Nostalgia is a uniquely human feeling. We often get that urge to open old boxes or sift through photos from our past in search of some indefinable clarity or perspective. Adam Rubenstein’s newest offering, Excavator (due for release April 26th, 2013), was born of a similar experience.
A day spent exploring old hard drives, discs, notebooks and even cassettes left Rubenstein feeling both shocked and disappointed at how much material he had written, yet never properly recorded. It seemed like there was always an excuse or another musical project occupying his time.
“I often equate being a songwriter to having some inoperable disease, where ideas just keep rapidly proliferating beyond your conscious control,” says Rubenstein. “The volume of songs I’d written had become massive, and I knew they’d be forgotten if I didn’t commit them to tape somehow.”
Fortunately, this realization got Rubenstein back in the studio to flesh out many of his unfinished ideas. While some of the songs on Excavator are new compositions, others stretch back as far as a decade ago, when Rubenstein was fully entrenched in his heralded on-and-off-again band, Chamberlain.
The songs on Excavator offer a diverse, genre-jumping palette of ideas. Whereas the Beatles-esque “Playground” is a folksy ballad, there are also heartland rock’n’roll anthems like “I’ll Retrieve” and hypnotic, psych-leaning oddities like “Sunday Season.”
Throughout, the musicianship retains the impeccable standards set by Rubenstein’s past work with the influential Chamberlain, particularly his signature guitar work. Among the musical friends lending a hand on the album are members of Chamberlain, My Morning Jacket, Fiction Plane, and Angus & Julia Stone.
“I’m fortunate to have had so many wonderful friends and musicians contribute to this record,” says Rubenstein. “And I’m extremely lucky to still have a way to get this album pressed and heard after all these years of making music.”
* Excavator is Rubenstein’s second solo offering. His first, entitled “Aftershock” was released in 2002 under the moniker Adam Dove.
RIYL: Pete Yorn, M. Ward, Joseph Arthur
"Excavator" Track List:
1. Count On Me
2. I'll Retrieve
3. Sunday Season
4. Helpless
5. When Your Angel Comes
6. Caverns
7. Playground
8. Tiny Battles
9. No Big Surprise
10. Arlington
For more information, visit:
www.facebook.com/AdamRubensteinMusic
www.AdamRubensteinMusic.com
twitter.com/adamrubenstein
www.arcticrodeorecordings.com
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