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“Esopus 14: Artists” CD out in May

April 15, 2010

For its latest compilation CD, Esopus invited 12 musical acts—including Sharon Van Etten, Doveman, PS I Love You, and Memoryhouse—to create a song inspired by an artist of their choice. Inspiration could be drawn from any part of the given artist’s oeuvre, life, and/or legacy; the only rule was that the song be named after the artist in question.

The CD is included in Esopus 14: Projects, a special issue of the award-winning arts publication that contains 12 long-form artists’ projects by contemporary artists such as John Baldessari, Judy Pfaff, Kerry James Marshall, and Roxy Paine. These projects appear one after the other in the issue without introductions or, in many cases, title pages, creating an effect similar to that of a chorus singing different, yet somehow complementary, songs to the reader—and to one another.

Such an effect informs the compilation CD as well: Despite spanning different musical genres and subjects ranging from the 16th-century sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini to young Brooklyn painter Esao Andrews, all of the songs on Esopus 14: Artists cohere beautifully, providing dynamic new interpretations of the selected artists, their lives and their work. PS I Love You provides a rocking musical tribute to Canadian artist Carlyn Bezic;.multi-instrumentalist Tim Fite draws inspiration from Chuck Close and his iconic portraits (“I want a photograph of you/but not a photograph of you/I want to be closer to you...”). Norwegian group I Was A King contributes an engaging ode to documentary photographer Kåre Kivijärvi, and Doveman (a.k.a. Thomas Bartlett) turns an evocative statement by the Iowa City–based artist David Dunlap into an ethereal, haunting ballad.

Other contributors to the CD are Dream Diary, Bells in Cairo, Big Troubles, Follow That Bird!, Emily Zuzik, and Au Revoir Simone’s Erika Spring. 

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