Anthony Wilson Songs and Photographs 180g LP & Book (Vinyl)

180g Vinyl LP + 48-Page Book!
Pressed at RTI!
Mastered by Kevin Gray!

Michael Fremer Rated 11/11 Music, 11/11 Sonics!

Goat Hill Recordings is proud to release guitarist Anthony Wilson's album of original work: "Songs and Photographs," a 180gram vinyl LP and 48-page photo book developed and printed in creative collaboration with fine art publisher Nina Holland at Little Steidl in Germany. Taking up where his previous album "Frogtown" left off, "Songs and Photographs" is produced by audiophile legend Joe Harley and Wilson, featuring a master cast of players: pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Joshua Crumbly, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and drummer Jay Bellerose. The vinyl was mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI.

With "Songs and Photographs," Anthony Wilson's musical quest for evermore authentic paths into song writing, improvisation, and performance combines beautifully with his own 35mm photography in a multifaceted work for the eyes and the ears.

"...The photobook demands and will get your attention and over time it will enhance rather than distract from the music. On his website Wilson writes “In Songs and Photographs the visual and musical paths of my process converge into a single work in which the songs and the photographs speak back and forth to each other.”

"The lyrics to side one’s closer “In Canton” are printed on the other side of the shadow picture. One couplet stood out: “Dust in the finder, haze in the lens/Perspectives that warp, shadows that bend”. I have no idea if putting that song’s lyrics there was purposeful or whether I’m reading more into all of this than Wilson intended, but does that matter? Not really. The point of art is to provoke.

"In this case the provocation is a calmative balm that forces the listener to shut out the current world’s craziness and enter Wilson’s contemplative musical and lyrical ecosphere aided here by an intimate, transparent recording that sets a sonic stage and lingers effortlessly there throughout. Put the booklet down, turn out the lights, relax and just listen...

"Wilson’s liquid playing on this record soothes and circles with musical gestures one more striking than the next, surrounded by a sympathetic and at time provocative backing group consisting of Gerald Clayton on piano, Joshua Crumbly on bass, Patrick Warren on keyboards, samples, organ, pump organ and dulcitone and Jay Bellerose on percussion that includes a pipe-bomb of a kick drum stomp that will challenge and perhaps defeat your cartridge so be prepared.

"The production by Wilson and “Tone Poet” Joe Harley (a name given by Charles Lloyd and worn somewhat uncomfortably by Harley) and Michael C. Ross’s engineering delivers a “who needs tape?” digital recording. I know it’s risky to write that here, but listen and try arguing otherwise. The transparency, three-dimensionality and instrumental and vocal “body” rival the best tape recordings I can think of and the background blackness out of which all of this emerges, betters them all. The three dimensional picture the recording paints is vivid and the bottom end weight will make your speakers throb in a good way. The record is cut to close to the label and the bass drum is not easily tracked! If your reaction is “then who needs physical media?” you’ve not seen the package and the book, which is necessary to fully appreciate the experience." - Michael Fremer, Analogplanet.com, February 11, 2019

Features:
• 180g Vinyl LP
• 48-Page Photo book
• Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
• Designed and printed by Nina Holland at Little Steidl
• Vinyl pressed at Record Technology Inc.
• Limited time download card

Musicians:
Anthony Wilson, guitar, vocals, marimba (5)
Gerald Clayton, piano, marimba (1)
Joshua Crumbly, bass
Patrick Warren, keyboards, samples, organ, pump organ, dulcitone
Jay Bellerose, drums, percussion

Selections:
1. The Palmist's Hand
2. While We Slept
3. Song From A Dream
4. Great Dream From Heaven
5. In Canton
6. Songs And Photographs
7. Listening To My Heartbeat
8. Fear Of Losing
9. Start Somewhere
10. Over The Sea