vanderlicewilderness

John Vanderslice & the Magik*Magik Orchestra release 'White Wilderness' -- MP3 + an Amazon exclusive Atlas Sound cover

DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice – The Piano Lesson (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice – Sea Salt (MP3)

John Vanderslice & Minna Choi
John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice‘s new album White Wilderness is not technically out until Tuesday, but you can purchase it now from Amazon, and for just $3.99. PLUS, Amazon will exclusively give you a cover of Atlas Sound‘s “Walkabout”. That’s a pretty good deal, though if you want the physical product, for more expensive, you do have the option of purchasing directly from the label (Dead Oceans). They’ll give you a free instant MP3 download of the full album too.

Speaking of free downloads, we are premiering “The Piano Lesson”, track #4 from that album. Download it above to get a sample of the product. “Sea Salt” from the album is up there too. You can also stream the Piano track, and check out the whole tracklist with cover art, below.

So, what is this album all about, what’s so “magik” about it, and who is that in the picture with John above? Dead Oceans answers…

“The newest entry into John Vanderslice‘s deep and undeniably remarkable catalog is White Wilderness, and it’s a record like no other he’s made before.

Here are nine new and wildly impressive JV songs captured live over three days in a unique collaboration with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, a collective of classically trained musicians in the Bay Area led by artistic director Minna Choi.

Did you catch that? Recorded live in three days! Never in his long career of super-smart pop songwriting paired with masterful recording and production has JV shed his reliance on hours and hours of agonizing studio wizardry. Never before has he passed up the chance to tweak and twist endlessly in mixing. For this album, all that went away. It’s simply a room full of friends playing music.

The Magik*Magik Orchestra have a comprehensive mastery of classic performance and repertoire, but also have a full appreciation of the aesthetics of indie and underground music. Choi arranged and conducted White Wilderness with 19 members of the Magik*Magik playing strings and horns, vibraphone, pedal steel and piano, an assortment of reed instruments, and much to JV’s benefit, the voice of Minna Choi singing backup at key moments throughout the album.

Recorded in San Francisco, White Wilderness was produced by John Congleton, whose resume includes albums by St Vincent, The Walkmen, Explosions in the Sky, Bill Callahan and many more.

An album trailer, song stream, cover art and tracklist, and a few John dates (all California) below…


John Vanderslice ‘White Wilderness’ Yours Truly Trailer

John Vanderslice

White Wilderness tracklist:
Sea Salt
Convict Lake
White Wilderness
The Piano Lesson
After It Ends
Overcoat
Alemany Gap
English Vines
20K


John Vanderslice – 2011 Tour Dates
01/29/11 San Francisco, CA – The Purple Onion
02/10/11 Santa Cruz, CA – The Crepe Place
02/11/11 Oakland, CA – The New Parish w/ Tarfutti
02/12/11 Stockton, CA – Plea For Peace Center w/ Filbert