BART DAVENPORT
Like Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando’, Bart Davenport has seen many an era. He’s been a mod, a bluesman and a softrock troubadour. His latest full-length album, ‘Physical World’ (Lovemonk/Burger) is a culmination of all those incarnations and more. With shirts from the 60s, guitars from the 80s and the timeless voice of a real crooner, it’s a one-of-a-kind hybrid of paisley pop and sweet soul. One foot in reality, the other firmly planted in the fantasy world within the three minute pop song, Bart tells of life and love in the modern world with sincerity and a subtle sense of humor.
Davenport recently migrated to Los Angeles to form a new band lineup with the help of bassist and pal, Jessica Espeleta. She brought in Dream Boy, Wayne Faler, whose signature jangly guitars weave their way impeccably into Bart’s songs. Nathan Shafer plays piano and synthesizers while drummers Andres Renteria and Paul Burkhart take turns on the kit. Producer, Luke Top (Fool’s Gold) captures the group’s undeniable chemistry on ‘Physical World’. This is the sound of an artist at his peak backed by an accomplished team of like-minded musicos.
A native of Oakland California, Bart Davenport’s roots are in the 90s garage and blues scenes. His first professional band, The Loved Ones released two albums on the Hightone label. The group performed a rawkus, high energy style of r&b, opening for the likes of Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker. In the 00s Davenport went solo and turned the volume down but not the intensity. Whitest Boy Alive and Kings of Convenience singer, Erlend Øye, has called him the “best one-guy-and-guitar performer there is”. Bart’s decision to perform solo acoustic was born out of pragmatism. Traveling light made touring possible and performing alone helped the artist to hone in on conveying subtle and meaningful material. The recording studio was another matter entirely.
Released in 2002, Bart’s self-titled solo debut was an indie pop layer cake filled with drums, organs and vocal harmonies. He quickly followed that in 2003 with ‘Game Preserve’ on Antenna Farm Records. Next came ‘Maroon Cocoon’ in 2005, a carefully honed lo/hi fi record made on an 8-track tape machine. In 2007, a side project called Honeycut released ‘The Day I Turned To Glass’ on Quannum Projects. Their tune, ‘Exodus Honey’, was featured on an iMac ad campaign as well as the installation disc for Mac OS Leopard and Snow Leopard. Bart Davenport returned in 2008 with his fourth solo album, ‘Palaces’. Featuring production help from psychedelic main man, Kelley Stoltz, the album would be referred to by Sylvie Simmons of MOJO as “a fine example of San Fran’s vinyl and thrift shop culture, turning stuff people throw out into something new”.
Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 Davenport released three European records and spent much of his time touring the continent. There was a covers album, ‘Searching For Bart Davenport’ (Tapete Records, Germany) and two from side projects; ‘With All Due Respect’ by Incarnations (Lovemonk, Spain) and ‘Comedians’ by Honeycut (Discograph, France). In 2012. Bart Davenport’s ‘Someone2Dance’ b/w ‘Cheap Words’ saw the return of longtime compatriot, Sam Flax, as Producer. The Flax production opened a new chapter in the Davenport saga, with drum machine, synth and guitar lines reminiscent of early 80s new wave and power pop. Following that, Davenport relocated to Los Angeles where he gathered together the band that would eventually record ‘Physical World’, scheduled for release on Lovemonk and Burger Records in March 2014.
DANNY JAMES
"Last year's Pear, the latest from soul/garage/pop genius Danny James, is an prime example how just how fruitful genre schizophrenia can be. Lying somewhere between Joe Jackson, The Brothers Johnson and The Move- James surprises the listener at every turn with his versatility/pop sensibility. Its also a great example of just how on-fire Burger Records has been over the past few years. I mean, where do they find all of these pop savants? My guess is some sort of satanic blood pact. Its astonishing just how many 'true originals' the label has uncovered for the benefit of us all. While the cassette is no longer in stock, you can still pick up a digital copy off of his bandcamp page. And hey, maybe if we're lucky Burger will run off a few more." - Why Pick On Me
Friday, February 22, 2013
"Perhaps unexpected from a contemporary underground rock act come tones and grooves that could just as easily fit in with '70s funk and soul. Singer/bassist Danny James has an ethereal voice that rises above the mellow cotton candy clouds of sound and continues on into space. Add to that harmonies and guitar work with an affinity for glam rock, and you have something that redefines the concept of retro. "
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Danny James was doing the garage rock thing nearly a decade ago, making Arthur Lee-inspired psychedelic pop with his band the Cuts on the stellar LP 2 Over Ten in 2003. From the sounds of his debut solo album Pear, it seems like James has spent the interim period holed up in a home studio tripping balls and existing solely on a diet of ELO, Queen, and Todd Rundgren records pulled from the dollar bin. This is fussy, well-produced rock music, with each track having so many parts and ideas stuffed in that it can’t help but be overwhelming.
Pear is an album that straddles the line between the smooth MOR pop you hear in the doctor’s waiting room and the batshit-crazy drama of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and it’s a shock to the senses to hear music with this kind of sonic detail when so much new stuff is minimal, loud, and blurry. A ballad like “Without Reluctance” lopes along with little wah-wah funk guitar chops before busting into a furious analog keyboard solo, and the whole thing is drenched in massively overdubbed harmonies. Things open up with more traditional guitar pop near the end, but even a rocker like “(That’s Not) The Plan” is impressively weird.
Pear is out on cassette now from Burger Records. There are plans for a vinyl reissue later in the year." - Zach Braun, Get Bent
"PEAR is the quantum entangling of atomized mental ephemera,
Dancing about an ecosystem of plastic plantations....
Danny James' music occupies city hall, loitering in teapot shanties with time released viagra femme boost steroids like a Mr. Tea drag queen. "
- Ariel Pink
show less
Like Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando’, Bart Davenport has seen many an era. He’s been a mod, a bluesman and a softrock troubadour. His latest full-length album, ‘Physical World’ (Lovemonk/Burger) is a culmination of all those incarnations and more. With shirts from the 60s, guitars from the 80s and the timeless voice of a real crooner, it’s a one-of-a-kind hybrid of paisley pop and sweet soul. One foot in reality, the other firmly planted in the fantasy world within the three minute pop song, Bart tells of life and love in the modern world with sincerity and a subtle sense of humor.
Davenport recently migrated to Los Angeles to form a new band lineup with the help of bassist and pal, Jessica Espeleta. She brought in Dream Boy, Wayne Faler, whose signature jangly guitars weave their way impeccably into Bart’s songs. Nathan Shafer plays piano and synthesizers while drummers Andres Renteria and Paul Burkhart take turns on the kit. Producer, Luke Top (Fool’s Gold) captures the group’s undeniable chemistry on ‘Physical World’. This is the sound of an artist at his peak backed by an accomplished team of like-minded musicos.
A native of Oakland California, Bart Davenport’s roots are in the 90s garage and blues scenes. His first professional band, The Loved Ones released two albums on the Hightone label. The group performed a rawkus, high energy style of r&b, opening for the likes of Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker. In the 00s Davenport went solo and turned the volume down but not the intensity. Whitest Boy Alive and Kings of Convenience singer, Erlend Øye, has called him the “best one-guy-and-guitar performer there is”. Bart’s decision to perform solo acoustic was born out of pragmatism. Traveling light made touring possible and performing alone helped the artist to hone in on conveying subtle and meaningful material. The recording studio was another matter entirely.
Released in 2002, Bart’s self-titled solo debut was an indie pop layer cake filled with drums, organs and vocal harmonies. He quickly followed that in 2003 with ‘Game Preserve’ on Antenna Farm Records. Next came ‘Maroon Cocoon’ in 2005, a carefully honed lo/hi fi record made on an 8-track tape machine. In 2007, a side project called Honeycut released ‘The Day I Turned To Glass’ on Quannum Projects. Their tune, ‘Exodus Honey’, was featured on an iMac ad campaign as well as the installation disc for Mac OS Leopard and Snow Leopard. Bart Davenport returned in 2008 with his fourth solo album, ‘Palaces’. Featuring production help from psychedelic main man, Kelley Stoltz, the album would be referred to by Sylvie Simmons of MOJO as “a fine example of San Fran’s vinyl and thrift shop culture, turning stuff people throw out into something new”.
Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 Davenport released three European records and spent much of his time touring the continent. There was a covers album, ‘Searching For Bart Davenport’ (Tapete Records, Germany) and two from side projects; ‘With All Due Respect’ by Incarnations (Lovemonk, Spain) and ‘Comedians’ by Honeycut (Discograph, France). In 2012. Bart Davenport’s ‘Someone2Dance’ b/w ‘Cheap Words’ saw the return of longtime compatriot, Sam Flax, as Producer. The Flax production opened a new chapter in the Davenport saga, with drum machine, synth and guitar lines reminiscent of early 80s new wave and power pop. Following that, Davenport relocated to Los Angeles where he gathered together the band that would eventually record ‘Physical World’, scheduled for release on Lovemonk and Burger Records in March 2014.
DANNY JAMES
"Last year's Pear, the latest from soul/garage/pop genius Danny James, is an prime example how just how fruitful genre schizophrenia can be. Lying somewhere between Joe Jackson, The Brothers Johnson and The Move- James surprises the listener at every turn with his versatility/pop sensibility. Its also a great example of just how on-fire Burger Records has been over the past few years. I mean, where do they find all of these pop savants? My guess is some sort of satanic blood pact. Its astonishing just how many 'true originals' the label has uncovered for the benefit of us all. While the cassette is no longer in stock, you can still pick up a digital copy off of his bandcamp page. And hey, maybe if we're lucky Burger will run off a few more." - Why Pick On Me
Friday, February 22, 2013
"Perhaps unexpected from a contemporary underground rock act come tones and grooves that could just as easily fit in with '70s funk and soul. Singer/bassist Danny James has an ethereal voice that rises above the mellow cotton candy clouds of sound and continues on into space. Add to that harmonies and guitar work with an affinity for glam rock, and you have something that redefines the concept of retro. "
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Danny James was doing the garage rock thing nearly a decade ago, making Arthur Lee-inspired psychedelic pop with his band the Cuts on the stellar LP 2 Over Ten in 2003. From the sounds of his debut solo album Pear, it seems like James has spent the interim period holed up in a home studio tripping balls and existing solely on a diet of ELO, Queen, and Todd Rundgren records pulled from the dollar bin. This is fussy, well-produced rock music, with each track having so many parts and ideas stuffed in that it can’t help but be overwhelming.
Pear is an album that straddles the line between the smooth MOR pop you hear in the doctor’s waiting room and the batshit-crazy drama of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and it’s a shock to the senses to hear music with this kind of sonic detail when so much new stuff is minimal, loud, and blurry. A ballad like “Without Reluctance” lopes along with little wah-wah funk guitar chops before busting into a furious analog keyboard solo, and the whole thing is drenched in massively overdubbed harmonies. Things open up with more traditional guitar pop near the end, but even a rocker like “(That’s Not) The Plan” is impressively weird.
Pear is out on cassette now from Burger Records. There are plans for a vinyl reissue later in the year." - Zach Braun, Get Bent
"PEAR is the quantum entangling of atomized mental ephemera,
Dancing about an ecosystem of plastic plantations....
Danny James' music occupies city hall, loitering in teapot shanties with time released viagra femme boost steroids like a Mr. Tea drag queen. "
- Ariel Pink
BART DAVENPORT
Like Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando’, Bart Davenport has seen many an era. He’s been a mod, a bluesman and a softrock troubadour. His latest full-length album, ‘Physical World’ (Lovemonk/Burger) is a culmination of all those incarnations and more. With shirts from the 60s, guitars from the 80s and the timeless voice of a real crooner, it’s a one-of-a-kind hybrid of paisley pop and sweet soul. One foot in reality, the other firmly planted in the fantasy world within the three minute pop song, Bart tells of life and love in the modern world with sincerity and a subtle sense of humor.
Davenport recently migrated to Los Angeles to form a new band lineup with the help of bassist and pal, Jessica Espeleta. She brought in Dream Boy, Wayne Faler, whose signature jangly guitars weave their way impeccably into Bart’s songs. Nathan Shafer plays piano and synthesizers while drummers Andres Renteria and Paul Burkhart take turns on the kit. Producer, Luke Top (Fool’s Gold) captures the group’s undeniable chemistry on ‘Physical World’. This is the sound of an artist at his peak backed by an accomplished team of like-minded musicos.
A native of Oakland California, Bart Davenport’s roots are in the 90s garage and blues scenes. His first professional band, The Loved Ones released two albums on the Hightone label. The group performed a rawkus, high energy style of r&b, opening for the likes of Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker. In the 00s Davenport went solo and turned the volume down but not the intensity. Whitest Boy Alive and Kings of Convenience singer, Erlend Øye, has called him the “best one-guy-and-guitar performer there is”. Bart’s decision to perform solo acoustic was born out of pragmatism. Traveling light made touring possible and performing alone helped the artist to hone in on conveying subtle and meaningful material. The recording studio was another matter entirely.
Released in 2002, Bart’s self-titled solo debut was an indie pop layer cake filled with drums, organs and vocal harmonies. He quickly followed that in 2003 with ‘Game Preserve’ on Antenna Farm Records. Next came ‘Maroon Cocoon’ in 2005, a carefully honed lo/hi fi record made on an 8-track tape machine. In 2007, a side project called Honeycut released ‘The Day I Turned To Glass’ on Quannum Projects. Their tune, ‘Exodus Honey’, was featured on an iMac ad campaign as well as the installation disc for Mac OS Leopard and Snow Leopard. Bart Davenport returned in 2008 with his fourth solo album, ‘Palaces’. Featuring production help from psychedelic main man, Kelley Stoltz, the album would be referred to by Sylvie Simmons of MOJO as “a fine example of San Fran’s vinyl and thrift shop culture, turning stuff people throw out into something new”.
Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 Davenport released three European records and spent much of his time touring the continent. There was a covers album, ‘Searching For Bart Davenport’ (Tapete Records, Germany) and two from side projects; ‘With All Due Respect’ by Incarnations (Lovemonk, Spain) and ‘Comedians’ by Honeycut (Discograph, France). In 2012. Bart Davenport’s ‘Someone2Dance’ b/w ‘Cheap Words’ saw the return of longtime compatriot, Sam Flax, as Producer. The Flax production opened a new chapter in the Davenport saga, with drum machine, synth and guitar lines reminiscent of early 80s new wave and power pop. Following that, Davenport relocated to Los Angeles where he gathered together the band that would eventually record ‘Physical World’, scheduled for release on Lovemonk and Burger Records in March 2014.
DANNY JAMES
"Last year's Pear, the latest from soul/garage/pop genius Danny James, is an prime example how just how fruitful genre schizophrenia can be. Lying somewhere between Joe Jackson, The Brothers Johnson and The Move- James surprises the listener at every turn with his versatility/pop sensibility. Its also a great example of just how on-fire Burger Records has been over the past few years. I mean, where do they find all of these pop savants? My guess is some sort of satanic blood pact. Its astonishing just how many 'true originals' the label has uncovered for the benefit of us all. While the cassette is no longer in stock, you can still pick up a digital copy off of his bandcamp page. And hey, maybe if we're lucky Burger will run off a few more." - Why Pick On Me
Friday, February 22, 2013
"Perhaps unexpected from a contemporary underground rock act come tones and grooves that could just as easily fit in with '70s funk and soul. Singer/bassist Danny James has an ethereal voice that rises above the mellow cotton candy clouds of sound and continues on into space. Add to that harmonies and guitar work with an affinity for glam rock, and you have something that redefines the concept of retro. "
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Danny James was doing the garage rock thing nearly a decade ago, making Arthur Lee-inspired psychedelic pop with his band the Cuts on the stellar LP 2 Over Ten in 2003. From the sounds of his debut solo album Pear, it seems like James has spent the interim period holed up in a home studio tripping balls and existing solely on a diet of ELO, Queen, and Todd Rundgren records pulled from the dollar bin. This is fussy, well-produced rock music, with each track having so many parts and ideas stuffed in that it can’t help but be overwhelming.
Pear is an album that straddles the line between the smooth MOR pop you hear in the doctor’s waiting room and the batshit-crazy drama of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and it’s a shock to the senses to hear music with this kind of sonic detail when so much new stuff is minimal, loud, and blurry. A ballad like “Without Reluctance” lopes along with little wah-wah funk guitar chops before busting into a furious analog keyboard solo, and the whole thing is drenched in massively overdubbed harmonies. Things open up with more traditional guitar pop near the end, but even a rocker like “(That’s Not) The Plan” is impressively weird.
Pear is out on cassette now from Burger Records. There are plans for a vinyl reissue later in the year." - Zach Braun, Get Bent
"PEAR is the quantum entangling of atomized mental ephemera,
Dancing about an ecosystem of plastic plantations....
Danny James' music occupies city hall, loitering in teapot shanties with time released viagra femme boost steroids like a Mr. Tea drag queen. "
- Ariel Pink
read more
Like Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando’, Bart Davenport has seen many an era. He’s been a mod, a bluesman and a softrock troubadour. His latest full-length album, ‘Physical World’ (Lovemonk/Burger) is a culmination of all those incarnations and more. With shirts from the 60s, guitars from the 80s and the timeless voice of a real crooner, it’s a one-of-a-kind hybrid of paisley pop and sweet soul. One foot in reality, the other firmly planted in the fantasy world within the three minute pop song, Bart tells of life and love in the modern world with sincerity and a subtle sense of humor.
Davenport recently migrated to Los Angeles to form a new band lineup with the help of bassist and pal, Jessica Espeleta. She brought in Dream Boy, Wayne Faler, whose signature jangly guitars weave their way impeccably into Bart’s songs. Nathan Shafer plays piano and synthesizers while drummers Andres Renteria and Paul Burkhart take turns on the kit. Producer, Luke Top (Fool’s Gold) captures the group’s undeniable chemistry on ‘Physical World’. This is the sound of an artist at his peak backed by an accomplished team of like-minded musicos.
A native of Oakland California, Bart Davenport’s roots are in the 90s garage and blues scenes. His first professional band, The Loved Ones released two albums on the Hightone label. The group performed a rawkus, high energy style of r&b, opening for the likes of Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker. In the 00s Davenport went solo and turned the volume down but not the intensity. Whitest Boy Alive and Kings of Convenience singer, Erlend Øye, has called him the “best one-guy-and-guitar performer there is”. Bart’s decision to perform solo acoustic was born out of pragmatism. Traveling light made touring possible and performing alone helped the artist to hone in on conveying subtle and meaningful material. The recording studio was another matter entirely.
Released in 2002, Bart’s self-titled solo debut was an indie pop layer cake filled with drums, organs and vocal harmonies. He quickly followed that in 2003 with ‘Game Preserve’ on Antenna Farm Records. Next came ‘Maroon Cocoon’ in 2005, a carefully honed lo/hi fi record made on an 8-track tape machine. In 2007, a side project called Honeycut released ‘The Day I Turned To Glass’ on Quannum Projects. Their tune, ‘Exodus Honey’, was featured on an iMac ad campaign as well as the installation disc for Mac OS Leopard and Snow Leopard. Bart Davenport returned in 2008 with his fourth solo album, ‘Palaces’. Featuring production help from psychedelic main man, Kelley Stoltz, the album would be referred to by Sylvie Simmons of MOJO as “a fine example of San Fran’s vinyl and thrift shop culture, turning stuff people throw out into something new”.
Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 Davenport released three European records and spent much of his time touring the continent. There was a covers album, ‘Searching For Bart Davenport’ (Tapete Records, Germany) and two from side projects; ‘With All Due Respect’ by Incarnations (Lovemonk, Spain) and ‘Comedians’ by Honeycut (Discograph, France). In 2012. Bart Davenport’s ‘Someone2Dance’ b/w ‘Cheap Words’ saw the return of longtime compatriot, Sam Flax, as Producer. The Flax production opened a new chapter in the Davenport saga, with drum machine, synth and guitar lines reminiscent of early 80s new wave and power pop. Following that, Davenport relocated to Los Angeles where he gathered together the band that would eventually record ‘Physical World’, scheduled for release on Lovemonk and Burger Records in March 2014.
DANNY JAMES
"Last year's Pear, the latest from soul/garage/pop genius Danny James, is an prime example how just how fruitful genre schizophrenia can be. Lying somewhere between Joe Jackson, The Brothers Johnson and The Move- James surprises the listener at every turn with his versatility/pop sensibility. Its also a great example of just how on-fire Burger Records has been over the past few years. I mean, where do they find all of these pop savants? My guess is some sort of satanic blood pact. Its astonishing just how many 'true originals' the label has uncovered for the benefit of us all. While the cassette is no longer in stock, you can still pick up a digital copy off of his bandcamp page. And hey, maybe if we're lucky Burger will run off a few more." - Why Pick On Me
Friday, February 22, 2013
"Perhaps unexpected from a contemporary underground rock act come tones and grooves that could just as easily fit in with '70s funk and soul. Singer/bassist Danny James has an ethereal voice that rises above the mellow cotton candy clouds of sound and continues on into space. Add to that harmonies and guitar work with an affinity for glam rock, and you have something that redefines the concept of retro. "
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Danny James was doing the garage rock thing nearly a decade ago, making Arthur Lee-inspired psychedelic pop with his band the Cuts on the stellar LP 2 Over Ten in 2003. From the sounds of his debut solo album Pear, it seems like James has spent the interim period holed up in a home studio tripping balls and existing solely on a diet of ELO, Queen, and Todd Rundgren records pulled from the dollar bin. This is fussy, well-produced rock music, with each track having so many parts and ideas stuffed in that it can’t help but be overwhelming.
Pear is an album that straddles the line between the smooth MOR pop you hear in the doctor’s waiting room and the batshit-crazy drama of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and it’s a shock to the senses to hear music with this kind of sonic detail when so much new stuff is minimal, loud, and blurry. A ballad like “Without Reluctance” lopes along with little wah-wah funk guitar chops before busting into a furious analog keyboard solo, and the whole thing is drenched in massively overdubbed harmonies. Things open up with more traditional guitar pop near the end, but even a rocker like “(That’s Not) The Plan” is impressively weird.
Pear is out on cassette now from Burger Records. There are plans for a vinyl reissue later in the year." - Zach Braun, Get Bent
"PEAR is the quantum entangling of atomized mental ephemera,
Dancing about an ecosystem of plastic plantations....
Danny James' music occupies city hall, loitering in teapot shanties with time released viagra femme boost steroids like a Mr. Tea drag queen. "
- Ariel Pink
show less
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