The beautiful 12" vinyl version of our album is pressed on translucent clear 180gram vinyl and comes with a digital download card.
Includes unlimited streaming of To Combat Loneliness: Compositions Based on the Works of David Foster Wallace
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
$20USDor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Item comes in a standard plastic CD jewel case with full color printing. Liner notes on the inside booklet.
Includes unlimited streaming of To Combat Loneliness: Compositions Based on the Works of David Foster Wallace
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
This piece was the last one Aaron and Tyson did. It was the culmination of the project, and instead of being based on a certain character or situation in one of DFW’s books, this one was about DFW himself. The man, the writer, the genius. Originally, facts and anecdotes were pulled from David Lipsky’s 2010 book, “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself,” which was a journalistic recount of the author’s time spent with DFW on the book tour for “Infinite Jest.” Lipsky was a reporter for Rolling Stone at the time, and did a story on DFW which sadly was never printed in the magazine. However, this book became the basis for the movie, “The End of the Tour,” starring Jason Segel as DFW and Jesse Eisenberg as David Lipsky. It was released in 2015, and Tyson rushed out to see it and brought his 12 year old son along, talking to him about DFW for the whole car ride to the theater and back. (His son said the movie, “had a lot of talking in it” but he “liked the dogs and the convenient store scene.” He also began humorously calling DFW by the name, “David Foster Walrus”). Eventually, a proper biography was written about DFW by D.T. Max in 2012 titled, “Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story”. This provided more solid and wider-reaching biographical info about DFW, and that’s why this last piece shares its name.
For this piece, Tyson asked Aaron to “bring the fire” with his cello in order to pay proper homage to DFW and his extraordinary talent, the reward we all get from reading his books, the sadness we feel that he is no longer with us, and to simply bring a scorching end to this conceptual project. Aaron responded by saying that this piece “takes place AFTER he brings the fire; to picture him walking away from the studio as it burns to the ground, his cello a mess of splintered wood”.
Tyson, Aaron, and Emperor Penguin Records hope you enjoy this project, and they all thank you very much for reading these back stories and listening to the album. A percentage of all sales will be donated to the DFW Archives at the Harry Ransom building at the University of Texas-Austin.
Aaron Kerr:
This last letter was the big reveal, and I think Tyson was expecting me to compose some magnum opus akin to Beethoven’s 9th to really cap things off. He wanted me to “bring the fire”, a phrase he uses in the recording studio which means he wants me to slay him with a wicked, fiery solo where I employ all my secret cello-ninja techniques. I took a different approach. The best way to really honor this whole project was with fire, but not the fire itself. I wanted this to be both reflective and sad. I wanted this to be the aftermath, and what we are left with. In the letter I sent with the recording I told him to imagine this: “While recording the album, while playing the last solo of the last song, a white light busts forth from my cello. The light gets brighter and brighter and fills the room. The light turns to heat and starts melting the room. I am completely unaffected - the more I play, the more intense the heat. Everyone runs from the studio and the building. There is a massive explosion and all that is left is a crater where I was standing. I stand. Above me, images of Odin, Vishnu, and Ra look down approvingly. I slowly walk away, not looking back.” This last music I give to you is the soundtrack to this last picture. It is what is left when all else is gone. It is a slow, ten note phrase that repeats endlessly. The harmony is simple and complimentary. The solo is contemplative and distant. I cannot sum up David Foster Wallace. I can give you only one image to think about. If there is one scene from one book that this can honor, it is this:
"And when he came back to, he was flat on his back on the beach in the freezing sand, and it was raining out of a low sky, and the tide was way out".
Produced by Tyson Allison and Justin Deleon
Recorded at IPR studios in Minneapolis, MN
Engineered and mixed by Justin Deleon
Mastered by Tom Garneau at AUDIOACTIVE in Minneapolis, MN
Copyright 2019 Humble Mumblings ASCAP
Emperor Penguin Records began in 2003 in St. Paul, MN and later moved to Milwaukee, WI in 2015. The label is run by
musician/producer Tyson Allison. EPR enlists and caters to singer/songwriters, introverts, experimental weirdos, bookish people, and crafters that paint pictures with words and toy with your emotions on a well-placed chord. Thank you for your interest!...more
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