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LP
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MCR 008LP
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"Ask Dan Melchior about the underlying narratives that play out in his records and he'll say he doesn't pay much attention to them. He simply goes where they lead him. A lot has come to pass in Melchior's life over the last few years. He made a cross-country move from his longtime home in Carrboro, NC to greener pastures of Austin, Texas. He's embarked on a brand new relationship, and... oh ...there was a global pandemic that shut down the whole world for a couple of years. It's difficult not to try connecting the dots when listening to his latest album, Welcome To Redacted City, his third release with Atlanta label Midnight Cruiser Records. Songs such as 'Going Outside,' 'The Right Influencer,' 'Incel Country,' and 'Voyager' find the U.K. born, U.S. transplant singing and playing guitar through 21 honest-to-goodness songs backed by a full band -- Chris Girard bass, Anthony Allman keyboard, and drummer Clark Blomquist yielding a cohesive, live band feel that's aligned with Melchior's earlier recordings with his Broke Revue band and many of his older releases for In The Red Records. Loads of distortion and exquisite melodies careen with a poetic and renewed vigor here, each element underscoring an album that is decidedly of the times. Each song navigates a maze of modern dilemmas, viewed through the T.V. and computer screens as the world goes to hell. But Melchior channels his anxieties into 21 uplifting numbers that sit alongside personal disasters and triumphs -- the kinds of things that one obsesses over while living in isolation. The driving bass in 'Voyager' and the ominous voice in 'Get Right Back' spouting, 'They say you can never go back home again,' expand upon any and all expectation, as Melchior's words carry just as much weight as the low rumble of the music. Jumping from captivating melodies into bluesy punk-inflected chargers, the dots start to connect themselves in Redacted City, giving rise to an album steeped in menace and delight, paranoia and confidence."
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MCR 004O-LP
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Translucent orange vinyl version. "Dan Melchior has been creating his own unique take on lo-fi pop/garage rock and American roots music for close over two decades. He has recorded over 35 records as a solo performer, as a collaborator with Billy Childish and Graham Lambkin and more notably with his band Dan Melchior's Broke Revue. He has also released several records with his post Broke Revue band, Dan Melchior un Das Menace. Dan's latest LP comes courtesy of his newest group Dan Melchior Band. Outside In is eight tracks of distortion-drenched, fuzzed-up rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. While Dan's distinctive vocals and guitar playing are the cornerstone of the group's sound, the entire album is awash in a sea of unspooling riffs and hooks moving from heavy locked in bass grooves to distorted synth freakouts. In the words of Steve Lowenthal 'Dan Melchior is an anomaly in the modern music world, even for the underground. As one of the world's last truly great songwriters ... His music cannot be neatly partitioned into a narrow genre although one can detect elements of blues, vintage R&B, British psych pop and more recently brazen experimentalism.'"
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LP
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MCR 004LP
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"Dan Melchior has been creating his own unique take on lo-fi pop/garage rock and American roots music for close over two decades. He has recorded over 35 records as a solo performer, as a collaborator with Billy Childish and Graham Lambkin and more notably with his band Dan Melchior's Broke Revue. He has also released several records with his post Broke Revue band, Dan Melchior un Das Menace. Dan's latest LP comes courtesy of his newest group Dan Melchior Band. Outside In is eight tracks of distortion-drenched, fuzzed-up rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. While Dan's distinctive vocals and guitar playing are the cornerstone of the group's sound, the entire album is awash in a sea of unspooling riffs and hooks moving from heavy locked in bass grooves to distorted synth freakouts. In the words of Steve Lowenthal 'Dan Melchior is an anomaly in the modern music world, even for the underground. As one of the world's last truly great songwriters ... His music cannot be neatly partitioned into a narrow genre although one can detect elements of blues, vintage R&B, British psych pop and more recently brazen experimentalism.'" "Outside In has a cinder-scorned midnight feeling to it, slinking through the darkened streets in search of some forgotten solace, some inner peace that never quite conjures through the haze ... Falling in the blues-buttressed valley between his fuzz-freaked noise offerings and his poppier days in the Broke Revue, the record is a greasy slide that hops back and forth with a pugilist's swagger." Andy French (ravensingstheblues.com)
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ITR 327LP
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"Recorded in Philadelphia in late 2016, Negative Freedom encapsulates the moment when the horrible truth was just beginning to sink in. 'Everything got broken while I was looking the other way' sings Dan Melchior on 'Negative Freedom' and perhaps that's a relatable sentiment. Elsewhere Melchior's ever-withering gaze settles on prima donna self-googlers in 'They Insulted Me In Mojo' and self-serving promoters get their own anthem in 'A Nice Holiday' -- 'Be careful of enthusiasts who want you to play their island' sings Melchior, with a sense of weary experience that makes the song seem like it might just be autobiographical. The rhythm section on this recording consists of two former members of Taiwan Housing Project (Adam Charles Cooper on bass and Pat Ganley on drums). They manage to lay down a solid but decidedly streamlined groove that perfectly complements the songs. 'This Is One' utilizes a re-discovered drum track laid down by the legendary Letha Rodman Melchior to great effect."
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