They Kind Of Shine
Downpilot’s Paul Hiraga is not one to be pinned down. Having grown up with a jazz and classical background, toured in his 20s with post-punk Midwestern cult heroes Breaking Circus, and turned heads with the Big Star-esque power-pop of his band the Mings, his transmissions under the name Downpilot have been no less compelling or varied.
Downpilot has given the music world two LPs of lush and atmospheric pop in collaboration with producer Tucker Martine (REM, Decemberists, Laura Veirs) with influences as diverse as americana rock, ambient electronica and jazz. Their first full-length album, “Leaving Not Arriving”, garnered shining reviews from Rolling Stone, Harp, No Depression, among other music magazines and independent reviewers. The 2006 follow-up, “Like You Believe It”, was named best local album of the year by Seattle’s influential arts weekly The Stranger, and had one writer at Record Collector UK proclaim: “Here’s one star that’s beginning its ascendance.”
Always curious and looking for new ways to express his musical vision, Hiraga delved into the technical world of classic studio electronics in order to actually construct wire-by-wire most of the vintage-based analog recording gear that would soon capture the sounds on the album he subsequently produced for Wedding Present bassist Terry de Castro (“A Casa Verde”). Hiraga’s multi-instrumental musicianship and engineering artistry (as well as contributing two songs) have just begun to earn praise for this newly released album in the UK (8/10 stars in NME).
This new audio laboratory was then put to work in the creating and recording the ten songs on the new Downpilot album, “They Kind Of Shine”. Drawing some individualistic inspiration from the first Paul McCartney solo albums (on which the former Beatle played nearly every instrument himself), Hiraga embarked on a private studio exploration that has many songs performed entirely by himself on acoustic/electric/lap steel guitars, drums and percussion, acoustic and electric piano, humming old Farfisas and Hammonds and creaky old pump organs, with an occasional banjo and ukulele thrown in for flavor. Longtime band mate Jeff Brown contributes rich background vocal support, and cameos by former Posies drummer Mike Musburger, pedal steel master Maggie Bjorklund and Tucker Martine contribute to the remarkably cohesive band sound. The result is a rich acoustic-electric-chamber-pop-roots-americana-rock-jazz album that doesn’t really hold on to any of those simplistic labels. This is the timeless music of Downpilot.
Diskographie
2005 Leaving Not Arriving
2006 Like You Believe It
2009 They Kind Of Shine
