Future Clouds and Radar

Last updated
Future Clouds and Radar
Origin Austin, Texas, United States
Genres Rock, psychedelic rock, art rock, pop rock, experimental
Years active2006–present
LabelsStar Apple Kingdom
MembersRobert Harrison
Josh Gravelin
Hollie Thomas
Kullen Fuchs
Darin Murphy

Future Clouds and Radar is an American rock group from Austin, Texas. It was founded by Robert Harrison after the dissolution of his previous group, Cotton Mather, and features several of the same musicians.

Contents

History

Following the commercial failure of The Big Picture, Cotton Mather quietly ended in 2003. Harrison stepped away from the music world for some time to focus on raising his family. When he returned to making music in 2006, he assembled a collective of musicians and set about "creating music that couldn't be boxed in". [1] Although the music was recorded by a vast array of musicians with Harrison as the only constant member, he still chose to present it as a band to emphasize the contributions of the other musicians. [2]

The first release from the group, and the first release on Harrison's Star Apple Kingdom label, was an eponymous double album, released in 2007. Future Clouds And Radar was much more experimental and varied than the work of Cotton Mather, incorporating genres as wide-ranging as reggae, psychedelia, avant-garde, and ambient music in addition to pop and rock. The following year, the group released a second album, Peoria, which continued in the same musical vein. Also in 2008, a single-disc distillation of the debut album was released in the UK, removing eleven tracks and adding three otherwise unavailable acoustic performances.

The group never officially disbanded, and occasionally still plays around Austin, but have not released anything since 2009. Although Harrison's now-defunct blog stated that the "Songs from the I Ching" project would feature music from both of his projects, [3] everything that has been released as of 2019 has been credited to Cotton Mather.

Videos

Nickelodeon animator Keith Graves was chosen to create a video of the song "Dr. No." [4] Other videos include: [5]

Reception

Austinist described the group as "Beatles-esque psychedelia", [6] while The New Yorker described the music as "sprawling orchestral art rock." [7] NPR wrote ""Audacious? Sure. But undeniably impressive." [8] [ better source needed ] Texas public radio station KUT listed it among the best albums of the year 2007, [9] while Pop Narcotic listed it in its top 10 of the year. [10]

Discography

Future Clouds and Radar

Disc 1

  1. Birds Of Prey
  2. Let Me Get Your Coat
  3. Hurricane Judy
  4. Drugstore Bust
  5. This Is Really A Book
  6. You Will Be Loved
  7. Quicksilver
  8. Where's My Drink?
  9. Holy Janet Comes On Waves
  10. Wake Up And Live
  11. Our Time
  12. Green Mountain Clover
  13. Devil No More

Disc 2

  1. Quicksilver 2
  2. Get Your Boots On
  3. Build Havana
  4. Dr. No
  5. Back Seat Silver Jet Sighter
  6. Malice of Stars
  7. The Great Escape
  8. Letters To Junius
  9. Altitude
  10. Cowboy Weather
  11. Armitage Shanks
  12. Christmas Day 1923
  13. Wake
  14. Safety Zone

UK single-CD edition

  1. Birds Of Prey
  2. Let Me Get Your Coat
  3. Hurricane Judy
  4. Drugstore Bust
  5. This Is Really A Book
  6. You Will Be Loved
  7. Quicksilver
  8. Get Your Boots On
  9. Build Havana
  10. Dr. No
  11. Back Seat Silver Jet Sighter
  12. Malice Of Stars
  13. Altitude
  14. Cowboy Weather
  15. Safety Zone
  16. Green Mountain Clover
  17. Holy Janet Comes On Waves (Acoustic)
  18. Quicksilver (Acoustic)
  19. Let Me Get Your Coat (Acoustic)

Peoria

  1. The Epcot View
  2. Old Edmund Ruffin
  3. Feet On Grass
  4. Mummified
  5. 18 Months
  6. The Mortal
  7. Mortal 926
  8. Follow The Crane

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds</span> 1967 song by The Beatles

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written primarily by John Lennon with assistance from Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. Lennon's son Julian inspired the song with a nursery school drawing that he called "Lucy – in the sky with diamonds". Shortly before the album's release, speculation arose that the first letter of each of the nouns in the title intentionally spelled "LSD", the initialism commonly used for the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide. Lennon repeatedly denied that he had intended it as a drug song, and attributed the song's fantastical imagery to his reading of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Stills</span> American musician (born 1945)

Stephen Arthur Stills is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Manassas. As both a solo act and member of three successful bands, Stills has combined record sales of over 35 million albums. He was ranked number 28 in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and number 47 in the 2011 list. Stills became the first person to be inducted twice on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to Neil Young, "Stephen is a genius".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norah Jones</span> American musician (born 1979)

Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, as of 2023, had sold more than 53 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was ranked 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the '00s decade chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jumpin' Jack Flash</span> 1968 single by the Rolling Stones

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone magazine, the song was seen as the band's return to their blues roots after the baroque pop and psychedelia heard on their preceding albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons (1967) and especially Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967). One of the group's most popular and recognisable songs, it has been featured in films and covered by numerous performers, notably Thelma Houston, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Peter Frampton, Johnny Winter, Leon Russell and Alex Chilton. To date, it is the band's most-performed song; they have played it over 1,100 times in concert.

<i>Cloud Nine</i> (George Harrison album) 1987 studio album by George Harrison

Cloud Nine is the eleventh studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. The album was recorded and released in 1987 after Harrison had taken a five-year hiatus from his career as a solo artist. The hit single "Got My Mind Set on You" from this album re-established Harrison as a critically acclaimed and commercially significant recording artist. Cloud Nine was Harrison's final solo studio album to be released during his lifetime; his next album Brainwashed was released in 2002, almost a year after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cotton</span> American blues singer-songwriter (1935–2017)

James Henry Cotton was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clap Your Hands Say Yeah</span> American indie rock band

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an indie rock band active since the early 2000s in and out of Philadelphia. The band was founded as a collaboration between singer-songwriter Alec Ounsworth, Sean Greenhalgh, Robbie Guertin, Lee Sargent, and Tyler Sargent. Ounsworth now performs under the name, as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro Escovedo</span> American musician

Pedro Alejandro Escovedo is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk rock, roots rock and alternative country, and is most closely associated with the music scene in Austin, Texas but also San Francisco and New York. He comes from a family of musicians.

An independent music scene is a localized independent music-oriented community of bands and their audiences. Local scenes can play a key role in musical history and lead to the development of influential genres; for example, no wave from New York City, United States; Madchester from Manchester, England; and grunge from Seattle.

Psychedelic music is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as DMT, LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin mushrooms, to experience synesthesia and altered states of consciousness. Psychedelic music may also aim to enhance the experience of using these drugs and has been found to have a significant influence on psychedelic therapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sitar in popular music</span>

While the sitar had earlier been used in jazz and Indian film music, it was from the 1960s onwards that various pop artists in the Western world began to experiment with incorporating the sitar, a classical Indian stringed instrument, within their compositions.

Cotton Mather is an American rock band from Austin, Texas, founded by Robert Harrison in 1990. Although the group started out as an experimental duo featuring guitar and cello, they evolved into a four-piece rock group with a sound centered around guitars and vocal harmonies. The group was initially active from 1990 to 2003, but returned from a nine-year hiatus in 2012 and have been active ever since. They have drawn comparisons to the Beatles, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Squeeze, and Guided by Voices. In his 2007 book, Shake Some Action, John Borack rated the Kontiki album at number 26 of his Top 200 Power Pop Albums of all time, comparing the album to Revolver-era Beatles, Big Star, and The Apples in Stereo. NME suggested Cotton Mather might be "the most exciting guitar pop band since Supergrass."

<i>Kontiki</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Cotton Mather

Kontiki is the second studio album by American rock band Cotton Mather. The album incorporates rock, pop, and psychedelic music, as well as elements of found sound and field recordings, reflecting the group's origins as an experimental act. It was recorded on four-track cassette and ADAT, leading to a rough, homemade sound. Originally released in 1997, Kontiki did not see any success until a 1999 re-release in England. In 2012, it was reissued on the Star Apple Kingdom label, with a bonus CD of extra tracks, as Kontiki Deluxe Edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Atkins</span> American singer-songwriter

Nicole Atkins is an American singer-songwriter. Her influences include 1950s crooner music, 1960s psychedelia, soul music, and the Brill Building style of writing. Atkins has been compared to Roy Orbison and singers from the Brill Building era.

The Lovely Sparrows is an Austin, Texas based indie rock band currently on Abandoned Love Records and founded by Shawn Jones. Their sound is categorized as indie rock, folk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, or just rock, blending lush, complex arrangements with sing-along choruses that bring to mind folk-inflected pop and well-written novellas. Pulling Up Floors, Pouring on (New) Paint, released in 2006, captures the gorgeous melodies and warm, organic maladies of front man Shawn Jones. The September 2008 release saw the band embark on its most extensive touring to date, which included CMJ Music Marathon, Pop Montreal and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The Lovely Sparrows premiered the music video directed and animated by Eric Power of Clear Productions for "Year of the Dog" off Bury the Cynic during the 2009 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. The video was honored as one of the 25 best music videos of the year 2008 by MusicForants.com. Bury the Cynics was on the best of list by Fensepost, The Bomb Shelter (#11), the Austinist (#5), Side One: Track One v1 (#7) and Side One: Track One v2 (#1).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Alice Rose</span>

The Alice Rose were an indie pop/rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 2000. The group's founding members are songwriter and guitarist JoDee Purkeypile, bassist Sean Crooks, and drummer Chris Sensat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Marshall</span> American singer-songwriter

Craig Marshall is an Austin, Texas–based singer-songwriter originally from Syracuse, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Jaffe</span> American singer-songwriter

Sarah Allison Jaffe is an American singer-songwriter from Denton, Texas. Known for her distinctively clear vocals, she has worked as a singer-songwriter across many musical genres, including acoustic-folk, indie pop and hip hop.

<i>Mondo Amore</i> 2011 studio album by Nicole Atkins

Mondo Amore is the second album by Nicole Atkins. It was released in the United States on February 8, 2011 by Razor & Tie Music.

<i>Death of the Cool</i> 2016 studio album by Cotton Mather

Death of the Cool is the fourth full-length studio album by American rock band Cotton Mather, and the first new album from the group since 2001's The Big Picture. Death of the Cool was the first official release from band leader Robert Harrison's "Songs from the I Ching" project.

References

  1. Powell, Austin (November 14, 2008). "Strawberry Fields Forever". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  2. Mills, Fred. "IT'S ABOUT THE SHOW Future Clouds & Radar". Blurt Magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  3. "Robert Harrison — Songs from The I Ching". 2018-09-01. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  4. "New Future Clouds and Radar video "Dr. No"". Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  5. "Future Clouds & Radar at YouTube". YouTube .
  6. "Austinist Show Preview & Giveaway: Future Clouds and Radar at The Parish". Archived from the original on July 4, 2008.
  7. "We Heart Music".
  8. "We Heart Music, Austin's Future Clouds and Radar" . Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  9. "David Brown, "The Best Albums of the Year, from KUT"". NPR .
  10. "Pop Narcotic, Best Albums of 2007". 16 January 2008.
  11. "SXSW 2007: Future Clouds and Radar". NPR .
  12. 1 2 "Future Clouds and Radar". Vintage Guitar Magazine.[ dead link ]
  13. "Stereogum, "Harp Puts Okkervil River Atop Its Top 50 CDs Of 2007"".