Earlier this year, a journey was framed in the mind of Arthur Nasson. Not one for the road, but for the quarter inch reel tape. The resulting odyssey is Nasson’s low-fi, single album trilogy Echo Garden, out October 5, 2010 on Philistine Records.
Nasson affirms the journey Echo Garden leads the listener through:
“It feels like everything is different by the end of the album, as if we go through a series of listening experiences and wind up transformed.”
The title track, “Echo Garden,” is about innocence lost and imagined, and serves as an anchor to an album where elements are deconstructed and rearranged. For example:
* Opener “Summer Drops” is the verse chord progression of the following track “Bounce” pulled apart, and a series of vocal harmonies are added to make it a completely different piece.
* “Echo Garden Theme Part 1” and “Echo Garden Theme Part 2” are the same chord progressions performed in different styles, with vocals added to Part 2.
* “Bubblefish Part 1” and “Bubblefish Part 2” have similar chord structures, but morph into different places when performed in very different ways stylistically.
While Echo Garden is its own entity, it has a comprehensive quality that defines where Arthur Nasson has been and accentuates where he is going.
“There were certain albums that fascinated me as a kid,” continues Nasson. “The ground they covered, the artistry and experimentation involved, one could get lost in a world of sound and imagination. For years I have been trying to figure out how to present an album that hinted at these broader, disparate musical interests, that was still cohesive and fulfilling to listen to. To me, Echo Garden finally realizes this. A huge added thrill for me is that both of my young sons got caught up in the excitement and appear on a number of tracks.”
Arthur Nasson has been featured on NPR’s “Here and Now” and KALX’s “The Next Big Thing” w/ Marshall Stax. In 2008 he simultaneously released the retro rock False Prophets and the experimental noise work Life After Telescopes on his own Philistine Records. Jim Sullivan of the Boston Herald wrote “False Prophets sounds like something John Lennon might have done. It’s varied, but cohesive; melodic, but adventurous.”
Leading UK site Music-News gave False Prophets 5 STARS and commended, “Nasson is an exceptionally talented bloke… every single track is brilliant.”
Nasson concludes, “I know this sounds silly, but it felt at times like these songs came from somewhere else. That I, for reasons I don’t understand, just happened to be present to receive these songs and put them to tape.”
Regardless of this admission, Arthur Nasson still remains unwilling to share royalties.
Arthur Nasson Echo Garden track list:
Part 1
1- Summer Drops
2- Bounce
3- The Other Side
4- Bubble Fish Part 1
5- Unglued
6- Bubble Fish Part 2
7- Psych Ward
Part 3
14- Echo Garden Theme Part 2
15- You Wouldn’t Understand
16- Drag
17- Meant To Be
18- Echo Garden
PART 2
8- Echo Garden Theme Part 1
9- Unravel
10- Drift
11- Orb
12- Firefly Chase
13- The Boy With The Backwards Guitar