Tied to a Star J Mascis

• 1 Me Again 04:25
• 2 Every Morning 03:58
• 3 Heal the Star 04:34
• 4 Wide Awake 03:30
• 5 Stumble 03:30
• 6 And Then 04:14
• 7 Drifter 02:47
• 8 Trailing Off 04:21
• 9 Come Down 05:33
• 10 Better Plane 03:51
• Total Runtime 40:43

Info for Tied to a Star

„Tied To A Star” von J Mascis ist der Nachfolger seines anerkannten Sup-Pop-Debüts „Several Shades Of Why“. Das Album, angeführt von den Songs „Every Morning“ und „Wide Awake“, wurde von Dinosaur Jr. Mastermind Mascis selbst aufgenommen und produziert und von John Agnello bei Bisquiteen in Amherst abgemischt.

„Spätestens mit 'Several Shades of Why' aus dem Jahre 2011 war klar, das Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. nicht nur im Trio funktioniert. Vielmehr werden auf seinen Solo-Platten Ideen verarbeitet, die man auf einem Dinosaur-Album vielleicht nicht finden mag, es aber immer nach ruhigen Dinosauriern klingen lässt. Ganz klar besitzt Mascis eine Stimme, die man auch beim Synchronstart von 15 Düsenjets auf dem Logan International Airport von Massachusetts raushört und liebt. Mit seinem neuen Nachfolger 'Tied To A Star' knüpft Mascis nahtlos an den Sub Pop Debütvorgänger an und nimmt sich nicht zu Unrecht Ruhm mit nach Hause. Wer schon immer Fan war, bleibt es auch. Wer nicht, wird es. Guter Typ mit gutem Album.“ (www.titus.de)

Recorded and produced by Mascis
Mixed by John Agnello at Bisquiteen in Amherst, MA

J Mascis
It’s all but inconceivable that J Mascis requires an introduction. In the quarter-century since he founded Dinosaur (Jr.), Mascis has created some of the era’s signature songs, albums and styles. As a skier, golfer, songwriter, skateboarder, record producer, and musician, J has few peers. The laconically-based roar of his guitar, drums and vocals have driven a long string of bands – Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Gobblehoof, Velvet Monkeys, the Fog, Witch, Sweet Apple – and he has guested on innumerable sessions.But Several Shades of Why is J’s first solo studio record, and it is an album of incredible beauty, performed with a delicacy not always associated with his work.

Recorded at Amherst Massachusetts’ Bisquiteen Studios, Several Shades is nearly all acoustic and was created with the help of a few friends. Notable amongst them are Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kurt Fedora (long-time collusionist), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt Valentine (The Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded Knees). Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up classic sounds ranging from English-tinged folk to drifty, West Coast-style singer/songwriterism. But every track, every note even, bears that distinct Mascis watermark, both in the shape of the tunes and the glorious rasp of the vocals.

“Megan from Sub Pop has wanted me to do this record for a long time,” J says. “She was very into it when I was playing solo a lot in the early 2000s, around the time of the Fog album [2002's Free So Free]. She always wanted to know when I’d do a solo record. [Several Shades of Why] came out of that. There are a couple of songs that are older, but the rest is new this year. And it’s basically all acoustic. There’s some fuzz, but it’s acoustic through fuzz. There’re no drums on it, either. Just one tambourine song, that’s it. It was a specific decision to not have drums. Usually I like to have them, but going drum-less pushes everything in a new direction, and makes it easier to keep things sounding different.”

There is little evidence of stress on Several Shades of Why. The title track is a duet with Sophie Trudeau’s violin recalling Nick Drake’s work at its most elegant. ‘Not Enough’ feels like a lost hippie-harmony classic from David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name. ‘Is It Done’ rolls like one of the Grisman/Garcia tunes on American Beauty. ‘Very Nervous and Love’ has the same rich vibe as the amazing rural side of Terry Reid’s The River. And on and on it goes. Ten brilliant tunes that quietly grow and expand until they fill your brain with the purest pleasure. What a goddamn great album. (by Byron Coley)

Booklet for Tied to a Star