Wailing Viridescence, by Ben Copperhead

Wailing Viridescence

by Ben Copperhead

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jiristepan Mystical and surreal. Folk exploration mixes with nineties psychedelia and I have the perfect record for summer evenings.

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Includes unlimited streaming of Wailing Viridescence via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Copperhead Vagabond 02:59	buy track
2.	Sweet Control 04:05	buy track
3.	Franny and the Songbirds 02:32	buy track
4.	Moon Rabbit 05:05	buy track
5.	We Stand Tall 02:55	buy track
6.	She I 03:29	buy track
7.	Laughing Gymnopedie 03:39	buy track
8.	Be the Henchmen 03:33	buy track
9.	Low Joy 03:30	buy track
10.	Feline Feminine 03:59	buy track

about

"..this LP is already one of my 'desert-island' discs.
Like all great poetry, it's so full of life, it gently explodes in my soul as I listen to it."
- Kramer, 2023

A key inspiration for Ben Copperhead’s new album, Wailing Viridescence, can be traced back to his appreciation of old recordings using analog reel to reel tape. Years ago, while on tour in the UK, Ben found a book called Tape Music Composition. Cherishing the warming qualities of magnetic sound, he started teaching himself through experimentations in recording techniques. Utilizing a restored 4-track machine, he relished the challenge imposed upon himself by the constraints and parameters of the medium. The results yielded what he believes to be his strongest album to date.

Featuring a collection of songs and several instrumental tracks, Wailing Viridescence represents Copperhead’s deeply personal response to the physical, spiritual, and social injustice. It can be seen, in part, as having been born out of a desire for healing and self-expression under the paradoxical conditions of a need for self-reliance imposed from without and a longing for community coming from within. For Copperhead, this imposition of physical limitations and communal desire gave rise to unexpected inspirations.

The album title was inspired by the concatenation of activities undertaken during the pandemic: the ambient wailing sound he often heard during his walks in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, which he later discovered were vocalizations from a peacock in the park’s zoo; readings of myths from India and the story of a peacock who ate a venomous snake, causing the bird’s colors to come alive; and the singing of birds outside his window. These serendipitous influences inspired in him a moment of synesthesia: his namesake, the copperhead snake; the iridescence of the peacock; the wailing calls of songbirds. Copperhead translated this experience of musical colorations through alternate tunings and original arrangements that can be heard in the present album.

Wailing Viridescence represents Ben Copperhead’s continued musical growth and transformation refracted through the collective challenges we face in these tumultuous times. The album was co-produced with longtime collaborator cellist and composer Brent Arnold. Kramer mastered the recordings and hand-picked the songs in collaboration with Ben to help create his extraordinary debut LP for Shimmy-Disc.

credits

released April 28, 2023

All songs composed & arranged by Ben Copperhead
Produced by Ben Copperhead & Brent Arnold
Mastered by Kramer at Noise Miami
Artwork by Brian Zegeer
Back cover photo by Rachel Herman

Engineered by Ben Copperhead, Brent Arnold, and Mike Tarantino
Mixed by Ben Copperhead & Brent Arnold
*Copperhead Vagabond (track 1) drums engineered by Mason Le Long
*Feline Feminine (track 10) was mixed by Brent Arnold & Kramer

Ben Copperhead- guitars, bass, banjo, violin, electronics
Brent Arnold- cello on tracks 3, 4, 5, 10
Jessica Pavone - viola on track 3, 5, 10
Tom Swafford- violin on tracks 3, 5, 10
Euan Rodger- drums/percussion on track 1
Lizzy Cook- cello on track 6
Adam Sung Waldron- drums on track 6
George Wright- backing vocals on track 5
Namiko Suzuki- backing vocals on track 5

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about

Ben Copperhead New York, New York

Ben Copperhead is a New York City-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist whose compositions, performances, and arrangements offer a unique, contemporary vision informed by an unlikely range of influences, traditions, and collaborations.

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