← back to
Constellation Records
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Welcome Crummy Mystics

by Frankie Sparo

supported by
mailmoth
mailmoth thumbnail
jaywatts
jaywatts thumbnail
wwwhhattt
wwwhhattt thumbnail
devriend
devriend thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

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

      $9 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    LP is pressed on 180g audiophile vinyl and comes in a thick printed jacket with artwork insert.

    VSubscribe to Constellation and get 25% off all LPs & CDs
    constellation.bandcamp.com/subscribe <https://constellation.bandcamp.com/subscribe>
    Save big on shipping when you order multiple albums from the Constellation label discography
    constellation.bandcamp.com/music <https://constellation.bandcamp.com/music>

    Constellation LP shipping rates:
    USA: FREE SHIPPING
    Canada: $12 first item, $1 each additional
    International: $16 first item, $4 each additional

    Please be aware that VAT or other taxes/duties *may* be levied by your country on orders outside North America. This is random and out of our control.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Welcome Crummy Mystics via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $24 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD comes in a custom paperboard mini-gatefold jacket with a printed CD dust sleeve.

    Subscribe to Constellation and get 25% off all LPs & CDs
    constellation.bandcamp.com/subscribe <https://constellation.bandcamp.com/subscribe>
    Save big on shipping when you order multiple albums from the Constellation label discography
    constellation.bandcamp.com/music <https://constellation.bandcamp.com/music>

    Constellation CD shipping rates:
    USA: FREE SHIPPING
    Canada: $2 first item, $0.50 each additional
    International: $8 first item, $1 each additional

    Please be aware that VAT or other taxes/duties *may* be levied by your country on orders outside North America. This is random and out of our control.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Welcome Crummy Mystics via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $14 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 3 Frankie Sparo releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Welcome Crummy Mystics, Arena Hostile (VPRO Radio Recordings), and My Red Scare. , and , .

    Excludes subscriber-only releases.

    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more (20% OFF)

     

1.
Hospitalville 04:12
buy track
2.
Sleds To Moderne 04:51
buy track
3.
Akzidenz Grotesk 04:25
buy track
4.
Back On Speed 03:31
buy track
5.
Bright Angel Park 02:32
buy track
6.
My Sistr 04:01
buy track
7.
Camera 03:45
buy track
8.
City As Might Have Been 06:31
buy track
9.
This Lie 03:12
buy track

about

Frankie Sparo’s third release is a little masterpiece of highly original, stylistically diverse songwriting. Sparo’s debut record, My Red Scare was comprised mostly of songs played solo, unadorned, wrought only from guitar, voice and beatbox. The two years between saw forays into broader instrumentation and collaborations with additional players. A tour with Silver Mt. Zion yielded a set of string and digital arrangements (some of which are documented on a 2001 EP Arena Hostile) and many of these same players contributed to the songs on Welcome Crummy Mystics. Meanwhile, an official second member in the person of N. Moss (piano, keyboards, backing vox) joined the fray and her playing, singing and arranging can be heard throughout this record.

Sparo’s inimitable intimacy is well-preserved on several of these tracks; the fragility of guitar paired with Moss’ piano/organ can be heard to great effect on “Bright Angel Park” and “This Lie”. With an additional element – bass in “My Sistr”, digital treatments in “Camera” – the carefully expanded palettes play with countervailing forms: modern jazz ballad and naive music-box lullaby. But Sparo also assembled larger ad hoc bands for various set pieces on the album. Album opener “Hospitalville” is a fluid, slow-burning swing complete with drums, bass and trumpets – a brilliant arrangement set pumping by Efrim’s heavy compression treatment (he recorded the album at the original Hotel2Tango). A men’s choir later makes a brief appearance, as do some digital de/reconstructions, on the record’s two rock songs, “Akzidenz Grotesk” and “Back on Speed”. Sparo can always be counted on for top-notch reflection and erudition in the lyrics dept., so if you enjoy language, give these a close listen. A very fine and complex collection of poetic music.

credits

released March 3, 2003

PERSONNEL
Chad Jones: guitar, percussion, electric beats, bass, voice
Nadia Moss: piano, keyboard machines, cymbalom, voice

GUESTS
Thierry Amar: contrabass; man-choir on TRACK 4
Will Eizlini: tablas
Jonah Fortune: drums, trumpet on TRACK 1
Ian Ilavsky: digital editing and arranging; drums on TRACK 3; man-choir on TRACK 4
Jessica Moss: violin, la-la
Seth W. Owen: man-choir on TRACK 4
Roger Tellier-Craig: treated guitar on TRACK 2
Sophie Trudeau: violin

Recorded and mixed at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal by Efrim, 2001-2002. Digital editing and arranging at Ian’s home in Montreal. Mastered by Harris Newman.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Frankie Sparo image

Frankie Sparo Vancouver, British Columbia

Frankie Sparo was a moniker of Chad Jones, unparalleled wordsmith and scrawny performer. From his earliest Montreal solo performances accompanied only by guitar, Jones rallied beatboxes and broken MIDI patches to his off-kilter rhythm cause. Nadia Moss joined as an official second member, and with Jessica Moss & Scott Levine Gilmore, comprised FS’s short-lived but much adored full-band incarnation ... more

contact / help

Contact Frankie Sparo

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Frankie Sparo, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Fabiana Palladino stops by to talk about her mesmeric debut LP.
listen now