il gato

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COMMUNITY

il gato on TUMBLR

BIOGRAPHY

IL GATO is an indie-baroque-folk band from San Francisco, California. Their recent independent release, “All these Slippery Things” (July 2010), is the band’s first studio album and second full-length release. It was recorded and mixed at the renowned Tiny Telephone (with overdubs recorded at home), engineered by Ian Pelicci (Deerhoof, Rogue Wave, Hauschka, etc.) and mastered by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering (Broken Social Scene, Death Cab for Cutie, Bon Iver, The Dodos, Cat Power, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse, etc.).

The core ensemble of musicians consists of guitarist/harmonica/vocalist Daimian Holiday Scott, pianist/trumpeter/vocalist Matthew Souther, upright bassist/vocalist Andrew Thomas, and drummer/vocalist Johnny Major. With a pop sensibility, their sound incorporates folk with a reggae down beat, harmonious rap, lavish modern-classical instrumentation, and emotionally charged vocals with a floating delivery. Common associations include Modest Mouse, Beirut, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Arcade Fire.

“All these Slippery Things” is a grand departure from IL GATO’s first release, “conversationmusic” (2007), a solo singer/songwriter recording by Gainesville, Florida native and former architect Daimian Holiday Scott. With the help of some of the Bay Area’s finest indie musicians, “All these Slippery Things” is embellished by full horn and string sections, piano, upright bass, drums, banjo, accordion, harmonica and melodica, hence putting the “baroque” in indie-folk.

IL GATO writes emotionally complex songs about life and love and loss and how if you are going to be a lover in this world you are undoubtedly also going to be a loser and how maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Maybe it is even a beautiful thing.

IL GATO has been on the bill with Castanets, Tom Brosseau, Sam Amidon, The Felice Brothers, Frank Black of the Pixies (almost), The Ferocious Few, The Shants, Annie Bacon, Wolf & Crow and other quality acts.

Additionally, IL GATO songs have been played on radio stations (WEVL, Indie 101.3FM, KALX, SomaFM, etc.), listed on blogs (LargeHearted Boy, Consequence of Sound, The Bay Bridged, The Deli, Heroes of Indie Music, etc.), and enjoyed by many.

“All these Slippery Things” is available for purchase at Bandcamp , iTunes or either digital retailers as well as Amoeba Music and Rasputin Music in the Bay Area.

DISCOGRAPHY

All these Slippery Things (2010)

The main inspirations behind "All these Slippery Things" are Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" and Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane over the Sea". The album was very much constructed as an album and, as such, has a clear beginning for Track 1 and a clear ending for Track 13, but after that it is confusing as to when each track begins and ends. There are repeated motifs (from melodies to lyrics), sky imagery (Lightning, Clouds, etc.), blues and reds and the phrase “All these Slippery Things” occurs in every song with lyrics. The songs without lyrics explore different variations of a single melody line that moves the album along according to the different emotional peaks that occur.

The album resembles a distorted love child of Modest Mouse, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes and the Arcade Fire, which in a way sounds a lot like an alternate universe Neutral Milk Hotel.

"All these Slippery Things":

1. The First Waltz
2. All these Birds in my Hair
3. The Snapping Sound
4. The Slippery Waltz
5. On Feathers & Arrows (on Burnt Pine)
6. Burning Red (The Fa Fa Fa Song)
7. In the Lightning it is Written
8. The Rollicking Waltz
9. Chocolate Lemonade
10. The Last Waltz
11. I Stayed up all Week
12. The Sky Seemed So Red Today
13. We are All in the Clouds

conversationmusic (2007)

Recorded with a base of acoustic guitar and harmonica, the debut solo, self-recorded album of il gato, "conversationmusic", has an undercurrent of menace: the fuzz of walkie-talkies, the lonely blare of a trumpet, the drone of the harmonica, the ominous sound of a synth, the clicks and hums of a lo-fi record, the struggle to stay in tune. Sounds from the furthest corners of the room, the fuzz of a radio station hoping to detain and sabotage the song, only to always be one step behind. “Subversive folk” is what I call it.

Falling somewhere between the patience of Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska”, the stark emotion of Songs:Ohia, and the fragility of Bright Eyes more introspective moments, the album trods on country-blues, folk and Americana.

conversationmusic:

1. Molly n' Stew
2. Longing Love Lounge
3. Sometimes I Laugh to Cry
4. A Lover's Duel
5. Lower down than Before
6. Greens and Cornbread
7. I Stayed up all Week
8. Bright, Bright, Bright Yellow
9. The Spiral Song
10. The Taste
11. Wow (or Drunk in a bar at 6:30 on a Tuesday)
13. Chocolate Lemonade

PRESS

"The current quartet plays with an abundance of stringed instruments - guitars, mandolin, banjo, upright bass - and adds to the mixing pot piano, drums, harmonica, horns and melodica. The band's compositions fuse with mildly estranged vocals that have a storytelling style plucked from country-folk. When asked to describe its music, Holiday Scott coins the genre "indie-Baroque folk-rock," which he explains as "folk-rock with classical instruments and a liberal use of repetition."

Il Gato's music has become slightly more pop as it has developed, but the dash of alt-country is never lost, and it has also started to feature more group singing. Its performances remain intimate and enveloping, washing the listener away in its oddball and dreamy stories. Il Gato is about to record its first full-length, set for a late Spring release."

San Francisco Chronicle

"Indefinite magic is key here. You can't quite put your finger on what makes this bluesy indie band so good, but you can't stop listening listening anyway. Perhaps it's the haunting vocals, the easygoing acoustic guitar, or the addition of instruments like melodica, mandolin, and standup bass. Whatever the reason, it's a mesmerizing listen."

SF Weekly ("All Shook Down")

Members:

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Daimian Holiday Scott (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, loop pedal, melodica, etc.) + Matthew Souther (trumpet, flugelhorn, melodica, piano, vocals, etc.) + Johnny Major (drums, vocals, etc.) + Andrew Thomas (stand-up bass, electric bass, mandolin, vocals, etc.)

Influences: