Jherek Bischoff - Composed (2012) / Singer-Songwriter, Experimental, Neoclassical, Orchestral, Multi-Vocal, Indie Pop

Jherek Bischoff is a songwriter, producer, performer and composer from the Pacific Northwest who has been called a "pop polymath" (The New York Times) and a "Seattle phenom" (The New Yorker). We're trying not to get too braggy over here, but we are proud to be releasing this music!

Composed is a meticulously arranged, multi-tracked orchestral pop album featuring a host of famous guests, many of whom appeared at the sold-out Ecstatic Music Festival performance in New York that launched the project earlier in 2012. David Byrne collaborates on "Eyes," a piece of meta-pop as great as anything he's produced in the past decade. Brazilian Tropicalismo legend Caetano Veloso guests on "The Secret Of The Machines" with an avant-percussion solo by Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. Parenthetical Girls' Zac Pennington and French singer/actor Soko duet on "Young & Lovely." Et. cetera. Despite the impressive cast of characters, Jherek manages to make the album his own, without ever falling into the trap of self-indulgence that often besets multi-vocalist projects. The album is a consistently rewarding and uplifting body of work -- a testament to his clarity of vision.

The project's creation was informed by Jherek?s history of playing in indie bands, a fervent desire to make great pop music and a love affair with the potential of the orchestra. Just as an example of "home" recording Composed is quite unique. DIY in the purest sense, Jherek first composed the album on a ukulele. Next he arranged, produced and engineered the backing tracks, achieving an orchestral sound without the orchestral cost by recording the music one instrument at a time using a single microphone and a laptop. Yet sonically, the final product is consistently rewarding, following the composer's quirky vision while showing a deep familiarity with a catalog of compositional ideas & technique.

"I recorded each individual musician of the 'orchestra' in their own living rooms," says Bischoff, "and then I layered each instrument -- sometimes one violinist playing one part twenty times - until it was the size of a huge orchestra. I spent the summer riding my bike from house to house recording each musician. I finished the album by taking a road trip to record all the singers in person, except for Caetano Veloso and David Byrne, who recorded their own parts at home."

This approach reflected Jherek's desire to shake up the business-as-usual routine of being an independent rock musician. As he notes: "I realized a few years ago that being in several serious touring bands at the same time could be really frustrating, because I tend to work on music at least eight hours a day at home, and on tour you only get to make music for an hour a day. I realized that by producing records, doing soundtracks and collaborating on music for dance, I could be creatively involved with a ton of exciting music, and let it have its own legs without having to always be on tour."

This approach reflected Jherek's desire to shake up the business-as-usual routine of being an independent rock musician. A veteran of several music scenes, he has performed in numerous musical configurations over his 30-odd years, collaborating with Parenthetical Girls, Xiu Xiu, The Degenerate Art Ensemble, The Dead Science, Amanda "F**king" Palmer and The Wordless Music Orchestra. We think you'll agree Composed is a startling solo debut.

The touring life isn't the one to which every musician aspires. Sometimes the call of the home, fireside and comfy slippers is stronger than that of the road. Seattle-based Jherek Bischoff—lately of Parenthetical Girls and The Dead Science—prefers working on music at home, producing and arranging as well as composing and playing. Composed, his debut under his own name, is filled with stylish, lushly-orchestrated, songs that readily affirm his preference.

Bischoff's inventive compositions combine with the voices of his guest singers to give a real sense of variety to the album. His choice of singers is inspired: every one of them brings a fresh sensibility to the songs. There's also a judicious selection of guest musicians: guitarist Nels Cline's contribution ("Blossom") is particularly striking.

David Byrne's voice is instantly recognizable on "Eyes," which he co-wrote with Bischoff. The gentle lilt of the melody and the romantic imagery of the lyrics combine to create an immediately engaging song. Another distinctive vocalist and Byrne collaborator, Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, appears on "The Secret Of The Machines." The lyrics are adapted from Rudyard Kipling's 1911 poem of the same name, Veloso's luxurious voice giving the images of technological advance a romance of their own.

"Insomnia, Death and the Sea" is the album's most cinematic and portentous song. Co-composer Dawn McCarthy's voice soars over a string arrangement that veers between a doomy starkness and a Phil Spector-esque Wall Of Sound.

It's "Young and Lovely," however, that delivers the knockout musical blow. Another full-on soundscape of percussion and strings drives Zac Pennington's crystalline vocals (another member of Parenthetical Girls)and SoKo towards a sudden downward shift in tempo for a mid-section enlivened by brass and reeds redolent of Weimar cabaret. Then strings and drums return, Pennington takes the vocal lead and everything flies towards a dramatic denouement: "No longer young..."

Composed is beautifully crafted. Bischoff produced, recorded, mixed and mastered the album and on this evidence he excels in every role. His recording technique, as he tells it, involved recording the instrumentalists (sadly, the orchestral players are not credited on the review CD)—and every singer except Byrne and Veloso—individually in their own homes, often travelling from place to place by bicycle. He wrote the songs not, as is usual, on piano or guitar, but on the ukulele. It isn't clear if comfy slippers are integral to Bischoff's approach, but if Bischoff's choice of transportation and instrument are the secret to great music then it's time every composer invested in a bike and a uke.