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All the shades of green. Plants. Water. The absolute necessities of life. Music, too, is an absolute necessity. To capture both color and sound in a bottle to put atop a piano like a houseplant. A clock. A fern. Synesthesia. This music is meant for that. To close your eyes and see green. To drown in the color of piano. A melancholic covey that pulls hard on the heart strings musically and lyrically, brushed over with a plethora of improvisation in smooth watercolors.
With Tim Hill’s new trajectory, we are offered a fresh neuron sprawl, branching beyond lyrics in interrupted pieces of sound. He takes our reptilian brains and welds them to our unborn futures, placing us inside of his droplet. Here, we're forced to reflect out, something singular multiplies, nature brings her face in, something shifts, our speed changes, the Self refracts and what's left jumps on sustained lines that eventually arch into meditation milk. It becomes a karmic cleanse of the amygdala, a launch from normal feeling life. Tim takes the risk, committing to diving deeper into his own bottomless pool of art, gifting us with sensory treats that dilate our old perimeters. It's sky as theatre, handing out everything but answers to questions. And where do we go? Where starlight mingles. Where minds never land.
A seasoned musician in all forms, Tim Hill has toured the world as a keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist, and drummer, with a long time stint with LA group the Allah Las, and well known acts such as Nick Waterhouse, Curtis Harding, PAINT, and others.
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"Whittier, California-based ranch worker and known as the touring keyboardist for Allah-Lahs, Hill continues to brew his own craft of cowboy originals rooted in worn and dusty standards." - Aquarium Drunkard
"...the Southwestern cowboy, who hums songs of simpler times. A storyteller at heart, the Americana multi-instrumentalist’s music hits you right in the feels" - Buzzbands LA
"Mournful pedal steel pairs with Tim Hill's perfectly exhausted delivery... I’m a sucker for an album that’s pushing aside serenity in favor of simply finding solace..." - Raven Sings the Blues
Mapache cover the Everly Brothers "Always It's You" which is featured in Aquarium Drunkard's Lagniappe Sessions.
According to the band, "This song was shown to us by Benji Knight of The Wizards of the West. Many a day I’ve walked into the record store with Benji and watched him walk out with stacks and stacks of Everly’s records. This one is dedicated to Benji."
"Easy like Sunday Morning… Roscoe's Dream drips with escapist charm." — Mojo Magazine ★★★★
Today, Mapache — Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci's cosmic-folk band best known for their “quintessentially laid-back” tunes (UNCUT) and “grooves so strong you can basically hear the sunshine” (NPR Music) — releases Roscoe's Dream on Innovative Leisure / Calico Discos. Brimming with the best of golden state folk, the band’s third LP of originals captures the sheer joy of sloppy face-kisses and sunny mid-afternoon walks between sweet harmonies and blissed-out guitar licks.
Listen to Roscoe’s Dream here.
Roscoe's Dream included in NPR's Notable Releases for June 10, 2022 here.
On Mapache’s third LP of originals, the band’s 14-year-old Boston Terrier Roscoe takes center stage, scampering through a collection of deconstructed golden-age sketches, gentle rippers that pay homage to the DJ Art Laboe, and loving covers of Bo Diddley's "Diana" and Gabby Pahinui's "Kauai Beauty."
Having honed their distinct folk-western musicality on 2020’s From Liberty Street, Mapache’s Roscoe’s Dream proves that Blasucci and Finch’s chemistry, cultivated since they were young schoolmates, is alchemic. Calling in a handful of friends to play additional parts — including Farmer Dave Scher of Beachwood Sparks on melodica and lap steel plus Spencer Dunham of the Allah-las on bass — has allowed Mapache to expand their distinct style through the full-bodied musicality of a bigger band.
“Roscoe's Dream drips with escapist charm,” says Mojo in an all new four star review, while Shindig praises the duo as "wayfaring strangers with a penchant for evoking beloved sounds and moods of the past, Mapache have matured into an entity with its own accomplished sound."
Roscoe’s Dream follow’s last year’s 3, a lovingly crafted collection of covers that Aquarium Drunkard praised for being “curated in the best possible way: tracks that still sound quintessentially Mapache." Mapache will be hitting the road for a string of West Coast shows this May and June — full dates below.
Upcoming Mapache Shows
6/15 - Costa Mesa - Wayfarer
6/18 - Bolinas - Smiley’s Tavern
6/19 - Sacramento - Harlows
6/21 - Albany - Ivy Room
6/22 - Sonoma - Sebastiani Theater
6/23 - Nevada City - Crazy Horse Saloon
6/25 - Chico - Duffys
7/12 - Phoenix, AZ - Rebel
7/13 - Tuscon, AZ - Hotel Congress Plaza
7/15 - Fort Collins, CO - The Aggie
7/16 - Denver, CO - Globe Hall
7/17 - Salt Lake City, UT - Commonwealth Room
7/19 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
7/21 - Seattle, WA - Sunset
7/22 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
7/23 - Vancouver, BC - Wise
7/24 - Eugene, OR - Sessions Music Hall
7/26 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
7/28 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy & Harriets
7/29 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon
7/30 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon
Presented by Aquarium Drunkard, Maston plays a live session with L'Eclair at Ritmo Studios in Leysin, Switzerland. This version showcases tracks from the Maston discography.
Full tracklisting:
[00:00] 01. Rain Dance
[03:49] 02. Swans
[05:44] 03. Scenic
[08:00] 04. Souvenir
[09:49] 05. Les Monstres
[12:02] 06. Swiss Franc
And a link to the most recent record, Souvenir:
https://smarturl.it/maston_souvenir
Maston announces his new album Souvenir out September 10 on Innovative Leisure / Calico Discos.
It's a hi-fi masterpiece touching on everything from Italian soundtrack music, jazz, light prog, and a.m. pop balladry.
Features backing by Geneva-based band L’Eclair.