On Sunset is the new record from songwriter Nicholas Krgovich (pronounced KER-ga-VITCH), and it stands as a rich, widescreen paean to a lost Los Angeles: a smog-smudged dreamplace filled with loners, washed-up movie stars, dreamers, drifters, blooming jasmine and glowing courtyard pools, all twinkling and haunting the Hollywood Hills. A place where the light in late afternoon is bright and smooth, where the Santa Ana winds blow, where "anything goes."
For over a decade, Krgovich has been revealing himself to be a true pop polymath, building up an idiosyncratic and creatively restless discography. With projects such as No Kids, Gigi and P:ano and collaborations with artists like Mount Eerie, Nite Jewel and Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors, it's fitting that his most fully realized and focussed work yet arrives with his face on the cover and his full name on the spine. In some ways, On Sunset is like a debut from someone who's long been in the game, darting around in shadows, now descending a spiral staircase, ready for a closeup.
Produced and mixed by John Collins (Destroyer, New Pornographers) and recorded by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Cave Singers), the album is a sweeping technicolor extravaganza. Its cinematic arrangements, penned by composer Stefan Udell, nod to Mahler as often as Quincey Jones, and are performed by an impressive list of guest musicians and singers. In the tradition of experimental music masquerading as pop (Avalon, Cupid & Psyche '85, Steve McQueen), On Sunset is a lonely, glamourous, late-night answer to a city's seductive and endless sprawl; the long shadows of palm trees on the red carpet; being lost in a place where everything is happening, where people are dreaming and making things that the world pays attention to. It's the childhood memory of staying up late on the couch with blankets, watching Jack Palance do pushups on the Academy Awards. It's the sound of an artist wanting to share their world but paradoxically building it out of the land of artifice and make-believe. A hat flying off into the ocean; get in.
credits
released October 6, 2014
Performed by Nicholas Krgovich
with:
Tyler Belluz - double bass
Jeremy Bakeman - trombone
Karl Blau - bass, guitar, saxophone, singing
Hazel Brown - singing
Martha Brown - singing
Charlotte-Amelia Burbrook de Vere - viola
Kathryn Calder - singing
J. P. Carter - trumpet
John Collins - synths, drum programming, kaoss pad
Erin Donovan - vibraphone
Katie Eastburn - singing
Christopher Ellis - bass
Thomas Filardo - guitar
Benedikt Henkel - saxophone
Andy Herfst - drum kit, percussion
Ellen Holck - singing
Marissa Johnson - singing
Justin Kellam - drum kit
Peggy Lee - cello
Jen Reimer - french horn
Charlotte-Josephine Roberts - cello
Rebecca Seymour - violin
Russell Sholberg - double bass
Marcus Takizawa - viola
Stefan Udell - keys, drum programming
Jesse Zubot - violin
Songs by Nicholas Krgovich (SOCAN 2014)
Arranged by Stefan Udell
Produced and mixed by John Collins (06/2011-03/2012)
Recorded by Colin Stewart (02/2008-11/2010)
Mastered by Angus Wallace
Published by Shopping Music/NW1
Cover photo by Peter J. Brant
Design by Jan Lankisch
This recording was made possible through the assistance of the Canada Music Fund & the music section of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Nicholas Krgovich is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Vancouver, Canada. Described by the legendary Robert Wyatt as “quite beautiful, very touching… human” he has been releasing records and playing shows since 2002.
An intimate record that comes and goes like a gentle breeze on a warm summer day. Barely noticeable at the time, but memorable on days when that gentle breeze is a distant, treasured memory. Noah Wilson
A beauty in candor. People who probably never intended to make music, be in a band, or even be cool, are now the greatest asset that we have for good vibes, honesty, & understanding. Favorite Track: The Way that you Do jumesluke