F.M. Cornog is an odd one. He is an anomaly in this well-fed world of information - a diamond so deep in the dirt he's likely to be glimpsed only by a keen-eyed few. Under his pen name, East River Pipe, he has recorded six extraordinary albums, all recorded and mixed entirely on a cheap multi-track mini-studio, with a bare minimum of outboard gear. These biting, ruminative micro-masterpieces have won Cornog much critical praise, but never fame and fortune. He has painted his America as a neon-lit wasteland filled with deluded losers, cheats, junkies, ultra-capitalist businessmen, freeway-roaming dreamers, and the tragically fated.
East River Pipe's seventh album, We Live in Rented Rooms, continues Cornog's journey into America's darklands. The fatalistic clock-puncher in the opener "Backroom Deals" can only repeat to himself in mantra-like numbness, "I better get used to it, I better get used to it." The "Conman" is haunted by a past he will never escape. The "Summer Boy" yearns for a girl who has long since moved on, or, perhaps, never was. The would-be filmmaker of "Tommy Made a Movie" locks his creations inside his mind for no one to see, preferring to watch internet porn instead. Hmmm . . .
"I tend to be attracted to the lower rungs of the American ladder," laughs the self-effacing Cornog. "I write about what I know, and I feel like somebody's got to write this stuff."
It is a world that he has documented in miniscule detail since he first started recording in the early nineties, and one that he knows far too well. As a younger man, Cornog's appetite for self-destruction was Dionysian. Alcohol, depression, and drugs landed him in the Hoboken train station, until Barbara Powers heard some of his songs, took him in, and provided him with the TASCAM mini-studio that would prove to be his new drug of choice.
These days, Cornog and Powers are married, have an eight-year-old daughter, and live in New Jersey where he works 40 hours a week at a Home Depot. "I used to have hours and hours of uninterrupted time to make music," says Cornog. "Nowadays, it's a very hit-and-run affair, like a small guerilla war: attack...retreat...attack...retreat." In Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, John Cook writes of this duality, "the strange and touching discordance of Cornog's life - the guy in the orange smock at Home Depot is also the guy who gets profiled in New York magazine." Cornog says, "For now, I like the normality of working at Home Depot. Look, I'm still way too volatile of a character to be out there on the road with a rock band. For me, this whole thing has never been about fame. It's been about music. It's just what I do."
East River Pipe's music has been described by the New York Times as "gentle, smart, and unspeakably sad." Rolling Stone characterized him as "one of our generation's great eccentric songwriters." Sometimes harrowing, occasionally scathing, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Okkervil River.
Official Website
East River Pipe on Myspace
East River Pipe's seventh album, We Live in Rented Rooms, continues Cornog's journey into America's darklands. The fatalistic clock-puncher in the opener "Backroom Deals" can only repeat to himself in mantra-like numbness, "I better get used to it, I better get used to it." The "Conman" is haunted by a past he will never escape. The "Summer Boy" yearns for a girl who has long since moved on, or, perhaps, never was. The would-be filmmaker of "Tommy Made a Movie" locks his creations inside his mind for no one to see, preferring to watch internet porn instead. Hmmm . . .
"I tend to be attracted to the lower rungs of the American ladder," laughs the self-effacing Cornog. "I write about what I know, and I feel like somebody's got to write this stuff."
It is a world that he has documented in miniscule detail since he first started recording in the early nineties, and one that he knows far too well. As a younger man, Cornog's appetite for self-destruction was Dionysian. Alcohol, depression, and drugs landed him in the Hoboken train station, until Barbara Powers heard some of his songs, took him in, and provided him with the TASCAM mini-studio that would prove to be his new drug of choice.
These days, Cornog and Powers are married, have an eight-year-old daughter, and live in New Jersey where he works 40 hours a week at a Home Depot. "I used to have hours and hours of uninterrupted time to make music," says Cornog. "Nowadays, it's a very hit-and-run affair, like a small guerilla war: attack...retreat...attack...retreat." In Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, John Cook writes of this duality, "the strange and touching discordance of Cornog's life - the guy in the orange smock at Home Depot is also the guy who gets profiled in New York magazine." Cornog says, "For now, I like the normality of working at Home Depot. Look, I'm still way too volatile of a character to be out there on the road with a rock band. For me, this whole thing has never been about fame. It's been about music. It's just what I do."
East River Pipe's music has been described by the New York Times as "gentle, smart, and unspeakably sad." Rolling Stone characterized him as "one of our generation's great eccentric songwriters." Sometimes harrowing, occasionally scathing, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Okkervil River.
Official Website
East River Pipe on Myspace
01/12/11
East River Pipe’s new album, We Live in Rented Rooms, can now be streamed in its entirety in the Merge store.
Under the pen name East River Pipe, F.M. Cornog has made six extraordinary albums, all recorded and mixed entirely on a cheap multi-track mini-studio, with a bare minimum of outboard gear. These biting, ruminative micro-masterpieces have won Cornog much critical praise, but never fame and fortune. He has painted his America as a neon-lit wasteland filled with deluded losers, cheats, junkies, ultra-capitalist businessmen, freeway-roaming dreamers, and the tragically fated.
East River Pipe’s music has been described by the New York Times as “gentle, smart, and unspeakably sad.” Rolling Stone characterized him as “one of our generation’s great eccentric songwriters.” Sometimes harrowing, occasionally scathing, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Okkervil River.
Stream We Live in Rented Rooms in its entirety and pre-order the CD now in the Merge store.
Under the pen name East River Pipe, F.M. Cornog has made six extraordinary albums, all recorded and mixed entirely on a cheap multi-track mini-studio, with a bare minimum of outboard gear. These biting, ruminative micro-masterpieces have won Cornog much critical praise, but never fame and fortune. He has painted his America as a neon-lit wasteland filled with deluded losers, cheats, junkies, ultra-capitalist businessmen, freeway-roaming dreamers, and the tragically fated.
East River Pipe’s music has been described by the New York Times as “gentle, smart, and unspeakably sad.” Rolling Stone characterized him as “one of our generation’s great eccentric songwriters.” Sometimes harrowing, occasionally scathing, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Okkervil River.
Stream We Live in Rented Rooms in its entirety and pre-order the CD now in the Merge store.
11/23/10
On February 15, Merge will release We Live in Rented Rooms, the seventh album from East River Pipe.
Under the pen name East River Pipe, F.M. Cornog has made six extraordinary albums, all recorded and mixed entirely on a cheap multi-track mini-studio, with a bare minimum of outboard gear. These biting, ruminative micro-masterpieces have won Cornog much critical praise, but never fame and fortune. He has painted his America as a neon-lit wasteland filled with deluded losers, cheats, junkies, ultra-capitalist businessmen, freeway-roaming dreamers, and the tragically fated.
We Live in Rented Rooms, continues Cornog’s journey into America’s darklands. It is a world that he has documented in miniscule detail since he first started recording in the early nineties, and one that he knows far too well. As a younger man, Cornog’s appetite for self-destruction was Dionysian. Alcohol, depression, and drugs landed him in the Hoboken train station, until Barbara Powers heard some of his songs, took him in, and provided him with the TASCAM mini-studio that would prove to be his new drug of choice.
These days, Cornog and Powers are married, have an eight-year-old daughter, and live in New Jersey where he works 40 hours a week at a Home Depot. In Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, John Cook writes of this duality, “the strange and touching discordance of Cornog’s life—the guy in the orange smock at Home Depot is also the guy who gets profiled in New York magazine.”
East River Pipe’s music has been described by the New York Times as “gentle, smart, and unspeakably sad.” Rolling Stone characterized him as “one of our generation’s great eccentric songwriters.” Sometimes harrowing, occasionally scathing, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Okkervil River.
New York Magazine’s Vulture blog premiered “Cold Ground,” and We Live in Rented Rooms is available for pre-order now in the Merge store.
Under the pen name East River Pipe, F.M. Cornog has made six extraordinary albums, all recorded and mixed entirely on a cheap multi-track mini-studio, with a bare minimum of outboard gear. These biting, ruminative micro-masterpieces have won Cornog much critical praise, but never fame and fortune. He has painted his America as a neon-lit wasteland filled with deluded losers, cheats, junkies, ultra-capitalist businessmen, freeway-roaming dreamers, and the tragically fated.
We Live in Rented Rooms, continues Cornog’s journey into America’s darklands. It is a world that he has documented in miniscule detail since he first started recording in the early nineties, and one that he knows far too well. As a younger man, Cornog’s appetite for self-destruction was Dionysian. Alcohol, depression, and drugs landed him in the Hoboken train station, until Barbara Powers heard some of his songs, took him in, and provided him with the TASCAM mini-studio that would prove to be his new drug of choice.
These days, Cornog and Powers are married, have an eight-year-old daughter, and live in New Jersey where he works 40 hours a week at a Home Depot. In Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, John Cook writes of this duality, “the strange and touching discordance of Cornog’s life—the guy in the orange smock at Home Depot is also the guy who gets profiled in New York magazine.”
East River Pipe’s music has been described by the New York Times as “gentle, smart, and unspeakably sad.” Rolling Stone characterized him as “one of our generation’s great eccentric songwriters.” Sometimes harrowing, occasionally scathing, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Okkervil River.
New York Magazine’s Vulture blog premiered “Cold Ground,” and We Live in Rented Rooms is available for pre-order now in the Merge store.
East River Pipe :: CS (Hell Gate) 1989
Point of Memory :: CS (Hell Gate) 1990
I Used To Be Kid Colgate :: CS (Hell Gate) 1991
Axl or Iggy :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1991
My Life Is Wrong :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1992
Goodbye California :: 10"/CDEP (Sarah) 1993
Make A Deal With The City :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1993
Helmet On :: 7"/CD5 (Sarah) 1993
She's A Real Good Time :: 7"/CD5 (Sarah) 1993
Firing Room :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1993
Shining Hours In A Can :: CD (Ajax) 1994
Ah Dictaphone :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1994
Poor Fricky :: CD/LP (Merge) 1995
"Bring On The Loser" b/w "Fan The Flame" & "Sleeping With Allboy" :: 7" (Merge) 1995
"Kill The Action" + 2 :: CD5 (Merge) 1996
Mel :: CD/LP (Merge) 1996
The Gasoline Age :: CD (Merge) 1999
"Cyber Car" split w/ Baby Bird :: 7" (Merge) 1999
Garbageheads On Endless Stun :: CD (Merge) 2001
Shining Hours In A Can :: CD (Merge) 2002
What Are You On? :: CD (Merge) 2006
We Live In Rented Rooms :: CD (Merge) 2011
Point of Memory :: CS (Hell Gate) 1990
I Used To Be Kid Colgate :: CS (Hell Gate) 1991
Axl or Iggy :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1991
My Life Is Wrong :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1992
Goodbye California :: 10"/CDEP (Sarah) 1993
Make A Deal With The City :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1993
Helmet On :: 7"/CD5 (Sarah) 1993
She's A Real Good Time :: 7"/CD5 (Sarah) 1993
Firing Room :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1993
Shining Hours In A Can :: CD (Ajax) 1994
Ah Dictaphone :: 7" (Hell Gate) 1994
Poor Fricky :: CD/LP (Merge) 1995
"Bring On The Loser" b/w "Fan The Flame" & "Sleeping With Allboy" :: 7" (Merge) 1995
"Kill The Action" + 2 :: CD5 (Merge) 1996
Mel :: CD/LP (Merge) 1996
The Gasoline Age :: CD (Merge) 1999
"Cyber Car" split w/ Baby Bird :: 7" (Merge) 1999
Garbageheads On Endless Stun :: CD (Merge) 2001
Shining Hours In A Can :: CD (Merge) 2002
What Are You On? :: CD (Merge) 2006
We Live In Rented Rooms :: CD (Merge) 2011
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