Monday, June 22, 2009

Anonymous Monk


While just beginning, Anonymous Monk Records already produces some of the most beautiful albums around. Started by Ben Kamen, the small music/graphic arts collective has put out a handful of releases that have all been fantastic. Both Ben and Eleanor Murray (a beyond fantastic folk songstress), have released great solo albums on it, but their most impressive release to date is a Spring to Spring wall calendar that has an accompanying compilation cd, with artists doing a song for each month of the year. Paleo, Karl Blau, and members of LAKE are some of the bigger names on the compilation, but I would say that the local Olympia, Anonymous Monk-signed, bands (Twig Palace, Ben Kamen, and Eleanor Murray) bring the most stand-out tracks.
The first album from Mr Kamen's new project/alias, Invisible River, is set to come out this summer, with an Invisible River/Eleanor Murray U.S. tour set for August/September. The pre-release single from Invisible River has me hooked, I'm playing it on repeat as we speak.
Anonymous Monk is slow and intentional with their evolution, something I see as pretty darn smart, given the current economic situation. I'm pretty convinced they can do no wrong.
Invisible River "Wait and See" (off the Invisible River cd)
Karl Blau "Arco Iris Alrededor de la Luna" (off the Spring to Spring calendar compilation)
Eleanor Murray "Electric Sky" (off For Cedar)

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