Songs of Joy, by Sons of Joy

Songs of Joy

by Sons of Joy

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parsonharlequin Boot-stompin' gospel blues and howling violins with the lo-fi production values of true Black Metal, giving it a raw, visceral, and immediate urgency.

Absolutely majestic. Favorite track: Keep My Body.

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Compact disc in four-panel digipack.

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1.	Invocation: Veni Creator Spiritus 03:05	buy track
2.	Keep My Body 03:05	buy track
3.	Devil & the Good Book 02:48	buy track
4.	Balaam's Ass 03:17	buy track
5.	Jesus 03:22	buy track
6.	What Wondrous Love is This 03:21	buy track
7.	Surely He Died on Calvary 03:06	buy track
8.	A Pilgrim & a Stranger 03:41	buy track
9.	Old Time Religion 02:36	buy track
10.	The Lonesome Valley 03:42	buy track
11.	Bid You Goodnight 04:31	buy track

about

Recorded in a garden shed in four hours with one microphone, no mixing and no post-production, Songs of Joy is an album informed and inspired by the American pre-war gospel tradition, but delivered in a spirit of total abandonment to the sonic possibilities of two violins, two Pignose amplifiers and a stomp drum. It has the immediacy of an Alan Lomax field recording and the brain-frying intensity of a post-industrial noise wig-out. The Sons of Joy describe their mission as “to make joyful music for others to enjoy, free from commercial ambition or delusions of success.” They are on the right label.

Here’s what the folk press made of it:

"A full-blown distorted fire and brimstone rant that one might expect to encounter in the deepest depths of the American Bible Belt... they evoke the bible and Nick Drake on Balaam's Ass, play buzzsaw fiddle on Keep My Body and plumb the depths of hell on the mindscraping soundscape that is The Lonesome Valley... while a rasping Old Time Religion comes across like the Salvation Army from Hell." - Maverick

“Twin-fiddles, from the lush to the distorted, backed up by the world’s oldest big drum, lead this set of lo-fi Christian tunes and songs. Lou Reed, Nick Cave and backwoods preachers are all in there, bless ‘em. Magnificently loopy.”- fRoots

“It's a visceral, rough hewn ride - foot stompy and fuzzy around the edges. Equally spooky and sublime, it's hard to know whether these Sons will save you or send you to the pits of Hell. But whatever the final judgement, it's sure to leave you in a better place. Amen!” - R2

“I've heard better sounding third generation bootlegs. I don't suppose commercial success was the aim here but would have it have been too much of an artistic compromise to record these songs properly?” - Blues Bunny

credits

released November 14, 2011

Daniel Lloyd Merrill and Matthew Jonathan Simpkins are Sons of Joy.

These Songs of Joy were recorded in a shed between 2.31pm and 6.05pm on Tuesday 16 August 2011; with the exception of 'Keep my Body' which was recorded between 9pm and 9.03pm on 16th November 2010 in the same shed.

All tunes arranged by Daniel Merrill and Matthew Simpkins, except tracks 1 & 6 arranged by Matthew Simpkins.

Tracks 3 & 4 written by Matthew Simpkins.
Track 5 written by Lou Reed.
All other tracks are tunes that have been - and will continue to be - honed, refined, corrupted and mutated by innumerable musicians over many centuries; convention dictates that they are credited as 'traditional'.

While Sons of Joy identify themselves as arrangers and composers, they claim no ownership over these songs, performances and recordings.

We pray that this music brings you as much joy as it gave us while making it.

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about

antigen records Ipswich, UK

DIY record label / niche interest vanity project, still operating out of a bedroom on a council estate in Ipswich.

antigenrecords.com

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