NOAH AND THE MEGAFAUNA'S GYPSY JAZZ INFLUENCED DEBUT, ANTHEMS FOR A STATELESS NATION, TO BE RELEASED OCTOBER 18 ON SILENCE BREAKS
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"I love it. It has touches of Klezmer, gypsy jazz, rock... really inventive stuff." - David Wiegand, KQED/San Francisco Chronicle
LOS ANGELES, CA, August 11, 2011 - A stirring amalgamation of dark indie folk, swinging gypsy jazz and big band orchestration threaded together by a series of apocalyptic allegories, Noah and the MegaFauna's accomplished debut full-length album, Anthems for a Stateless Nation, will be released October 18 on Silence Breaks (The Shivers, Kelli Scarr). A clamorous, whiskey-fueled, horn-laden romp, the LP is 10 tracks of nightmare pop, a pre and post-apocalyptic tale of destruction, displacement, wandering, panic and ultimately redemption filtered through a dizzyingly eclectic array of influences spanning history, cultures and music from around the globe.
Noah and the MegaFauna is the Los Angeles-based 10-member musical vessel helmed by singer/songwriter/guitarist Noah Lit, the former frontman for revered indie rockersOliver Future. After the dissolution of that band, which produced two acclaimed albums throughout its six-year career and received plaudits from NPR, the Los Angeles Times and Esquire among many others, Noah put down his electric guitar and began exploring the world of gypsy jazz. The genres' signatures -- chromatic scales, undulating arpeggios, percussive strumming, antiquated chords and intricate arrangements --- called out to him like a siren at sea and he was instantly seduced.
In order to help realize the songs that were feverishly swirling around in his head, Noah enrolled friend and accomplished producer Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo, Clem Snide) who had previously worked with Noah on Oliver Future's sophomore LP. Holed up in Lasus' Los Angeles Fireproof Recording Studio in November 2010, Noah turned to his brother and longtime collaborator Joshua Lit(Oliver Future) to handle piano, accordion and backing vocal duties. He then enlisted an excellent rhythm section of Shiben Battacharaya on upright bass, Chris Lovejoyon drums and Travis Knight on percussion. With each track rapidly growing naturally into a lush bed of guitar-driven gypsy pop, Noah traveled to New York City to record with friend and producer Joe Rogers (Kelli Scarr, The Shivers, Moby) at his studio space Silence Breaks atop an elementary school in the South Bronx. There, the severely talented violinist Wen Cheng leant her skills, his younger brother Gabriel Lit provided horn and string arrangements and laid down clarinet and bass clarinet, and a devastating eight-piece horn section made up of some of NYC's best young, up-and-coming jazz musicians screamed, squawked and honked in moments of fury and passion. In quieter moments they harnessed a warmth and subtly to balance with the cinematic air provided by the vast array of female guest vocalists - Kat Edmonson,Marianne Dissard, Emily St. Amand-Poliakoff and Mindy Gaspar.
Anthems for a Stateless Nation plays out like a modern day allegory of Noah's Ark, Global Warming: The Musical, the soundtrack for a planet on the eve of destruction. A convergence of influence that represents the ever shrinking world we live in, it merges the old world with the new and is filled with Eastern European melodies, gypsy jazz, Spanish flamenco, American swing, indie folk, and imbued with a present day rock and roll energy and spirit. It's a fancy last supper on the high seas with dinner guests Tom Waits, Django Reinhardt, Nick Cave and Willy Wonka.
Anthems opens with the unsettling, carnivalesque "We Knew We Had It Coming,"and Noah and his indie rock big band quickly set the tone for what's to come over the next 45 minutes. "We touched the ground but the ground was dried up/We looked high and watched the stars erupt/We held hands because we knew we had it coming," Noah hisses over a bed of jazz guitar scales, marching band drums and a cyclone of horns. The song sounds like it might jump off the rails at any moment but the musicians masterfully bring us back from the edge just in time, a feat they pull off throughout the album many times over.
Over 10 intricate tracks, Noah paints a world plagued by disaster, one in which a flood makes skyscrapers poke out like rocks, as depicted in the scorching duet with French chanteuse Marianne Dissard, "Gusano Coco." In "Liquid Modernity," an acoustic guitar chugs, standup bass throbs, horns squeak and squawk and drums shuffle while Noah and bandmate Emily St. Amand-Poliakoff trade lines about being displaced because of fire and flood and never being able to return home. The song is a pure throwback to the prohibition era but its jovial upbeat sound is juxtaposed by bleak lyrics, adding a modern twist. Closer "We'll Sail Above This" ends things on a more optimistic note. Noah is joined by the acclaimed jazz singer Kat Edmonson as the two resolve to not let the doom do them in. "We'll sail above this/We sail above this/We sail above/No, we don't sail around!," croons Noah while Kat purrs with a quirky twang.
Also lending their talents to Anthems for a Stateless Nation are world renowned gypsy guitarist Gonzalo Bergara playing bandoneon and lead guitar and Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, George Harrison) playing drums on "We Knew We Had It Coming" and "Those Already Blessed." The project also provided Noah with a special opportunity to collaborate with several of his favorite writers. Josh Lit, and Noah's friends Josh Seidenfeld (Boy in the Bubble) andWilliam Chancellor (author: "A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall"), helped craft lyrics and imagery for several songs. Additionally, the perfect companion to the album was created by the visual artwork of artist Michael Garza ("A Scanner Darkly," Oliver Future).
Although created in the studio, Noah and the MegaFauna has blossomed into an exhilarating live band. All summer the ensemble posted up at a weekly residency in LA where they showcased their incredible musicianship and brought the songs to life. Last month they wowed crowds with their N.Y. debut with gigs in Central Park and Barbes in addition to a riveting hometown performance at Hotel Cafe.
Tonight, August 11, LA audiences will get a chance to catch The MegaFauna at a free show at Pershing Square in downtown as part of Spaceland's Under the Starsconcert series during Art Walk. They go on at 9 pm and will be joined by Marcus Very Ordinary at 8 pm.
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