John Wolfington

On an empty NYC subway train circa 1997, Colombian-born, Brooklyn-based singer and songster John Wolfington inexplicably decided to switch cars at the 14th Street station. Sitting in the next car, deep into a novel, was Thurston Moore. Coincidentally carrying a tape containing 'Coney Island Freak' — a song that talks about a trip to the freak show and references SY in its lyric — and feeling he had been somehow 'urged' to switch cars, he handed the tape to Thurston, who politely accepted it. Although this encounter ultimately had little to do with the recording of this album, in retrospect it somehow seems like a step along the way.

Cut to the summer of '99, when John blindly sent a 5 song demo to Two Dollar Guitar majordomo Tim Foljahn. Floored by the quality of the songs and the sparse, intimate production — most of the material had been recorded in Wolfington's bathroom, using simple drum machine patterns or brushes on a live drum — Tim passed the tape on to Steve Shelley, and the two of them agreed to work with John on recording his self-titled debut.

Sessions took place over the next six months, primarily at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room with engineer Nicolas Vernhes. Steve and Tim play on over half the songs, with the rest sporting simple drum loops and Wolfington's sweltering croon and lithe, ethereal, instrumental work on drums, piano, Moog, bass, and Dr. Rhythm. The album is rounded out by some of the original bathroom recordings.


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