Buildings in America [7-inch single]

Description

Buildings in America – b/w “Jimmy” and “Miramar & Mayfield” – is a two-sided 7-inch vinyl EP by the American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Richard Swift (March 16, 1977 – July 3, 2018), released on Velvet Blue Music in 2002, in co-operation with Leftwing Recordings (catalogue number VBM 074). The tracks were performed and recorded by Richard Swift and Frank Lenz at El Casino in Huntington Beach, California. “Buildings in America” and “Miramar & Mayfield” were written by Richard Swift, while “Jimmy” is a cover of a song written by the late Gene Eugene of Adam Again fame, originally recorded by Eugene’s americana side-project Lost Dogs on their 1993-album, Little Red Riding Hood. (“Buildings in America” would eventually be re-recorded for Swift’s 2007-album, Dressed Up for the Letdown.)

Despite its virtually unabated mainstay status among those in the dance and hip-hop genres over the course of the past two decades, the vinyl record, for members of the rock and pop communities, has all but faded from view, having been relegated to a small, but devoted, contingent of mostly independent and underground punk and alternative artists. Given keyboard wiz Richard Swift’s distinctly indie aesthetic and decidedly less-than-household-name status, the decision to place his debut three-song single on the stalwart analog medium seems, all things considered, an only fitting one.

For his freshman outing, Swift, whose musical resume includes in-studio contributions for the likes of Bon Voyage, Pony Express and Duraluxe and a current slot as touring keyboardist for Starflyer 59, enlists the help of fellow auxiliary musician and kindred spirit Frank Lenz of Cush and Fold Zandura renown. For the lead-off track, «Buildings In America», the duo ties together plaintive, languishing vocals, a la Tom Petty’s slower works, with delicate, ’70s-infused melodies and chord progressions and crowns the resulting combination with a slightly obscure wording (Please remember/ To regret it/ Don’t be sorry/ Just forget it/ And please don’t laugh/ If I can’t say your name ) that calls to mind REM’s most engaging early and mid-’80s works.

If «Buildings in America» finds itself lyrically rooted somewhere between Murmer and Life’s Rich Pageant, its B-side, «Jimmy», falls more in line with REM leader Michael Stipes’ essays on living and dying from his group’s 1992 masterwork, Automatic for the People. Indeed, the sweeping orchestral treatments and near stream-of-consciousness phrasing (Crazy eights/ Go fish/ I made a pond/ I wondered, were you sad?) of the haunting Swift composition seem nearly of a piece with songs like «Nightswimming» and «Sweetness Follows» from Automatic. And the beautifully ethereal tune, originally written in 1993 by Gene Eugene as an ode to a recently deceased friend, inherits an added poignancy and weight in light of Eugene’s own untimely death in March of 2000 at age 39.

It seems a safe bet that «Mirammar & Mayfield», a brief series of random musical segments, sound effects and barely discernable conversation snippets harking back to the «Revolution 9» track from the Beatles’ White Album, will likely be consigned to no more than a handful of spins by most listeners. But while the fleeting clip could certainly have been dropped from its tacked-on slot at the back-end end of «Jimmy» with no deleterious effects to the single as a whole, the remaining two songs nonetheless manage to carry the proceedings in exceedingly fine form. To be sure, Swift and Lenz’s collective labors have produced a unique and alluring serving of first-rate alternative pop/rock. Here’s hoping that the next slice of vinyl from Swift and his compatriots comes in the 12-inch variety.[Bert Gangl, The Phantom Tollbooth, 1/31/2003]

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7-inch EP tracklist:

Side A1. “Buildings in America”
Side B1. “Jimmy”
Side B2. “Miramar & Mayfield”

Note: The single is also known as EP One.

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What inspired you to start recording?

Swift: When I turned 15 and I moved here, I had this buddy, Greg [Lawless], who was in a band called Adam Again. I don’t even know how to explain them, but they were a big influence on me. He was a mailman in town, but he was also in this Christian rock band. Our buddy, Gene [Eugene], owned the studio [The Green Room, in Huntington Beach, CA] that I recorded my first record in. They were big heroes. He turned me on to Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Sly and the Family Stone. It really changed my life. The first time that I ever really recorded music was here in this space. The studio used to be upstairs. I was working with Greg. My sister passed away, but her ex-husband borrowed money from my parents and built this place out. I’ve been working out of this studio [National Freedom Studio in Cottage Grove, Oregon] for 15 years now, but in different incarnations.

Had you made contacts with people in the music scene in Los Angeles before?

Swift: Yeah. I was working there, out of Gene’s studio. I would do day work and then go in late at night and record my own projects. I was learning Pro Tools during the day, and then I’d sneak in at night with my 4-track. That’s how I recorded The Novelist, which is one of my earlier records.

[Excerpt from an interview with Richard Swift by Larry Crane, featured in Tape Op, July/August 2017, Issue #120]