Fresno Famous

Fresno's Pena Records is pleased to announce its premier LP release and the first solo LP by Richard Papiercuts: A Sudden Shift.

Richard Papiercuts’ CV includes somber musique concrete and noise experiments for Azul Discografica, collaborations with Mattin (including 2011's Exquisite Corpse LP), action-drumming for a certain NY-based Slavic psych-noise trio, and as LF Restaurant, 14 years as singer / songwriter / guitarist in The Chinese Restaurants. With that slippery outfit, Papiercuts crafted two ignoble classics of 2010 in the EPs "River of Shit" and "Summer Romance,” celebrated art-punk slabs that turned heads at WFMU, The Wire, and Maximum Rock 'N' Roll alike.

As the blogosphere might put it, "fidelity-wise this is a major step up" from those Chinese Restaurants singles. A Sudden Shift took over a year to record, during stolen late night hours at a secret 24-track analog studio, deep inside a Harlem warehouse on the verge of demolition, with Richard overdubbing most of the tracks himself. How'd it turn out? A dense, throbbing art-rock/postpunk/singer-songwriter record, riddled with secrets, brimming with hooks -- a bleak 'n' anguished New York song cycle shot through with oblique humor.

Richard sang like a beast, and arranged, played guitars, drums, keys, etc. Avant-reedsman Ed Bear (Twistycat) played tenor sax; Rabbi Martha Mozszinsky played cello; Criss Criss lent his molten, double-dong leads to one key track. Malcolm Tent (Ultrabunny), Pascal Ludet (Pop. 1280), and LF himself pumped the Chinese rock in a shit-hot version of the Restaurants' protest song for all seasons, "River of Shit." Andrew Dreyer engineered the album, Cale/Ra inheritor Matt Mottel (Platinum Vision, CSC Funk) played piano and synth, and Bil Bowen (DJ/Rupture and Nettle) baked it 'til it was done. The recordings are "upper-mid-fi" and crystal-clear.

Clean and fucked up. Sweet and sour. A Sudden Shift sounds like no other record in recent memory.

Listen and order here. Copies also available at Spinner's in Tower.