NDA-002 Hollows
Hollows
Hollows
Release Date: November 24, 2009
Vinyl LP – First 500 on Yellow Vinyl
w/free digital download version
As you listen to the joyful debut from the singular young ladies of Hollows, you might recognize the wistful harmonies and classy charm of the Shangri-Las, the propulsive rhythms of vintage surf rock, the hormonal crunch of the best ‘60s garage psychedelia, and the bristling smarts of the Raincoats. Hollows may be firmly rooted in Chicago’s DIY punk scene, but they effortlessly layer genre over genre, continually distinguishing themselves on this brisk, fun-loving ear-grabber of an album.
Organist Maria Jenkins lends this music a unique funhouse verve, elevating the drive-in horror-flick throwback “Shadows in the Dark” to pop art. Guitarist Meg Kasten careens from spry jangle to ominous distortion and sneering feedback. Bassist Emma Hospelhorn anchors the low end while adding nuanced girl-group harmonies to Maria’s lead vocal lines. Hollows have serious skills, and they also have imagination to spare. Their debut ranges from the post-punk lash-out “Mary Goes to Law School” to the C&W shuffle of “Muncie, IN” to a glorious cover of “Watch Out Sally,” made famous by 60s songstress Diane Renay.
Despite its captivating harmonies and hooks and its pervasive sense of freewheeling fun, Hollows goes to some dark places. “Johnny Appleseed” portrays confused young people and their hopeless relationships. In its haze of distortion, the choppy rocker “Do the Scarecrow” celebrates a lover’s angst and paranoia. (“What else can I do / To keep those birds away from you.”) For a few seconds, even the blissful, shape-shifting pop tune “Love Will Find You” collapses into a fit of maniacal laughter.
In just 30 minutes, this debut from one of Chicago’s most intriguing new bands delivers a catchy, mesmerizing, and deliriously twisted good time
NDA-001 Chris Connelly – Pentland Firth Howl
Chris Connelly
Pentland Firth Howl
Release Date: May 26th, 2009
Vinyl LP – Limited edition of 300
w/free digital download version
Choosing our very first release for the newly launched Addenda Records was a surprisingly easy task. We’ve long been enchanted by the majesty of Chris Connelly’s work, so we considered ourselves honored that he would allow us to release his latest endeavor in a limited vinyl format.
Chris Connelly is an artist’s artist. He writes music as emotional ventilation, though each approach is a conscious decision. With every successive return to the studio, an untried mode of recording needs to be found, a fresh set of accompanying musicians culled, a different tone established, and a new challenge formed. A Chris Connelly album isn’t conceived haphazardly, and that dedication to the process and continued development as an artist is the reason behind his lengthy, acclaimed and diverse discography.
Henceforth, it feels cliché to say that Pentland Firth Howl sounds nothing like anything before it in the Connelly catalogue, but it’s true. Just like each of the more recent albums by the Chicago-based avant-garde singer/songwriter – Night of Your Life, The Episodes, Forgiveness & Exile – are distinctive from one another, Pentland Firth Howl distinguishes itself brilliantly from the pack. And if you would rather take the wider scope, very little from this refined affair resembles the industrial-disco of his past: Ministry, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Fini Tribe, Murder Inc. and The Damage Manual. That is besides the emotion.
Pentland Firth Howl is just so quiet and so austere. Connelly is in the forefront of the sober mix with little else contributing to the momentum, an approach rare even with his lengthy back-catalogue. His Scottish accent flicks the end of each line, alveolar trills elongated into soothing vibratos. The incessantly rhythmic acoustic guitar that has driven the latter half of his career is still present and continues to shade Connelly’s nocturnal vocal tone with a monochromatically shimmering shadow. The tempo may have slowed, but the expanse of the recordings has certainly not recoiled. Instead, Connelly sounds as if each lyric within every snaking croon is directed candidly to the night sky. They are somber declarations of a life well lived.
Only joining Connelly in the studio is guitarist and producer Zak Boerger. His off-kilter electric guitar nocturnes create an elegant underpinning to Connelly’s spartan arrangements. These loose auxiliary melodies add just enough of a counterbalancing tone to enrich the recording without overbearing it. The music becomes a worthy vehicle, poignant songwriting melding with structured improvisation, for Connelly’s enigmatic poetry.
It seems odd that Connelly would name this album – one of the most composed in his career – after Scotland’s Pentland Firth, notorious as a home to some of the fastest tides in the world. Perhaps the Howl is more of a goodbye. With a career of tumultuous currents and fierce tidal shifts – used as an analogy to both the sounds and the stories behind them – reaching full maturity, it seems appropriate to dedicate an album to the coda. Hopefully this isn’t a final voyage though, because as this album so deftly proves, Chris Connelly is still creating some of the finest music of his career.