Redemption City

Last updated
Redemption City
Redemption city cover.png
Studio album by Joseph Arthur
Released January 18, 2012
Recorded 2009-2011
Genre Alternative rock, folk rock
Label Self-released
Producer Joseph Arthur
Joseph Arthur chronology
The Graduation Ceremony
(2011)
Redemption City
(2012)

Redemption City is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur, self-released as a digital download on January 18 2012. [1] A double album, fans were given the option to download the release for free, or make a donation. A limited vinyl release is available to purchase from Arthur's official site. [2] Regarding the album's unconventional and immediate release following its completion, Arthur stated, "Please don’t take the method, or the freedom, of this release to be any judgment on its value. [...] It's great to take advantage of what the internet is actually good at - immediacy. This is the first time I've released something while still inhabiting its space." [3]

Joseph Arthur American singer-songwriter

Joseph Arthur is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio, United States. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Combining poetic lyrics with a layered sonic palette, Arthur has built his reputation over the years through critically acclaimed releases and constant touring; his unique solo live performances often incorporate the use of a number of distortion and loop pedals, and his shows are recorded live at the soundboard and made available to concertgoers immediately following the show on recordable media.

Music download digital transfer of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a users local desktop computer

A music download is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a home computer, MP3 player or smartphone. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyrighted material without permission or legal payment. According to a Nielsen report, downloadable music accounted for 55.9% of all music sales in the US in 2012. By the beginning of 2011, Apple's iTunes Store alone made US$1.1 billion of revenue in the first quarter of its fiscal year.

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as comprising a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions such as John Lennon's Some Time in New York City and Pink Floyd's Ummagumma and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Another example of this approach is Works Volume 1 by Emerson Lake and Palmer, where side one featured Keith Emerson, side two Greg Lake, side three Carl Palmer, and side four was by the entire group.

Contents

Background and recording

Arthur began working on Redemption City in 2009, often abandoning the project, then returning to it; building a recording studio in Brooklyn for the sole purpose of recording the album, and performing each instrument on the album himself.

Brooklyn Borough in New York City and county in New York state, United States

Brooklyn is the most populous borough of New York City, with an estimated 2,648,771 residents in 2017. Named after the Dutch village of Breukelen, it borders the borough of Queens at the western end of Long Island. Brooklyn has several bridge and tunnel connections to the borough of Manhattan across the East River, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge connects it with Staten Island. Since 1896, Brooklyn has been coterminous with Kings County, the most populous county in the U.S. state of New York and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, after New York County.

Title

Upon the album's release, Arthur included a note online discussing the album's title, stating, "Around the time I was putting out Redemption's Son (2002), I met Peter Beard in Montauk. [...] One night I told Peter the name of my record that was about to come out, "Redemption’s Son," I said. "Too religious," he said. He was probably right but that’s what it was called, though it wasn’t out yet. The next day he said, “I thought of a better title for you.” I asked, “What?” He paused for drama and then said, Redemption City. 9/11 had just happened, it was a crazy title and I instantly liked it better than Redemption’s Son, but it was too late, that record was already on its way to stores. But I held onto that title. [...] A few years ago I set about making it. The record inspired by the title. What would a city of redemption sound like? What kind of characters would inhabit it?" [3]

<i>Redemptions Son</i> 2002 studio album by Joseph Arthur

Redemption's Son is the third studio album by Joseph Arthur. The double album was first released in the UK only on May 20, 2002, due to Joseph being dropped by Virgin Records/EMI in the US. Eventually, Enjoy Records picked up the record and released it stateside on November 26, 2002 with a slightly different track listing and alternate artwork.

Real World/Virgin released the album Come to Where I'm From in the States, but when Arthur wanted to start his next project, Virgin backed off. But his overactive muse couldn't wait for corporate support, so he jumped into recording regardless. Arthur ended up with Redemption's Son, plus another two albums' worth of songs, which were released over the course of four EPs called Junkyard Hearts 1-4. "I make three or four records a year, but I've only been able to get 'em out every two or three years," says Arthur.

Peter Beard American photographer and writer

Peter Hill Beard is an American artist, photographer, diarist and writer who lives and works in New York City and Kenya. His photographs of Africa, African animals and the journals that often integrate his photographs have been widely shown and published since the 1960s.

Montauk, New York Hamlet and census-designated place in New York, United States

Montauk is a census-designated place (CDP) that includes the hamlet with the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP population was 3,326.

Track listing

Part I

  1. "Travel as Equals"
  2. "Wasted Days"
  3. "Mother of Exiles"
  4. "Yer Only Job"
  5. "I Miss the Zoo"
  6. "There With Me"
  7. "No Surrender Comes for Free"
  8. "Night Clothes"
  9. "Redemption City"
  10. "Barriers"
  11. "You're Not the Only One"
  12. "So Far from Free"

Part II

  1. "Surrender to the Storm"
  2. "Fractures"
  3. "Free Freedom"
  4. "Touched"
  5. "Follow"
  6. "Kandinsky"
  7. "Humanity Fade"
  8. "Sleepless"
  9. "It Takes a Lot of Time to Live in the Moment"
  10. "Visit Us"
  11. "I Am the Mississippi
  12. "Travel as Equals" (reprise)

Personnel

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References

  1. "Album Stream: Joseph Arthur - Redemption City :: Featured Audio :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  2. "Redemption City, new album available for FULL FREE DOWNLOAD [HQ]". Joseph Arthur. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  3. 1 2 "3 x 12" Vinyl : Redemption City : Joseph Arthur : New : Joseph Arthur Online Store". Josepharthur.store-08.com. Retrieved 2012-01-19.