Search - J. Matthew Gerken, Christian Kiefer, Jefferson Pitcher :: Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies

Way better than funny... beautiful, tragic, honest, and sad

Michael D. Schwartz | Santa Monica, CA | 10/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection deserves four hours and a 300 mile drive on the interstate; a place where you can fully take in the music and the lyrics. The songs are about the presidents as real people; they are beautiful, tragic, honest, sad, and inspiring."

Epic Americana

Shuffle Magazine | NC/SC | 09/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"*this review featured in the Fall 2008 issue of Shuffle Magazine--shufflezine.tv*



By now, or soon enough, our 2008 presidential fate will be sealed; one popular reading is that we'll be led either by a visionary in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, FDR or JFK, or the buffoonish equivalent of Millard Fillmore, Herbert Hoover or The Shrub. Either characterization is oversimplified by the larger-than-life job, and further distorted today by the glare of 24-hour media. Demythologizing those views was a driving force behind this ambitious three-disc, 43-song set co-written by songwriters J. Matthew Gerken, Christian Keiffer and Jefferson Pitcher. All three have loads of outstanding moments ranging from experimental folk and sonic-feedback dissonance to bare-boned twang and textured chamber rock. But just as the music eschews easy hooks or era-specificity, the narratives illuminate character through telling personality traits and ethical/spiritual interior-monologues as often as historical highlights: Monroe's doctrine, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and FDR's New Deal share stage-time with Chester Arthur's delusions of grandeur, Andrew Jackson's self-righteousness, and W's crass shallowness. Over 75 musicians contribute, many providing highlights like the cathartic guitar freak-out by Charalambides' Tom Carter as Richard Nixon's resignation speech spools out, to name just one of dozens. But it's the guest vocal slots that add critical breadth - the only quibble with this set is that the array of presidential personalities benefits so much from different voices, you wish there were even more like Bill Callahan's rugged interpretation of John Tyler, the sonic reverie-haze Califone and Tim Rutili bring to Ronald Reagan, Greg Vanderpool and the Monahans' luminous depiction of James K. Polk, and Alan Sparhawk imbuing Dwight Eisenhower's story with Low's Great Plains melancholy. This takes nothing away from the brain trust; packaged handsomely with 43 artists' renditions, lyrics, and an introductory essay from an ex-CIA analyst and historian, Of Great and Mortal Men is an epic slice of Walt Whitman-esque Americana, and more worthy than some of the office.

JOHN SCHACHT



4.5/5



*this review featured in the Fall 2008 issue of Shuffle Magazine--shufflezine.tv*"

Musicians and artists come together for a view into U.S. his

C. KIEFER | Rocklin, CA | 09/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On September 9, 2008, Standard Recording Company released the release of a triple CD Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies, a collection penned by songwriters J. Matthew Gerken (of Nice Monster), Christian Kiefer, and Jefferson Pitcher (formerly of Above the Orange Trees). The set features a slew of special studio guests including Califone, Rosie Thomas, Bill Callahan (Smog), Alan Sparhawk (Low), Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon), Marla Hansen (Sufjan Stevens), Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden), Vince DiFiore (Cake), Monahans, James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand), and Tom Carter (Charalambides).



This project initially came about as part of "February Album Writing Month," a website (www.fawm.org) that challenges songwriters to write 14 songs in 28 days. The three songwriters wrote and recorded rough demos of the first 42 songs in February 2006 (leaving only George W. Bush for later). "It was an amazing challenge to get that many songs written, even split three ways," notes Kiefer. "Blasting the first four or five is easy and then you've used up all the ideas that have been floating around and have to come up with new ones. And you have to come up with those new ideas right now."



It was decided soon after that the project was too interesting to leave in the demo stage and so the recording process began anew with guests coming into the fray as time and schedules allowed. The project is now in its final phases. "It's a walk through American history and an inquiry into what makes us Americans as filtered through the lens of our highest public office. There's heartbreak and beauty and criticism and revelation. We're trying to make it work like a big beautiful historical novel."



The released project includes a 100+ page book featuring individual images of the Presidents by 43 different artists, all hand-selected by art curator Pitcher to be included in the project. To quote from Kiefer's song about President Tyler: "Oh! Hell yes!"



Kiefer's album Dogs & Donkeys (Undertow) appeared to favorable reviews last year and featured guests Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (Low), Nels Cline (Wilco, The Geraldine Fibbers, etc.), and Garth Hudson (The Band). Kiefer and Jefferson Pitcher also saw the release of their collaboration To All Dead Sailors via Australia's Camera Obscura earlier this year, a project recorded in the midst of the Presidential madness. Pitcher's recent concept album I am not in Spain was also released this year on Mudita Records. Gerken's acoustic indie-math rock quartet Nice Monster is also in the studio recording a follow-up EP to their full-length Good Times + Sharp Knives (Grayscale).



Click through to www.43presidencies.com for updates, curricla, and more information."