischief will appeal as much to those in the stately manors as his more familiar lost souls on skid row.
Like his previous LP Dropping The Writ, CATACOMBS possesses that rare ability to attack both the listener’s heart with its melodies and textures, and head with its poetry and themes. It is somehow without influence or even form at times as McCombs hits dazzling heights of songwriting after his early LPs, A and PREfection had been looser, more raggedly glorious affairs. Both musically and lyrically, it is a watershed.
Typically, and wisely, McCombs is wary of aligning himself too closely with any notion of confession. In some ways, he fulfils a different persona in every song:
“At least when it comes to making a song,” he explains, “I feel we are all living mythological figures, myths are the most real things we have. But with my songs I’m trying to do the opposite, to obliterate my self, not bronze it. Good songs are simple, they tend to twist the facts. In that sense, none of the records are autobiography, it is all fiction. If this were turned into a maxim, it would sound something like: fiction makes understanding, fact makes chaos.”
Similarly, a wariness exits in Cass McCombs’ relationship with the media. He thinks artists should never have to “vouch for their actions”, which is reasonable enough. He shies away from interviews because he believes he has the “personality of a wet blanket”.
“The scenario just makes me uncomfortable. I definitely seek out information about my favourite artists, though I don’t think I’ve learned very much from it – it tends to distract from my original interest. I have a distrust with logic and responsibility, it just makes things drag a bit… it’s a bog, especially with music.”
McCombs left for the East Coast in his early twenties in a fit of gloom:
“I wasn’t really thinking about music, I sold all my instruments and records. I don’t even remember ever looking for anything. I was just sick of life.”
Ultimately he did end up dabbling with music in various cities, playing open mic nights in New York amid enduring other things to get by.
“I’m always travelling, but not really moving. I’ve mostly been in Chicago, but now I’m in Los Angeles. I like to always be working on music so I go where I need to, to make that happen.”
www.cassmccombs.com
www.myspace.com/cassmccombs
www.dominorecordo.us
Goodtime John’s latest release was the download only EP entitled Dark Slipped Its Cloak. The EP was recorded by Phil Elverum of Microphones/Mount Eerie fame in Anacortes, WA at the end of the summer in 2007. 11 songs were recorded, of which 5 have been hand chosen by Goodtime John for the EP. Guest musicians include Kevin Erickson on organ and Guitar, Adrian Orange (aka Thanksgiving) on drums, Ruth Allison on bass and backup vocals, Karl Blau on harmonies, and Elverum himself contributes on drums, piano, and guitar. The musicians were brought in to record without having heard any of the songs, so the recording maintains a loose, off-the-cuff aesthetic throughout. Goodtime has recently performed a number of solo shows but will be performing this event with a full band. He is currently embroiled in a rejuvenated burst of songwriting, which will ultimately lead to his next album.
www.myspace.com/goodtimejohn
CASS MCCOMBS
+ Goodtime John
Whelan’s, Dec 3rd, Doors 8pm
Tickets €15 incl. booking fee from WAV Box-Office (Lo-Call 1890 200 078), City Discs, Sound Cellar, Tickets.ie, Ticketmaster outlets nationwide
“…it’s (Catacombs) every bit as aurally hypnotic as his previous work. It seems like he realized there was someone he really did want to sing to.” – Pitchfork, 8.2
“Unobtrusively brilliant.” - John Peel
“A maverick already saddled with accusations of genius.” – Uncut
“One of the most gifted lyricists the indie-rock world has seen in a long -time.” - Time Out New York
“On the pointedly titled Catacombs, the willfully enigmatic Cass McCombs further seals his status as one of the 21st century’s most gifted and under-appreciated singer-songwriters.” – Pop Matters
California’s Cass McCombs blends mordant humour, dazed lyricism, deadpan surrealism and real tenderness into songs full of surreptitious confidence. All told, it's something special - offbeat, intriguing, and rewarding in the extreme.
Now something of an auteur, the fourth installment in Cass McCombs’ life and art is CATACOMBS, and it is a thing of rare imagination from an artist whose wisdom and mischief will appeal as much to those in the stately manors as his more familiar lost souls on skid row.
Like his previous LP Dropping The Writ, CATACOMBS possesses that rare ability to attack both the listener’s heart with its melodies and textures, and head with its poetry and themes. It is somehow without influence or even form at times as McCombs hits dazzling heights of songwriting after his early LPs, A and PREfection had been looser, more raggedly glorious affairs. Both musically and lyrically, it is a watershed.
Typically, and wisely, McCombs is wary of aligning himself too closely with any notion of confession. In some ways, he fulfils a different persona in every song:
“At least when it comes to making a song,” he explains, “I feel we are all living mythological figures, myths are the most real things we have. But with my songs I’m trying to do the opposite, to obliterate my self, not bronze it. Good songs are simple, they tend to twist the facts. In that sense, none of the records are autobiography, it is all fiction. If this were turned into a maxim, it would sound something like: fiction makes understanding, fact makes chaos.”
Similarly, a wariness exits in Cass McCombs’ relationship with the media. He thinks artists should never have to “vouch for their actions”, which is reasonable enough. He shies away from interviews because he believes he has the “personality of a wet blanket”.
“The scenario just makes me uncomfortable. I definitely seek out information about my favourite artists, though I don’t think I’ve learned very much from it – it tends to distract from my original interest. I have a distrust with logic and responsibility, it just makes things drag a bit… it’s a bog, especially with music.”
McCombs left for the East Coast in his early twenties in a fit of gloom:
“I wasn’t really thinking about music, I sold all my instruments and records. I don’t even remember ever looking for anything. I was just sick of life.”
Ultimately he did end up dabbling with music in various cities, playing open mic nights in New York amid enduring other things to get by.
“I’m always travelling, but not really moving. I’ve mostly been in Chicago, but now I’m in Los Angeles. I like to always be working on music so I go where I need to, to make that happen.”
www.cassmccombs.com
www.myspace.com/cassmccombs
www.dominorecordo.us
Goodtime John’s latest release was the download only EP entitled Dark Slipped Its Cloak. The EP was recorded by Phil Elverum of Microphones/Mount Eerie fame in Anacortes, WA at the end of the summer in 2007. 11 songs were recorded, of which 5 have been hand chosen by Goodtime John for the EP. Guest musicians include Kevin Erickson on organ and Guitar, Adrian Orange (aka Thanksgiving) on drums, Ruth Allison on bass and backup vocals, Karl Blau on harmonies, and Elverum himself contributes on drums, piano, and guitar. The musicians were brought in to record without having heard any of the songs, so the recording maintains a loose, off-the-cuff aesthetic throughout. Goodtime has recently performed a number of solo shows but will be performing this event with a full band. He is currently embroiled in a rejuvenated burst of songwriting, which will ultimately lead to his next album.
www.myspace.com/goodtimejohn
