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CD
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GRCD 1087CD
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Nearly ten years in the making, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us is the long-awaited fourth volume in The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series. Conceived in 2006 by the late Gun Club titan's guitarist Cypress Grove, the Project has always aimed to highlight Pierce as one of America's most fascinatingly influential singer-songwriters of the last century while propelling his outpourings into modern times by placing it in the hands of former collaborators, friends and fans. Following 2009's We Are Only Riders (GR 702CD/LP), 2012's The Journey Is Long (GR 762CD/LP), and 2014's Axels & Sockets (GR 796CD/LP), The Task Has Overwhelmed Us presents stellar interpretations of tracks from Pierce's Gun Club and solo canons along with fresh works constructed from rehearsal skeletons, previously unheard lyrics, songs only performed live. Taking song ideas without lyrics and words looking for musical settings gave rise to what Cypress Grove calls "Frankenstein songs". The stellar roll-call of contributors features the Project's original recurring core including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Youth, Jim Jones, Warren Ellis, Mark Stewart, Hugo Race, Cypress himself plus Mick Harvey and J.P. Shilo as The Amber Lights, even Jeffrey himself from original tapes. These are joined by new bloods including Dave Gahan, Suzie Stapleton, Duke Garwood, Pam Hogg, The Coathangers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes and Leah Shapiro, Humanist, The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman, Jozef van Wissem, Jim Jarmusch, Chantal Acda and Welsh space-rockers Sendelica with US vocalists Wonder and Dynamax Roberts. Like Pierce's beloved jazz, the cast often spill into each other's tracks. The mood throughout the eighteen tracks is of rare gems crafted with love, respect and the energy of committed fans, even obsessives channeling whatever facet or fragment of Pierce's unruly muse fires their creative juices.
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2LP
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GRLP 1087LP
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Double LP version. Nearly ten years in the making, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us is the long-awaited fourth volume in The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series. Conceived in 2006 by the late Gun Club titan's guitarist Cypress Grove, the Project has always aimed to highlight Pierce as one of America's most fascinatingly influential singer-songwriters of the last century while propelling his outpourings into modern times by placing it in the hands of former collaborators, friends and fans. Following 2009's We Are Only Riders (GR 702CD/LP), 2012's The Journey Is Long (GR 762CD/LP), and 2014's Axels & Sockets (GR 796CD/LP), The Task Has Overwhelmed Us presents stellar interpretations of tracks from Pierce's Gun Club and solo canons along with fresh works constructed from rehearsal skeletons, previously unheard lyrics, songs only performed live. Taking song ideas without lyrics and words looking for musical settings gave rise to what Cypress Grove calls "Frankenstein songs". The stellar roll-call of contributors features the Project's original recurring core including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Youth, Jim Jones, Warren Ellis, Mark Stewart, Hugo Race, Cypress himself plus Mick Harvey and J.P. Shilo as The Amber Lights, even Jeffrey himself from original tapes. These are joined by new bloods including Dave Gahan, Suzie Stapleton, Duke Garwood, Pam Hogg, The Coathangers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes and Leah Shapiro, Humanist, The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman, Jozef van Wissem, Jim Jarmusch, Chantal Acda and Welsh space-rockers Sendelica with US vocalists Wonder and Dynamax Roberts. Like Pierce's beloved jazz, the cast often spill into each other's tracks. The mood throughout the eighteen tracks is of rare gems crafted with love, respect and the energy of committed fans, even obsessives channeling whatever facet or fragment of Pierce's unruly muse fires their creative juices.
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2LP
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GRLP 1087LTD-LP
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Double LP version, limited stock. Silver vinyl. Nearly ten years in the making, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us is the long-awaited fourth volume in The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series. Conceived in 2006 by the late Gun Club titan's guitarist Cypress Grove, the Project has always aimed to highlight Pierce as one of America's most fascinatingly influential singer-songwriters of the last century while propelling his outpourings into modern times by placing it in the hands of former collaborators, friends and fans. Following 2009's We Are Only Riders (GR 702CD/LP), 2012's The Journey Is Long (GR 762CD/LP), and 2014's Axels & Sockets (GR 796CD/LP), The Task Has Overwhelmed Us presents stellar interpretations of tracks from Pierce's Gun Club and solo canons along with fresh works constructed from rehearsal skeletons, previously unheard lyrics, songs only performed live. Taking song ideas without lyrics and words looking for musical settings gave rise to what Cypress Grove calls "Frankenstein songs". The stellar roll-call of contributors features the Project's original recurring core including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Youth, Jim Jones, Warren Ellis, Mark Stewart, Hugo Race, Cypress himself plus Mick Harvey and J.P. Shilo as The Amber Lights, even Jeffrey himself from original tapes. These are joined by new bloods including Dave Gahan, Suzie Stapleton, Duke Garwood, Pam Hogg, The Coathangers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes and Leah Shapiro, Humanist, The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman, Jozef van Wissem, Jim Jarmusch, Chantal Acda and Welsh space-rockers Sendelica with US vocalists Wonder and Dynamax Roberts. Like Pierce's beloved jazz, the cast often spill into each other's tracks. The mood throughout the eighteen tracks is of rare gems crafted with love, respect and the energy of committed fans, even obsessives channeling whatever facet or fragment of Pierce's unruly muse fires their creative juices.
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2LP
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GR 762LP
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Gatefold double LP version. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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CD
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GR 762CD
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2012 release. The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project follows 2009's acclaimed We Are Only Riders collection with a second volume of the late Gun Club leader's previously-unreleased works-in-progress, brought to life by old friends, collaborators and acolytes. Many songs started as nascent ideas captured on a cassette unearthed by Pierce's latter day collaborator Cypress Grove while clearing out his loft. Harking back to the collective ethos of Pierce's beloved jazz, artists spill into each other's tracks, reinterpreting or finishing lyrical and melodic sketches while some chose personal favorites from his catalog. This time, the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project includes Nick Cave (who also takes part in a return duet with Debbie Harry on "The Breaking Hands"), Mick Harvey, Debbie Harry & Chris Stein, Lydia Lunch, The Jim Jones Revue, Kid Congo Powers, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell, Vertical Smile, Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), Warren Ellis, Barry Adamson, Bertrand Cantat & Pascal Humbert, Thalia Zedek & Chris Brokaw, Hugo Race, Dom Beken and Kris & Michelle Needs, sometimes in different combinations. "This is not a tribute project, which usually consists of third rate re-treads of an artist's most famous work, but brand-new material from beyond the grave. In some cases the artists have had to finish the songs, so there can be no nonsense about this not being as good as the original version, as these are the original versions! It's a musical collective of artists who have come together to interpret or complete skeletal, unfinished material by Jeffrey. Where possible we have used Jeffrey's contributions, so he actually appears posthumously on this album." Pierce and his ever-changing Gun Club line-ups poured America's roots music forms into a blender of hard drugs and liquor, wrenching the udders of America's bloated cow to spew out toxic, low-life hollers and swamped-up songs of love and desperation. He seemed to have located the dark main artery of the blues, loaded up an overblown hypo and set the plunger to permanent stun. Includes a 20-page booklet featuring memorabilia and extensive liner notes by Kris Needs. Proceeds from the first volume went to Amnesty International, but Pierce's sister Jacqui is setting up The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Foundation to help fulfill her brother's long-standing desire to provide musical instruments for under-privileged kids in L.A.
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2LP
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GR 702LP
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Gatefold double LP version. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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CD
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GR 702CD
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2009's We Are Only Riders is more than just a "various artists" compilation. It's a musical collective of artists who have come together to interpret (and in some cases, complete) unfinished skeletal works by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, an artist they were friends with or whose work they admired. Artists featured on the album include Nick Cave, who has done his own solo track, as well as dueting with Debbie Harry, and playing piano on Debbie's solo track, and added backing vocals on the Cypress Grove track. Mick Harvey contributed to two of the Nick Cave tracks and has recorded a solo track. Barry Adamson plays bass on the Nick Cave solo track and also on the Mark Lanegan solo track, who has also recorded a duet with Isobel Campbell. Kid Congo Powers contributed to Nick Cave's and Lydia Lunch's tracks. About three years ago while clearing out his attic, Tony Cmelik (aka Cypress Grove) came across a bag of dusty old cassettes. He started to sort through them and found one marked "JLP Songs." As soon as he put it on he remembered what it was; Tony & Jeffrey rehearsing material for the album they made together (Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee and Cypress Grove with Willie Love). The album was initially going to contain country songs, but it gradually evolved into a full-blown blues album. It was recorded on an old boombox in Tony's bedroom, just the two of them on acoustic guitars. The sound quality was terrible, but good enough to make out the songs, which were excellent. Tony thought it would be fascinating to hear how different artists might interpret these songs as well as other found Jeffrey Lee Piece material from this most basic and crude of templates, the cassette. Other artists include: The Raveonettes, David Eugene Edwards, The Sadies, Crippled Black Phoenix, Johnny Dowd, and Dave Alvin.
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CD
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GR 796CD
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The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project, which sees the late Gun Club singers' friends, former band members and fans paying tribute to his extraordinary genius, is releasing its third and penultimate outing. Axels and Sockets features many names from the first two volumes, including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey and Kid Congo Powers, along with new additions to the collaborative fold in the form of Iggy Pop, Mark Stewart, Thurston Moore, Jim Sclavunos, Primal Scream and Andrew Weatherall. Co-ordinated by Pierce's later musical partner Cypress Grove, the Project again strives to pay homage by avoiding the clichés of the conventional tribute record, creating fierce, iconoclastic new music out of song-sketches, demo recordings, scribbled lyrics and leftover riffs Jeffrey tragically didn't live to complete, while some put their own spin on personal favorites from his esteemed catalog. Axels and Sockets casts the Project's net wider than ever, kicking off with Iggy Pop making his debut appearance dueting with Nick Cave on "Nobody's City" before Debbie Harry invokes the early punk-pop Blondie sound with the Amber Lights (Mick Harvey and JP Shilo) on "Kisses for My President," which Jeffrey wrote about her before she knew he existed (He was president of the Blondie fan club). Cave also completes his trilogy of duets with Debbie on "Into the Fire." Returning too are Mark Lanegan, along with Bertrand Cantat, Crippled Black Phoenix, Gallon Drunk's James Johnston and Cypress Grove. Also making their debut are Mark Stewart and Thurston Moore (their take on "Shame and Pain" marking the first time Jeffrey's vocals have appeared on the set), Primal Scream, whose version of "Goodbye Johnny" is remixed into smoky hoodoo noir by Andrew Weatherall, KatieJane Garside and Andrea Schroeder. The set also introduces younger bands with Leeds' Black Moth, who are produced by Bad Seeds drummer and project co-coordinator Jim Sclavunos and Cornwall's Honey, helmed by Jeffrey's old partner-in-crime Kris Needs. With only Volume 4's grand finale to come, the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project continues to loom as a towering statement in preserving and immortalizing his fearsome legacy.
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2LP+CD
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GR 796LP
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Gatefold double LP version on 180 gram vinyl; includes a CD version. The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project, which sees the late Gun Club singers' friends, former band members and fans paying tribute to his extraordinary genius, is releasing its third and penultimate outing. Axels and Sockets features many names from the first two volumes, including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey and Kid Congo Powers, along with new additions to the collaborative fold in the form of Iggy Pop, Mark Stewart, Thurston Moore, Jim Sclavunos, Primal Scream and Andrew Weatherall. Co-ordinated by Pierce's later musical partner Cypress Grove, the Project again strives to pay homage by avoiding the clichés of the conventional tribute record, creating fierce, iconoclastic new music out of song-sketches, demo recordings, scribbled lyrics and leftover riffs Jeffrey tragically didn't live to complete, while some put their own spin on personal favorites from his esteemed catalog. Axels and Sockets casts the Project's net wider than ever, kicking off with Iggy Pop making his debut appearance dueting with Nick Cave on "Nobody's City" before Debbie Harry invokes the early punk-pop Blondie sound with the Amber Lights (Mick Harvey and JP Shilo) on "Kisses for My President," which Jeffrey wrote about her before she knew he existed (He was president of the Blondie fan club). Cave also completes his trilogy of duets with Debbie on "Into the Fire." Returning too are Mark Lanegan, along with Bertrand Cantat, Crippled Black Phoenix, Gallon Drunk's James Johnston and Cypress Grove. Also making their debut are Mark Stewart and Thurston Moore (their take on "Shame and Pain" marking the first time Jeffrey's vocals have appeared on the set), Primal Scream, whose version of "Goodbye Johnny" is remixed into smoky hoodoo noir by Andrew Weatherall, KatieJane Garside and Andrea Schroeder. The set also introduces younger bands with Leeds' Black Moth, who are produced by Bad Seeds drummer and project co-coordinator Jim Sclavunos and Cornwall's Honey, helmed by Jeffrey's old partner-in-crime Kris Needs. With only Volume 4's grand finale to come, the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project continues to loom as a towering statement in preserving and immortalizing his fearsome legacy.
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