Siskiyou is the new group led by former Great Lake Swimmers member Colin Huebert in collaboration with Erik Arnesen (who still plays with the Swimmers) and joined by musician/filmmaker Karolyn Keir. The group is based in Vancouver, Canada where Huebert has recently settled after a stint working on an organic farm following his departure from the Swimmers. This is their eponymous debut album.
Colin sent us a first collection of songs in early 2010 just as the bitterest months of Montreal winter were setting in. Working like glowing embers on us all season long, gaining warmth and radiance with every listen, the humble intimacy and composure of these recordings steadily drew us into the deeper tension between economy and epiphany humming at the core of the tunes. Emotionally direct, marked by an underlying darkness and doubt about relationships (to each other, to the environment, to mortality) without overreaching lyrically or musically, and without overriding the quiet exuberance embedded in every melody - the songs compel.
It was no surprise to learn that Huebert had channeled these songs with immediacy and austerity, recording dozens of tunes at home with only voice and guitar, generally within minutes of their conception, as an exercise in unmediated documentation. From this audio sketchbook, Huebert and Arnesen began building gently ornate arrangements on top of various tunes, recording overdubs in itinerant fashion in hallways, stairwells, bathrooms and parks throughout the Vancouver area. Banjo, piano, accordion and electric guitar play the lead roles in adorning Colin's initial acoustic guitar sketches. The resulting collection of songs thrums with a scrupulous lo-fi backwoods energy and restraint. The music has been described as perfectly conjuring the lush, crisp yet often chilly landscape of the Pacific Northwest, and we tend to agree.
We are thrilled to present this first set of self-recorded, self-produced songs by Siskiyou - following the release of their debut free digital single (a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa") in June 2010. The record is available on CD and 180gLP packaged in 100% recycled paperboard jackets on September 7th in the US and September 13th in Europe. The deluxe LP version includes a limited edition silkscreen poster and a CD copy of the album. The record is also available digitally. Thanks for listening.
Siskiyou Track List
Funeral Song
Everything I Have
Hold It In
Pull It Away
It's All Going To End
Useless Anymore
This Land
Never Ever Ever Ever Again
Inside Of The Ocean
We All Fall Down
Big Sur
Brevity And Insult
For more information, visit:
www.siskiyouband.com
www.cstrecords.com
