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Free download: Alchemist Covers EP

the alchemist — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:32:10 +0000

Consider this Christmas in July! Here is a little 3 song EP of covers by I and I, Eric Sarmiento and Kalpana and Illus Ocean. I and I gives an interpretation of Swedish troubadour The Tallest Man On Earth’s excellent song “I Won’t Be Found”. Eric and Kalpana’s version of Radiohead’s “House of Cards” is a cool summertime jam to soothe the sun baked soul and Illus Ocean does a 10cc inspired take on Alchemists’ own The Pistol Arrows “Tangled and Strangled”.

1. I Won’t Be Found (I and I version)

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2. House of Cards (Eric and Kalpana version)

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3. Tangled and Strangled (Illus Ocean version)

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or download the whole thing with artwork here.

Weddings CD

the alchemist — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:09:06 +0000

Here’s a photo of the 2 versions of the “Weddings” CD and liner notes. If you’re interested in pre-ordering a copy send us an email. 12$ (ppd) for limited edition transparent version and 10$ (ppd) for paper sleeve.

White Noise/Black Music remixes EP out 4/13

the alchemist — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:47:53 +0000

We’re excited to announce the upcoming release of an EP of remixes from I and I’s “White Noise/Black Music”. It will be appropriately called “Black Noise/White Music” and four artists have contributed remixes. Czech native Dikolson (formerly of Khoiba) produced a hard driving version of “Venus” that ascends like a spiral staircase to the sky. LA producer Questions has turned out a really thumpin version of “The Top” that’s somewhere in between House and Hip Hop. Fellow Alchemist, Eric Sarmiento deconstructed “The Bottom” and reassembled it into something new and Chase Spivey (of Psychedelic band Ghost of Monkshood) has turned “The Futurist” into a laid back minimal chill groove. Look for some samples soon and here’s the cover:

Jeremy Cox’s Citybound remastered and available now

the alchemist — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:53:04 +0000

For those of you with the problem of not already owning ‘Citybound’, Jeremy’s great sonic record of a sensitive Aussie traversing the dense spaces of Tokyo, now would be an excellent time to make the world right — as of today, the album can be purchased from your favorite online music retailer. Chuck Klosterman may say that “remastered” just means “made louder,” but the new version of ‘Citybound’, while perhaps being louder, also sounds BETTER: the jagged, angular guitars cut you deeper; the drums (which manage to be both electronic and tribal) make it even harder to sit still, and sometimes drag you along whether you like it or not; the nuances of jeremy’s voice stand out more as he alternately incites you, consoles you, conspires and commiserates with you; and the synths, in their increased expansiveness, lift you up and carry you along to the charming earthiness of shitamachi (here I’m thinking of the choruses of ‘Comfort’)…when they’re not pressing you into a corner between one of those endless escalators on the Hanzomon line and the disturbing, spidery statue at Roppongi Hills (the verses of ‘Comfort’ could be that thing’s theme song).

I’m tempted to start quoting lyrics from the record to illustrate what I mean when I say Jeremy is one of the best lyricists writing today, but that would be foolish when I can let the man speak, or rather write, for himself: whether you buy the record or not, visit this page and see what he has to say. These are words to amazing songs, but this is what people are talking about when they say, “so and so’s lyrics are like poetry!” I challenge you, friends, to visit your favorite music blogs today and find a lyricist better than Monsieur Cox.

Okay, I can’t resist. Here’s a favorite:”you carefully lower yourself into the evening/bathing in friendship, it’s wet on your skin/it’s lavish around you, it covers your eyes/shelters you in your home and quickens your heart/it’s planetlike, you breath it in/then it’s changed into something way beyond heaven/you ease on in/knocked out on wine but never anything less than a knockout/you’re seasonal, you’re so winter, so summer…any blemishes on you dissolve into meaning…if there’s even a little bit there, let it loose on me.” And while I’m at it, I’ll let Jeremy have the last word: “It’s chronic, this is…and it’s happening…if anything is happening…come on, this is a come on”
- Eric Sarmiento 8/30 NJ.

Download a free mp3 of ‘Comfort’ here.