The Mountain Movers are a classic modernity!

The warm tape hiss forewarns of the the abrupt and awesome sonic blast of the first track of The Mountain Movers new 45RPM single. "I Watch The Sea" cracks open like an egg and instantly attracts with its melange of classic and current rock swagger. I hear everything from The Stones to Sonic Youth in this song. It's bursting with attitude and from what I understand is a current live favorite (and rightly so!). This song has several false endings so keep on it, as I am sure this could easily turn into a much longer song live. Up next is the prettiest song on this 45, "World What World" charms us with a lean 1:26 of sweet waxy pop. I think this song stands out as the most accessible one, and thankfully we are able to post/stream it HERE.

Side B has slow chugger "I've Been To Space". While noticably more discordant than the other side, this song is nonetheless as engaging and remarkable. The environment is airy and menacing and eventually unfolds into a squealing feedback outro. I noticed it seems like this 7 " is like day and night on the opposing sides, which I think is pretty neat. The vibes of the music on the first side are certainly more conventionally melodic, and side B is dark and creepy, as well as slightly dissonant.

I am a huge fan of vinyl and this 45 brought back the sensations of my first few K records singles. There is a certain warm excitement that comes from dropping the needle on a short piece of wax from an artist you know is making music not only out of love for creation, but also out of love for the medium they chose. The Mountain Movers take the old, and they make it new!

I did a brief email interview with Rick of The Mountain Movers:

This 45 is very classic! Classic sounding and designed. Is this going to be a single series like the old days? How many singles do you have planned?

This single, "Sea/World/Space", is the first of 3 planned 45rpm 7 inch singles. We will release the next two in the new year. It is a mini-series, in that sense. We are currently working on the next one. Each single will have the same Car Crash Avoiders label sleeve with die-cut center, but there will be design variations on the actual label on the record. Been having a lot of love for the ol' 7" single lately. The format, the label sleeve, the artifact itself...it is really quite special. We were very inspired, visually, by the singles of 60s and 70s. But, of course, Dan Greene has his distinct artistic style that he puts on everything we do, which I think is very unique. It's our twisted homage to that style.

Have you found working with tape to vinyl has met your expectations?

Yes. Tape is the best! All of our releases have been recorded onto tape, with the exception of our debut CD (and picture disc 7" single, recorded during those same sessions). We love records and think there is something truly unique about the format. Tape is warm and organic, fussy and temperamental, just like us. Give us tape...2 inch 16-track reel-to-reel, 4-track cassette tape home recorder...we'll take it any day over digital recording. We love tape hiss. We always include a digital copy with our full length LP releases as we understand folks like to have it for their on-the-go devices (car stereo, mp3 player, etc) but really we are putting out music we love on the formats we love: vinyl and tape.

What is your favorite 45?

This question is near impossible to answer! Personally speaking, prior to this last summer, I would have probably picked a Peruvian cumbia 45 as they sound amazing and look totally awesome with their record label sleeves and interesting label artwork. But right now my most beloved 45 is one that I picked up in Morocco. I don't know who it is and I can't tell if the writing I can read (the few words that are not written in the Arabic alphabet) is the name of the songs, or the singer. "El Farka Chaabia" is the best guess I can make as to the name of the artist. But it is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. I can tell you it is on Koutoubiaphone, the premier Moroccan label of the early 70s, which is when this single dates back to. And while this particular Koutoubiaphone single has a picture sleeve with stunning front and back cover images, their generic label sleeve of the time is very awesome too.

Thanks for the compliment, we are feeling very accomplished with this one! It's nice to have a new release that reflect the current line-up, which we are enjoying tremendously.

And thanks for taking the time to ask some questions!
Cheers
-Rick

Well, there you have it. Go enjoy this and the future 45 singles from this CT powerhouse!


The Mountain Movers - World What World by CTINDIE