First pressing limited to just 1000 hand-numbered copies on swamp green vinyl w/ yellow, red, magenta, & orange splatter...

 

Featuring an array of Chicago heavyweights, this limited edition release is not your average solo album. As the album title suggests, this is a uniquely collaborative effort from a diverse group of individuals. The album is actually the third in a series of collaborations between the prolific poet Marvin Tate and multi-instrumentalist (& former Wilco member) LeRoy Bach. In each collaboration, all stories and melody were provided by Tate; with music and production by Bach.

 

But as the new songs came together, Bach recognized the material had rich possibilities for interpretation, and suggested they hand the mic over to Tim Kinsella (the eccentric voice behind Joan of Arc, Cap'n Jazz, Owls, & Make Believe). Kinsella became the album's narrator, walking the line between judgment and sympathy, and shepherding all of Tate's characters through their various struggles. Themes of race, private culture, and psychological stress rise throughout the work. 

 

Eventually the consensus was made that some of the stories could be enhanced by an additional singer- a second persona.  The trio enlisted their friend Angel Olsen (Jagjaguwar Records), who immediately took to Tate’s melodies and characters. Recording took place over many afternoons, with Bach providing the instrumentation from his home studio in Humboldt Park, with mixing & mastering help from David Vandervelde.