This 4th release is an EP called “Little Nemo in Toyland”a dark ambient symphony for Electronics, cello, guitar, bass and lap steel. it draws from its inspiration the red hot comic strip of 100 years ago “Little Nemo” drawn by the genius that is Windsor McKay. T in this case Nemo gets sidetracked in a visit to Toyland from the opera of 1903 “Babes in Toyland “ written by Victor Herbert. Written by P19’s leader Chris Strouth the night he had heard some truly horrifying news about a longtime friend and a devastating health condition. Really it is a mediation on change, how the youthful innocence we starts with gets colored by experience, but we can still connect to it, if we choose to.
The line up is Chris Strouth conducts and plays, and in this case recorded and mixed (its our considered opinion he doesn’t get out enough), followed by Michael Croswell (lap steel), Randall Davidson (cello), Drew Miller (Bass) Tim Ritter (electronics) & Mykl Westbrooks (guitar).
Antarctica, is the second record from Paris1919, and the first to feature a full band, with Mike Croswell on lap steel, Randall Davidson on Cell, Tim Ritter on Bass, Mykl Westbrooks on guitar, Eric White on Water drums, and Chris Strouth conducting and electronics. Engineered by David J. Russ, based on the music from the February of 2014 at the Public Functionary gallery.
Antarctica was composed during Strouth’s recovery from a kidney transplant in 2009 and reflects the isolation of going through a singular event that has a profound impact on your life. It’s about looking into the void and the void looking back. Antarctica speaks to the experience of walking through that chasm–a feeling that most people have been able to relate to in some form, at one time or another. However, Strouth’s composition is also about perseverance and tenacity, using 1,000 years of Antarctica’s physical evolution as a metaphor.
Book of Job is first official Paris1919 record. It came out simultaneously through UltraModern records, and as a cassata through the Go Johnny Go label. The record was written and recorded for the most part prior to the large band that is the current line up of the band. Everything here was written and performed by P19’s leader Chris Strouth. A process he started shortly after being diagnosed with kidney disease in 2008. The record is very dark noisy and chaotic. It is the sound of a world turned upside down and trying to find a peace in the chaos.
Strouth describes the record has “ maybe my most personal piece of art ever, its one I hate to listen to because it instantly brings me back to that space every time I listen to it. Its only been in its recent rerelease that I can hear it with new ears and I have to say its has some pretty lovely moments.