''Downtown Puff'' is a solo album by

Edmund Cake Edmund Cake is the musical solo project of Edmund McWilliams, an alternative rock musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. Formerly of Bressa Creeting Cake in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the band in 1997 he released the 2004 solo albu ...

. Although

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

Cake played various instruments and performed vocals on the album, other musicians and singers on the album include

Anna Coddington Anna Coddington (born 14 June 1981) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. She has released four albums. Her previous band 'Duchess', for whom Coddington was songwriter, singer and guitarist, also released a 6 track EP in 2005. In 2015, Coddington ...

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

and

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

. Geoff Maddock and Joel Wilton of Cake's short-lived earlier band and

Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...

phenomenon

Bressa Creeting Cake Bressa Creeting Cake is a New Zealand rock band, active during the 1990s. History The band, originally named Breast Secreting Cake, formed in Auckland around 1991 around the nucleus of Edmund Cake, Geoffrey Maddock and Joel Wilton. Edmund, Ge ...

, now of

Goldenhorse Goldenhorse are a pop band from New Zealand. Release Goldenhorse's debut album ''Riverhead'' was released in October 2002, to a small fanfare. But over the next 18 months various singles from the album started to be played on the radio. The ...

, also appear on the album. McWilliams wrote and recorded many of the songs on the album in a studio on Gore Street - a red-light area in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. According to a biography of Cake, the album was influenced by this environment, including "incessant street brawls, strip club pop, and

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

hits played by the covers band in the 24-hour bar downstairs." The album includes instrumental tracks such as "Airshow" and "You're Watching Me", and vocal tracks such as "Secret Girl" described by McWilliams as a comedy song that 'came out serious'.

Reception

The album was included in the 'best of 2005' list by

The Clientele The Clientele is a London-based indie pop band, formed in 1991. The band is currently composed of lead singer/guitarist Alasdair MacLean, drummer Mark Keen and bassist James Hornsey. Since its inception, the Clientele has released eight full-l ...

for

Pitchfork Magazine ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

. It was also included in the 2010 list of 'the best NZ albums I've ever reviewed' by Simon Sweetman. Cake was nominated for 'Best Producer' for his work on the album at the 2005 bNet New Zealand Music Awards.

Track listing

# "Secret Girl" – 3:16 # "We Live Like Kings" – 2:11 # "Golden Man" – 4:51 # "Gunga" – 3:27 # "My Son The Harpist" – 4:39 # "You're Watching Me" – 3:10 # "The Airshow" – 5:08 # "Silverdale" – 4:16 # "Beautiful Sleep" – 2:33 # "Oh Baby Bear" - 3:08

References

External links

Lil' Chief Records: Edmund Cake

Lil' Chief Records
2004 albums Lil' Chief Records albums Edmund Cake albums {{2000s-pop-album-stub