wordproductions presents : John Vanderslice, The Tallest Man on Earth June 18, 2009

John Vanderslice has made the record everyone has been waiting for him to make. Over the past four years, Vanderslice’s previous efforts, Mass Suicide Occult Figurines (2001), Time Travel is Lonely (2002), Life and Death of An American Fourtracker (2003), and Cellar Door (2004) have charted the growth of one of the finest songwriters working in under-the-radar rock music today. Every one represented a step forward, in terms of artistry and also of ambition; the narrative scope of the songs, the melodic range of the singing, the sonic palette of the production -- with each subsequent release, Vanderslice has pushed hard to find the limits of his abilities, then pushed harder and broken through them to create something beautiful. But if his prior records were a gradual progression, his latest constitutes a quantum leap. Pixel Revolt is the most ingenious release to date by San Francisco based artist John Vanderslice. After several years of experimenting with different forms of storytelling -- from album-length grand narratives to fractured adaptations of Shelley and Blake -- Vanderslice has arrived upon a unique lyrical style that combines frank, artful autobiography with richly detailed fiction. This hybrid of confession and imagination flows freely throughout Pixel Revolt, and the result is a dreamy, sometimes terrifying world in which it’s difficult to know where the singer ends and the characters begin. Let’s just say that’s no accident. These songs represent the culmination of five years of concentrated, tireless writing, recording, and touring. During that time, Vanderslice has struggled, as all serious musicians must, to balance the rigors of making a name for oneself (he has shared stages with the cream of independent music, including Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion, and countless others) with the call of the studio (five albums in five years), the lure of a regular life (don’t ask), and the increasingly complex nature of his songwriting. It’s a path that has led many a great artist to question the very nature of the self. Few have wrestled this quandary into music as beautiful, or as troubling, as what you’ll hear on Pixel Revolt. Casting about for a self to live in, hope in the face of despair -- these are the heart of John Vanderslice’s songs. The narrator of “Exodus Damage” states it perfectly, in a couplet that defines the entire record: “you hope that one person could solve everything/ and for me that’s you/ Sometimes that dream is a sad delusion/ but sometimes it’s true.” In the age of laptop lo-fi, when anyone can make a record anywhere they want, Vanderslice is a purist for the old way: Pixel Revolt, like all four of its predecessors, was the result of intensive labor (and analog gear) at JV’s Tiny Telephone studios in San Francisco. Working with co-producer/engineer Scott Solter, Vanderslice treats the studio like a lab, where each sound is carefully (not to say obsessively) crafted. It’s obviously not the easy way to do things, but it’s an integral part of Vanderslice’s process. In the studio, as in the songwriting, creation is the result of fastidious care and sweeping ambition. It’s a testament to his commitment that the new record is bolder and more pleasing than anything he’s done before. And it goes without saying that his records sound like no one else’s. The rhythm tracks, which transform organic percussion sounds into unique sonic specimens without the aid of drum machines, are particularly noteworthy. They form a bed of support for the album’s gentle guitar textures, and the prominent use of vintage keyboards and strings. And speaking of gentle textures, Vanderslice’s vocal delivery on Pixel Revolt is simultaneously more relaxed and more emotive than ever. To help him find his voice, literally and lyrically, Vanderslice turned to longtime friend, collaborator, and tourmate John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats (whose last two acclaimed LPs were produced by Vanderslice). Darnielle, one of the most inventive songwriters alive, performed variously as editor, co-writer, and midwife to the record.