ADVANCE BASE- In Bloomington ORD-22
Release date: July 8, 2016
In Bloomington is a live concert recording from December 11, 2015, documenting a rare, full-band version of Owen Ashworth's nostalgic, melancholic bedroom pop project, Advance Base.
Drawing heavily from Advance Base's previous two albums A Shut-In's Prayer (one of MOJO Magazine's top 20 albums of 2012) & Nephew in the Wild (PopMatters' #1 Indie Pop album of 2015), In Bloomington explodes the claustrophobia of Ashworth's (mostly) solo, lo-fi, drum-machine-accompanied home recordings into something grand, human & joyous, captured in glorious high fidelity.
Calling in friends & collaborators from all over the US, Ashworth assembled a 6-piece "dream band" that existed for only two public performances: a December 10 concert in Ashworth's hometown of Chicago, IL, & a December 11 concert in drummer Mike Adams's hometown of Bloomington, IN. The Bloomington concert venue, The Blockhouse, just happened to double as a recording studio, & unbeknownst to the band, live engineer Andy Beargie made a professional, multi-track recording of the entire set. Orindal Records is proud to present that recording to you as In Bloomington.
Set highlights include "The Only Other Girl from Back Home," an autoharp-driven country ballad about two Michigan teenagers whose friendship is tested when they both get jobs at the same lousy restaurant; a loose & lively rendition of the torch song "Summer Music" (notable for its propellant rhythm section, shaking tambourines & snapping reverb springs); & a lap-steel-guitar-injected revival of "Bobby Malone Moves Home," an old favorite from Ashworth's former project, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
The band:
Mike Adams – drums & Mellotron samples
Nick Ammerman – bass
Owen Ashworth – Rhodes, autoharp, loops & vocals
Matthew Barnhart – guitar & tambourine
Edward Crouse – piano
Howard Draper – lap steel guitar & tambourine
Tracks
- Christmas in Oakland
- Trisha Please Come Home
- Christmas in Dearborn
- Pamela
- Stairway to Heaven (Interlude)
- The Only Other Girl from Back Home
- Summer Music
- My Sister's Birthday
- Bobby Malone Moves Home
- Kitty Winn
Pressing Information
Vinyl edition
150g black virgin vinyl LPs in heavyweight, full-colored sleeves designed by Dan Black of Landland
Edition limited to 500 copies
Vinyl pre-orders will include a free 11x17 bonus poster & will ship in advance of the July 8 release date.
Tape edition
Tye Die Tapes of Sheffield, UK released a cassette edition of In Bloomington in a limited edition of 50. We have 10 copies for North American collectors. International customers are advised to order their copies directly from Tye Die Tapes.
Package includes a black shell cassette with printed labels, exclusive sticker, download code & full color J-Cards featuring artwork by Dan Black of Landland, housed in a black Norelco case.
All orders include an instant lossless digital download of the entire album.