Grey Reverend - Of The Days
(CD/Download) Motion Audio MOCD004/MODNL004, 2011-07-11
The latest artist to be championed by Jason Swinscoe's Motion Audio imprint will be familiar to fans of The Cinematic Orchestra. Brooklyn-based L.D. Brown aka Grey Reverend met Swinscoe shortly after the Cinematics main-man relocated to NYC and started going to the coffee shop run by Brown's sister for his hot caffeinated beverages. When Swinscoe heard some of Brown's material he was impressed by it and they met up. Eventually, he asked the Reverend to supply a cover version of To Build A Home. Swinscoe liked the resulting "mix" so much that Grey Reverend began to tour with TCO, singing with them and performing his own material in support. Now, four years on, Brown releases his first album, Of The Days, with Swinscoe's new label. Brown performs his songs primarily as a soloist, using acoustic guitar and voice to convey his music to his audience. The devilish detail within the songs create flashes of allegory in which familiar sentiments simultaneously comfort and unnerve the senses. Compelling and positively ambiguous, with reverence for the grey, undefined areas of style, his songs are unconcerned with musical or social expectations. They sit completely outside of time and fashion, the beauty and simplicity of his voice enough to carry them.
