Includes digital pre-order of Cool Fires: Songs of L.A. Art at Midcentury.
You get 1 track now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
digital album releases July 1, 2024
item ships out on or around June 1, 2024
$12USDor more
Streaming + Download
Pre-order of Cool Fires: Songs of L.A. Art at Midcentury. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
If you purchase the digital album, you will have access to a downloadable PDF booklet: MEET THE ARTISTS OF COOL FIRES!
Purchasable with gift card
releases July 1, 2024
$10USD or more
1.
Look at the World
2.
Roxy's
3.
It's Impossible to Overestimate the Impact of Duchamp
Might be a blond girl next to a beach chair
Wrapped in a towel, sunlight in her hair.
She has her eyes on distant horizon,
Flight of a seagull; no other people:
Mauve and mint-green silent afternoon.
Strong black lines against the wind that
Scatters the paint like salt spray, with a bite.
But the main thing is the white.
There is quite a lot of it;
At first it doesn’t seem quite right,
But the more you look, the more you see —
The white is sheer necessity,
A pulsing field of energy,
A fog uniting you and me.
Might be a tangle — seaweed and driftwood,
Fence leaning over farther than it should.
Three strokes for the sun — it’s fooling no one,
Yet I can feel the heat is real:
Mauve and mint-green silent afternoon.
Fish as red as any plastic toy guides the eye to
“Altoon,” lower right.
But the main thing is the white.
There is quite a lot of it;
At first it doesn’t seem quite right,
But the more you look, the more you see—
The white is sheer necessity,
A pulsing field of entropy,
A fog uniting you and me.
The white is sheer audacity,
Infinite capacity, never mere opacity.
15.
Why "Busby" Anyway?
16.
Three Fires
17.
Every Building On The Sunset Strip
18.
Big Sea #1
19.
Walter Hopps Will Be Here in 20 Minutes
about
Cool Fires emerged from the brain of Eljin Marbles founding singer-songwriter Dann Baker as he thought back on his early years in Los Angeles, which coincided with that brief moment when the West Coast fine art scene rivaled that of New York. This group of artists (mostly linked to the legendary Ferus gallery) were less concerned with tradition than with capturing the here and now: humor, irony, and the recycling of junk (both actual junk and “junk” culture) were qualities to be cherished. Warhol was a welcome influence: his first solo show was hosted at the Ferus in 1962.
It was Dann’s mom, Ruth, who introduced Andy to skateboarding the night of that historic opening—she worked for Artforum at the time. And it was Ruth who introduced Dann and his classmates to the world of contemporary art through a summer class she taught at Wonderland Elementary in 1967, bringing the kids on studio visits and getting them to create their own pop art in the classroom.
Cool Fires is a loving postcard addressed to the renegade spirit of Wallace Berman, the sly wit of Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari, the high-class hustle of Walter Hopps, the deceptive simplicity of John Altoon, the mind-blowing verisimilitude of Vija Celmins, and more.
Renowned artist and fingerstyle guitarist Jake Bialos on the Eljin Marbles:
“...Having seen the band live on the Lower East Side a while back, I can
vouch for the power of the aural sculpting they fill the room with. Songs
about paintings have never hit this hard of felt like hits before. The
rhythm section is tight and tasty, and the lead guitar is stellar. Touches
all the bases and takes u home. Get closer to the lyrics, and the LA art
scene comes alive. Bravo!! Get this …”
credits
releases July 1, 2024
Dann Baker: vocals, guitar
George Barba Yiorgi: guitars, percussion, primitive keyboards, string & horn arrangements
Heather Wagner: drums, percussion
Dave Mandl: bass
Tyler Kanehashi: trumpet
Tim Reedy: piano, accordion / Steve Espinola: Additional keyboards
Barbara Endes, Rich Meyer, Tim, Heather, Dave & George: Backing vocals
Songs by Dann Baker
Produced by George “Barba Yiorgi” Sempepos with Dann Baker
Mixed by Mario Viele and the Eljin Marbles, 2020–23.
Recorded and mixed at Excello, Brooklyn, USA, 2021–23
Mastered at Storybook Sound
Published by Oniongum Music (ASCAP)
Drawings by Sherri Zuckerman
Design by Mark Masyga
The Eljin Marbles were formed in 2019 by former Angeleno Dann Baker, who convinced several veterans of NYC's rock wars to
sign on to an ambitious project: performing songs expressing heartfelt observations about art, history, and culture in a piquant, musically ambitious style.
The Eljin Marbles draw on wide-ranging experiences in post-punk, ’60s psych-pop, contemporary folk, and prog rock....more
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