Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts

Manhattan

   ^{Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts — Manhattan (October 30, 2015)} •   13 písní na jeho 25. albu? No a jak jinak? Anti–Folker Jeffrey Lewis je zpět s novým albem a doprovodnou kapelou ‘Los Šroubos’ (made by Lewisovi štamgasti) již tradičně obsahujícím jeho vlastní comics–ilustrace skrz naskrz! Album je pojmenované a přímo inspirované samotným Manhattanem, ale není regionalizováno pouze jeho kuriozitami. Specifičnost detailů spočívá v tom, jak Lewis líčí své postavy, situace a právě to činí jeho písně tak evokujícími a emocionálně bohatými. Ruchy z rušných ulic v úvodní “Scowling Crackhead Ian” přispívají k autenticitě prožitku. V “Thunderstorm” volí jiný postup díky noise. Lewis jakožto celoživotní rezident New Yorku je samostatně stojícím pozorovatelem svého rodného města ale konečný resultát je dán jeho schopností jednoduchého a výstižného popisu lidských osudů, tím opět potvrzuje svou pevnou pozici jednoho z nejostřejších jazýčků singer–songwriters od dob Lou Reeda. Každá generace má svého Loua a ikona té současné se jmenuje Jeffrey. Je v cílové rovince, kde cíl je počátkem jeho cest.
•   Wordy rapping in the ‘hood’ with the indie Woody Allen. New York’s anti–folker Jeffrey Lewis is back with a new album and backing band Los Bolts (made up of Lewis regulars) and includes his own comic style illustrations throughout!
•   The album is both named after and directly inspired by New York City, but is no regionalised curio. It’s the very specificity of the details Lewis uses to depict his characters and situations that make his songs so evocative, and so emotionally rich. Lewis is both a lifelong resident and a detached observer of his hometown; but ultimately, it’s a simple treatment of human moments by one of our sharpest songwriting talents.Born: November 20, 1975, New York City, United States
Location:  Lower East Side, New York City, NY
Album release: October 30, 2015
Record label: Rough Trade
Duration:     44:47
Tracks:
01. Scowling Crackhead Ian      4:43
02. Thunderstorm      6:51
03. Sad Screaming Old Man      3:58
04. Back to Manhattan      8:21
05. Avenue a, Shanghai, Hollywood      2:31
06. Outta Town      2:46
07. It Only Takes a Moment      4:42
08. Support Tours      2:34
09. Have a Baby      4:50
10. Atheist Mantis      0:34
11. The Pigeon      2:52
12. What I Love Most in England (Is... Food)      2:26
13. All the Birdies in the Wood      2:15
Editorial Reviews
•   Manhattan, the first studio album in four years by NYC native Jeffrey Lewis, is at once a big step forward — he recorded with a full band, and worked with producer John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Dinosaur Jr., Phosphorescent) to craft a big, warm, crackling rock sound — as well as a look back, lyrically, toward the city, people, and streets that have influenced and informed his art throughout his life.Review by Paul Simpson
•   Singer/songwriter and underground comic book artist Jeffrey Lewis is known for writing sharp, literate, touching, and often hilarious songs about subjects ranging from acid freakouts to historical events, but Manhattan (his seventh full–length for Rough Trade) focuses on tales relating to his home borough, resulting in some of his most personal songwriting to date. A few songs, such as “Scowling Crackhead Ian” and “Sad Screaming Old Man,” paint lyrical portraits of eccentric characters, but most of the songs focus on personal issues such as relationships or music industry woes. Lewis is at his most immediate and rocking on “Outta Town,” a fun, rollicking number about forgetting how to do basic, everyday things while his girlfriend’s away visiting her family. “Support Tours” is a typically biting, quick–witted ditty about the troubles of touring in order to establish one’s self as an artist and try to earn a living, and “Have a Baby” is a similarly scathing tune concerning remaining true to punk ideals until it’s time to grow up and do responsible things like settling down and having children. As great as Lewis is at penning punchy, acerbic songs like these, he’s still a master at taking his time to craft a calmly paced narrative, as best exemplified here by the jaw–dropping eight–minute centerpiece “Back to Manhattan,” which chronicles a breakup taking place during a 40–minute walk home from Brooklyn, returning to the phrase “they’re in the home stretch but our path is just starting” under different contexts. Lewis concludes the album with “The Pigeon,” a Lower East Side retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” loaded with schlocky, modernized Jewish humor (he rhymes “Jimmy Kimmel” with “gimel”). Sonically, Manhattan is one of Lewis’ clearest, best–recorded and arranged albums to date, with masses of swirling, atmospheric sounds augmenting the more detailed tracks (the sounds of crowded New York City streets and subways seep into some of the songs). His backing band this time around is credited to Los Bolts, but it includes Heather Wagner and Caitlin Gray (whom Lewis previously worked with under the name the Jrams) and several musicians who have been working with Lewis throughout his career, such as Turner Cody and Dave Beauchamp. The album wouldn’t be complete without Lewis’ comic book–style liner notes, which depict a filthy, vermin–infested Manhattan subway station, which (typical of his sardonic sense of humor) is labeled “Bleeckest St.”BIOGRAPHY
•   Born and raised New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis leads a double–life, as both a comic book writer/artist and a musician (or is that a triple–life?).  His band also has a multi–faceted existence, restlessly exploring a stylistic swath from contemplative folk narratives to distortion–fueled garage rock to soundscape abstractions and more.  Most often a trio (though occasionally just Jeffrey solo, or as a duo, and on some tours as a four–piece), the Jeffrey Lewis group has shuffled its name a number of times over the years, from Jeffrey Lewis & The Creeping Brains to Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters, Jeffrey Lewis & The Jackals, Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Jeffrey Lightning Lewis & The Rain, and others, in 2014 becoming Jeffrey Lewis & The Jrams. These various formations (often in the past featuring Jeffrey’s brother Jack on bass and Bronx–native David Beauchamp on drums) have toured the world from Los Angeles to London, Berlin to Beijing, Melbourne to Moscow, blowing minds all along the way and sometimes sharing stages or full tours with the likes of Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Devendra Banhart, Devo, The Mountain Goats, Thurston Moore, The Fall, The Vaselines, Roky Erickson, Pulp, Beth Orton, Frank Black, The Fiery Furnaces, Daniel Johnston, Scout Niblett, The Moldy Peaches, Cornershop, The Cribs, Dr. Dog, Kimya Dawson, Adam Green, Akron/Family, Black Dice, Au Revoir Simone, The Television Personalities, Jarvis Cocker and many other luminaries.  Live shows often incorporate “low budget videos,” Jeffrey’s large illustrations displayed to accompany certain songs, such as Jeffrey's educational multi–part “History of Communism” or flights of fancy like “The Creeping Brain.”  In 2001 Jeffrey Lewis signed to the venerable Rough Trade Records label (home to The Smiths, The Strokes, and many more alternative legends) and has since released six albums worldwide on Rough Trade/Beggars, the most recent of which is 2011’s “A Turn in the Dream–Songs” which was recorded at an all–analogue studio in Manchester, UK and features musical cameos from Dr. Dog, Au Revoir Simone and The Vaselines among others. Jeffrey has been self–publishing a comic book series called “Fuff” since 2004, has lectured around the world on topics such as the Watchmen comic book and independently produced music, and in recent years his work has been featured by the History Channel, the New York Times, the Guardian, NPR, and elsewhere. As of 2014 his most recent projects have been creating the soundtrack for the film Radio Unnameable (distributed by Kino Lorber), illustrating Jaimee Garbacik’s academic book Gender and Sexuality For Beginners, writing/drawing a 9–page comic book biography of Woody Guthrie for the Paul Buhle–edited book Bohemians, writing/illustrating/publishing three installments of Sonnet Youth (an attempt to rewrite the discography of Sonic Youth in sonnet form), and finally publishing Fuff #10.
•   Jeffrey’s side–project band with Peter (Holy Modal Rounders) Stampfel released their second album “Hey Hey it’s... The Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band” in May 2013.
ALBUMS:
•   When Madman Was Good — Version One (1997)
•   When Madman Was Good — Version Two (1998)
•   Indie–Rock Fortune Cookie (1998)
•   Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999)
•   The Only Time I Feel Right Is When I’m Drawing Comic Books (2000)
•   I Am, Of Course, Glad (2000)
•   Kimya Dawson And Jeff Lewis (2001)
•   Songs From Austin (2001)
•   Diane Cluck And Jeffrey Lewis (2001)
•   The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane (2001)
•   Guitar Situations: Musical Conduct (2002)
•   AntiFolk Collaborations Volume 1 (2002)
•   It’s the Ones Who’ve Cracked That the Light Shines Through (2003)
•   Jeffrey Lewis “Four Seasons” Box Set (2004)
•   City and Eastern Songs (Jeffrey & Jack Lewis) (2005)
•   Gas Money EP (2005) (split with Schwervon!)
•   Tapes From The Crypt (2006)
•   12 Crass Songs (2007)
•   City and Eastern Tapes (2008)
•   ‘Em Are I (Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard) (2009)
•   Come On Board (Peter Stampfel & Jeffrey Lewis) (2011)
•   A Turn In The Dream–Songs (2011)
•   Hey Hey it’s... The Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band (2013) (with Peter Stampfel)
•   Jeffrey Lewis & The Jrams” (2014)
•   Manhattan (Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts, October 30, 2015)
Website: http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/_____________________________________________________________

Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts

Manhattan

---

NEWS

archiv

ALBUM COVERS X.