Chris Forsyth
Solar Motel
Tracklist:
A1 “Solar Motel Part One” 11:41
A2 “Solar Motel Part Two” 10:07
B1 “Solar Motel Part Three” 12:17
B2 “Solar Motel Part Four” 7:25
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We are now accepting pre-orders for Chris Forsyth’s Solar Motel, an immersive four-part suite that reimagines and reanimates the collected history of guitar-driven rock, lighting out for fresh territory in the process. The arrestingly evocative album navigates new vibe channels among the classic guitar/groove thickets of Television, the Dead, Sonic Youth, the Doors, Eno/Cale combos, et al., featuring important contributions from a crack studio band (Mike Pride on drums, Peter Kerlin on bass, and Shawn Edward Hansen on keys/synths) and co-producer Jeff Zeigler (Kurt Vile, etc.)
Solar Motel—named for a derelict and now vanished New Jersey lodge—completes Forsyth’s alchemical transformation from a guitarist renowned for his nuanced playing in varied experimental and post-American Primitive circles into a full-fledged deconstructivist rock and roll bandleader producing unabashedly ambitious, ecstatic body music.
To purchase the album, and for more details, click the button below and select your preferred format(s). The vinyl LP is available in a limited edition, featuring heavy-duty gatefold jackets and a digital download coupon. The CD is housed in a gatefold wallet.
Pre-orders will begin shipping about two weeks in advance of the October 29 release date. All pre-orders include a link to an immediate 320k MP3 download of the excerpted track “Solar Motel Part I (Edit),” which The Fader kindly premiered today. (You can also listen above, or via our Paradisiacal Player.) Here’s an accompanying video trailer by artist Maria Dumlao:
Pre-order customers who order before October 15 will also be automatically entered into a drawing for a free copy of the Paradise of Bachelors release of their choosing (subject to availability.) Solar Motel will be available for digital-only purchase from this website and from major digital outlets on or before October 29. (For digital-only pre-orders, please visit our Bandcamp page.)
Those who witnessed their mighty performance at our Hopscotch Day Party can attest that you owe it to yourself to see The Solar Motel band live. But don’t take it from us–here are some acknowledgements from some knowledgeable heads:
Acknowledgements
Next level… Betrays an innate grasp of the serpentine structures and elevated duels that were integral to Television’s appeal. “Solar Motel Part II” emerges out of a raga and a bit of downtown firefight into the sort of face-off you imagine Verlaine and Lloyd – at least secretly – would be proud of. Heavy, throbbing hints of Glenn Branca underpin the jams, and the slide section being matched to a piano break conjures up a further relationship with The Allman Brothers. “Solar Motel Part IV” comes on like a particularly gnarly take on “Dark Star”, or one of those Dead-derived Sonic Youth epics like “Hits Of Sunshine”. Can’t recommend this enough, as you might have divined by now. I’m struggling to think of a live band I’d like to see more right now.
– John Mulvey, Uncut
Heavy psychedelic stuff. It’s a robust album, prone to multiple minutes of knotted guitars, stumbling over each other to disorienting effect. It’s close to transcendent.
– Sam Hockley-Smith, The Fader
Escalating in sequence with head-swelling psychedelic bliss while showcasing Forsyth’s equal admiration for the guitar interplay of both Verlaine & Lloyd from Television & Garcia & Weir of the Grateful Dead. It serves as a perfect example for what Forsyth calls his music: Cosmic Americana.
– Tony Rettman, Philadelphia Weekly
Each tune builds to meticulously wrought, transcendent climaxes that bring to mind Tom Verlaine’s solo albums (or at least the good parts.) In concert, this music explodes with the same sort of explosive, self-righting chaos that you can find on Television’s bootlegs. [The album’s] precisely arranged layers of keyboards and guitars have as many behind-the-door delights as an advent calendar.
– Bill Meyer, The Wire
A gravity-defying, multi-headed, electric guitar-worshipping hydra. The alchemy between these players cannot be overstated.
– Max Burke, Ad Hoc
Across numerous albums and collaborations with the likes of Loren Connors and Mountains’ Koen Holtkamp, dude has spent the past decade funneling minimalist abstraction, post-American Primitive folk and well-tread rock & roll tropes into an idiosyncratic tunefulness all his own. He even studied with Television axe-grinder Richard Lloyd for a time, which I think may partly explain some of the tight, economical phrasing on “Solar Motel,” layering together a series of repetitious note combinations until all that geometric simplicity suddenly tips over into something very wide-open and grand.
– Emilie Friedlander, The Fader
An erudite and farsighted guitar stylist, mapping a path that’s hip and scholarly in equal measure.
– The Wire
An emergent master.
– Uncut