Big Sir -- the longtime collaboration
between singer/composer Lisa Papineau and bassist/composer Juan
Alderete (The Mars Volta) -- premiere the first track from
their forthcoming new album today courtesy of Consequence of Sound.
The shimmering pop song, "Ready On the Line" is
available to download/stream HERE.
Since its inception in the late 90s, Big Sir has explored a vast array of work centered on the fulcrum of electronic and analog beats, Alderete's fretless bass and Papineau's dynamic voice. Their forthcoming third official full length album Before Gardens After Gardens is the culmination of the duo's enduring musical partnership. Says Alderete, "I think the beauty of what we do lies in our commitment to each other as artists. We will always put out music together because we respect each other's artistic perspective so much. I run everything I have ever created by her."
At times danceable, others darkly haunting, the album is
as visually evocative and it is musically compelling. "Something that
Juan and I have shared since our last album is that we've found out that we
have chronic life-threatening illnesses," Papineau explains.
"Illnesses that make us face that our bodies are not permanent. More and
more I started thinking, or really, was needing to think
about how you don't fold up in terror having that constantly in the
foreground." The fear and uncertainty that we all face in contemplation
of death, and the varying ways we all make peace with it is the basis of the
album's overall concept. "The hymn 'Amazing Grace' speaks to the death
of pride," Papineau says, "the death of believing yourself to be
omnipotent, and how joyful and sweet this humble giving-in can be. So, on our
album, Death is a ship, and her name is The Calico." It's an album of
dance and celebration in death's insistent embrace.
Though created mostly in a back and forth between each
other's laptops, Before Gardens After Gardens features
special guest appearances by The Mars Volta's Cedric
Bixler-Zavala on drums,Broken Bells' bassist Jonathan Hischke,
multi-instrumentalist Matthieu Lesenechal, violist Heather Lockie (Mike Watt, Listing
Ship), Matthew Embree (who also collaborates with Papineau in the duoME
& LP), Mars Volta drummer Deantoni Parks and a host of others on
backing vocals. Bonus tracks also include performances by Money Mark Ramos-Nishita
and David Sims of Jesus Lizard.
The album opens with a slithering fretless bass line that
climbs alongside a round of Papineau's voices swirling around one another on
"Regions." The unabashed pop hooks of "Ready On the Line"
follows with electro-pulse beats, chiming synth bell-like loops and
Papineau's powerful siren song highlighting the album's melancholy joy.
"The Kindest Hour" begins with Alderete's soft bass chords and
Lockie's violent viola trills leading into a distant, shimmering organ and
lightly brushed drums reminiscent of the neoclassical innovations of Talk
Talk's legendary The Colour of Spring. The song builds as the
instruments intertwine before breaking wide open into a driving rhythm
section. A plaintive piano leads the somber "Born with a Tear"
underscored by delicately pirouetting bass line and pattering drum beats as
Papineau intones, "You say the words and all the words make the tongue
go numb..." Throughout, it's an album of subtlety and masterfully
arranged voices -- both human and otherwise merged into one enveloping whole.
Big Sir began with a self-titled debut album and a remix
disc in 2000 and 2001 respectively. The next Big Sir album Und Die
Scheiße Ändert Sich Immer was released in 2006. Alderete and
Papineau first met in the band Pet. Throughout their relationship
the two musicians have also continued their collaborations with other
artists. Papineau has lent her vocals to a spectrum of projects such as the
last two Air albums (10,000 Khertz, Talkie
Walkie), M83's Before the Dawn Heals Us, and
soundtracks for the films Watchmen and Super.
She has released two solo albums, Night Moves andRed
Trees, and recently co-wrote (with Jun Miyake) and sang on a song for Wim
Wenders' Academy Award short-listed film Pina.
Alderete has played in the Grammy award winning The Mars Voltasince
2003 as well as playing bass with rap legend Kool Keith's Dr. Octagon and
the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group. In 1999, he formed the project Vato
Negro and released the albumBumpers on drum& bass
label N2O. Alderete has also recently embarked on a subscription based
website www.pedalsandeffects.com to help illustrate his approach to
sound design with stomp boxes and various effects.
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Artist: Big Sir
Album: Before Gardens After Gardens
Label: Rodriguez Lopez Productions/Sargent House
Release Date: February 7th, 2012
01 Regions
02 Ready On The Line (MP3)
03 Infidels
04 Right Action
05 The Ladder
06 The Kindest Hour
07 Old Blood
08 Born With A Tear
09 Be Brave Go On
10 Our Pleasent Home
11 1 Thousand Petals
On the Web:
www.bigsir.net
www.facebook.com/bigsirband
twitter.com/#!/bigsirband
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