San Fermin is the work of Brooklyn composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone. His self-titled debut album is strongly influenced by his unique background in classical music, which includes a job assisting composer/arranger Nico Muhly.After finishing his musical studies at Yale, Ludwig-Leone wrote the album in six weeks while holed up in a studio on the mountainous border between Alberta and British Columbia. He focused on life?s top-shelf issues – youth, nostalgia, anxiety, unrequited love – and tied these vast themes to different characters through vocal contributions from longtime friend Allen Tate, as well as Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius.The first track released from the album, “Sonsick,” tackles many of these larger themes head-on. ”It’s like a panic attack disguised as a birthday party,” Ludwig-Leone says. ”I realized that the most intense moments are the ones in which conflicting emotional worlds exist inside you, equally, at once.”San Fermin is not an album of singles but rather a sweeping, full-bodied listen with multiple distinct peaks and ambitious thematic connections. Ludwig-Leone composed all of the album’s arrangements and lyrics in full prior to collaborating and recording, noting that “writing for a large group of unknown musicians infused the writing process with a kind of operatic scope.Since then, the band has coalesced into a core of eight members in addition to Ludwig-Leone: Allen Tate and Charlene Kaye, lead vocals; Rebekah Durham, vocals/violin; John Brandon, trumpet; Stephen Chen, saxophone; Tyler McDiarmid, guitar; and Mike Hanf, drums.San Fermin is available now on CD, vinyl and digital outlets via Downtown Records. The name is pronounced [SAN fur-MEEN].Courtney BarnettAfter years toiling away as a guitarist in other-people’s bands, Courtney Barnett finally gained the courage to step out as a solo artist less than two years ago. Gathering together a bunch of like minded friends, she recorded a debut EP of rambling garage pop and began life as a front-woman.That EP ‘I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris” received glowing reviews in her home country of Australia but that trickle of critical acclaim turned into a river of praise upon the release of her second EP “How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose”.While the sprawling guitar jams of her band “The Courtney Barnetts” barely hide her remarkable pop sensibility it’s Courtney’s honesty, wit and unique turn of phrase that set her apart from the rest. Reviews range from calling her “The next queen of Australian rock and roll” to just wanting to be mates with her, “I’ve only ever met her once but I can tell she’s a legend.”2013 has seen Courtney release a bunch of killer singles such as the free associating ‘History Eraser’ (praised by The Guardian as “a perfect summary of the earnest freewheelin’ and rambling wit that makes music from this end of the world just so great.”) and the anaphylactic balladry of ‘Avant Gardener’. With a second EP complete (produced by The Drones’ Dan Luscombe), a debut album around the corner and an increasingly impatient international audience waiting for her to leave her shores, it’s an exciting time to be one of Courtney Barnett’s friends.
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San Fermin is the work of Brooklyn composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone. His self-titled debut album is strongly influenced by his unique background in classical music, which includes a job assisting composer/arranger Nico Muhly.After finishing his musical studies at Yale, Ludwig-Leone wrote the album in six weeks while holed up in a studio on the mountainous border between Alberta and British Columbia. He focused on life?s top-shelf issues – youth, nostalgia, anxiety, unrequited love – and tied these vast themes to different characters through vocal contributions from longtime friend Allen Tate, as well as Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius.The first track released from the album, “Sonsick,” tackles many of these larger themes head-on. ”It’s like a panic attack disguised as a birthday party,” Ludwig-Leone says. ”I realized that the most intense moments are the ones in which conflicting emotional worlds exist inside you, equally, at once.”San Fermin is not an album of singles but rather a sweeping, full-bodied listen with multiple distinct peaks and ambitious thematic connections. Ludwig-Leone composed all of the album’s arrangements and lyrics in full prior to collaborating and recording, noting that “writing for a large group of unknown musicians infused the writing process with a kind of operatic scope.Since then, the band has coalesced into a core of eight members in addition to Ludwig-Leone: Allen Tate and Charlene Kaye, lead vocals; Rebekah Durham, vocals/violin; John Brandon, trumpet; Stephen Chen, saxophone; Tyler McDiarmid, guitar; and Mike Hanf, drums.San Fermin is available now on CD, vinyl and digital outlets via Downtown Records. The name is pronounced [SAN fur-MEEN].Courtney BarnettAfter years toiling away as a guitarist in other-people’s bands, Courtney Barnett finally gained the courage to step out as a solo artist less than two years ago. Gathering together a bunch of like minded friends, she recorded a debut EP of rambling garage pop and began life as a front-woman.That EP ‘I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris” received glowing reviews in her home country of Australia but that trickle of critical acclaim turned into a river of praise upon the release of her second EP “How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose”.While the sprawling guitar jams of her band “The Courtney Barnetts” barely hide her remarkable pop sensibility it’s Courtney’s honesty, wit and unique turn of phrase that set her apart from the rest. Reviews range from calling her “The next queen of Australian rock and roll” to just wanting to be mates with her, “I’ve only ever met her once but I can tell she’s a legend.”2013 has seen Courtney release a bunch of killer singles such as the free associating ‘History Eraser’ (praised by The Guardian as “a perfect summary of the earnest freewheelin’ and rambling wit that makes music from this end of the world just so great.”) and the anaphylactic balladry of ‘Avant Gardener’. With a second EP complete (produced by The Drones’ Dan Luscombe), a debut album around the corner and an increasingly impatient international audience waiting for her to leave her shores, it’s an exciting time to be one of Courtney Barnett’s friends.
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