Label: Thrill Jockey
Sam Prekop is the principal vocalist and guitarist in Chicago’s uber-hip The Sea and Cake, and played in the now-defunct Shrimp Boat. Along with fellow artist Archer Prewitt, Jim O’Rourke and members of Tortoise and The Cocktails, these bands and players have helped define the influential post/prog art-rock movement in Chicago. Consisting primarily of painters and artists, these bands have an incredible knack for fusing jazz with pop, and pop with jazz in a way that everyone from the Beats to the Beatles couldn’t help being inspired by.
On Prekop’s first solo effort, he has created one of the lushest, most sophisticated fusions of soft brassy-piano instrumentals and gentle rolling pop songs. Unlike the upbeat jangle that characterizes The Sea and Cake, Prekop has tuned it all down a tad on this solo exploration preferring to focus on the all quieter newness of modern jazz-pop music. Warmed by the gentle guitarwork from Archer Prewitt, and the heady production job by O’Rourke, this album blows quietly like summer wind, and definitely worth turning on to.