Monthly Archives: May 2008

Joshua Marcus - Reverse the Charges

1. Part In It
2. [download#25#nohits] [download#25#image]
3. Oh Metal Bird
4. A Whale Wash Out
5. Business As Usual
6. To Keep
7. River (To Hold)
8. What We Find is Gone
9. For You Two, To Us All
10. Lay Me Down
11. Breathe Easy
12. The Tiny Wonder Song
13. All One or None

All Songs by Joshua Marcus

Amy Pickard – vocals – part in it, for you two, to us all
Jacob Mitas – viola – part in it, breathe easy
Tom Bendel – percussion – part in it
Caleb Mulkerin – recording, mixing, vocals, saw, harmonium, all percussion – so low so love so long
Colleen Kinsella – vocals – so low so love so long
Harmony Thompson – vocals – oh metal bird
Josh Newman- guitar – oh metal bird
Jack Ohly – upright bass – oh metal bird, to keep, breathe easy – exterior painting – text
Kells Bells – vocals – a whale wash out
Matt Rock – accordion and vocals – a whale wash out, to keep
Megan Williams – violin- a whale wash out, for you two, to us all
Tyler Gibbons – upright bass, vocal, tambourine, banjo – business as usual, the tiny wonder song)
Robin MacArthur – vocals – business as usual
Noam Levy – slide guitar – to keep
Tanya Nagahawatte – vocals – to keep – text
Nikolai Fox – fiddle – river (to hold)
Kate Cox – vocals – river (to hold)
Katie Dobbins – vocals – river (to hold)
Jason Dengler– guitar – river (to hold)
Greg Thomas – percussion – what we find is gone, cd layout
Mark Jenka – guitar, vocals – what we find is gone
Tim Joyce – hammer dulcimer, vocals – what we find is gone
Susan Sakash – trombone – what we find is gone
Beth Nixon – vocals – lay me down – exterior magical land – text
Natalie Joy –vocals – breathe easy
Chip Malloy – whistling – breathe easy
Matt Savage – vocals – the tiny wonder song
Matt Dodge – percussion – the tiny wonder song
Dan Madri – guitar – the tiny wonder song
Jon Francis – bowed banjo, viola, vocals – the tiny wonder song
Thomasin Parnes – title design, – text – scanning assistance
J.J. Tiziou – photography
Sam Stansbery – recording and mixing – business as usual
Bill Moriarty –  all mixing and mastering except so low so love so long, business as usual
Katy Yeaw – interior collage

Album info

Philadelphia’s Joshua Marcus has been quietly emerging, banjo in tow, as one of today’s most intriguing songwriters. As a solo artist and with his group Fan of Friends, Marcus’ astonishingly honest and powerful songwriting is steeped in Appalachian tradition and pre-AAA folk innovation. At the heart of his songs is the simple beauty and subtlety of a great melody. The strengths of Marcus’ songs and live performance have led to increasing appreciation and critical acclaim (namely for his 2007 solo debut make/believe), a growing audience to play to, and most importantly, Marcus’ own desire to engage and interact with his crowds.

On his latest full-length Reverse the Charges, a co-release from Chicago’s Contraphonic and High Two, Joshua Marcus elevates all of the high points of his solo debut make/believe and confidently enlarges the scope and range of his songbook. On make/believe, Marcus collaborated with a dozen Philadelphia musicians within his community; for Reverse the Charges, Marcus broadened that community by setting out to record in various locales in various States, employing the services of just the right artists for just the right song. Marcus traveled the East Coast and Mid-West, working with over four-dozen musical friends and family, including artists such as Jack Ohly (bass), Amy Pickard (vocals), Megan Williams (violin) and members of The Lesser Birds of Paradise, Joy, and Red Heart the Ticker.

Marcus’ traveling recording process informed many of the songs themselves. The end result is a beautiful enhancing of his musical palette and reach, while still retaining the musical elements that make him unique — the lilting banjo, heartbreaking harmonies, sly lyrical phrasing. Reverse the Charges is Joshua Marcus’ most musically moving and lyrically powerful recording to date. It marks him as one of the most engaging folk songwriters today, and a statement from an artist that has figured out what he wants to say and just how to fit it to tune.

Sounding like a jaded Neil Young, or an even more exhausted Will Oldham, Marcus creates deeply effective songs that are melodic but with a sense of weariness. “Reverse The Charges” reminds us that though songs of love and loss have been with us since we lived in trees, those are topics that never lose their power; we all struggle with the same juju. Sounding like a jaded Neil Young, or an even more exhausted Will Oldham, Marcus creates deeply effective songs that are melodic but with a sense of weariness. “Reverse The Charges” reminds us that though songs of love and loss have been with us since we lived in trees, those are topics that never lose their power; we all struggle with the same juju. 7/10- Foxy Digitalis

If Joshua Marcus grew his beard longer, I could believe Sam Beam had moved north, settled in colder climes. Banjo in hand, Marcus is twangier than the Iron & Wine icon, a little less accessible, but the bones are the same. Both Marcus and Beam are technically folk singers, only because there’s nothing else to call them. They’re hardly traditionalists. Marcus’ harmonies are fascinatingly innovative, nothing like Woody Guthrie or early Dylan. he songs are dusty and unchartable, eerie but still lovely, impossible to classify. A smattering of eclectic instruments drops in every few tracks—sometimes viola or tambourine, sometimes a haunting female voice, once an accordion.- New Haven Advocate