Sings the Blues

Abusive fastball rhythms. Gratuitous electroid synth lines. Z-movie backdrops. Tape hiss. Chopped vocal samples. Soundtracks to the high-scores table. One-finger sampler tapping. Lush downtempo breaks. Power pop plunges. You name it, Sings the blues has it. Except there’s not really any blues.

This is Books on Tape’s sophomore CD, & what a treat it is! First, this is 100% Todd Drootin: no collaborators were harmed during the making of this CD. And secondly & most importantly, this CD is the first to effectively capture the feeling & essence of Books on Tape’s notorious live shows.

Whether or not you’ve had the chance to witness the boy wonder of the sampler in your hometown yet, open your ears & there is little doubt that you will enjoy this new CD. It’s new, it’s exciting, it’s intense, & it’s got flair & it’s got bite. In short, this is Books on Tape at its absolute finest. Todd Drootin is in the house, & he’s not about to leave!

Mastered by Louis Dufort. Licensed to Greyday [GDP 009] for the USA.

Todd / Books on Tape would like to thank the decent people of the universe, including, but not limited to: Kerri, Mom, Dad, Stef, Kenny, Nasty (cat at eleven), Drootin, Benes and Kirchheimer families, David T, Aimé, Érick & No Type, Todd B & Greyday, Greg/Sheryl & Piehead, Brian Swirsky & Complete Control, Mike Locke, Aaron & Mental Monkey, Everyone at Fanatic, Cursive, The Faint, The Good Life, Rilo Kiley, Mayday, Chaki (+ Kate), Headphone Science (+ Jen), Captain Ahab, Consafos, Mr Mixel Pixel, Atole, Zug Island, Dick Richards (+ Leah), Bronwyn, Child Pornography, Deathbomb Arc, Wendy Gilmartin, David Cotner, Macc, Neil, Hotdog, Meshel, Meagan, Peter, Doug, Steve, Matt & Cat, Kelli (AE Wright old school bus homegirl!) plus Jordan & Jess (Greencoast), Kara and John, Robert, Priya & Chris, Brian Lavelle, LA Weekly, Vital Weekly, Parlour Club, City of North Hollywood, KXLU, KUCI, KSPC, KPSU, The Smell and The Fold. I also have a special place in my heart for neoconservatives, John Ashcroft’s songs and television preachers! Amen! Kerri gives love to her WSP friends, DJ Isha, Carlos, Sarah, Laurel, Steve, Danny, Brian Boyce (bring me that theremin!) Books on Tape is as much hers as mine, so respect the lady, hey? Besides, I love her. And I sample her records.

This music would have never happened without: Pavement, Talking Heads, Albert Ayler, Sonic Youth, Sun Ra, Wire, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Neil Young, Mike Patton, The Slits, Gang of Four, The Pixies, Public Enemy, Freestyle Fellowship, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Cash Money Millionaires, The Fall and David Bowie. As well as countless others (Neptunes, Premier, Timbaland, etc.). Respect to all forward-minded artists. Push on!

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