John Dufilho becomes “John Singer Sergeant” for new album
John
It’s possible you haven’t heard of John Dufilho but the Texas-based multi-instrumentalist is responsible for a lot of great music, whether as founder of The Deathray Davies and I Love Math or as drummer with psych-pop Elephant 6 collective Apples in Stereo. With eight albums to his credit since 2000, Dufillho has another 45 or so fully finished songs sitting in his back pocket – a collection Apples’ frontman Robert Schneider calls a production masterpiece and describes as high art. Dulfilho is releasing 14 of these tracks under the moniker John Singer Sergeant, whose self-titled debut will be released on April 10 on Kirtland Records.
John
On his first full-length album since 2008, John Singer Sergeant finds Dufilho taking a high-minded route: the name refers to 19th Century American painter John Singer Sargent and the album lives up to its namesake with a colorful, impressionistic sonic palette buzzing with creativity and full of inspired collaborations. Dufilho recorded, performed, and mixed the 14 backing tracks entirely by himself, aside from a few piano parts played by Rich Martin, then invited a cast of musician acquaintances and close family friends to replace him on lead vocals. Included in this crop of guest contributors are Ben Kweller, The Apples’ Schneider, Rhett Miller, Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, Centro-matic’s Will Johnson, Kool and the Gang’s remarkable Sir Earl Toon and indie chanteuse Sarah Jaffe, each of whom lends their own recognizable vocal stylings to Dufilho’s music.
Check out the lead track from the album Big Distortion featuring Will Johnson. If this is any indication of what the rest of the album sounds like then it’s probably going to be a solid buy.
John Singer Sergeant
Track listing
- Big Distortion sung by Will Johnson
- Mountains, Oceans, Elephants sung by Ben Kweller
- Jinxed sung by Robert Schneider
- Dizzy Joy sung by Sir Earl Toon
- My Own Worst Critic sung by Rhett Miller
- Married To The Sea sung by Marcus Striplin & Sarah Jaffe
- Birdy Num Num sung by Danette Dufilho & Letty Gomez
- Why Does Your Moog Effect Me So? Sung by Brandon Carr & Dylan Silvers
- Kick Your Feet Up High (Kid’s Song) sung by CJ Davis
- Lazy Days Are Good sung by Erik Sanden
- Crooked Teeth Like A Broken Piano sung by Salim Nourallah
- Gone In A Second sung by Tony Miller, Sarah Jaffe & Spyche
- Normal Sounds Weird sung by Chris Walla & Rachel Demy
- It’s Hard To Run Uphill On Stilts sung by Spyche
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About the Author
Chip Copeland Chip is co-host of the Sock Monkey Sound podcast. Current listens include Local Natives - Hummingbird, My Bloody Valentine, Toro Y Moi, New Terminus, Geronimo!.
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