Maraqopa

Description

Maraqopa is a studio album by the American singer and songwriter Damien Jurado, released on Secretly Canadian in February 2012. The album was recorded and mixed by Richard Swift.

After Ghost of David, I basically stopped listening to Damien Jurado. It wasn’t that I stopped liking his brand of indie folk. It was that I listened to Ghost of David incessantly during a particularly dark period, and after it had passed, I found it difficult to listen to his music without dredging that junk back up again. Jump ahead several years, and I decided to buy Maraqopa on a whim, and what a revelation. For starters, Jurado is still as understated and affecting as ever, due in no small part to his hushed, ragged voice. Also, Jurado has found an able producer and collaborator in Richard Swift, who embellishes Jurado’s humble songs with psychedelia and atmospherics, resulting in a rich listening experience full of intriguing sonic details (check out the Neil Young meets Phil Spector sylings of «Nothing Is the News»). But with a gifted singer/songwriter like Jurado, it’s still all about the songs, and he’s written some doozies: «Life Away From the Garden» and «This Time Next Year» are ghostly odes/laments for God and faith, and «Reel to Reel» is likely the most cryptic confessional about the dreams and delusions inherent to being a musician that you’ll hear all year. [Jason Morehead, Opus, June 28, 2012]

> iTunes

CD tracklist:

01. Nothing Is The News (feat. Dan Hindman) – 5:34
02. Life Away From The Garden (feat. Swift Family Singers) – 2:51
03. Maraqopa – 3:41
04. This Time Next Year – 3:59
05. Reel To Reel – 4:31
06. Working Titles – 3:44
07. Everyone A Star (feat. Dan Hindman) – 4:21
08. So On, Nevada – 2:31
09. Museum Of Flight – 2:49
10. Mountains Still Asleep – 2:18

Note: The CD comes in trifold cardboard sleeve. Also released as a Limited Edition 12-inch vinyl LP, pressed in 150 copies on Translucent Green vinyl.

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Damien Jurado and Richard Swift during the Maraqopa sessions. (Photo by Sarah Jurado, 2011.)

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