''Gambler's Ecstasy'' is American musician
Chris Brokaw
Chris Brokaw (born August 1, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come (American band), Come and Codeine (band), Codeine.
Life and career
While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figu ...
's sixth solo studio album.
Background
The recording of ''Gambler's Ecstasy'' took place between 2008 and 2012 in a number of different studios:
Soma
Soma may refer to:
Businesses and brands
* SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects
* Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems
* SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...
in Chicago,
IL; The Echo Lab in
Denton,
TX; and Soundhouse and The Track Shack both in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
WA. The album was recorded by Matthew Barnhart, Matthew Brown, and Tim Iseler, and mixed by Matthew Barnhart and Chris Brokaw. CD and LP versions were released by
Damnably
Damnably is an independent record label based in Stratford, East London. It was founded by George Gargan and Janice Li. Primarily created to promote a John Peel night at The Brixton Windmill in 2006, Damnably then undertook tour booking and evo ...
and 12XU, respectively, on 2 October 2012.
All its songs are Brokaw's compositions, with the exception of "Crooked" which was written and originally performed by
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band
Wussy
Wussy is an American four-piece indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001. The band consists of Chuck Cleaver (vocals/guitar), Lisa Walker (vocals/guitar), Joe Klug (drums) and Mark Messerly (bass). Former members include Dawn Burman ( ...
. "Criminals" was partly inspired by the homonymous novel by Margot Livesey and originally appeared, along with "Into the Woods", in Geoff Farina and Brokaw's second collaborative album, ''
The Boarder's Door''. "The Appetites" was partly inspired by Brokaw's late friend
Caroline Knapp
Caroline Knapp (November 8, 1959 – June 3/4, 2002) was an American writer and columnist whose candid best-selling memoir ''Drinking: A Love Story'' recounted her 20-year battle with alcoholism. She was the daughter of noted psychiatrist Peter H ...
's ''Appetites: Why Women Want'', published posthumously in 2003, which described Knapp's experience with anorexia and women's struggles with addiction. "Richard and Vanessa in the Box" was originally commissioned by Nicole Peisl for the Daghdha dance company. "Exemptive", the instrumental opening track on Brokaw's previous album,
Canaris, appears in electric form with vocals under the title "Exemption" on ''Gambler's Ecstasy''.
Guest musicians include David Michael Curry from Empty House Cooperative, Howard Draper from
Shearwater
Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season.
Description
These tube ...
, and
John Herndon
John Herndon (born April 9, 1966) is an American musician and artist. Based in Chicago, he was a founding member of the post-rock band Tortoise, where he plays drums and percussion.
Herndon also works as a producer for instrumental hip hop unde ...
and
Douglas McCombs
Douglas McCombs is an American musician who plays bass and guitar with the instrumental rock band Tortoise and leads the instrumental band Brokeback. He is also the longtime bassist for the rock band Eleventh Dream Day. In 1997, he formed Pullma ...
both from
Tortoise
Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...
.
The cover artwork is a photograph of composer and visual artist Paul Rucker's piece ''Convenient Truth'', part of the artist's multimedia project ''Four Scores'' which had previously featured on the cover of Grantmakers in the Arts' periodical publication ''GIA Reader'', Vol. 23, No. 1 (Winter 2012).
Track listing
All songs written by Brokaw, unless otherwise noted.
Personnel
*
Chris Brokaw
Chris Brokaw (born August 1, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come (American band), Come and Codeine (band), Codeine.
Life and career
While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figu ...
– guitars, bass, vocals
;Additional musicians
* David Michael Curry – viola on ''Crooked''
* Howard Draper – organ on ''The Appetites''
*
John Herndon
John Herndon (born April 9, 1966) is an American musician and artist. Based in Chicago, he was a founding member of the post-rock band Tortoise, where he plays drums and percussion.
Herndon also works as a producer for instrumental hip hop unde ...
– drums on ''The Appetites'' and ''Exemption''
*
Douglas McCombs
Douglas McCombs is an American musician who plays bass and guitar with the instrumental rock band Tortoise and leads the instrumental band Brokeback. He is also the longtime bassist for the rock band Eleventh Dream Day. In 1997, he formed Pullma ...
– bass guitar on ''The Appetites'' and ''Exemption''
;Additional personnel
* Paul Rucker –
Front cover
* John Engle –
Cover photo
Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album art ...
Critical reception
In her review of the album for
Blurt magazine
''Blurt'' is a music print magazine and online outlet originally based in Silver Spring, MD. The magazine was originally known as ''Harp Magazine'' for over 10 years, also based in Silver Spring, and was considered one of the best music magaz ...
, Jennifer Kelly stated that "''Gambler's Ecstasy'' takes some risks, pursuing diverse styles and eccentric paths to tunefulness, but
it mostly comes up sevens."
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi
* '' ...
's review stated that Brokaw's album "asserts his mastery of mood-shift",
concluding that "Brokaw's weathered voice and reverberant playing make another rewarding set."
Online music publication ''The Line of Best Fit'' gave the album a rating of 8.5/10, declaring that, "
ether best described as having a restless muse or an open mind, there’s no denying Brokaw is a phenomenal musician." Likewise, giving the album a rating of 8/10, ''The 405'' affirmed that "at its best, Gambler's Ecstasy can be described is a heartfelt album that is practically oozing emotion and personality." Writing for ''Penny Black Music'', Andrew Carver ends his review of the album as follows: "Never a very high profile performer, even at Come’s height, Brokaw's ''Gambler’s Ecstasy'' shows why it would be a terrible shame to let one of America’s finest musicians fall from the radar."
References
External links
*
Discogs entry for ''Gambler's Ecstasy''
{{Authority control
Chris Brokaw albums
2012 albums
Damnably albums