THE NY POST’S FIRST FAVE FIVE PLAYLIST

THE UNFAZED

SIDE A:

1. Thinskinned

2. Country Clutter

3. The Unfazed

4. Hard Working Dogs

5. Fools Gold Ring

SIDE B:

1.  Sweet Boy

2. Black Hills Gold

3. If I Find Love

4. These Slopes Gave Me Hope

5. How Is It

“ANTICIPATION BLUES“

1. Tired Eyes

2. Black Hills Gold

3. All Over This Town

4. Fools Gold Ring (COPY remix)

Starting Tuesday, October 26th Partisan Records will be taking pre-orders of The Unfazed at their website.  If you pre-order the album in any format you’ll instantly receive a digital EP – “Anticipation Blues.”  Your copy of The Unfazed will ship the week of January 18th (or sooner).  It will be available digitally as well as on CD, LP, and limited edition colored vinyl.  Additionally, all LPs will include a download card.  In Europe,  Fargo Records will also offer “Anticipation Blues” as an instant download with pre-order.  (The pre-order date is still yet to be determined).  The release date for The Unfazed in both Europe and North America is January 18th, 2011.

One of my first jobs here in Portland (nearly a decade ago) was a wine delivery route that started extremely early in the morning. I was always the first one in the warehouse, loading up the truck and heading out before any of the sales staff arrived. At the time I was obsessed with Springsteen’s bleak narrative album – The Ghost of Tom Joad .   There was a copy of it on cassette tape at the office (along with Is This Real? by the Wipers) and I’d blast it at top volume while I loaded case after case of wine into the truck.  Not exactly great “get up ‘n go” tunes, but I was determined to study these songs – they seemed like a map to somewhere that I wanted to explore. One of the wines that we sold was a Zinfandel with the words “Benito Dusi Ranch” on the label. I read that label over and over, but in my brain it always registered as “Benito’s Dust.”  Eventually, Springsteen’s narrative model mixed with the mis-read word combination and the song “Benito’s Dust” was written.  The basic tracks were recorded during the sessions for Not Exotic in 2002, but the song was left half-finished.  Emil Amos from Holy Sons revisited it with me at his home studio and we finished the track for a split 7 inch release back in 2004.

Another new song from The Unfazed – “These Slopes Gave Me Hope,” written while hiking Dog Mountain. Performed here with Jon Neufeld, captured by Dicky Dahl.

‘These Slopes Gave Me Hope’ from dicky dahl on Vimeo.