Name: Pearls to Swine
Brand: Adam Torres

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

fp15672

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2016-06-25

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

The Orchard

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

fp15671

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Adam Torres

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Adam Torres has spent the past decade volunteering in rural Ecuador, completing a graduate degree in Texas, and working to improve the water quality of the Rio Grande River - all whilst simultaneously writing hundreds of songs. While a number of those were released as demos in 2012 through DC cassette-label DZ Tapes, Torres has yet to provide a proper follow-up to his 2006 self-released debut 'Nostra Nova', a DIY staple in his small college town of Athens, Ohio. Across the new album and first for Fat Possum, Torres crafts uniquely cinematic soundscapes, ranging through a thoughtfully languid waltz 'Juniper Arms' (inspired by Edward Abbey's iconic book of nature writing Desert Solitaire), and on the evocative, uneasy 'Some Beast Will Find You By Name.' It wends through the lush, gently undulating 'High Lonesome' to the lonely sweep of the Raymond Carver-signaling 'Where I'm Calling From,' and travels from the foreboding, sinuous 'Outlands' to the deceptively buoyant cascade of 'Mountain River.' Nature abounds on 'Pearls To Swine' - which also examines the tension of the natural versus the constructed, and survival - filled with imagery of juniper trees, deserts, blood moons, rivers, plains, and big western skies that gives it a distinctively southwestern feel. His style acknowledges the classic singer-songwriter tradition, allowing the rhythm sounds to support the structure of songs, while his affecting falsetto conjures the spirit of traditional vocalists such as John Jacob Niles and Robbie Basho. 'Pearls To Swine' was recorded over eight days in January at Austin's Cacophony Recorders, which overlooks the Colorado River valley. Working alongside co-producer and mixer Erik Wofford (Bill Callahan, Black Angels, M. Ward, Okkervil River), Torres chose the analog route, recording and mixing directly to tape to allow for more finality and less overthought. This method in turn lends a natural, warm, and almost magical realism atmosphere to the songs - like a high-stakes live show captured in a fantastical setting. The core rhythm was captured live and augmented by a few overdubs, and Torres is joined on the album by the players in his band: Thor Harris (of Swans; on conga drums, vibraphone, and percussion), Aisha Burns (violin), and Dailey Toliver (bass / piano), with drum kit performances by Matthew Shepherd and Rodolfo Villareal III.

Pearls to Swine

Music GB