Redemption City | ||||
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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 | ||||
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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 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.
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.
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 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.
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]
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 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 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.
Rio Grande Mud is the second studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in 1972.
Billy Breathes is the sixth studio album by American rock band Phish, released by Elektra Records on October 15, 1996.
Tejas is the fifth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in late November 1976. The title is a Caddo language word meaning 'friends', which is the origin of the name of the band's home state, Texas.
Bleep is an online independent record shop that mainly showcases music from independent artists and labels. Created by Warp Records and launched in January 2004, Bleep offers single tracks and whole albums as both digital and physical purchases, the latter including vinyl records, compact cassette, CDs. All music they sell is free of digital rights management (DRM) technologies. They also sell DVDs, clothing, and other merchandise from a variety of labels and designers.
r.e.m.IX is a 2002 remix album of songs by R.E.M. from its 2001 album Reveal. Copies of that album were given to well-known remixers to see what they could do with its tracks and the band's favorite results were compiled to form this album. Out of the twelve original tracks on Reveal, six are found among the ten tracks on this album—there are two different versions of "The Lifting" and four of "I've Been High." The album has never been commercially released, but it was made available as a free download from the band's Web site and as a promotional Compact Disc and vinyl LP from Warner Bros. Records. This was the second promotional music download from R.E.M. and was intended to introduce their music to a wider audience.
Our Shadows Will Remain is the fourth studio album by Joseph Arthur. The album was released in the US on September 28, 2004 on 12" vinyl and October 12, 2004 on CD, then in the UK on July 11, 2005 on CD and double 12" vinyl. The recording sessions also spawned the companion EP, And the Thieves Are Gone. There were four singles released when the album was picked up for UK distribution by 14th Floor Records. An extensive nationwide tour of the US followed the album's release, including dates with Joan Wasser. In 2005, Arthur went on a brief tour throughout Europe with R.E.M.
Nuclear Daydream is the fifth full-length album by Joseph Arthur, released on September 19, 2006. It was the first release through Joseph's own record label, Lonely Astronaut Records. The album version of "Enough to Get Away" was the first single in the UK to coincide with the album's release there. A music video was produced for "Slide Away," featuring Joseph and his band The Lonely Astronauts.
Free Moral Agents were a collective of musicians brought together by Isaiah "Ikey" Owens as a means to expand the sounds of what started as a solo recording project. In the spring of 2006 the band started playing shows around Long Beach and Los Angeles.
There was a time, before I put the record out, that I wasn't playing in Mars Volta anymore, and I had just bought a bunch of recording instruments. I'd always wanted to record my own record but never did, so [Free Moral Agents] really started with just me. I knew J, who was actually my girlfriend at the time's brother-in-law, who did poetry and sang and stuff, so I got together with him. This is before the vinyl. I was working at this record store and started talking to my friend Jeff Harris, who it turns out, was really good with Pro Tools, so I added him to the group. He's really a producer and doesn't really play with us live, but he's very much responsible for the sound of the record. I knew Mendee [Ichikawa] for several years, and we had worked on and off, but I knew we needed a female element to the group, so that's basically what Free Moral Agents is right there. As far as the music goes, it started as my project, but these people who I know I can trust, really bring it together.
Twilight of the Innocents is the fifth studio album by Ash, released on 29 June 2007 in Ireland and 2 July 2007 in the United States and the United Kingdom. The album was produced by Tim Wheeler, and mixed by Michael Brauer.
"Honey and the Moon" is a single from Joseph Arthur. The song originally appeared on Joseph's third studio album, Redemption's Son, and was released as a radio-only promo single in 2003, but was remixed for a 2007 commercial single release. The B-sides are the album versions of two songs taken from two of Joseph's new releases, 2006's Nuclear Daydream, and 2007's Let's Just Be. The song was also featured on the FOX teen-drama series The O.C., and in the 2003 movie American Wedding.
Junkyard Hearts is a set of 4 EPs released independently by Joseph Arthur in 2002 to coincide with his first headline tour in the UK. The EPs were released on special edition CD and collectors' edition 12" vinyl. The EPs were only made available on the tour and are thus now hard to find. The set preceded his third studio album Redemption's Son.
Miserylab is the main music project of Porl King, formed in the late nineties after the disbanding of Rosetta Stone in 1998.
No Mercy is the seventh studio album by American hip hop recording artist T.I.. It was released on December 7, 2010, by Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2009 to 2010. Production was handled by several high-profile record producers, including Kanye West, Polow da Don, The-Dream, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, The Neptunes, TrackSlayerz, Jake One, T-Minus, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Rico Love, Alex da Kid, DJ Toomp, Jim Jonsin, Danja and Dr. Luke, among others. The album also features guest appearances from several prominent artists such as Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Scarface, Chris Brown, Eminem, The-Dream, Trey Songz, Pharrell, Drake, Christina Aguilera and Rick Ross, among others.
Mines is the fourth album from the Portland, Oregon-based band Menomena. It was released on July 27, 2010 by Barsuk Records, in North America, and City Slang, in Europe. The album was self-produced and recorded by the band. The title comes from the plural possessive word of "mine", and the cover art features a picture of a broken sculpture in the woods printed in stereogram.
The Superions are an American comedy synthpop band formed in Orlando, Florida in 2006 as a side project of The B-52s frontman Fred Schneider with Noah Brodie and Dan Marshall.
I'm with You Sessions is a group of nine singles by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers featuring seventeen songs recorded in contention for the band's tenth studio album, I'm with You (2011). The singles were also released as a double LP vinyl set, entitled I'm Beside You, in November 2013 and were sold exclusively on Record Store Day.
"Automatic Systematic Habit" is the third and final European radio airplay single released from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album, Not Your Kind of People. Copies were sent to radio stations across Europe in November 2012.
Free Your Mind is the fourth studio album by Australian electronic music band Cut Copy, released on 1 November 2013 by Modular Recordings. The album was produced by frontman Dan Whitford, with mixing and additional production by Dave Fridmann. It spawned the singles "Let Me Show You Love", "Free Your Mind" and "Meet Me in a House of Love".
Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 is an extended play by the British electronic musician Richard D James. It was released under the pseudonym Aphex Twin on 23 January 2015 on Warp. It is meant as a companion piece to his fifth studio album, Drukqs (2001). It received mixed reviews and placed in several international record charts, including the United States Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, where it peaked at number one.