Loading details…
Artist
J. Allen
12+ albums
Grungerockambientfolkacoustic
about
Set in a town that perpetually runs at full speed, J. Allen’s ‘Wonder City’ builds slowly and focuses closely on single moments, enrapturing the listener with large scale washes of melody as it deconstructs a profound loneliness. His heartbreaking bedroom epics observe New York City from just outside of its whirlwind. His impressionistic arrangements use the city’s hums and whooshes as a soundscape upon which to layer songs of solitude and reflection, dreams and distraction. J. Allen is the reclusive songwriter and founding member of Brooklyn’s spacey folk outfit Meanwhiles. In early 2010, finding himself currently unsigned, he began recording and arranging what would become his first ever solo release, ‘Wonder City‘. The nine song LP is a true ‘solo’ record on which he writes, plays, and sings all of the parts himself.. except for the street noise and subway rumble. He captures those ‘on location’ with film production microphones and portable recording equipment. In an affecting combination of sound design and intimate performance each track blends together recordings from different sonic spaces, resulting in a cinematic landscape of a song. A verse might take place on a rainy street…a chorus in a quiet bedroom. In his time with Meanwhiles, J. Allen and his brother Todd recorded 2 full length albums, 2 eps and travelled across the US and Europe, sharing stages with the likes of Martha Wainwright and Dean Wareham. Their debut album, ‘The Nights Rewind’ features Wainwrigh
top songs
albums
Wonder City
Tribute To Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
▥
The Chair Of Sigmund Freud
▥
A DECOUVRIR ABSOLUMENT VOLUME 27
▥
Basic String Quartet (Demo)
▥
CERT's Podcast Series: Security for Business Leaders
Worry Not
▥
Silk Music Showcase 06 (Mixed by Jacob Henry & Tom Fall)
▥
Demo
▥
down the hill i dreamed.. (ep)
▥
The Chair Of Sigmnud Freud
▥
Afterglow