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PLAY

by Wooden Cities

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Album downloads include PLAYbill, a digital booklet with photos from the studio sessions and written reflections on the music by members of the ensemble.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Glossy wallet with beautiful PLAY artwork.

    Includes unlimited streaming of PLAY via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 100 

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Book/Magazine

    Large (8.5" square) color print of PLAY liner notes, with photos from the studio sessions, and written reflections on the music by members of the ensemble. High-quality paper with a matte cardstock cover.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 30 

      $6 USD or more 

     

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about

Four years after the release of their debut album, WORK, Buffalo-based new music collective Wooden Cities returns with their second release, PLAY. Embracing lighter, more whimsical subject matter than its predecessor, the album leans into the playful—and occasionally volatile—absurdity that regional audiences will know from the ensemble's live performances.

The album is structured around four realizations from Baltimore composer Will Redman's graphic score magnum opus, Book. In these spirited interpretations, the musicians survey a range of textures from dense, sinewy counterpoint to threadbare pianissimos, while always taking advantage of the piece's deeply-rooted expressive freedom.

The remainder of the album explores three lively sound poetry pieces, beginning with a riotous four-voice arrangement of Berlin Dadaist Kurt Schwitters' Ribble Bobble Pimlico. The band ludicrously alternates between reassuring whispers and clamorous chants while articulating the titular nonsensical words in ever-sillier combinations. This vein of exploration continues on two pieces by members of the ensemble: trombonist Ethan Hayden's setting of an excerpt of Gertrude Stein's poem "In", and violinist Evan Courtin's setting of Marina Blitshteyn's "Good Form," the latter a darkly comic rendering of a discomfiting interior monologue.

Formed in 2011 as a structured improv orchestra, Wooden Cities has since garnered a reputation for their dynamic performances of both improvised and notated works of new and experimental music from a wide variety of composers. PLAY is the second in a trilogy of albums (WORK/PLAY/REST), with the third coming in 2024.

credits

released April 1, 2023

Recorded July 23 & 25, 2018 at the University at Buffalo
Engineered, edited, mixed, and mastered by Chris Jacobs
Co-edited by Ethan Hayden, Evan Courtin, and Brendan Fitzgerald

Wooden Cities would like to thank:
Chris Jacobs, Mani Mehrvarz, and Will Redman.

Performed by
Megan Kyle, oboe
Ethan Hayden, trombone/voice
Brendan Fitzgerald, guitar/percussion/voice
Nicholas Emmanuel, piano
Evan Courtin, violin/voice
T.J. Borden, cello
Katie Weissman, cello/voice

Art direction and layout by Megan Kyle
Front/back cover design by Ethan Hayden

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Wooden Cities Buffalo, New York

Wooden Cities is a Buffalo-based ensemble seeking to help increase the performance of contemporary music in Western New York. Formed in 2011 as a structured improv orchestra, Wooden Cities has since garnered a reputation for their dynamic performances of both improvised and notated works of new and experimental music from a wide variety of composers. ... more

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