75 DOLLAR BILL - Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock

75 Dollar Bill is Che Chen and Rick Brown. "Ches interest in the Arabic modes of Mauritanian music has marked our sound quite a bit but I have brought some things, too. The plywood crate I play is a big factor, defining, by its positive qualities (a nice warm boom sound) as well as by its simplicity, what were likely to do in the percussion realm. Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock, this new record, differs quite a bit from the previous one, notably in the rhythmic tone. Wooden Bag (2015) was all forward momentum, stomping and shaking, but the new record explores a long-standing interest of mine: odd and compound meters. In most of my previous musical activities, Ive convinced my partners to delve into this, but in 75 Dollar Bill it has just felt natural and I believe Ches modal investigations and melodic/harmonic tendencies enhance (and are enhanced by) this combination. The current record differs from the last in another big way: reinforcements! Over our few years together, Che and I have frequently had friends play with us at some of our gigs. There have been all sorts of permutations of instruments and some great friends/players who dont all appear on this record but here we are lucky to have a bunch of them: Cheryl Kingan (of The Scene Is Now) on baritone and alto saxes, Andrew Lafkas (of Todd Capps Mystery Train) on contrabass, Karen Waltuch (of Zeke & Karen) on viola, Rolyn Hu (of True Primes) on trumpet and Carey Balch (of Knoxvilles Give Thanks) on floor tom. Please enjoy Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock. Earth saw is one of our earliest tunes and, I think, the first result of this compound meter approach. Its a slow 9 beat phrase Che came up with for this odd groove. Beni Said has no fixed rhythmic cycle but a roughly unison melodic phrase and a pulsing, loose feeling of 3s and 4s played using a box full of bottle caps. Cummins Falls features Carey Balch on Diddley-beat floor tom and me reprising the maracas. Im Not Trying To Wake Up is another of our compound meter songs, this one using an 18 beat scheme." - Rick Brown.\r\n