Posted on: April 18, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Time Out New York : “ Local singer-songwriter Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, whose sidemen have included members of Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio, plays garagey pop with winning psych-era melodies.”

Up until now, Twenty-four year-old Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson has been Brooklyn’s best-kept secret, but with the help of Kyp Malone (TVOTR), Chris Taylor & Christopher Bear (Grizzly Bear) and Say Hey Records, we are proud to introduce this stunning debut artist. In a recent interview with Another magazine Kyp Malone professed, “Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is my favorite songwriter right now.” Miles’ brief yet inspirational life story already contains enough Gump-esque moments of cultural serendipity to make it a shoe in for a 2025 behind the music segment, if not a full blown overly- sentimental nostalgia piece about coming of age in downtown Manhattan and Williamsburg in the first decade of the millenium.

The eponymous long player to be issued by Say Hey Records is the first recorded document after years of false starts, self-sabotage , and amiable persistence in the face tragedy. Born in Oregon and raised in Portland and Eugene, Miles spent much of his youth on the road traveling with his comedian father as he played venues across the U.S. After completing high school, Miles gravitated eastward and was in New York by 2000. Immediately he immersed himself in the burgeoning music scene; going to shows and eventually forming a few bands. Miles recorded no less than 5 albums in various early projects like Jackson Plastic, Mud Cub, and Jesus Jackson but sadly (“fortunately” according to miles ) they never glimpsed the light of day.

Each incarnation met it’s demise from a combination of erratic behavior, venue banishment, and indiscreet drug use. Frustrated and fatigued, Miles descended further into addiction, leading to a stint in which he made his bed on the benches of Coney Island. But, throughout it all, Miles continued to distill from his shabby surroundings the inspiration and imagery that make up his debut record.

Recorded with the aid of Chris Taylor and Christopher Bear of Grizzly bear “Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson” (MBAR) began in 2006 in Miles’ apartment. Chris Bear did the drums in a single day and the basics were mixed immediately after the completion of Yellow House; later overdubs were added by Kyp Malone and Daniel Rosen (Grizzly Bear), and the record neared completion.

The album begins with the demented campfire sing-a-long, “Buriedfed”, a dirge disguised as a rave up, and it sets the pace for an album filled with unrepentant confessions played with abandon. MBAR takes the listener through a flawless sardonic narrative, detailing loss, excess, and blurred memories, all the while with an irresistible humor.

Look out for the MBAR sophomore LP in 2009, produced by Kyp Malone.

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