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LP
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OM 054LP
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[some copies have minor jacket bumps] "I have known Matt since the very early '00s when he was still a student at Hampshire College. We became great friends right away and have remained so since. Matt has been an on-and-off member of IFCO (full time now), and we have worked together on a number of other projects. This is to say, I might be a little biased. (But everyone is biased, no matter how much they write in the third person.) Matt has been doing solo tape music for well over ten years now. My memory says it started out as a live thing with a mixing desk and a bunch of cheap cassette machines. (My memory says a lot of things.) I'm not sure exactly what he does now, but it is something similar and still involves cassette tapes. There are loads of people doing music with field recordings and tapes, etc., and, for the most part, the music is a messy yawn-fest. That is not The Krefting Way. Each of the six pieces on Finer Points has a limited number of elements that slowly revolve. Each track is discrete in its sound pallet but made in a similar fashion. The overall effect is like the bottles in a Joseph Cornell box. My favorite bottle is the one for a guitar (Spanish?). It manages to hit a sweet spot between hypnotic and unsettling. The whole LP is great and expertly sequenced. (The lost art of recording!) Matt's releases are like desert flowers that bloom and are gorgeous, then they are gone. A tip of the glass to Bill Nace as well. He has kept Open Mouth running for quite a while, and as anyone who has ever run a small label will tell you, 'It's a fool's errand.' It is, too -- but if it weren't for fools like Bill, the world would be missing a lot of great music." --Scott Foust
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CD
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E#91D
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"My 'career' in music is about to enter its 13th year. Lucky 13! I've performed in at least 15 groups (probably more on the order of 20 if you count guest spots) over the years, the most prominent being the long-running 'quiet music' combo Son of Earth and the short-lived-but-muchhyped Believers. Historically more of an experimental man, the Believers project showcased my always right-below-the-surface interest and passion for all things rock, and so, a couple of years after the demise of that group, I was approached by Ecstatic Peace, who asked me to produce a solo record. For the better part of a year I conceptualized, recruited, and eventually came up with I Couldn't Love You More. An early attempt to marry electronics, field recordings, and song was scrapped in favor of the personal and perhaps obvious choice of producing a covers record. It was the perfect idea, the realization of a dream. Years of singing in the shower and on long car trips had given way to the stuff of fantasy. Why stick to what you know when you can reach for what you've always desired? I asked friends to help with the realization. John Moloney, Phil Franklin, Ron Schneiderman, and Rob Thomas (all of Sunburned Hand of the Man), I've known for years. Same with J Mascis. Old friends John Shaw (who I've done more music with than anyone) and Lynn Meyers provide some vocals here and there, as does my wife, Jamie Jo Oltmans. The Wild Card here is John Townsend. Andrew Kesin of Ecstatic Peace introduced me to him, and he was a jack-of-all-trades. He plays on most of the tracks, sometimes exclusively, and co-produced. I chose songs from all over the map, from Rick Danko to John Martyn to the great Bill Fay. Not exactly lightweights, and quite intimidating when their full historical weight is taken into account. However, I attacked each piece with the intensity of one who truly loves these songs. I didn't concern myself with being overly arty or inventive in my interpretations (there are no truly radical re-workings of anything here), instead allowing my own emotional investment in the material to guide me and inform the other players. These are songs of love and longing. The themes are eternal. It's an honor to have had the chance to play them. Enjoy the music." -- Matt Krefting, December 2008
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