The Sound of Yourself Mac Mccaughan SKU: MRG783LP Barcode: 0673855078311 20.00 £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Merge Records Released Date: 24th September 2021 Buying Format: 1LP Includes Download Code Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Throughout his career fronting Superchunk and Portastatic, Mac McCaughan has channeled more than his share of angst into a microphone, resulting in undeniable rock anthems. So how can a voice so familiar to others still seem foreign to its owner? On The Sound of Yourself, McCaughan’s second release under his own name, he explores that question fully, shooting his voice through a prism and refracting it across these songs in new and rewarding ways. In January 2021, McCaughan found himself at his home studio in Chapel Hill North Carolina staring down a clean slate after wrapping a film score and several other music projects. His thought process was simple: “Each day is blurring into the next, so what are we doing today? How can I disrupt this? I think what resulted was a theme of subdued… ‘joy’ is the wrong word, but it’s at least comforting if not propulsive to have something open-ended to work on every day without any kind of structure or deadline or rules.” McCaughan leaned into allowing randomness and accidents to catalyze his compositions. Where a guitar riff might typically start a Superchunk song, an indistinguishable loop found on an old sampler dictates the mood on “Found Cricket,” and simply opening up his studio to the woods outside channels Another Green World on “36 and Rain.” Instrumentals make up nearly half of The Sound of Yourself, and are integral to the album’s atmosphere. While the pop-oriented tracks hint at sounds explored on Non-Believers, McCaughan’s recent scoring work and frequent excursions with synthesizers and sequencers (see: the Moogfest commissioned POMS and his ambient project with Mary Lattimore) add a particularly crystalline spaciness akin to The Durutti Column and Bowie’s Berlin trilogy. A sloping new wave bassline grounds the catchy “Circling Around” as McCaughan rejects rumination with cleverly cyclical lyrics and a few strategically placed “whoa”s. The warbled synthetic voices emanating from the Mellotron on “Sleep Donor” are already singing isolation blues well before McCaughan frets, “I hear a footstep in the hall when there should be no one there at all…” These could be the same ghostly sounds “softer than the light, under the door” he describes in “I Hear a Radio,” a track on which Michael Benjamin Lerner (Telekinesis) and Annie Hayden (Spent) provide shimmering vocal harmonies. For a record titled The Sound of Yourself, the irony in having many contributions from friends is not lost on McCaughan: “I’m constantly inspired by the work of my peers. I feel lucky to be able to collaborate with them despite the distances between us. Sending off a song into the ether and having it returned greatly improved and in often surprising and moving ways was one of the most satisfying aspects of making this record.” Additional guest appearances include Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit), Mackenzie Scott of TORRES, plus three moody saxophone tracks that Matt Douglas of the Mountain Goats offered McCaughan, layered on top of one another. Mary Lattimore introduces and concludes The Sound of Yourself with her singular harp playing. The bittersweet single “Dawn Bends” is bolstered not only by Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster but the esteemed trio of Yo La Tengo on bass, organ, guitar, and vocals. The album’s title track asks, “Do you ever get used to the sound of yourself?” For an artist like Mac McCaughan, the answer lies in experimentation—testing his voice in a different light, deconstructing it, sometimes relegating it elsewhere or removing it altogether as the piece dictates. He knows that within the creative pursuit of an album as illuminating as The Sound of Yourself, familiarity reveals itself in the unknown. Artist Mac Mccaughan Genre Rock And Pop Label Merge Records Buying Options 1LP Includes Download Code Format 1LP , Includes Download Code Condition New Country UK Track Listings SIDE A Moss Light The Sound of Yourself I Hear a Radio 36 and Rain Burn a Fax SIDE B Gen Ash Circling Around R Dream Sleep Donor Dawn Bends Found Cricket Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Mac Mccaughan and more from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View Mac Mccaughan Non-Believers Rock And Pop | Merge | 1LP Released 4th May 2015 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Mac Mccaughan Non-Believers £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Merge SKU: MRG555LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 4th May 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Incubus Light Grenades Rock And Pop | Music On Vinyl | 180g, 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 21st February 2020 £27.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Incubus Light Grenades £27.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Music On Vinyl SKU: MOVLP698C Formats: 180g, 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 21st February 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Maggie Rogers Surrender Rock And Pop | Polydor | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 29th July 2022 £20.00 - £28.00 Select options Maggie Rogers Surrender £20.00 - £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Polydor Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 29th July 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Ariana Grande Yours Truly Rock And Pop | UMC | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 6th December 2019 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ariana Grande Yours Truly £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMC SKU: 7797449 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 6th December 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Daniele Luppi & Parquet Courts Milano Rock And Pop | 30TH Century Records | 1LP Released 27th October 2017 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Daniele Luppi & Parquet Courts Milano £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: 30TH Century Records SKU: 88985484041 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 27th October 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Shayne Ward Shayne Ward Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 1LP Released 25th November 2022 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Shayne Ward Shayne Ward £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl SKU: COOKLP812 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 25th November 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Lower Dens Escape From Evil Rock And Pop | Ribbon Music | 1LP Released 30th March 2015 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lower Dens Escape From Evil £16.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Ribbon Music SKU: RBN041LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 30th March 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Dutch Uncles O Shudder Rock And Pop | Memphis Industries | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 23rd February 2015 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Dutch Uncles O Shudder £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Memphis Industries SKU: MI0351LP Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 23rd February 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Rides, The (Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Barry Goldberg) Can’t Get Enough Blues | Provogue | 180g, 1LP Released 26th August 2013 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Rides, The (Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Barry Goldberg) Can’t Get Enough £16.00 Genre: Blues Label: Provogue SKU: PRD74121 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 26th August 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Kate Bush Hounds Of Love – 2018 Remaster Rock And Pop | Fish People | 180g, 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 20th November 2023 £34.00 - £35.00 Select options Kate Bush Hounds Of Love – 2018 Remaster £34.00 - £35.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Fish People Formats: 180g, 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 20th November 2023 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Joni Mitchell Court and Spark (SACD) Rock And Pop | Mobile Fidelity | SACD Release Date TBC £46.00 Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders Joni Mitchell Court and Spark (SACD) £46.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Mobile Fidelity SKU: CMFSA2273 Formats: SACD Released Date: Read More Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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