Western Ware

Last updated
Western Ware
Hyperbubble Western Ware Cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 7, 2017
RecordedJuly 1, 2016
StudioRehearsal Room Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, [1] 2002, Glen Campbell's home, Phoenix, Arizona, February 19, 2016, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
Genre Synth-pop, electropop
Length29:48
Language English
Label Fellowshipwreck
Producer Jess and Jeff DeCuir
Hyperbubble chronology
Music to Color By
(2016)
Western Ware
(2017)

Western Ware is an album by the American synth-pop/electropop band Hyperbubble from Fellowshipwreck released on February 26, 2017. [2] An aim of the collection was to follow through on the promise of band member Jess DeCuir to "plan to produce, mix and create the first electro Country & Western LP" since the work of Gil Trythall. [3] One reviewer noted that the recording also marked a change for Hyperbubble in that while Jess is regarded as "the voice of band, ...on this album Jeff (DeCuir) cleans up rather nicely as lead vocalist on a good number of tracks." [4]

Contents

The album includes Aleah Metzger Hendricks on all backing vocals for "Queen of the Roller Derby" and adding backing vocals to four other tracks. Their cover of "Rhinestone Cowboy" features Rikki & Daz's John Matthews (Ricardo Autobahn) accompanying on synthesizer and Daz Sampson as MC. Their contribution was recorded at Glen Campbell's home at the time they recorded their own UK Top 20 version of the hit song.

Most tracks cover popular songs by noted country music artists with two exceptions. One is the short track "Luminaria," recorded live at the San Antonio Museum of Art during the citywide event of the same name. [5]

The second is the debut of "Digital Cowboy," the title track composed but never produced by Our Daughter's Wedding for their 1981 album. [6] For this song, Our Daughter's Wedding member Scott Simon performs with Hyperbubble on lead synthesizer.

The album title incidentally copies that of a single Hyperbubble previously recorded for a 2011 compilation entitled Western, produced by Winter Records.

Critical reception

The release was called "a rare crossover" Country and Western album that "is synthpop at its core;" "a wild west of urban cowboys, honkey-tonk angels and truck-driving women." [6] [4] Through "a hoedown of bouncy and bombastic country-western covers," band members Jess and Jeff DeCuir dubbed "electronic music's own Carter & Cash" eschew the "twang and wail of traditional country instruments." [7] [8] [6] As a substitute "on the 'Nashville in the 23rd Century' rendition of 'Boney Fingers,' Jess DeCuir's theremin is a most perfect Country instrument as it hauntingly twangs." [8] Pansentient League reviewer Jer White wrote that "Hyperbubble are fast becoming the masters of conceptual synthpop, what with this delightful album and things like last year's synthpop coloring book Music to Color By." [6]

Their "The Electric Horseman" was described as "a meaty take on the instrumental from the Robert Redford film of the same name" and that it represents an "extended (version) from the original which incidentally also featured a sequencer line." [8] Chain D.L.K. gave the album 3 out of 5 stars [4] and Pansentient League named it a Top Ten for 2017. [9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Guest musician(s)Length
1."Y'all Come"Arlie DuffAleah Metzger Hendricks2:01
2."Jolene" Dolly Parton  2:42
3."Boney Fingers" Hoyt Axton, Renee Armand 2:51
4."Truck Driving Woman"Roland Pike, Johnny WilsonAleah Metzger Hendricks2:01
5."Luminaria"Jeff DeCuir 0:16
6."Bar Wars" Buzz Cason  2:55
7."Queen of the Roller Derby (featuring Aleah Metzger Hendricks)" Leon Russell Aleah Metzger Hendricks2:30
8."Rhinestone Cowboy (featuring Rikki and Daz)" Larry Weiss Rikki & Daz 3:05
9."Digital Cowboy (featuring Scott Simon)"Keith Silva, Scott Simon, Layne RicoScott Simon, Aleah Metzger Hendricks1:26
10."The Rubber Room" Porter Wagoner Aleah Metzger Hendricks3:27
11."The Electric Horseman" Dave Grusin  6:34

Personnel

Musicians

Additional personnel

Production

Related Research Articles

<i>Travelogue</i> (The Human League album) 1980 The Human League album

Travelogue is the second full-length studio album released by British synthpop group The Human League, released in May 1980. It was the last album with founding members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, as they would leave to form Heaven 17 later that year.

The Cuban Boys are an English electronic group and production team, currently composed of Skreen B and Ricardo Autobahn; the band formerly also included B.L. Underwood ("Blu") and Jenny McLaren. Their music is characterised by fast electronic beats, heavy reliance upon samples and the repetition of the name drop "the Cuban Boys" in the background of many of their tracks. They achieved success after being aired on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show with sample-heavy dance tracks and cut-ups and were responsible for the UK No. 4 hit single "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" which was released through EMI.

Spray (duo)

Spray is a synth-pop duo from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, consisting of siblings Jenny McLaren and Ricardo Autobahn. Following the demise of their previous band, the Cuban Boys, McLaren and Autobahn released the album Living In Neon on Ninthwave Records in the United States. This was followed in 2003 by the extended single "I Am Gothic". A new album, Children of a Laser God was released online in 2006, along with the single "Run With Us", a cover of the theme tune of the popular 1980's cartoon The Raccoons with the "Michael Trenfield" remix as the main single accompanied with the original version and remixes from JKZ, Absorb, FMU and Diskowarp.

Our Daughter's Wedding was an American synthpop trio, consisting of Layne Rico on Synare synthesizer, Keith Silva on vocals and keyboards, and Scott Simon on bass-synth and saxophone. Though the group was based in New York, Silva and Rico were from California. The group took their name from a type of DIY photo album.

Daz Sampson British singer, producer and broadcaster

Darren "Daz" Sampson is a British professional football manager/scout, music producer and broadcaster. Sampson is known for his commercial dance music as part of several groups and his television appearances. He has had nine Top 30 UK singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhinestone Cowboy</span> 1975 single by Glen Campbell

"Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written by Larry Weiss and recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. When released on May 26, 1975, as the lead single and title track from his album Rhinestone Cowboy, it enjoyed huge popularity with a both country and pop audiences.

<i>Reproduction</i> (album) 1979 studio album by The Human League

Reproduction is the debut studio album released by British synthpop group The Human League. The album was released in 1979 through Virgin Records.

Rikki & Daz, was a pop music duo, formed in 2002 by John Matthews and Daz Sampson. John Matthews of the Cuban Boys fame and also known as Ricardo Autobahn, became Rikki in the duo. He teamed up with Sampson, named just Daz in the duo and went on to release the single, "Rhinestone Cowboy ", a take on Glen Campbell's hit "Rhinestone Cowboy". It featured the country singer in a new vocal for the release, and Campbell appeared in the video. The single went on to reach No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 16 in the Irish Singles Chart. The pair also contributed separately to a cover of their version of the song with the band Hyperbubble on their 2017 album Western Ware.

<i>When and Where</i> 1995 studio album by Confederate Railroad

When and Where is the third studio album by the American country music band Confederate Railroad. It was issued by Atlantic Records in 1995. The album includes the singles "When and Where", "Bill's Laundromat, Bar and Grill", "When He Was My Age" and "See Ya." Although "When and Where" was a number 24 hit on Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks in mid-1995, the other three singles all missed Top 40.

<i>Twang</i> (album) 2009 studio album by George Strait

Twang is the twenty-sixth studio album by American country music artist George Strait. It was released on August 11, 2009, via MCA Nashville, the same label to which Strait has been signed since 1981. It is produced by Tony Brown. The lead-off single "Living for the Night", which Strait wrote with his son Bubba and songwriter Dean Dillon, was released in May 2009. As of the chart dated January 8, 2011, the album has sold 662,023 copies in the US. "Twang" was nominated for Best Country Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyperbubble</span>

Hyperbubble is an international visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this American group is variously described as "early Eurythmics meets Josie and the Pussycats," referencing "markers such as New Musik, the Normal and Thomas Dolby." Their songs are "catchy synth pop that mixes kitsch, retrofuturism and pop art in a chrome blender and sets the contents jiggling to a hypnotic robo-rhythm" with "lyrics that offer quirky takes on SF tropes from cyborgs and clones to ray guns and erotic surveillance."

<i>Drastic Cinematic</i> 2011 studio album by Hyperbubble

Drastic Cinematic is an LP by the American synthpop/electropop band Hyperbubble from German label Pure Pop For Now People. Guest vocals on the title track were provided by Aidan Casserly of Empire State Human, with whom the band would later work on the single, "Aidan Casserly Vs. Hyperbubble". The song "Geometry" included vocals by Manda Rin of the Scottish bands Bis and Data Panik as well as sampled sounds from her cat, Akiko. The song was later reprised in a second collaboration with the singer on the EP Hyperbubble + Manda Rin.

<i>Proper Cowboy</i> 2012 studio album by Diegos Umbrella

Proper Cowboy is the fourth album released by Diego's Umbrella, released in July 2012.

Jinian Wilde, sometimes Jin Wilde and Wilde!, is an English singer, songwriter, studio vocalist, vocal instructor and musician who has worked with a number of musical projects and with UK's Paris Music. He is also founder of Wilde Rose Studio using the name Dr. VoX. He has collaborated most notably with Uniting Nations, Daz Sampson and since 2007 is lead singer in the David Cross Band, a band formed by David Cross who was the electric violinist of King Crimson.

<i>Live in London</i> (Hyperbubble album) 2015 live album by Hyperbubble

Live in London is the first live album by American synthpop/electropop band Hyperbubble from German label Pure Pop For Now People. It debuted worldwide on November 22, 2015. It captures their November 22, 2014 show at The Lexington in London.

Hyperbubble discography

Visual and performing arts electropop/synthpop band Hyperbubble released 6 studio albums, 1 live album, 3 compilation albums, 9 extended plays, 19 singles, 2 soundtracks and 3 mix albums. They also released 8 music videos.

<i>Better Set Your Phasers to Stun</i> 2009 EP by Hyperbubble

Better Set Your Phasers to Stun is a 2009 EP by the American synthpop/electropop group Hyperbubble. The recording was in collaboration with the Welsh band Helen Love. The title tracks cover Love's 2000 song with the Star Trek reference. The cover art furnished images of the series' signature phaser weapon.

<i>Hyperbubble + Manda Rin</i> 2013 EP by Hyperbubble, Manda Rin

Hyperbubble + Manda Rin is an EP released by German label Pure Pop For Now People. It debuted as a CD and digital download on February 14, 2013 in the U.S. The recording was the second collaboration between the American synthpop/electropop duo Hyperbubble and Manda Rin of the Scottish bands Bis and Data Panik.

<i>Solid Pop</i> 2004 studio album by Hyperbubble

Solid Pop is the debut album by the American synth-pop/electropop band Hyperbubble. It is titled on the cover as Sol!d Pop. The replacement of "i" with an exclamation mark is carried through the song titles.

<i>The Last Resort</i> (EP) 2021 EP by Midland

The Last Resort is the second EP released by American country music band Midland. The EP includes the singles "Sunrise Tells the Story", "And Than Some", "Take Her Off Your Hands", and the title track. It was released through Big Machine Records, and produced by Dann Huff, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.

References

  1. Hyperbubble 7-1-16 Western Ware recording sessions, Nashville, TN. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  2. Western Ware
  3. Lai, Chi Ming (December 20, 2014). "HYPERBUBBLE Interview". The Electricity Club. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 Mecca, Steve (February 19, 2017). "Hyperbubble: Western Ware". Chain D.L.K. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  5. Hyperbubble 02/19/16 - Hyperbubble performing live at LUMINARIA. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 White, Jer (February 27, 2017). "HYPERBUBBLE – Western Ware". The Pansentient League. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  7. Levy, Rob (February 15, 2017). "Hyperbubble Mixes Boots And Beats On Sixth Album, Western Ware". ALIVE Magazine. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 Lai, Chi Ming (February 26, 2017). "HYPERBUBBLE Western Ware". The Electricity Club. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  9. White, Jer (December 24, 2017). "Top 20 Synthpop Albums of 2017". The Pansentient League. Retrieved January 11, 2018.