June 16, 2010

Black Swans: Words Are Stupid

Thanks to Lost Weekend Records, this album came to my attention when they posted the following video in their status update:



They just got 10 copies in and already people on facebook were requesting holds. I hadn't heard of Black Swans before so I looked for some samples online, and found this video of the lead single from this album:



I immediately called the store and asked them to put aside a copy, that I was on my way.

This is a local band living here in Columbus, with a few releases under their belt already. Pasted to the back cover are some typewritten credits and notes including this of their deceased friend & band mate: "Our Pal Noel died a year before we even started making this. Thanks to science, he's all over it. Thank you, science, for letting us Nat King Cole / Tupac our buddy.  I heard Snoop (Doggy) Dog sing once on a Super Bowl Sunday about Tupac: "You still party!" and we feel that way about Noel too."
According to pitchforkmedia.com, violinist Noel Sayre was killed in a pool accident. He had left behind some recordings on a laptop that were incorporated into the songs for this album, making it even more haunting than they already are.

Not shown in the video above is that they recycled old album covers by cutting the top & bottom folds, flipping them inside-out, and silk screening the inside. Pretty cool idea, my copy is formerly Wandering Lucy's Leap Year.  Each copy's cover is fitted with a unique photo of the band in one of 40 poses photographed by 5 photographers simultaneously. This vinyl release is limited to 200 numbered copies.  (I brought home #18).  Also included, are several pages of Noel's blog entries from his ohno ampo myspace.

Black Swans website
Pitchfork reviews: Words Are Stupid

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