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CLOGS - Biography CLOGS - Lantern - Out, january 30th, 2006 Clogs are a mostly instrumental project led by Bryce Dessner and Australia's Padma Newsome, both men familiar from their membership in the acclaimed rock band, The National. But don't call Clogs a side project. Their existence predates The National, and Clogs have released three widely acclaimed albums -- a highly melodic debut Thom's Night Out (2001), then the experimental polyphonies of Lullaby For Sue (2003), and finally the minimalist explorations of Stick Music (2004). NOW WHAT ? When Clogs formed they were an oddball classical ensemble in indie rock clothing. Today, however, they're at the forefront of a scene including friends in groups The Books, Rachel's, and Bell Orchestre. Clogs' fourth album, 'LANTERN' (2006) is their finest and most varied effort to date. They augment their unique sonic palette (acoustic guitar, strings, percussion, bassoon) with melodica, piano, ukulele, and mandola. Guitarist Bryce Dessner goes electric. Per usual, Newsome adds haunting vocals to one song, the title track: "Light me a lantern/in your lighthouse, my keeper/me a lantern" Consolidating and expanding on the sounds of their first three records, it also sees Clogs writing the best melodies of their career and incorporating more dub and rock influences. (The National's Aaron Dessner contributes bass to "5/4.") WHO? Clogs are Newsome (viola/violin/melocica/voice/piano), Bryce Dessner (guitar/ukelele), Rachael Elliott (bassoon/melodica), and Thomas Kozumplik (percussion). They met in the late-90s while studying at the Yale School of Music. Newsome started his career as a concert violinist in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, before a six-year detour took him to an ashram in the remote region of New South Wales. He began composing in the 90s at the University of Adelaide, when he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship that brought him to America. Dessner is an established soloist, and veteran of groups including Bang on a Can All-Stars, which has given him in contact with major figures like Philip Glass and Terry Riley. Elliott is a proud Vermonter and active freelance musician. Kozumplik is a master percussionist familiar with most any style. HOW ?: Clogs' "classical" music is the result of a peculiar writing process more akin to a rock band or a jazz quartet. The members come to rehearsals with basic ideas that the group riffs on and develops in jam sessions and live performance. Newsome later arranges these ideas into elegant and complex musical narratives that meld and extend the ideas of minimalist, modernist, and romantic composers, adding sounds and melodies drawn from the folk music of India, the Jewish Diaspora, and everywhere else. HONORS & PRESS: STICK MUSIC earned Clogs' a profile and 8.6 review in the influential indie music site, Pitchfork ?as well as mainstream attention in The New Yorker, The Wire, Mojo, Salon, Time Out New York, and the New York Times, where they were featured in an article headlined "This is Chamber Music? Stretching a Genre to Its Furthest Reaches (and Beyond)." In the last two years, Clogs have also earned accolades from the classical music establishment. In 2003, the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America awarded them the Special Commissioning Award, supporting two years of touring and a new piece by respected composer, Ingram Marshall. In 2004, Harvard University's Fromm Music Foundation awarded Newsome his own commissioning award and residency at the Walton Estate in Ischia, Italy. In 2005 they made their Symphony Space debut, and 2006 includes a UK tour with The Books (supported by Arts Council England), and debuts at The Kitchen and Merkin Hall.
>> Stick Music (Tal-016) - European release date: september 04 Clogs are four improvising classical musicians from Australia and the US. The group is the leading light in a rising wave of challenging classical music that's making the crossover to general audiences (e.g. Tin Hat Trio, Ethel, Dirty Three, The Books, Rachel's, The Michael Gordon Band, and Threnody Ensemble). Clogs are notable for having shared the stage or collaborated with members of all of these groups. They recently received a prestigious touring grant from America's National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America solidifying their status at the forefront of this movement. The grant will help support extensive US and European touring from August to November 2004. Clogs' chief composer, Padma Newsome (viola/violin) was born in the red center of Australia, the son of a writer and an ecologist. In the early '80s Newsome trained and performed as a concert violist in Sydney. He retired early, spending the next six years on an ashram in the remote region of New South Wales. He began composing in the '90s at the University of Adelaide, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at the world-renowned Yale School of Music. There he met Bryce Dessner (guitar/composer), Rachael Elliott (bassoon), and Thomas Kozumplik (percussion), who round out the quartet. Clogs are a band, if not in the rock'n'roll sense: The group develops riffs and ideas in rehearsal and live performances that Newsome later arranges into elegant and complex musical narratives. While Newsome spent the last year in Australia composing new material, the other 3/4ths of the group moved to Brooklyn, New York. Both Newsome and Dessner also spent much time playing with The National, a band whose last record, SAD SONGS FOR DIRTY LOVERS (Brassland, 2003) was one of last year's most critically acclaimed independent rock albums. Dessner also did a handful of gigs filling in on guitar for Bang on a Can All-Stars.
DISCOGRAPHY Clogs' first record, THOM'S NIGHT OUT (Brassland, 2001) was a landmark in improvised classical music. It met with unanimous critical accolades -- garnering comparisons to artists as diverse as Kronos Quartet, Arvo Part, Sigur Ros, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, and "Kind of Blue"-era Miles Davis. Their second, LULLABY FOR SUE (Brassland, 2003) was more rhythmic, ambient, electric, and eclectic. Both received glowing notices worldwide. England's THE WIRE celebrated their "eerie, looping folk melodies...delicately bowed and struck strings [and] beautiful 'lost at sea' effect." THE NEW YORKER wrote "fans of the Rachel's, and other post-rock ensembles who know how to listen in respectful silence to a live performance will have no trouble appreciating the softly evocative compositions." And Philadelphia City Paper said "FEW NEW CDS IN ANY GENRE WILL DO AS MUCH TO CHALLENGE THE WAY YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC." Les Inrockuptibles, Vibrations, and other French journalists were especially drawn to their music. Clogs' third album, STICK MUSIC, is a tour-de-force concept album conceived by Newsome and Dessner. Simply put: It is a deep exploration of strings. They are bowed, struck, plucked, and treated as never before. The results are intimate, melodic, gorgeous. One moment they resonate like gentle raindrops, the next they're woven into dizzying eddies of sound. The record includes performances by cellist Erik Friedlander, who is celebrating the success of his recent solo debut, MALDOROR (Brassland, 2003).
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