Search - The Televangelist And The Architect :: Diaries Of The Intelligentsia

The second album from the Cambridge-based group, The Televangelist And The Architect, pulls directly from the environment in which the band members find themselves in. Unlike perhaps other areas of the country, the presence of the intelligentsia, the so-called intellectually elite, can be readily felt in Cambridge where institutions such as Harvard and MIT contribute a large part to the city's population and identity. This unique environment provides a stepping-stone for topics that are addressed in the album; from the very preposterous notion of an elite class of intellectual, to the sentiments ascribed to it, to the inherent divide it creates. Switching gears from the tranquil, nostalgic mood of the debut record, The Mass Exodus From California, singer-songwriter, Jerry Chen, uses a sonic palette more appropriate to these themes - one that is dark, brooding, oppressive, bordering on Wagnerian romanticism. To realize this sound, The Televangelist and The Architect - initially conceived as a solo project - has expanded to include James Partridge and on drums and Dallas Flanagan on keyboards. The addition of James and Dallas has heightened the cinematic scope of the music, and brought the concept for Diaries Of The Intelligentsia to the foreground... Recorded in a basement in Cambridge, MA, Diaries Of The Intelligentsia was and later mixed by Ryan Hadlock (Blonde Redhead, Black Heart Procession, Stephen Malkmus, The Strokes) and mastered by Doug Van Sloun (Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Rilo Kiley).