JAMES ANGELL: Private Player

James Angell

Private Player

© 2002 James Angell (619981062527)

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"The underground classic of 2002" as Angell's new release was aptly named by this All Music Guide Pick at 4 1/2 Stars, "A brilliant exercise in modern day psychedelia. Angell's music is unique in that he wields influences as far-flung as jazz, soul, pop..

notes

Paul McCartney and Dennis D'Amico have selected the first track "Ooh Love" for the Garland Appeal's upcoming compilation CD. Angell will perform his songs live with a full orchestra backing him with the Garland Appeal. "The underground classic of 2002" as Angell's new release was aptly named by this All Music Guide Pick, was also well reviewed by The New Yorker "...Angell returns with an album of ambitious orchestral psychedelia, "Private Player," that's earned justifiable comparisons to the hallmark of the genre, Love's "Forever Changes." Alternative Press shouted, "With its beautiful tunes and emotive vocals 'Private Player' introduces a major new talent." Magnet Magazine also gave praise. John Taylor (Duran Duran) has now joined the band performing with Angell. Interestingly, David Bowie has also personally voiced his intent to make a bid and potentially sign Angell to his independent label, ISO. Angell -- a fixture during the frenzy of the early 90's northwest music explosion, has performed, written and recorded with such P-town notables as Courtney Taylor-Taylor (The Dandy Warhols), Eric Matthews, Tony Lash (Heatmiser, Elliot Smith), Daniel Riddle (King Black Acid) and Thee Slayer Hippy, producer and drummer of the notorious heavyweight punks, (Poison Idea). After years of group effort he finally embarked on what so many had been asking for, a solo album. He dropped out of the scene, had a daughter, designed and built a house in the woods and purchased enough recording gear to make this record. He sat in his kitchen with a piano, a synth, a mic and finished producing "Private Player". Beneath these arrangements lies a gritty soul, a sound track for the subconscious giving everyday events a cinematic gravity.

* XM Satellite Radio -- 2004 stay tuned for the upcoming live performance and interview.
* Portland: March 9th James will perform with Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols at the Ohm.
* Los Angeles: Live performance and national broadcast on KCRW & Radio@AOL.com show NewGround hosted by Chris Douridas (Past A&R DreamWorks) on April 27th. Accompanying James will be Eric Matthews (Trumpet) and Phil Baker (Bass/Dianna Ross). Following the broadcast in Los Angeles: April 30th at the Spaceland. On May 2nd at the Silverlake Lounge.
* Oregon: August 8th James will open for Chris Isaak at the Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon.
* New York City: September 15th: James performs at The Tonic.
* New York City: September 16th: WNYC interview & live performance with host, John Schaefer. Airs 2 PM EST.
* New York City: September 16th, & 20th: The Knitting Factory & The Fez Ballroom.
* James Angell invited to play CMJ in New York City.
* James Angell & John Taylor (Duran Duran) play the Crystal Ballroom January 4th. Music Millennium at 1PM.

reviews

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  • awesome dreamy and lush
    author: Maria from wfmu

    Why did it take me so long to find out about this work??? The music is strange yet familiar, comforting and unsettling, lush and melodic, hummable but never gets old. This is complex intelligent pop, or whatever you want to call it. The fact that Angell has cited Bach Fugues as one of his main influences says loads about the richness of this listening experience. I am waiting with baited breath for his next album. Bring it ON!!

  • Remember, Portland's Willamette Weak sucks beyond belief...the scapegoat of so m
    author: Willamette Weak

    Do not send material to Willamette Weak, ever.

  • "It was heartbreaking," recalls Angell, "going back and forth, getting a deal, A
    author: Oregonian

    Oregonian Arts & Entertainment Coming out of the woods - Scott D. Lewis 'About 21/2 years ago I thought, 'How did this happen? I'm living next to my parents . . . What am I going to do?' " James Angell says, remembering the epiphany that brought him back to making music. "I knew I had to start doing music again. I thought, 'I do not want to be in a band, I am not doing that again.' " Angell learned about the realities of band life with Nero's Rome. In the mid-1990s, Nero's Rome was one of Portland's most promising bands, with Angell handling piano duties and sharing vocals with Tod Morrisey. The group's stirring mixture of epic rock and new wave flair inspired Capitol Records to offer a deal. "It was heartbreaking," recalls Angell, "going back and forth, getting a deal, A&R guys getting fired, new president firing everybody and deals going out the window. It was pretty harsh." After Nero's Rome made a second album, a development deal was cut with Mercury Records but, Angell says, the money was mismanaged. With the well dry and his wife pregnant, Angell retreated to his parent's property in the woods south of Portland. There, he designed and built his house and also worked as a carpenter (he's now building Super Digital's new facilities). But, as might be said, you can take the musician out of the music but you can't take the music out of the musician. Angell began feeling the need to create again. "I've got a big upright piano out here," says Angell, "and I just started writing tunes. I got some recording gear and started tracking. Once I got the songs down with some vocals so I could get an idea of what I wanted to do, I started calling in various players to do this and that." That list includes such local luminaries as Tony Lash, Eric Matthews, Daniel Riddle, Phil Baker, Steve Hanford and even former band mate Morrisey. Angell also asked for contributions from his brother and sister and young daughter, Astrid. The resulting CD, "Private Player," is a lovely listen, though at times a bit unsettling, combining influences as diverse as Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Tim Buckley. Angell's compositions are sweeping, unhurried and embellished enough to keep the surprises coming without becoming cluttered. Angell's understated, breathy voice is the ideal complement, and, overall, this is music that comes from an artistic rather than commercial drive. Which is not to say that "Private Player" doesn't have "legs." Influential Southern California radio station KCRW made it one of its picks and has invited Angell to perform on the air in April. All Music Guide has just given the album a fawning four-and-a-half-star review for its 2002 publication; and Magnet magazine is slated to do a story on Angell's music. Website Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/music/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/entertainment/10149009601735361.xml

  • James Angell honed his nonconformist attitude after burning out on the frenetic
    author: Pop & Politics

    Pop & Politics - James Angell "Private Player" by Tanya Selvaratnam Once in a while, a song gets under my skin and stays there. But rarely does an artist create eight songs that seep into my psyche at the same time. That is the achievement of James Angell's latest disc "Private Player." This is music to trip to, swoon to, and jump into. And the more I listened to it, the more I got sucked into its sublime entropy. Layering is the drug here. Every piece seems to derive its influence from a different musical archetype, but there is nothing formulaic about the tracks. Try to identify the sound and you will fail. It's as if someone threw Bowie, Eno, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Radiohead and Tim Buckley into a blender...and then threw out the recipe. James Angell honed his nonconformist attitude after burning out on the frenetic Portland, Oregon music scene and on a deal with Capitol Records for his then band Nero's Rome. He says he can't think about the record industry because that's what screwed him up before. He couldn't think anymore about writing what naturally appeals to an audience. He wanted to get back to trusting his gut instincts and not listening to A&R guys who were mostly interested in second-guessing the mass market. So he dropped out and retreated with his wife Erin and daughter Astrid Zora to a house in the woods that he built with his own hands. During his Whitmanesque idyll, he found the hunger to make music again. The album is appropriately called "Private Player," because he says he crafted songs that appeal to himself, especially to the self he was as a child. He explains, "Kids can smell bullshit a mile away. They respond intuitively." In his self-imposed exile, he developed a sound that he describes as "4th dimension"--strongly rooted in reality, but boldly exploring a world hidden in the subconscious. He wanted to position musical ideas together that aren't supposed to stand side-by-side. Enlisting the help of musicians like Eric Matthews, Tony Lash, brother Theo Angell, former bandmate Tod Morrisey, and even his daughter, Angell fleshed out his musical fantasia. The isolation is about to pay off. Chris Douridas, the highly influential DJ of KCRW, has already named James Angell a "new ground-breaker" and interviewed him on the nationally broadcast show "Spinner's New Ground" at the end of April; All Music Guide called "Private Player" the "underground classic of 2002." Eventually he would like to have the luxury of a record company behind him, so that he can support the right band to replicate onstage the sound of "Private Player." But for now, he's going to hit the road playing solo piano shows around the country and building the groundswell of support for his genre-busting sound. From the wandering of "Who's Wakin' Me Up?" and the heartache of "Treat Song" to the sweet sentimentalism of "Picture Perfect" and the psychedelia of "Sweet Bell," James Angell provides a complete and unusual journey. Listening to Angell's music is like watching a 1960s Kubrick film: you witness a landscape so odd, lush, disturbing, and visceral that you emerge with a hypersensitized experience of the immediate world. In fact, much of "Private Player" presents the listener with a cinematic experience, where the sounds conjure pictures that haunt and seduce. The official release date is June 2002, but it's available online at www.jamesangell.com. Or if you're in LA, go see James play and you can pick up a CD there. And tell him Tanya sent you. Upcoming Gigs: Internet listening available on www.kcrw.com. Interview and performance on Spinner's New Ground with Chris Douridas. Broadcast on 89.9 FM KCRW in Los Angeles and on National Public Radio affiliates nationwide. Call KCRW at 310-450-5183 for more info. Thursday, May 2, 2002, 9:15 p.m.: Live performance at The Silver Lake Lounge (2906 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026). http://www.popandpolitics.com/articles_detail.cfm?articleID=1106 http://www.popandpolitics.com/articles_detail.cfm?articleID=1104

  • This is “Baroque orchestral rock that’ll make you feel like you’re smashed on ab
    author: Alternative Press

    Alternative Press This is “Baroque orchestral rock that’ll make you feel like you’re smashed on absinthe. How is it? With its beautiful tunes and emotive vocals ‘Private Player’ introduces a major new talent. Kindred spirits: David Bowie, Tim Buckley, Rufus Wainwright…” - David Segal Alternative Press

  • “Ooh Love” is a tease, flirting and breaking promises. Angell hangs onto slow,
    author: Magnet Magazine

    Magnet Magazine …Angell’s piano, songs & vocals—the latter sounding at times like the whispered sing-speak of Ira Kaplan or Freddie Mercury subdued by the purr from a pack of affectionate house cats—that row this skiff of an album over placid waters. “Dear Dying Friend” chugs along to the rhythm of an electronic camel, becoming friendlier with each chorus, the synthesized push-and-pull finally giving way to a more organic version of this lugubrious tempo. “Treat Song,” with Eric Matthews’ muted trumpet, lopes along like the heart of Saturday night as Angell lullabies his daughter into dreams of spaceships and log-perched ponderances. “Ooh Love” is a tease, flirting and breaking promises. Angell hangs onto slow, elastic cadences and comes up with an album just odd enough to have never given bloated and pallid arena pop such as ELO or Elton John any trouble, though he often sounds like a smarter version of both. - Bruce Miller Magnet Magazine

  • Angell returns with an album of ambitious orchestral psychedelia, "Private Playe
    author: The Newyorker Magazine

    The New Yorker The Knitting Factory Sept 16, Tonic Sept 15: “The singer-songwriter James Angell comes out of the Portland, Oregon, scene that gave birth some ten years ago to the Dandy Warhols...” (he was the front man of a band called Nero's Rome with the Dandy, Courtney Taylor as drummer.) “After dropping out of the music world to raise a daughter and build a house, Angell returns with an album of ambitious orchestral psychedelia, "Private Player," that's earned justifiable comparisons to the hallmark of the genre, Love's "Forever Changes." - John Donohue The New Yorker

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