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CASS MCCOMBS
A collection of early, previously unreleased music recorded at Jason Quever's apartment at 924 Fulton in San Francisco while McCombs was living in Berkeley between 1999-2000. The Bay Area in the late 90s housed a special community of artists including Papercuts, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Chris Cohen’s Curtains, and Mt. Egypt. The ethos was for maximum integrity and intimacy, and often music would only be shared with close friends. Graffiti writers, skaters and old timers from the 60s were never far away or far from mind.
Always following a mindset of moving forward, ever forward, this was a brief but productive phase in McCombs’ career before he hit the road and traveled the country, eventually landing in New York City, where he would make the music that would come to reach a wider audience. What’s so remarkable about 'Seed Cake On Leap Year' is how vibrant and raw these songs remain, full of insight and wonder, in conversation with everything yet to come.
Always following a mindset of moving forward, ever forward, this was a brief but productive phase in McCombs’ career before he hit the road and traveled the country, eventually landing in New York City, where he would make the music that would come to reach a wider audience. What’s so remarkable about 'Seed Cake On Leap Year' is how vibrant and raw these songs remain, full of insight and wonder, in conversation with everything yet to come.
TRACK LISTING
1. I’ve Played This Song Before
2. Anchor Child
3. Baby
4. Gum Tree
5. Wasted Again
6. If I Was A Stranger
7. You’re So Satanic
8. Always In Transit
9. What Else Can A Poor Boy Do
10. Northern Train
Cass McCombs’s 2002 debut EP Not The Way, a song-suite of narcotic lullabies, acutely observed lyrics, and preternatural hooks, introduced the world to a gifted songwriter possessed with a fully-formed vision and mission. His first release, the self-recorded 6-track EP was originally released on CD and was subsequently pressed by 4AD in the UK as a double 7” a few years later. Now finally getting the 12” pressing that will make collectors happy.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Not The Way
A2. So Damn Pure
A3. Opium Flower
B1. Your Mother And Father
B2. Nobody’s Nixon
B3. It’s Getting Colder
Cass McCombs’s insta-classic 2003 debut album A is a formidable collection of story-songs and magnetic melodies that stands up today as a foundational document of independent rock ‘n roll to come. Featuring deep cuts ‘I Went to The Hospital’, ‘When the Bible Was Wrote’ and ‘Bobby, King of Boys Town’, A has become a rare find on vinyl and title many have asked him to repress over the years.
TRACK LISTING
A1. I Went To The Hospital
A2. Bobby, King Of Boys Town
A3. What Isn’t Nature
A4. AIDS In Africa
A5. A Comedian Is Someone Who Tells Jokes
B1. Gee, It’s Good To Be Home
B2. Meet Me Here At Dawn
B3. When The Bible Was Wrote
B4. My Pilgrim Dear
B5. Bedding Down Post-Xmastime
B6. My Master
With 2005’s flawless second LP PREfection, Cass McCombs entered the pantheon of singer-songwriters dealing in a signature thematic and sonic universe studded with effortless catchiness, singular mood, and literary lyrics of rare distinction. Featuring single ‘Sacred Heart’ and favourites ‘Equinox’ and ‘She’s Still Suffering’, PREfection set the scene for Cass’s 2007 breakthrough album Dropping The Writ, rounding off a golden period when Cass was in his ascendance.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Equinox
A2. Subtraction
A3. Multiple Suns
A4. Tourist Woman
A5. Sacred Heart
B1. She’s Still Suffering
B2. Cuckoo
B3. Bury Mary
B4. City Of Brotherly Love
B5. All Your Dreams May Come True
Cass McCombs and Weak Signal’s members have been friends for a long time and played together in many different formations over the years, and here they seal the deal by joining as a four piece for the Vacation From Thought b/w Give it Back 7”. They quickly wrote and arranged two bangers and recorded them in NYC tracked directly to tape and featuring only 2 overdubs. The A-Side, and lead single “Vacation From Thought,” which was written by Cass, takes the listener on a trip to some of the most exotic places imaginable within the confines of the narrator’s mind. The B-Side “Give it Back” counters Thoughts’ complexity with the Weak Signal written, and Cass sung “Take it Back” - a punch straight to the gut.
On Heartmind, Cass McCombs enters the double-digit-album phase of his career, a quantitatively rarified place for any songwriter; rarer still, though, is the fact that he does not yet seem to have settled into a qualitative sound or pattern, of singing the same thought twice (or perhaps even once).
Songs like "Karaoke" are a god-level burst of powerpop perfection, as fetching as anything Cass has ever cut. The springy staccato guitar, the vaporized electric keys, the melody seemingly born for singing or clapping or dancing along: Cass triangulates a perch of his very own out among The Go-Betweens, The dB's, and The Cure,and vibrates there, a beacon. And then, of course, there is the song's playful if painful lyrical conceit—the lover who is making all the sacred motions of commitment but whose feelings may be no more deep or real than someone simply reading the lyrics for "Vision of Love" or "Stand by Your Man" from some crowded bar's TV screen.
There are, at least, some basic facts to share about Heartmind, logistical evidence that may in turn shape your own questions: Cass recorded these songs in multiple sessions on both coasts, in Brooklyn and Burbank. The great Shahzad Ismaily not only cut the staggering "Unproud Warrior" and four others here but also played lots of bass. Buddy Ross tracked "New Earth," a paean of post-humanity renewal with several sharp wisecracks. Ariel Rechtshaid—now a dozen years into his collaboration with Cass, which began with 2009's Catacombs—captured Cass' scintillating guitars on "Belong to Heaven," a thoughtful consideration of what we all lose when we lose an old friend to the inevitable end. The steadfast Rob Schnapf (who previously produced McCombs' ANTI- debut, Mangy Love) mixed and merged it all. Wynonna Judd (yes, that one) offers harmonies, while her beau Cactus Moser provides some lap steel. Joe Russo, Kassa Overall, Danielle Haim, Nestor Gomez are featured on the album, too.
Songs like "Karaoke" are a god-level burst of powerpop perfection, as fetching as anything Cass has ever cut. The springy staccato guitar, the vaporized electric keys, the melody seemingly born for singing or clapping or dancing along: Cass triangulates a perch of his very own out among The Go-Betweens, The dB's, and The Cure,and vibrates there, a beacon. And then, of course, there is the song's playful if painful lyrical conceit—the lover who is making all the sacred motions of commitment but whose feelings may be no more deep or real than someone simply reading the lyrics for "Vision of Love" or "Stand by Your Man" from some crowded bar's TV screen.
There are, at least, some basic facts to share about Heartmind, logistical evidence that may in turn shape your own questions: Cass recorded these songs in multiple sessions on both coasts, in Brooklyn and Burbank. The great Shahzad Ismaily not only cut the staggering "Unproud Warrior" and four others here but also played lots of bass. Buddy Ross tracked "New Earth," a paean of post-humanity renewal with several sharp wisecracks. Ariel Rechtshaid—now a dozen years into his collaboration with Cass, which began with 2009's Catacombs—captured Cass' scintillating guitars on "Belong to Heaven," a thoughtful consideration of what we all lose when we lose an old friend to the inevitable end. The steadfast Rob Schnapf (who previously produced McCombs' ANTI- debut, Mangy Love) mixed and merged it all. Wynonna Judd (yes, that one) offers harmonies, while her beau Cactus Moser provides some lap steel. Joe Russo, Kassa Overall, Danielle Haim, Nestor Gomez are featured on the album, too.
TRACK LISTING
Music Is Blue
Karaoke
New Earth
Unproud Warrior
Krakatau
A Blue, Blue Band
Belong To Heaven
Heartmind
The most beautiful and stark of Cass McComb’s albums, ‘Wit’s End’ is a classic in a cannon of superlative songwriting.
Respected by everyone from Vampire Weekend to Band Of Horses it’s time for you find out what all the fuss is about.
Respected by everyone from Vampire Weekend to Band Of Horses it’s time for you find out what all the fuss is about.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Sad songs say so much!TRACK LISTING
1. County Line
2. The Lonely Doll
3. Buried Alive
4. Saturday Song
5. Memory’s Stain
6. Hermit’s Cave
7. Pleasant Shadow Song
8. A Knock Upon The Door
Cass McCombs’ new anthology, ‘A Folk Set Apart’, is subtitled ‘Rarities, B-Sides & Space Junk, Etc.’ and showcases McCombs’ thematic and emotional diversity.
Comprising songs from 2003-2014, this release will both satiate and perplex those already familiar with McCombs, while compelling and rewarding new listeners, pointing a way towards his back catalogue.
‘A Folk Set Apart’ includes 19 songs (19 on CD, 11 on LP plus 8 digital bonus tracks) all remastered for this release.
Comprising songs from 2003-2014, this release will both satiate and perplex those already familiar with McCombs, while compelling and rewarding new listeners, pointing a way towards his back catalogue.
‘A Folk Set Apart’ includes 19 songs (19 on CD, 11 on LP plus 8 digital bonus tracks) all remastered for this release.
This is Cass McCombs' second album for Domino, and it comes only 14 months after "Dropping the Writ", a Piccadilly Album Of The Year for 2008. More mellow and meandering than its predecessor, "Catacombs"(great title) slowly wends its way into head and heart, with intriguing lyrics and pining melodies creating a downbeat but beautiful vibe throughout. A melancholy, almost resigned atmosphere prevails; perfect for late, lonely nights or hot, lazy summer afternoons. Gorgeous. Again.