: ' .. .:.... . ' ' ______________ : ________ : ' \ / .. .:. .. \ / : : \ /_________ \ / . .. ... .. . : .\ / /___ /\ \ / ______________ ___ _. : \ / / \ / \ \/ / \ \ \ \ \ . ...:..\ / _______/ \/ \ ___/__ / / / / / : /\ / / \ \/ \ / / / . sH! ' / \/ / / / \ / / . ... .:.... .. . :/ _______/ / / / _______/__ ___ __ .\ / / / / / / / / / / / \ / / / / / / / / / / / . . \ /\______/ / / / / \___ / / : \/ ____ \ / / / / / : \ / \ /\____/\ / / : : ________\/ \ / \ / / : ' \ / \/ \ /\ / : . ..:.. . \ / \/ \ / \ / \ / . ' : \/ F A N G \ / : ' ____ \ / . . .. .. .:.. . \ / presents \ / . . \/ \/ : : . ..:.. , : Artist......: Ben Seretan : Album.......: Youth Pastoral : : Label.......: Whatever's Clever .. .:.. . Genre.......: Indie : Catnr.......: WC010 . ' Source......: CD , ; Rip.date....: 2020-03-04 Str.date....: 2020-02-28 Quality.....: 244kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo . :.. .:. Url.........: http://benseretan.com ' ' , ________ ________ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / # title time \ / \/ \/ 1. 1 of 3:02 2. Power Zone 4:31 3. Holding Up the Sun 4:45 4. Straight Line 5:37 5. Am I Doing Right By You? 7:25 6. Shadow 3:04 7. Call Out Your Name 2:47 8. Endless Bounty 2:19 9. Bowing Cypress 2:57 ______ \ / ________ Runtime 36:27 ,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 68.34 ______ :\/ ', \ / , \ / ' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /. : Release Notes: \/ , \/ , ' ' ,: Water, change, hunger both physical and spiritual, the fire of :, : unslakable thirst, life as a seaside christian teenager, ocean : :' baptism, falling out of love with god, losing faith, the dull ': ,: promise of even keeled happiness as you remember it from your :, : childhood cul de sac, nostalgia as substance, substance abuse, : :' codependency, willing with utter determination your life and ': ,: body to change, turning god into a lover, turning a lover into :, : god, letting go of all that, the thud of a bass drum booming in : :' the distance and echoing off the buildings, finding ecstasy ': ,: again after many years devoid, walls crumbling, lift, going from :, : one to one of. : :' ': ,: Youth Pastoral is a good title for this record. ItÆs a potent :, : double meaning. On the one hand we can easily imagine young Ben : :' rendered in soft oils standing ankle deep in the ocean surf, a ': ,: lovely and naive portrait of a fondly remembered teenage :, : California, a Beach Boys song. But thereÆs a pun, too - youth : :' pastor-al - and now standing beside a young Ben in that ocean ': ,: surf is a tragic figure, a man torn between needing to be cool :, : in Oakley sunglasses and needing to be pious with a camo-wrapped : :' bible, the tender of the flock and coffee shop meeter, a man ': ,: who rides motocross, leaping from ramp to ramp in a desperate :, : attempt to soar a bit closer to heaven. : :' ': ,: These two figures collided once in real life, notably, in the :, : central image of the album, when a young Ben decided to dedicate : :' himself fully to the Faith. He chose to participate in an ocean ': ,: baptism, a rededication of his life with Christ held in the :, : gaping mouth of the Pacific. The youth pastor - spiritual leader : :' in a flat brimmed hat - lowered him into the water. But this ': ,: moment of ritual felt more like drowning, there was no divine :, : light and no air beneath the briny current. Faith lost, : :' superstructure gone. As Ben sings on ôHolding Up the Sun,ö - in ': ,: the ocean with my clothes on in late summer / hands on my head / :, : hands on my back / hold me down. Young BenÆs world crumbled but, : :' as the walls came down, the light came in. He was cold, soaked ': ,: with saltwater, out scot free from under a higher power. :, : : :' Later, much later in life, Ben eerily felt that crumbled world ': ,: freedom once again. Chewed up and spit out by piled-on life :, : circumstances, Ben had to put it all back together again. He : :' almost moved to Nebraska, he almost moved in with his parents. ': ,: Instead, he made My LifeÆs Work, a twenty-four hour recording :, : released on a 48-week long schedule throughout 2018. He started : :' running on a treadmill all the time, he started going out ': ,: dancing past sunrise every weekend. And he started putting these :, : songs together, zeroing in on the significant overlap between : :' breakup songs and lost god songs. And so the album wonders, ': ,: between dance beats, gentle fingerpicking, ever-present :, : harmonium, low end synth swells, and chaotic full band : :' onslaughts, who do you build your life around? How brittle are ': ,: the little truths that we cling to? And does loving someone turn :, : them into a god, as merciless as the old testament? : :' ': ,: This is the first proper LP of songs from Ben Seretan since :, : summer 2016Æs Bowl of Plums and, understandably in a darker and : :' scarier world, this is a less starry-eyed outing. There are ': ,: blemishes on the statues, termites in the foundation, so to :, : speak. But the ecstatic joy remains, and the band is at times as : :' gentle as an evening breeze and at others as ferocious as a ': ,: house fire, taking cues from the broken sunny pop of :, : Sparklehorse, the quiet/loud duality of Yo La Tengo, low end : :' thumps of boogie music, and on at least one song, the windows ': ,: down anthem of Phantom Planet. :, : : :' ThereÆs a great cast of collaborators. Nico Hedley - who ': ,: released an excellent 7ö under his name in 2019 - returns once :, : again on bass. Dan Knishkowy - guitarist and songwriter in : :' Adeline Hotel, in which Ben also plays guitar - hammers on ': ,: crash cymbals and bashes out disco hi hats. Alex Lewis - radio :, : producer and guitarist from PhiladelphiaÆs the Early & Flat Mary : :' Road - adds some heartbreaking lap steel and guitar cacophony ': ,: that matches (or bests!) BenÆs playing. Dave Lackner - composer :, : and reed wizard from Blue Jazz TV - contributed the final : :' sprinkles of flute and sax from his home in New Haven and noted ': ,: studio whiz and finger style ace Will Stratton mixed down the :, : album. : :' ': ,: Tragically - and thereÆs no elegant way to mention this - the :, : sculptor Devra Freelander also appears on the record with her : :' buoyant, full-hearted harmonies. Her performances are ': ,: wonderful, but she did not live to see the album completed. :, : Though the songs themselves have nothing, really, to do with : :' losing a friend, itÆs something from which the entire community ': ,: of people involved with these songs is in the process of :, : processing and the project is dedicated to her memory. : :' ': : ' '.. ..' .. . :........... . . . . ............: . . ______________ ______________ \ / \ / \ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ / \ / \ / \ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ / \ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ / \ / \ / \/ ____ ____ \/ \ / F A N G \ / \/ 2 0 2 0 \/