New Bandcamp Reissues & Mojo's Underground Album of the Year
This month, I am so glad to offer three earlier albums on Bandcamp for the first time: American Winter, Silent City, and The Star-Faced One. In addition, I recently learned I received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. And finally, shortly after sending out my last newsletter, I received some wonderful news: Shawnee, Ohio was selected as Mojo Magazine's 2019 "Underground Album of the Year" -- YES!
Thank you again for all of your support, and my best to you, Brian
OUT NOW: THREE ALBUMS RELEASED ON BANDCAMP
Three new/old albums are now available on Bandcamp, both in digital and physical (CD) forms. Originally released on Chicago's great avant-label Atavistic, I'm happy to offer them here, too. And, when you purchase American Winter and/or The Star-Faced One, you also receive exclusive free PDF scores for each album (f you're into that kind of thing). The scores include both music and a full transcription of all of the spoken and sung text, along with archival details of each sample. In addition, you can now purchase the five albums that I have up on Bandcamp as a discounted bundle. Here are descriptions of each album:
“Harnetty has approached this stuff with the same surety that marked his earlier work... Harnetty was able to approach the archive with ears wide open, looking only for sounds and words that he knew would work. And they do.” — Byron Coley, The Wire
The Star-Faced One: From the Sun Ra/El Saturn Archives (2013) brings together samples from beloved experimental composer and band leader Sun Ra, and my own ensemble of musicians, including Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jeff Kimmel, Jeremy Woodruff, and Aaron Butler. The cover and design are by Damon Locks, and the cover is by far the best I've ever seen. The album received wide critical acclaim, including Mojo Magazine's 2013 "Underground Album of the Year."
Working like a novelist, [Harnetty] has immersed himself in an archive of field recordings – slices of past lives – and now emerges to create a new text, breathing new life into old chunks of sound by radically recontextualising them.” — Clive Bell, The Wire
Silent City (2009) features three collaborative tracks with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and is a mix of songs, instrumentals, and field recordings that are loosely centered around Junction City, Ohio, the small, rural town where my father grew up. My family's apple orchard and home were across from a local cemetery, which they referred to as "silent city." It also features sampled recordings from the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives. Giving it 5 / 6 stars, France's Magic RPM Magazine states that Silent City creates a "new Appalachian sound," where "time stretches out before our eyes."
“Brilliant, maddening, addictive....Harnetty has proved that one way to preserve history is to weave it into the moment and let it vanish in our midst while echoing forever its truths, aphorisms, superstitions, and lies. Highly recommended. 4.5/5 stars.” — Thom Jurek, Allmusic
American Winter (2007) was my debut album on Atavistic, and is comprised of archival songs, interviews, and in-between sounds of the Berea College Appalachian Sound Archives combined with live instruments. I began working on American Winter in the wake of the Iraq War, and the album became (among other things) an indirect commentary, lament, and critique on the war. Dusted Magazine stated that American Winter is a "seamless exploration of some deep vaults while recontextualizing the sound of America’s past for a whole new generation." The album was a result of the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship, and their support was crucial for making the project happen.
MOJO MAGAZINE:"UNDERGROUND ALBUM OF THE YEAR"
Just after sending out last month's newsletter, I learned that Shawnee, Ohio was chosen by Andrew Male at Mojo Magazine to be the magazine's 2019 "Underground Album of the Year" -- an honor that I find hard to wrap my head around. Equally astonishing is the fact that it is the second time this has happened: back in 2013, Mojo gave The Star-Faced One the same honor! I am so grateful to Mojo and Andrew Male, and hope that this support can continue to build a community of listeners for the Shawnee, Ohio project.
OHIO ARTS COUNCIL: INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Finally, I'm happy to share that I received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2020 -- so cool! I've already earmarked the award to help fund new projects, including an album based on the Thomas Merton Archives in Kentucky. And, as I looked over the awardees, I saw that it is such fantastic company to be among. I'm so glad the OAC can still support individual artists, and it shows just how important public funding for the arts is. Their support helps many artists (including myself) to find ways to stay and thrive in Ohio. You can read the announcement here.