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RER CTA027
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"Bob Drake takes a professional detour to explore an intriguing byway with this atmospheric, uncharacteristic, stripped down, highly intriguing (and I think highly successful) experiment in minimal exposition. There are thirteen chapters -- for voices, organ, piano and cathedral -- on texts drawn directly from the 1893 edition of The legendary lore of the holy wells of England: including rivers, lakes, fountains and springs, by the English antiquary and inventor of the folding umpire's chair, Robert Charles Hope. Hallucinatory, educational, intriguing, mysterious and almost certainly efficacious to the elevation of the spirit -- not to mention some serious compositional heft. This is a unique musical object and whomsoever likes to take the road less traveled, this was meant for you. Written, performed, and recorded by Bob Drake, between May 2021 and June 2022. Recorded June and July 2022 at La Borde Basse, Caudeval France. Instruments: Hammond model BC organ (c.1940), Challen upright piano. Background ambience recorded in Saint Maurice Cathedral, Mirepoix. Cover art by EM Thomas. Photos by BD except booklet back cover by Emily Jones. All lyrics adapted from The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England by Robert Charles Hope (1893)."
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RER CTA026
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"A pandemic is just an opportunity for some people to spend even more time in the studio. Bob is a minor cult, and this new CD -- exquisitely recorded (in a previous life he was an L.A. studio engineer) is a compact suite of short, dense, twisty, jaw-dropping -- and highly unusual -- songs; a whirlwind for the uninitiated but still surprisingly accessible. It's his 10th release for ReR, each exploring some new aspect of songwriting, arrangement or production. This time he's added a small menagerie of newly invented instruments to augment his already extensive acoustic and electronic instrumentarium -- and the band of Bob that plays them has seldom been larger or tighter. Beautifully packaged with impressive fold-out artwork by the incomparable Joe Mruk. Biographical: From 1978-1989 Bob played a key role in Denver's underground music scene and was a founding member of both Thinking Plague and Hail. In Los Angeles, in the early 1990s, he engineered sessions with just about everybody... from Ice Cube to Shirley MacLaine, joined the 5UU's, and began to write and record his mind-stretching solo albums. He has lived in his home studio in Southern France since 1994 where he has played on, recorded, or mixed hundreds of albums. A member of the Peter Blegvad Quintet, The Science Group and Vril, he is also celebrated for his definitive re-masterings of classic albums by Art Bears, Henry Cow, ZNR, Cassiber and others."
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RER CTA25B
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"A one-off release of extraordinary instrumental compositions, through-composed and performed by a massed orchestra of Bob on piano, 5-string resonator banjo, Farfisa organ, Korg MS20 synthesizer, electric and acoustic guitars, recorders, drums, bass, chromatic hand-bells, trombone, trumpet and violin. 22 exquisite, enigmatic and compressed vignettes that defy comparison. It's a new departure for Bob, though the mixture of complexity, simplicity, virtuosity and dramaturgy remain the same. It's a release that will reward repeated listening. Bob Drake (b.1957) has played a lot of instruments with -- and has engineered -- all manner of bands, from the early 1970's on. Between 1978-1989 he played an important role in Denver's underground music scene, and was a founding member of both Thinking Plague and Hail. In the early 1990s, when he was living in Los Angeles, he wound up engineering sessions with just about everybody from Ice Cube to Shirley MacLaine."
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RER BD22
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"Bob's 10th solo album sees Bob playing all the usual instruments (and a few more this time) in another collection of eccentric, songs with impossible structures, extraordinary harmonies, informative lyrics (rather outré in their subject matter, as Bob's small platoon of fans like it), virtuoso playing (in a casual sort of way), some great production and impressive musical economy. The album comes with a remarkable fold-out map and Arcimboldo-esque design by graphic artist Joe Mruk. Bob Drake (b.1957) has played a lot of instruments with -- and has engineered -- all sorts of bands from the early 1970's on. Between 1978-1989 he played an important role in Denver's underground music scene, and was a founding member of both Thinking Plague and Hail. In the early 1990's while living in Los Angeles, he wound up engineering sessions with just about everybody-from Ice Cube to Shirley MacLaine, and it was there he met David Kerman and became part of 5UU's. It was also around this time that he began to write and record his own solo albums. Since 1994 Bob has lived at his home studio in Southern France, where he has played on and recorded and/or mixed hundreds of albums by artists from around the world. He is also known for his definitive re-mastering of classic albums by Art Bears, Henry Cow, ZNR, Cassiber, Homosexuals, and others. With output this vast, Bob is dangerously close to becoming a cult."
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RER CTA17
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"A set of twisty, forty-ideas-a-minute, niftily arranged, irredeemably eccentric, but strangely brilliant songs that skip blithely across genre borders - from Nashville through the Miskatonic by way of the Beach Boys, even the production values range across the history of recording, sometimes switching inside a single song; a high information ride, but still engagingly listenable. Finished with his new CD, Bob sends the raw songs -- just chords and melody -- to Dave Kerman (ds), David Campbell (bs, vc) and Kavus Torabi (guit, vc) and, a few months later, they assemble at the Crumbling Tomes studio to work up the songs for a performance. Bob is in the band but the band is not being taught his interpretations and arrangements. It finds its own. After a week of rehearsals, there is a show for an invited audience, recorded live. So now we have a second great album - quite different from Bob's own. On the CD, both versions sit side-by-side, each very different, but still intimately linked to one another. A study, if you are so inclined; fun if you isn't. That's the sort of thing I call experimental." --Chris Cutler
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ADHOC 010CD
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"Bob is already celebrated for his five ReR solo CDs, as well as for his long and illustrious career as a member of Thinking Plague, Hail, 5uu's, Vril, The Science Group, AA Kismet, ...the list goes on. What Day Is It? already exhibits Bob's characteristic traits: golden fingers, hi-wire vocals, eyebrow-raising country-picking, loose-but-right-in-the-pocket drums, eccentric chord inversions, and a bass-guitar sound to make you want to work like crazy or quit. Sitting happily with the fantasy 'Yes' Euro-progressive surface is the rather more substantial depth of a bluegrass and rooted-rock American culture; an almost unique combination and one hard to imitate (or even imagine, until you hear Bob do it). But then, Bob has always marched to the beat of a different drummer, manifestly careless of the fashion or of the easier, more superficial aspects of the music he has absorbed."
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RER CTASC01
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"On his fifth full album for ReR, virtuoso bass player, guitarist, producer, studio engineer and composer Bob Drake presents a new collection of 52 very short songs on uncanny themes, illustrated in the exquisite 24pp full-colour booklet with a set of 20 commissioned paintings by Ray O'Bannon. Perhaps the scariest thing is that each of these miniatures is a fully formed, fully orchestrated and complete structure -- no lazy snippets here -- and Bob plays all the parts with his famously Paganini-esque virtuosity in spooky variable-tempo synchrony -- packing more ideas and material into 50 seconds than most could manage on an entire album. There is complexity here, disguised as simplicity; production genius disguised as eccentricity; the pursuit of an aesthetic of exquisite imperfection. These are ears that have heard beyond technical perfection (too easy, once you have the trick) and moved on to something else."
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RER CTA13
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"In 13 Songs we encounter complex Henry Cow type rock, heavy metal chords, Turkish influenced manic acoustic guitar, horror movie soundtrack music, and flashes of old time rock n roll. And that's just the intro! Later on Bob gets mean and dirty with his fingerpickin' guitar, a music full of dead stops and unexpected changes of texture. He occasionally sings in his pure, Yes-like choirboy tones, spitting out twisted lyrics. A dog lets off a couple of barks in unexpected places. So nothing new then; just another crazed mix of Hillbilly music, Frank Zappa-like composition, mordant wit, and some fantastically heavy guitar and drums. Bonny Prince Billy meets Beefheart via The Beatles."
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RER CTA9
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"Bob Drake was one half of Indie rock group Hail, and still plays bass with ruthless avant rockers The 5UUS. As a producer, he's worked with everyone from Ice T to Englebert Humperdink. Another card in Drake's hand is the bizarre series of solo albums he's produced in the last few years, with no one else there to curb his wild imagination. Little Black Train introduced us to his version of Death-Country, and Medallion Animal Carpet followed up with what sounded like a collaboration between Bonnie Prince Billy and Captain Beefheart. And now there's Skull Mailbox. With this CD Drake has lost it altogether. Strange little picked guitar pieces are the basis for grotesque songs; a seance goes horribly wrong, headless ghosts fly about, and everyone ends up dead, or locked in the cellar, or both. Interjections by massed choir and orchestra suggest a 19th Century comic opera, and influences are as diverse as the Beatles and Henry Cow. Occasionally drums pop out of the far left of the speaker, vocals far right, grunging noises appear without warning, and everything has a rotting compost quality which makes it sound like it was recorded in a decaying barn -- which indeed it was!"
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RER CTA7
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"Bob Drake is a virtuoso bass player, guitarist, producer, studio engineer and composer. He's played with Thinking Plague, the E.C. Nudes, 5UUs, Hail and The Science Group, and as a producer has handled everyone from Ice T to Engelbert Humperdink. ' This CD forces the unlikely marriage of post-hillbilly songs, fingerpicking guitar and Faust-inspired electronic noise."
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RER CTA 6
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"Drake is best known for being a founding member of Thinking Plague and Hail, both of which have released classic CDs on ReR. Although mostly instrumental, Drake occasionally bursts into song to complement his furious guitar picking, bass bludgeon and passionate violin scrape. If you ever wondered what the Magic Band might sound like if they had been invited to provide the soundtrack to Deliverance, this comes close to providing some answers."
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viewing 1 To 11 of 11 items
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