7259 - MOTHER HIPS - Chronicle Man (2014)

MOTHER HIPS
''CHRONICLE MAN''
2014
42:27

1 /Desert Song 3:23
2 /El Pancho Villa 3:50
3 /You Can't Win 3:10
4 /St. Andrew 4:13
5 /Loup Garou 4:14
6 /Desert Moon 1:21
7 /Headache To Headache 4:33
8 /The Flood 5:13
9 /Chronicle Man 2:54
10 /Barefoot Sea Chantey 2:15
11 /Rich Little Girl 7:21

BIOGRAPHY
by Zac Johnson
Formed in Chico, CA, in 1991, earthy pop jam rockers the Mother Hips moved up from bar band status through a series of regional tours and built a sizable fan base in California. Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Tim Bluhm, guitarist Greg Loiacono, bassist Isaac Parsons, and drummer Mike Wofchuck met in the dorms of Chico State in the early '90s. Loiacono and Bluhm's harmonies and country-tinged melodies honored California's musical past -- from Merle Haggard to the Beach Boys to Neil Young. Their 1992 album, entitled Back to the Grotto, caught the ear of American Recordings, which released 1995's Part-Timer Goes Full and 1996's Shootout. This relationship led to high-profile slots on tours with Johnny Cash, Wilco, and the H.O.R.D.E. tour. Drummer Wofchuck was replaced by John Hofer for 1998's country-rock Later Days. Three years later, the band released the more pop-oriented Green Hills of Earth. As soon as the album gained notoriety, singer/guitarist Greg Loiacono decided to take a break from the group, leaving the band's status in question. In 2005, Bluhm, Loiacono, Hofer, and new bassist Paul Hoaglin resumed playing music and released the Red Tandy EP on Camera Recordsin 2006 and followed it up with the full-length Kiss the Crystal Flake in early 2007.

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5741 - THE MOTHER HIPS - Behind Beyond (2013)

THE MOTHER HIPS
''BEHIND BEYOND''
JULY 9 2013
51:03

1 - The Isle Not of Man/5:45
2 - Freed from a Prison/4:23
3 - Tuffy/3:21
4 - Jefferson Army/5:51
5 - Best Friend in Town/4:55
6 - Creation Smiles/4:24
7 - Shape the Bell/5:50
8 - Behind Beyond/5:21
9 - Rose of Rainbows/6:47
10 - Song for J.B/3:45

With the release of their eighth studio album, Behind Beyond, via their own imprint label on July 9, 2013; Northern California's the Mother Hips will celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band. This album follows their 2009 studio release, Pacific Dust, and a four-disc retrospective compilation, Days of Sun and Grass, both of which garnered critical praise from outlets including The New Yorker, Mojo, Relix, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and cemented the band's reputation as creators of "California Soul."
Behind Beyond, recorded over the past year at Mission Bells Studio in San Francisco with co-producer Dave Simon-Baker, finds Bluhm wading cautiously into midlife, exploring thoughts of mortality as if it were a hazy dream. Loiacono, the man behind the many instrumental passages that weave through the album, says that this album "stretches out a lot more than any of our other records." There's a sense of ease with these songs, from the laid-back feel of "Isle Not of Man" to the psychedelic guitar interplay of "Jefferson Army."
Bluhm is the tall, rugged, frontman that pulls the listener in while Loiacono is the compact, explosive guitar ace that drives the music. But it's their partnership -- the unique, almost brotherly way they sing and play together -- that defines the band.
When asked what makes this album special, the two bandleaders come at it from a different angle. Loiacono references the second track, "Freed From A Prison," a song he wrote but that Bluhm sings, citing the ability to let go of the song that made it work. "That song is about the concept of being freed from a prison you didn't even know you were in," he says. "It's this idea of finally opening up to an experience that was there for you the whole time. To me, a lot of this album is like that."
Bluhm says that making the music meaningful -- going beyond just having a solid, well-played tune -- is the most important thing for him. "It's about making creative choices that are unconventional but that are still appealing that hopefully can reach the listener in a way they didn't expect and affect parts of their heart and mind they didn't expect to be affected by rock music, he says. I'm trying to make music that has a spiritual aspect where it's more than just a good song and more than just a rocking band or a commodity, an emotional experience that you might not even know is happening because it's surrounded by a loud rock band."

BIOGRAPHY
by Zac Johnson
Formed in Chico, CA, in 1991, earthy pop jam rockers the Mother Hips moved up from bar band status through a series of regional tours and built a sizable fan base in California. Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Tim Bluhm, guitarist Greg Loiacono, bassist Isaac Parsons, and drummer Mike Wofchuck met in the dorms of Chico State in the early '90s. Loiacono and Bluhm's harmonies and country-tinged melodies honored California's musical past -- from Merle Haggard to the Beach Boys to Neil Young. Their 1992 album, entitled Back to the Grotto, caught the ear of American Recordings, which released 1995's Part-Timer Goes Full and 1996's Shootout. This relationship led to high-profile slots on tours with Johnny Cash, Wilco, and the H.O.R.D.E. tour. Drummer Wofchuck was replaced by John Hofer for 1998's country-rock Later Days. Three years later, the band released the more pop-oriented Green Hills of Earth. As soon as the album gained notoriety, singer/guitarist Greg Loiacono decided to take a break from the group, leaving the band's status in question. In 2005, Bluhm, Loiacono, Hofer, and new bassist Paul Hoaglin resumed playing music and released the Red Tandy EP on Camera Recordsin 2006 and followed it up with the full-length Kiss the Crystal Flake in early 2007.

DoWnLoAd

3193 - THE MOTHER HIPS - Green Hills Of Earth (2000)

THE MOTHER HIPS
''GREEN HILLS OF EARTH''
2001
49:52

1. Given For You/1:20
2. Life In The City/3:34
3. Take Us Out/4:21
4. Pull Us All Together/3:34
5. Singing Seems To Ease Me/3:50
6. Protein Sky/4:14
7. Channel Island Girl/3:01
8. Sarah Bellum/4:14
9. Such A Thing/3:06
10. Emotional Gold/3:00
11. Del Mar Station/4:02
12. Rich Little Girl/2:58
13. Smoke/3:47
14. Seaward Son/4:52

REVIEW
by Denise Sullivan
Bay Area band Mother Hips come over less hippie/more power popster on Green Hills of Earth. "Life in the City" has the motor drive of early-'80s U.K. new wave; "Take Us Out" has a much lazier, '70s MOR pop feeling. The Beatles could make a case against "Singing Seems to Ease Me," but then Mother Hips wouldn't be the first to take inspiration from Rubber Soul; the pure, California rock vocal choir saves them from pure plagiarism anyway. A step forward on all counts (retro-isms notwithstanding!), Green Hills finds Mother Hips in complete synch with the sonic and verbal pop zeitgeist.

BIOGRAPHY
by Zac Johnson
Formed in Chico, CA, in 1991, earthy pop jam rockers the Mother Hips moved up from bar band status through a series of regional tours and built a sizable fan base in California. Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Tim Bluhm, guitarist Greg Loiacono, bassist Isaac Parsons, and drummer Mike Wofchuck met in the dorms of Chico State in the early '90s. Loiacono and Bluhm's harmonies and country-tinged melodies honored California's musical past -- from Merle Haggard to the Beach Boys to Neil Young. Their 1992 album, entitled Back to the Grotto, caught the ear of American Recordings, which released 1995's Part-Timer Goes Full and 1996's Shootout. This relationship led to high-profile slots on tours with Johnny Cash, Wilco, and the H.O.R.D.E. tour. Drummer Wofchuck was replaced by John Hofer for 1998's country-rock Later Days. Three years later, the band released the more pop-oriented Green Hills of Earth. As soon as the album gained notoriety, singer/guitarist Greg Loiacono decided to take a break from the group, leaving the band's status in question. In 2005, Bluhm, Loiacono, Hofer, and new bassist Paul Hoaglin resumed playing music and released the Red Tandy EP on Camera Recordsin 2006 and followed it up with the full-length Kiss the Crystal Flake in early 2007.

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3192 - MOTHER HIPS - Later Days (1996)

MOTHER HIPS
''LATER DAYS''
NOVEMBER 30 1996
40:27

1. Gold Plated/3:31
2. Later Days/3:10
3. Esmerelda/3:02
4. Stunt Double/3:01
5. Spotless As You/3:42
6. Motorhome/3:55
7. Tired Wings/4:09
8. Do It On The Strings/3:00
9. Payroll Peter/2:01
10. The Cosmonaut/3:46
11. $100 Blues/2:45
12. October Teen/4:23

REVIEW
by Jim Smith
For a band with so much potential Mother Hips' fourth album is disappointing. The production is much crisper than Shootout, the songs are livelier, and the lyrics more discernible. There aren't as many hooks, though, and the few good ones owe their existence to famous songs by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and the Rolling Stones. It's frustrating that Tim Bluhm never really sounds comfortable in his own songs; if he could dig in a little bit more, wonderful things might happen.

BIOGRAPHY
by Zac Johnson
Formed in Chico, CA, in 1991, earthy pop jam rockers the Mother Hips moved up from bar band status through a series of regional tours and built a sizable fan base in California. Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Tim Bluhm, guitarist Greg Loiacono, bassist Isaac Parsons, and drummer Mike Wofchuck met in the dorms of Chico State in the early '90s. Loiacono and Bluhm's harmonies and country-tinged melodies honored California's musical past -- from Merle Haggard to the Beach Boys to Neil Young. Their 1992 album, entitled Back to the Grotto, caught the ear of American Recordings, which released 1995's Part-Timer Goes Full and 1996's Shootout. This relationship led to high-profile slots on tours with Johnny Cash, Wilco, and the H.O.R.D.E. tour. Drummer Wofchuck was replaced by John Hofer for 1998's country-rock Later Days. Three years later, the band released the more pop-oriented Green Hills of Earth. As soon as the album gained notoriety, singer/guitarist Greg Loiacono decided to take a break from the group, leaving the band's status in question. In 2005, Bluhm, Loiacono, Hofer, and new bassist Paul Hoaglin resumed playing music and released the Red Tandy EP on Camera Recordsin 2006 and followed it up with the full-length Kiss the Crystal Flake in early 2007.

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