New Crickets Track 'Grounded' + LP Reissue
I am releasing a new track by Crickets (featuring Anna Webber, Josh Sinton, Ed Rosenberg, Jonathan Goldberger, and Devin Gray) called Grounded on October 19, 2023, which is the 5-year anniversary of both Out Of Your Head Records, and Adam Hopkins - Crickets (OOYH 001). OOYH Records is also reissuing the original album on LP, and it sounds amazing on vinyl! TJ Huff (huffart.com) did a redesign of the original album art, and made some super awesome 90s skateboard style art for the single. The LPs are going to look and sound amazing! Link below to purchase/listen, and I’ve included the full press release with a whole lot of extra for anyone interested. Thanks so much for listening to and supporting this music over the last 5 years!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [PRIVATE ADVANCE]
Adam Hopkins - Crickets (OOYH 001.1)
New single Grounded + 5th Anniversary LP Reissue
To be released October 19, 2023 on Out Of Your Head Records
RIYL: Nirvana, Eric Dolphy, Nels Cline Singers, Hole, Pavement, Henry Threadgill, Mary Halvorson, Tim Berne, Ornette Coleman, Andrew Hill, Michael Formanek, William Parker, Anna Webber, Fred Frith, The Dismemberment Plan, John Zorn's Naked City
Recommended Tracks: #1 Grounded (2023), #2 They Can Swim Backwards But Sometimes Choose Not To (2018), #9 Scissorhands (2018), #6 Haven of Bliss (2018)
Pre-Order'/Save Links to Grounded (2023) on DSP
“Crickets introduces Adam Hopkins as one of the few talents with the vision to make jazz directed at the current and future generations, not the past ones.” —Something Else! Reviews
Adam Hopkins debut album Crickets (OOYH 001), was released on October 19, 2018 and features Anna Webber, Josh Sinton, Ed Rosenberg, Jonathan Goldberger, and Devin Gray. On Crickets Hopkins takes the guitar-driven bands he loved as a teenager in the 90’s (Nirvana, Pavement, and The Dismemberment Plan), and expertly melds them with his more recent influences as a composer and improviser (Tim Berne, Henry Threadgill, Andrew Hill, Stravinsky, and Eric Dolphy), finding a home somewhere between the Nels Cline Singers and John Zorn's Naked City, but the result is something uniquely Hopkins' own. In celebration of the 5-year anniversary of the album, and the 5-year anniversary of the start of Out Of Your Head Records, OOYH is reissuing Crickets on vinyl for the first time.
Also for the occasion Hopkins reconvened the band remotely to record what will be the final track by his NYC-based band, Crickets. The new track, Grounded, will be released on October 19, 2023 (the actual 5th anniversary) and is included as a bonus track on the LP. The track was recorded remotely from locations literally across the world in Winter of 2020/2021, which everyone knows was a time of minimal in-person recording opportunity, and was initially conceived as the first track of what was to become a sophmore album by the band, Crickets II. As the band further spread out over the next year, and with Hopkins now living in Richmond VA, this consequently was the only documentation of the new material written for the group. It is time for a new ensemble from Hopkins, but we are thrilled to share this one final track by Crickets!
As remote recording can be stale and not very interactive, Hopkins took a slightly different approach in that he tracked bass first, sent to Devin Gray to record drums, and then to the rest of the band. Once all of the tracks were finished Hopkins re-recorded the bass as a way to be more interactive with each solo and both Gray's drums and Goldberger's perfectly grundgy guitar. TJ Huff gave the album art a redesign for the LP release in line with his more recent OOYH artwork. TJ also did the single cover for Grounded in the 90s skateboard art style we initially conceived as the look for OOYH Records, but have moved away from slightly on recent releases.
Crickets Press from 2018:
#2 Best Debut Album in the 2018 NPR Jazz Critics Poll // Best Debut Album of 2018 by El Intruso, Music and More, NYC Jazz Record, JazzDaGama, Jazz Trail, and Stalker 21. Best of 2018 on Avant Music News + Top 20 Best Albums of 2018 by Jazz Right Now + Best of 2018 (Jazz/Fusion) on Something Else! Reviews.
“Mixing jazz sophistication with punk aggression, bassist and label owner Adam Hopkins makes a striking debut.” —JazzTimes
“…compelling and unconventional jazz compositions juxtaposed with blowouts. This is a singular release and hopefully the first of many from Hopkins.” —Avant Music News
**** "Hopkins’ debut unpacks a thrill-a-minute suite rooted in grunge, indie, and punk.” —MOJO Magazine
“There is something different going on here than the usual Downtown noise/improv.” —Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
Album Release + OOYH Anniversary Concert: November 13 @ Artspace Richmond, 7:30pm (livestreamed on @outofyourheadrecords), featuring a Richmond version of Crickets, Scott Clark's Dawn & Dusk, and an album release for a new OOYH Untamed album featuring Peni Candra Rini, Adam Hopkins, and Scott Clark.
Adam Hopkins - Crickets (OOYH 001.1)
1) They Can Swim Backwards But Sometimes Choose Not To (2018)
2) Crickets/Crime of the Year (2018)
3) Chemiluminescence (2018)
4) Mudball (2018)
5) Haven of Bliss (2018)
6) I Think The Duck Was Fine (2018)
7) The Minnow (2018)
8) Scissorhands (2018)
9) Grounded (2023)
Adam Hopkins - bass, compositions
Anna Webber - tenor saxophone
Ed Rosenberg - tenor saxophone, bass saxophone (track 6 + 9)
Josh Sinton - baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Jonathan Goldberger - guitar
Devin Gray - drums
Originally released October 19, 2018, Grounded + OOYH 5th anniversary LP released October 19, 2023.
Recorded January 17, 2017 by Marc Urselli at EastSide Sound. Track 7 recorded April 26, 2018 by Nathaniel Morgan at The Forest. Track 9 recorded remotely throughout Winter 2020/2021.
Tracks 1-8 Mixed by Nathaniel Morgan at Buckminster Palace, Brooklyn NY, 2018. Track 9 mixed by Chip Johnson + Kit Karlson at Alpine Red Studios, Gainesville VA, 2021.
Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk, 2018/2023 (track 9). Vinyl lacquer cut by Scott Hull, pressed by Gotta Groove Records, 2023.
Artwork + Layout + Design by TJ Huff (huffart.com).
All compositions © 2018/2023 Adam Hopkins/AdamHop Music (BMI).