New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Green Light Go Entertainment ) Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel is in good company on his latest collaboration. The National,
Jonsi & Alex,
Mates of
State and a dozen other
Peter Katis-produced artists have remixed and covered songs from The Philistines Jr's 2010 album, If A Band Plays in the Woods for a special collection entitled: If A Lot Of Bands Play In The Woods. Golden Bloom's contribution is a cover of the indictment against the growth of witch-hunt mentality, "Working Title: The Mob Song" - a faithful rendition with a little pop sparkle added.
The compilation was released on November 1st. "Working Title: The Mob Song" is available for download now: https://glgpub.com/file_download/281/Golden_Bloom_Working_Title_The_Mob_Song_Philistines_Jr_cover.mp3
On Golden Bloom's latest EP, March to the Drums, released Aug. 16, the songs have more personal lyrics, many of which deal with the life of a musician. Fogel also took a different approach to creating the new songs on March to the Drums, starting with the music rather than the lyrics. "I ended up having everything pretty much recorded instrumentally before any lyrics had even been written," says Fogel. "This gave me the ability to hear each song as an instrumental and make sure that the arrangements were interesting enough to stand on their own without any words, and then figure out how to make the vocals enhance the song even further." The result is six tracks, all musically related with interludes and variations tying the whole together.
March to the
Drums is the follow up to Golden Bloom's Fan the
Flames (2009); which was compared favorably to Summerteeth-era Wilco, The New Pornographers, and Big Star and loved by critics and fans alike. On this new EP, Fogel has worked with long-time studio counterpart Ryan Ball as well as in-demand producer
Peter Katis (Frightened Rabbit, The National,
Interpol and Tokyo
Police Club) again.
The Philistines Jr. have enlisted top indie artists such as THE NATIONAL, JONSI & ALEX, MATES of STATE, TOKYO POLICE CLUB, WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS, TAPES 'N TAPES, MERCURY REV and many others to cover and remix their acclaimed 2010 album 'If A Band Plays in the Woods...?' The collection 'If A Lot of Bands Play In The Woods....' is set for release next week November 1, via Tarquin Records/Beverly Martel. See below for a complete tracklisting.
The double LP includes the entire original album plus covers or remixes of each song. All of the participating artists have previously worked with Philistines Jr. songwriter/producer PETER KATIS, who has helmed some of the most important indie releases of the last decade.
Praise for Golden Bloom
On March to the Drums: "This disc is a carefully-assembled yet warm collection of songs. The melodies on tracks...will seem familiar even on first listen, and they'll stick in your memory for awhile afterward. March to the
Drums is a six-song EP, but with songs this good, who's going to complain?"
-Musoscribe
Golden Bloom featured in LaundroMatinee's Video Session: "'You Go On and On' is a sweet swirl of trumpet and guitar, the vocals round and deep. It starts off as lazy as a summer Sunday, but this is no somber lullaby. The drums invigorate the speed, as a hazy reverb maintains the atmospheric whimsy that Golden Bloom is often remembered by."
-LaundroMatinee
On March to the
Drums EP: "On 'Rhyme the Reason' he snags the riff from The Kinks 'Waterloo Sunset' but that's ok as Fogel makes it his own soup and it's damn tasty. The next song, 'You Go On (and On)' is the great one as acoustic guitars and pianos/synths collide with Fogel's soaring vocals to equal one of the best pop tunes of the year. Yes, give me 10 more like it! Oh, wait, 'We Have Grown' is damn close to it with majestic strings added to the mix (and another intoxicating melody)."
-Dagger
"...Fogel produces 6 stellar songs on his March to the
Drums EP. ...Golden Bloom's ideologies follow a path to which more artists should aspire. ...March to the Drums's infectious and mostly cheerful music have a darker lyrical overtone to them."
-Stereo Subversion
"With March To The Drums, Fogel keeps us hungry for another full-length release with these teaser tracks..."You Go On" has a tasty melody that suits Fogel's smooth vocal delivery flawlessly and is instantly likeable, sounding like one of the better songs recorded by Guster. "Rhyme The Reason" is another strong effort..."We Have Grown" features the best lyrics and Fogel's music perfectly balances melancholy with optimism. "Passing" is a beautiful acoustic piece with soft harmonies that serve to relax and sooth between tunes."
-Bill's
Music Forum
On March To The Drums:"This is the 'better' that came along. It is the sort of miniature opus we can always expect from Mr. Fogel...March To The
Drums - being all around wonderful, especially when played straight through...here we find the continuation of genius that we have come to expect from Shawn Fogel. He definitely succeeded with this one."
-FensePost
"'You Go On (& On)' has a comforting, familiar sound-think
Tweedy in his
Golden Smog phase; can the name in fact be a complete coincidence?-and if you don't listen carefully you wouldn't notice that the multi-instrumentalist doing business as Golden Bloom is up to anything curious."
-Fingertips Music
"...the three full tunes are so bursting with poptastic zest, that on one play the sale is made...he strikes gold on "You Go On (& On)"...It's incredibly well recorded, with strident, Todd Rundgren piano bolstered by acoustic strumming, gathering synth, bright arrangement, and total vocal hooks (Fogel's forte), that you fall into it like a well..."We Have Grown" is no slouch, either, with a similar buoyancy/urgency, given Fogel's clear, pleasant, sincerity backed by more piano and chorus strings. Fabulous; if he's got a sophomore LP as good, watch out."
-The Big Takeover
"Shawn has a great stage presence, and you can tell that he really enjoys being on stage. He also makes sure that every member of the band gets props..."
-Jason, To Eleven
"...songwriter extraordinaire" -- The Big Take-Over
"MAGNET is proud to kick off the Summer of Golden Bloom, mainly because this album is redolent of mid-period Wilco; lead track "E.H.M." sounds like an imaginary b-side to "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" featuring Scott McCaughey and appearing circa Summerteeth instead of Being There."
"...runaway single 'Doomsday Devices.' The remix could easily slot in well with the rest of Kindercore's stable of dance-pop bands."--Under the Radar
9 out of 10 stars "A pop record all the way with hooks that are both occasionally obvious yet totally effective." --Tim Hinely, Blurt
Hot New Band (July 2009) and One of 8 Undiscovered Bands Worth a Listen (January 2009)-SPIN
"It should come as a mighty surprise then, that Golden Bloom, which can easily rival acts like The
New Pornographers in their power pop capabilities is just one dude. Shawn Fogel cranks out nine pieces of pop perfection, with hints of alt-country...to touches of transient jangle-lovin'...This is harmless and warming pop music to crack a thousand smiles to." --Joshua Kloke, Skope Mag
"delivered one of my favorite albums of the year. Endlessly enchanting, Fogel's ear for power-pop melodies and eyebrow-raising lyrics stuffs this album with one good song after another." --Jim Testa, Jersey Beat
