lördag 22 Jan 2011, 2:52

BRIAN GRAINGER
HIGHSCHOOL GUITAR
Attacknine Records / ATTLP004
12" EP / Limited edition of 110 copies

My first new work published at the fantastic Attacknine label (run by the amazing Freescha) since 2007's ambient guitar album Eight Thousander. Highschool Guitar can be seen as a single/EP for the upcoming double-LP Summer's Parting Ways, due out at Attacknine later this year. Musically, this material might seem pretty new or different to many of you, but in all honesty, I have been writing/recording music like this since I began in 1997 - I simply haven't released very much of it. A starting point could probably be things like the Smiling Faces/Beautiful Places lathe I released last year, or even certain moments on Nine Billion Names, Clover Farm and Eight Thousander. In 2007, after I finished putting together the Clover Farm EP, Attacknine were so happy with the track "We Walked Home" that they asked me to do an entire album like that. After three years of writing and recording over six hours of material, I've assembled this EP and the following album.

My influences in making this material were things like the deep country I lived in with my father after dropping out of highschool, as well as other places I had lived and thought about as a kid. Think of it as a bedroom produced space rock band, with warped guitars, tape-hiss bass humming and new wave drum machines holding down a motorik pace. Pop music as seen through the kaleidoscope of sugary nostalgia, mutated by years of looking back and always remembering things a little bit more colorfully. Cherry cola, smoke from a bonfire, open windows on humid nights, passing out stoned with a Ray Bradbury paperback, driving forty minutes one-way to get anywhere from the country, recording dozens of sad guitar songs on tapes and fantasizing that one day I'd be playing them in a band. All of that stuff is here, refined, concentrated, and melted down to 6 sets of grooves etched into clear spirals.

To add to the celebration of having such special work released, Attacknine have really rolled out the red carpet with this release. When you pick up the clear 12" in a silkscreened jacket, you also get three stickers, an 11x17 poster, a pin for your jacket and a custom-made guitar pick with the album art on it. All of this only costs you $15! Additionally, for $20 more, you can get the "artist edition" with a special Grainger t-shirt! Both versions come with high-quality MP3s (or FLAC upon written request) and a bonus track not on the vinyl (Blue Wedding), however if you want to decide your t-shirt size for the "artist edition" you must place your order by January 23 because Attacknine have to send the shirt order to the manufacturer. Otherwise, your shirt will be a large.

Details for both packages are here:

http://attacknine.com/?fuseaction=item_cat.ecom_category_browse&item_cat_id=33

(A digital-only version is also available, for those of you who just want the music and no merch!)

Many thanks to all of you who pick this special release up! In addition to releasing this and the Summer's Parting Ways album, Attacknine are also going to soon put out the long-rumored and anticipated Free Festival II album! Be sure to sign up for their own mailing list to make sure you know about these releases before they hit the shelves!

(Tagging some of my related projects to make sure everyone knows about this: Milieu, Coppice Halifax, VCV)

Cheers!