Anna Butterss's New Single 'Pokemans' with Video by John Herndon
"Pokemans"
The second single off their upcoming album Mighty Vertebrate, Anna Butterss wrote “Pokemans” under a prompt to elaborate on a guitar riff and drum machine idea by "using the bass in a way that doesn't conform to the typical role or function of bass." Butterss "wanted to see how things would open up if there wasn’t a bass line."
“Pokemans” echoes the sound of Tortoise on Standards as much as it does Four Tet or any of Junichi Masuda’s 8-bit school bus classics, employing a breezy electric guitar theme with 808-style bumps and lo-fi City Pop sounds, sprinkled with delicate, chiming synth melodies in a would-be Gameboy soundtrack. This all cracks wide open at the halfway mark, giving way to a warmly distorted saxophone solo from Josh Johnson and a driving drum beat from album co-producer Ben Lumsdaine before the theme returns to drive it home.
Extending their ongoing, trusting collaboration with Tortoise member John Hendron (who also illustrated the album cover art for Mighty Vertebrate), Butterss trusted him entirely with the video for "Pokemans." Butterss explains, "I first connected with Johnny in maybe 2015 or 2016 - we played a show at the Griffin in Los Feliz with Jeff Parker and Nate Walcott, and it was the first time I’d ever played a whole gig of improvised music, which was very impactful for me. After that, I became enamored with his art... I love working with Johnny because I know he’ll understand the music intuitively, and come up something great without me having to be involved or restrict him in any way. It’s really his vision."
IARC0086
Anna Butterss
Mighty Vertebrate
LP/CD/DD out
October 4th, 2024
After many supporting appearances on IARC across the years (including Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings in 2018, Daniel Villareal's Panamá 77 in 2022 and Lados B in 2023, Bex Burch's There is only love and fear also in 2023, and earlier this Summer as a core member of SML on Small Medium Large) we could not be more ecstatic to announce our first lead artist release with Anna Butterss!!!
The Adelaide, Australia-born bassist and composer "has built their career around unshakable rhythm, blinding curiosity, and a profound sense of artistic freedom" (Alternative Press); and their music "careens wildly from flute-forward spiritual dreaminess to Ralph Records angularity, from bubbling IDM to a catchy, hypnotic sampledelia straight out of early 2000s college radio" (The Quietus).
(( photo by Samantha Lee ))
As evidenced by Butterss' remarkably varied CV — one that veers from the krautrock-steeped fusion of emergent Los Angeles supergroup SML and improvisatory jazz workouts alongside Jeff Parker and Makaya McCraven to the skyward indie of Phoebe Bridgers and the anthemic Americana of Jason Isbell, among so much more — their versatility as a collaborator is head-spinning. But that busy schedule can be both a blessing and something of an obstacle.
Mighty Vertebrate — Butterss' first solo album since Activities, which Pitchfork hailed as "one of the most exciting, undersung jazz releases of 2022" — began amid the very real challenge of threading solo work into the dense calendrical web of an in-demand collaborator.
“I had just gotten off of a bunch of touring at the end of 2022 and just wanted to write music,” says Butterss. “The best way for me to do that, I’ve found, is to set myself a discrete and focused task." The prompts read like something out of an Oblique Strategies deck:
I’m going to make a song where the bass doesn’t function in the role of a bass.
I’m going to work on this for an hour and then I’m going to stop.
I’m going to make a song that uses groups of three-bar phrasing.
I want to sample something and make it into a song.
I’m going to start with a drum machine.
“Every song was like that,” Butterss continues. “Then once I got started I just followed where my mind wanted to go. It was very structured.”
The music — and even the album artwork, created by Tortoise member and one of Butterss' many sonic reference points John Herndon — reflects that structure beautifully. Butterss' material was tightly composed and melodically realized before being decked out with candied, kaleidoscopic soundscapes courtesy of album co-producer and percussionist, Ben Lumsdaine.
Butterss and Lumsdaine eventually migrated the operation to Chris Schlarb’s Long Beach hideaway BIG EGO to track a selection of full band material with trusted longtime collaborators (and Butterss' bandmates in SML) Gregory Uhlmann (guitar) and Josh Johnson (saxophone).
This band imbues Mighty Vertebrate with the same confident, chameleonic command that Butterss exhibits across their varied projects. Vintage afrobeat grooves provide ballast for post-modern pedalboard tone sculptures ("Bishop"); Malian desert guitar licks are imbued with a slow roiling post-punk panic (on the Jeff Parker-featuring "Dance Steve"); and placid saxophone elegies are refracted through bubbling synthesis ("Ella"). There are nods towards City Pop, 8-bit video game soundtracks, foreboding post-rock, and lo-fi hip-hop drum machines — all elegantly assembled into a seamless, ever-shifting whole.
Anna Butterss Mighty Vertebrate Live in Chicago
Chicago friends, please join us at our headquarters building on September 28th where will be celebrating the anniversary of our neighbors and good friends Marz Community Brewing Co! The day will feature Marz beer and fizzy drinks, amazing food, and live music curated by International Anthem.
Friday, September 28 at Marz Brewing
3630 S Iron St, Chicago, IL
Live music starts at 5pm and includes performances by:
Booker Stardrum, Josh Johnson, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer, and
Anna Butterss (Mighty Vertebrate w/ Josh Johnson, Ben Lumsdaine, and Greg Uhlmann)
And a SPECIAL SUPER SECRET Quartet TBA not to be missed.
*save the date*
LA Album Release Show
Friday, October 4th at 2220 Arts + Archives
2220 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
(( photo by Samantha Lee ))
About Anna Butterss
Anna Butterss is a Los Angeles-based bassist and composer, originally hailing from Adelaide, Australia. Known to many as a first-call for high profile artists in all genres, they have performed and recorded with Jeff Parker, Makaya McCraven, Andrew Bird, Phoebe Bridgers, Madison Cunningham, Aimee Mann, Jason Isbell, and many others.
Butterss is a core member of the fast-rising proto-trance supergroup SML, who Pitchfork says “represents the thrilling next phase of a vibrant L.A. community.” Their first solo album Activities was also praised by Pitchfork as "one of the most exciting, undersung jazz releases of 2022."
Butterss’s uniquely lyrical low end command has been foundational to progressive jazz recordings such as Jeff Parker’s Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings, Daniel Villareal's Panamá 77 and Lados B, and SML's debut LP Small Medium Large.
Limited Edition *Fossilized Chartreuse* Color Vinyl
Mighty Vertebrate comes on 140 gram vinyl LP (pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST) inside a heavyweight matte jacket - featuring artwork by John Herndon - with IARC obi strip and poly-lined printed inner-sleeves.
And for the first pressing only, we have a limited edition of 444 copies on *Fossilized Chartreuse* color vinyl.
Purchase Mighty Vertebrate
as part of the
**Fall '24 Bundle**
For the fervent, faithful collector of our output.
Mighty Vertebrate is the first of our Autumn releases, which means – you guessed it! – the FALL '24 BUNDLE is available for purchase now! Perhaps our most mondo bundle yet, this single parcel will include all SIX (6!) LPs to-be-announced across Fall 2024. No spoilers here, but we can tell you for certain that the season is STACKED.
This bundle includes 5x single LP releases and 1x double LP release. Purchase gets you a bundle-exclusive discount of 10% off the LP prices, plus a 60% discount on shipping costs.
The bundle will ship from our warehouses in the US, EU and UK, but don't sleep.. the quantity available in each warehouse is limited! Early purchase is recommended to ensure the lowest possible shipping, tax, and VAT costs.
All items will ship together in one package around November 1st, so you'll be receiving half of your bundle 2-4 weeks after the initial street dates, and the other half you'll be receiving early.
Bandcamp downloads will be sent via email for all the releases by, or before, the ship date.
Order the Fall '24 Bundle on limited edition color vinyl here.
Order the Fall '24 Bundle on classic black vinyl here.
