Sean McCann just doesn’t know when to quit, does he? Since January, he’s released two LPs and a CD-R of his own work, but he knew that wasn’t going to be enough. No sir. He knew we were all going to be like: “Yeah whatever, Sean; you’ve had releases coming out the wazoo since day one. Sure they’ve slowed down a bit in recent years, but show me somethin’ I ain’t seen before.” So he decides to outmaneuver us with a reissue of Loren Connors’s gorgeous 1999 album Airs on his label, Recital. But then he realized that wouldn’t be enough either. Surely we’d all say: “Yeah big whoop, Sean; it’s just a reissue. The music was already out there; you barely had to do anything. Really pulled that one out the ol’ wazoo.” And though it hurts to know he imagines us all speaking in such a repetitively crass and inarticulate manner, maybe he’s right. You’ve gotta work hard if you want to survive in this crazy world of neoclassical “It” boys.
So it’s a good thing Recital just announced two new LPs before the year is out: Ian William Craig’s Cradle for the Wanting and Idea Fire Company’s Lost at Sea. Both will be released on November 10, and given the artists’ recent track records, both will be well worth acquiring.
Cradle, Craig’s follow-up to our sixth favorite album of 2014, was recorded over the course of a few months and relies only on voice and Craig’s repeating tape system to create remarkably lush and soaring music. At least that’s the effect on the first sample from the album, “Habit Worn and Wandering,” which you can stream down below.
Lost at Sea finds Idea Fire Company hearkening back to the stripped down sounds of 2011’s excellent Music from the Impossible Salon, and I’m simply going to leave the rest of the explaining to Recital’s press release, because it’s too good not to: “Lost At Sea imagines the Idea Fire Company as the bar band on a small cruise ship. There are approximately 40 passengers aboard. Around 2/3 of them are in the lounge for the nightly IFCO performance. Most of them seem more interested in drink than in music. The ship has become lost and seems to be endlessly circling. Well stocked with booze and food, etc., the ship continues on. IFCO, armed with only a piano and trumpet/ radio/ synth, provide the nightly entertainment.” I imagine now you probably want to experience a little bit of that for yourself, so check out “Lost at Sea II” below.
You win again, McCann. You win again.
Cradle for the Wanting tracklist:
01. Doubtshapes
02. Habit Worn and Wandering
03. No Cradle for the Whole of It
04. Each All in Another All
05. Glassblower
06. Empty, Circle, Tremble
07. Shipbreaking
08. Grace in Expectation
Lost at Sea tracklist:
01. Lost at Sea I
02. Distant Voices Singing
03. Red Sky
04. The Horse Latitudes
05. Lost at Sea II
• Ian William Craig: http://www.ianwilliamcraig.com
• Idea Fire Company: http://anti-naturals.org
• Recital: http://www.recitalprogram.com
More about: Ian William Craig, Idea Fire Company
