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Sofa
Source Crossfire
Watch our Source Crossfire visual album (YouTube)
CST157 180gLP • CD • DL
Release date: 17 September 2021
Duration: 78:11
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"Source Crossfire is such an important release, as it gives us the best that Sofa have to offer." - Scene Point Blank
"In listening to how fearless, dynamic, and confidently they played together, Source Crossfire is indeed a surprising discovery, revealing one of Canada's most astounding bands and presenting their work with the majesty it deserves." - Exclaim!
"It’s a retrospective that covers all bases, presented in the right fashion. The right way. In many respects, the ‘indie’ way." - Sun-13
A searing, brooding collection documenting the recorded output of one of Montreal's most shadowy, notorious, captivating underground art-rock ensembles of the mid-90s (and the first band to be released on renowned indie label Constellation). In the words of one music writer of the era: “Like Slint and Big Black meeting for a Joy Division reunion.” Source Crossfire rounds up the quartet’s 1997 album Grey (originally released on CD only) along with selections from two prior self-released cassettes, charting Sofa’s febrile evolution through the sonic palettes of North American post-hardcore and slowcore admixed with early UK post-punk, goth and dark lounge. LP1 re-imagines Grey, newly sequenced to create distinct loud/fast and soft/slow vinyl sides. LP2 mirrors this, with four tracks of intense pitch-black material on Side One and three early examples of Sofa’s sombre balladry on Side Two, culled from the band’s 1995 cassettes Town Unsafe and Record. All remastered by Jace Lasek (Breakglass), Harris Newman (Grey Market) and Ian Ilavsky (Constellation). All new artwork by visual artist (and Sofa vocalist) Brad Todd. Source Crossfire aptly names the unique mix of genres and influences distilled in Sofa’s cauldron – a treat for fans from the era and for anyone interested in the fertile crosscurrents of UK + US post-punk, post-hardcore, slowcore, goth and art rock that spawned such a diverse slate of unsung bands with distinct energies, personalities, and hybrid sonic identities across so many local scenes in the 1990s.
PACKAGING NOTES
2x180gLP heavyweight audiophile pressing from Optimal (Germany) in 350gsm gatefold jacket
+ 300gsm printed inner sleeves (all on Arktika artboard with LE-UV inks)
+ two 12"x24" pull-out art print posters.
+ 300gsm printed inner sleeves (all on Arktika artboard with LE-UV inks)
+ two 12"x24" pull-out art print posters.
CREDITS
Scott Clarkson: bass
Ian Ilavsky: guitar
Keith Marchand: drums
Brad Todd: voice
Side 1 + Side 2 from 'Grey'
Originally released on compact disc by Constellation in spring 1997
Recorded by Iain Booth at Piccolo, Montréal, 5–6 October 1996
Mixed by Iain Booth and Sofa, November 1996
Tracking assistance by Denis Normandeau
Additional assistance by Paul Drouin
Side 3 + Side 4 from 'Town Unsafe' and 'Record'
Originally self-released on cassettes in spring and fall 1995
Recorded live to 2–track in an empty loft by Paul Drouin, Montréal, 5 February + 24–25 June 1995
All tracks remastered from the original stereo mixes by Jace Lasek (Breakglass), Harris Newman (Greymarket) and Ian Ilavsky
Album artwork by Brad Todd
Ian Ilavsky: guitar
Keith Marchand: drums
Brad Todd: voice
Side 1 + Side 2 from 'Grey'
Originally released on compact disc by Constellation in spring 1997
Recorded by Iain Booth at Piccolo, Montréal, 5–6 October 1996
Mixed by Iain Booth and Sofa, November 1996
Tracking assistance by Denis Normandeau
Additional assistance by Paul Drouin
Side 3 + Side 4 from 'Town Unsafe' and 'Record'
Originally self-released on cassettes in spring and fall 1995
Recorded live to 2–track in an empty loft by Paul Drouin, Montréal, 5 February + 24–25 June 1995
All tracks remastered from the original stereo mixes by Jace Lasek (Breakglass), Harris Newman (Greymarket) and Ian Ilavsky
Album artwork by Brad Todd