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We are located in Canada, but have registered ourselves on eBay.com instead of eBay.ca because it gives us significantly better global exposure.  The problem with this is that eBay wants us to charge shipping appropriate to US, where media mail and other options make for fairly reasonable delivery costs. We tried it for a while but ended up losing money on shipping or having to cancel the orders because we couldn't afford to ship for those rates. To manage this we have set the US shipping to run a calculator based on an American location (we chose Plattsburgh as fairly close) and charging according to UPS pricing.  This avoids the cancellation issue, but can appear to the buyer to be a prohibitive shipping cost and misrepresents the shipping as being only expedited. If you give us your postal code we will see if we can offer a more reasonable option, but generally we can get a single LP by air to most places in the continental US for $11, a double $16, a few bucks less for ground. If you pay for the item and the shipping was less than you paid we will refund you the difference
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Stone Gossard

Moonlander

Monkeywrench Records  MWR1417  LP 33RPM 12" 2013 (USA)

PASTE: Like his first solo album, Bayleaf, the latest record from Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is a patchwork release of songs written and compiled over the course of eight years, many of which started as demos for potential Pearl Jam or Brad (Gossard’s side project since 1992) songs that never quite fit either of his bands.

Over the last year, Gossard went through the pile of demo tracks that he’d let build up since 2003 and selected his favorites. Then, he went through the process of finishing each song (including editing, arranging, adding backing instruments and, in some cases, even completely re-recording vocal tracks) until he completed what would eventually become Moonlander.

The loose structure is actually the album’s greatest asset, as it simply presents itself as nothing more than a collection of songs that see Gossard experimenting with sounds and styles and songwriting techniques outside of the realm of his regular bands. With the exception of a couple of tracks that seem to have clearly started out with Pearl Jam in mind (most notably “King of the Junkies”), it’s clear why most of these ideas didn’t get turned into full-band songs.

Take, for instance, the penultimate track “Witch Doctor,” a catchy retro-pop song with big saxophones and fun lyrics that sounds like it would fit just as comfortably on a compilation of children’s songs as it does on this record. Or, there’s the meandering, dramatic “Battle Cry,” which builds slowly and seamlessly transitions between comfortably melodic to an atmospheric, synth-laden rock song. At times, Gossard even indulges in his own version of T. Rex or David Bowie-esque glam rock, particularly on “Moonlander” or the more experimental “I Don’t Want to Go to Bed,” which, if I had to guess, was probably inspired at least in part by his new role as the father of a five-year-old little girl.

This major life event is important to note, because in many ways, Gossard’s daughter was a big influence on him as he completed the Moonlander project, which is ultimately about more than just the contents of the album. Once a week for the 10 weeks leading up to the album’s release, Gossard unveiled a brand new song from Moonlander along with an accompanying piece of artwork that was inspired by time he spent drawing and painting alongside his young daughter. In Gossard’s own words, he wanted the artwork to “convey a sense of freedom from formal rules.”

And like the artwork that accompanied it, Moonlander the album does just that. There are, at times, unavoidable flaws that come along with writing and recording an album in a patchwork fashion, mostly relating to the actual recording quality of some of the tracks and an occasionally incomplete feel from some songs—some of them seem like they haven’t yet been totally worked out enough to be fully realized, or they go on too long as extended jams that could have probably been reeled in a bit—but that’s also where a lot of the album’s charm comes from.

The slapped-together, off-the-cuff feel of the record is ultimately what makes it such a joy to listen to, and while the songs may not individually be the strongest that Gossard has written in the last decade, they all contain at least some nugget of an idea that was worth holding onto and playing around with. Moonlander ultimately succeeds in showing off Gossard’s creativity, and by presenting the album in a mostly lighthearted and laid-back manner, he allows the listener to take an open-minded, almost childlike approach to the songs that really makes for a fun experience.

Tracklist
A1 I Need Something Different
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Peter Droge
Drums – Matt Chamberlain
Engineer [Additional Engineer], Mixed By – Floyd Reitsma
3:33
A2 Moonlander
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Barb Ireland, Hans Teuber
Bass – Keith Lowe
Drums – Brandon Harper
Trombone, Keyboards [Space Keys] – Steve Moore
4:57
A3 Both Live
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals], Handclaps [Claps] – Pete Droge
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals], Handclaps [Claps], Tambourine – Elaine Summers
Bass – Barrett Jones
Clarinet – Hans Teuber
Drums – Regan Hagar
Guitar [Guitar Licks] – Ari Zucker
Piano – Mike Berg
3:37
A4 Your Flames
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Elaine Summers, Pete Droge
Drums – Gregg Keplinger
Guitar [Solo] – Pete Droge
Piano, Bass – Hans Teuber
4:22
A5 Battle Cry
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals], Guitar [Spacey Guitar Licks], Guitar [Tremolo Guitars] – Pete Droge
Clarinet – Hans Teuber
Drums – Matt Cameron
4:35
B6 King Of The Junkies
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals], Acoustic Guitar [12 String Acoustic] – Pete Droge
Bass – Mike Berg
Drums – Regan Hagar
Horns, Clarinet, Flute – Hans Teuber
Piano – Barrett Jones
3:36
B7 I Don't Want To Go To Bed
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Pete Droge
Clarinet, Horns, Piano [Tack] – Hans Teuber
Double Bass – Keith Lowe
Drums – Matt Cameron
Keyboards [Evil Keys] – Regan Hagar
5:07
B8 Remain
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Elaine Summers, Pete Droge
Double Bass – Jeff Harper
Drums – Gregg Keplinger
Guitar [Guitar Licks], Percussion – Pete Droge
3:52
B9 Bombs Away
Backing Vocals [Verse / Bridge Background Vocals], Acoustic Guitar [12 String] – Pete Droge
Bass – Guy Davis
Clarinet – Hans Teuber
Drums – Matt Cameron
3:43
B10 Witch Doctor
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Elaine Summers, Pete Droge
Bass – Barrett Jones
Drums – Regan Hagar
Horns, Clarinet – Hans Teuber
Piano – Mike Berg
2:44
B11 Beyond Measure
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Barb Ireland, Hans Teuber
Bass – Keith Lowe
Drums – Brandon Harper
Keyboards [Space Keys] – Steve Moore
Piano – Hans Teuber
Slide Guitar – Pete Droge
4:02
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Monkeywrench Records
Copyright (c) – Monkeywrench Records
Published By – Write Treatage Music
Recorded At – Studio Litho
Recorded At – Studio X
Mastered At – Golden Mastering
Pressed By – Record Technology Incorporated

Arranged By, Written-By, Producer – Stone Gossard
Artwork By [Original Art] – Stone Gossard
Design [Package By] – Regan Hagar
Engineer – Floyd Reitsma (tracks: A3, A4, B10)
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Pete Droge (tracks: A1, A3, A4-B8, B10, B11)
Executive-Producer – Pete Droge
Instruments [All Other Instruments] – Stone Gossard
Mastered By – John Golden
Mixed By – Barrett Jones (tracks: A3, A4, B10), Pete Droge (tracks: B8)
Mixed By, Recorded By [Additional Recording By] – Floyd Reitsma (tracks: B9)
Recorded By [Basics Recorded By] – Sam Hofstedt (tracks: B9)
Recorded By [Drums Recorded By] – Matt Bayles (tracks: A1)
Recorded By, Engineer – Mel Deittmer (tracks: B8), Randall Dunn (tracks: B8)
Recorded By, Engineer, Mixed By – Floyd Reitsma (tracks: A2, A5-B7, B11)

Recorded at Studio Litho
2003-2012

Artwork booklet in front sleeve.

Tracks listed sequentially on cover and labels.

Track B9, basics recorded at Studio X.

 

New Vinyl in a gatefold picture sleeve is NEW and SEALED

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