After The Rosebuds released Life Like, their fourth album for Merge Records, in 2009, Kelly Crisp packed a few essentials and moved, alone, to Greenpoint in Brooklyn. North Carolina had been the cradle for The Rosebuds, the band Kelly and husband Ivan Howard (or Ivan and Kelly Rosebud, as you might know them) started the very week they got married. But the marriage had been failing for two albums, maybe longer, and it was time to call the relationship off. Ivan and Kelly were done, and The Rosebuds-Merge's buoyant pop-rock couple who'd youthfully named their first album The Rosebuds Make Out-were in limbo.
But Loud Planes Fly Low, The Rosebuds' fifth and most inventive album to date, is a sad-eyed and bright new start for Kelly and Ivan, beautifully born of the struggle to define their relationship as bandmates-and more importantly, friends-outside of the context of marriage. It wasn't easy. Written and rewritten, recorded and re-recorded in fits and starts, Loud Planes Fly Low allowed Kelly and Ivan to have the very conversations about their relationship that they'd long avoided. They finally started to understand what had gone wrong. When Ivan went to record "Worthwhile," the gorgeous acoustic ballad that closes the album, in a studio isolation booth, he cried as he sang. "I sent a box of our stuff, so there's something to open up," he coos, reading the words from a Christmas letter he wrote to Kelly during her Greenpoint stay. He'd sent her a box of meaningful trinkets gathered from the recesses of drawers and depths of closets in their old home. "Girl, I want to make it all worthwhile." He's reconsidering the past through new hope for the future.
For The Rosebuds, the present is what's most remarkable: These ten tunes are not only some of The Rosebuds' riskiest and most rewarding to date, but they also reveal a band eager to push their own limits, a couple of musicians who have come to cope with their complicated story for this blessed moment of restart. The aggressive "Woods" is a perfect rock anthem, as good as The Rosebuds have ever been. Kelly's stabs of toy keyboard poke like exclamation marks into Ivan's anxious entreaties. That same unease inspires "Come Visit Me," Kelly's finest-ever lead vocal performance. A plea for companionship during her time alone, the song is a tug of hearts. "Come visit me way out here/ I need you to see me, even if it makes it worse," Kelly sings. "Because I would have never left you alone way out there/ If I could have heard anything at all," Ivan answers from a distance, his best Percy Sledge pleas barely audible due to the fissure their problems have created.
That's not the only trace of R&B here. There's "Cover Ears," all cool and understated despite its romantic woes. "Second Bird of Paradise" sashays above pizzicato strings and vanishing keyboards, Ivan's voice conveying a sense of foreboding. "A Story" is woozy, narcotic soul, with keys that twinkle, guitars that moan and a singer who can only manage to sigh, "I want to tell you how it feels."
On Loud Planes Fly Low, Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp do exactly that, reliving the pain and the worry through lyrics written together in the back room of the house they used to call home. For Kelly, making the album felt like a funeral for their relationship, where old friends like violinist Mark Paulson and drummer Matt McCaughan stopped in to pay their respects to an old end and to help build a new beginning. For Ivan, it was an honor to have musicians he respected, like bassists Brad Cook and Wes Phillips and producer Chris Stamey, give so much time and energy to songs that were so personal. Of course they did: Proudly mature, genuinely reflective, Loud Planes Fly Low is the most honest Rosebuds record since Ivan and Kelly made their way out of the gates in 2003.
But that's how it goes, right? You live, love, maybe lose and, hopefully, live to play another day. Loud Planes Fly Low, then, is the start of The Rosebuds' second chance-not as a couple, but as songwriters with, at last, a fascinating truth to tell.
--Grayson Currin
www.therosebuds.com
www.myspace.com/therosebuds
But Loud Planes Fly Low, The Rosebuds' fifth and most inventive album to date, is a sad-eyed and bright new start for Kelly and Ivan, beautifully born of the struggle to define their relationship as bandmates-and more importantly, friends-outside of the context of marriage. It wasn't easy. Written and rewritten, recorded and re-recorded in fits and starts, Loud Planes Fly Low allowed Kelly and Ivan to have the very conversations about their relationship that they'd long avoided. They finally started to understand what had gone wrong. When Ivan went to record "Worthwhile," the gorgeous acoustic ballad that closes the album, in a studio isolation booth, he cried as he sang. "I sent a box of our stuff, so there's something to open up," he coos, reading the words from a Christmas letter he wrote to Kelly during her Greenpoint stay. He'd sent her a box of meaningful trinkets gathered from the recesses of drawers and depths of closets in their old home. "Girl, I want to make it all worthwhile." He's reconsidering the past through new hope for the future.
For The Rosebuds, the present is what's most remarkable: These ten tunes are not only some of The Rosebuds' riskiest and most rewarding to date, but they also reveal a band eager to push their own limits, a couple of musicians who have come to cope with their complicated story for this blessed moment of restart. The aggressive "Woods" is a perfect rock anthem, as good as The Rosebuds have ever been. Kelly's stabs of toy keyboard poke like exclamation marks into Ivan's anxious entreaties. That same unease inspires "Come Visit Me," Kelly's finest-ever lead vocal performance. A plea for companionship during her time alone, the song is a tug of hearts. "Come visit me way out here/ I need you to see me, even if it makes it worse," Kelly sings. "Because I would have never left you alone way out there/ If I could have heard anything at all," Ivan answers from a distance, his best Percy Sledge pleas barely audible due to the fissure their problems have created.
That's not the only trace of R&B here. There's "Cover Ears," all cool and understated despite its romantic woes. "Second Bird of Paradise" sashays above pizzicato strings and vanishing keyboards, Ivan's voice conveying a sense of foreboding. "A Story" is woozy, narcotic soul, with keys that twinkle, guitars that moan and a singer who can only manage to sigh, "I want to tell you how it feels."
On Loud Planes Fly Low, Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp do exactly that, reliving the pain and the worry through lyrics written together in the back room of the house they used to call home. For Kelly, making the album felt like a funeral for their relationship, where old friends like violinist Mark Paulson and drummer Matt McCaughan stopped in to pay their respects to an old end and to help build a new beginning. For Ivan, it was an honor to have musicians he respected, like bassists Brad Cook and Wes Phillips and producer Chris Stamey, give so much time and energy to songs that were so personal. Of course they did: Proudly mature, genuinely reflective, Loud Planes Fly Low is the most honest Rosebuds record since Ivan and Kelly made their way out of the gates in 2003.
But that's how it goes, right? You live, love, maybe lose and, hopefully, live to play another day. Loud Planes Fly Low, then, is the start of The Rosebuds' second chance-not as a couple, but as songwriters with, at last, a fascinating truth to tell.
--Grayson Currin
www.therosebuds.com
www.myspace.com/therosebuds
09/06/12
Ivan from The Rosebuds recently released Yes Means Maybe, the debut album from The Flute Flies. The Flute Flies is the musical project of Ivan Howard of The Rosebuds, Reid Johnson of Schooner and Zeno Gill of Pound of Miracles. This album is part of an effort to raise awareness for CyTunes, which is dedicated to the memory of The Rosebuds’ old housemate and dear friend of Merge Cy Rawls, who died after a battle with brain cancer in 2008.
Yes Means Maybe is available for download on the Flute Flies bandcamp page using the pay-what-you-want feature. 100% of the proceeds from the any donations they receive for the record will go toward CyTunes and then donated to the TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CENTER at Duke University in Cy’s honor.
Visit the Flute Flies bandcamp page to listen to the songs and CyTunes for more information.
Yes Means Maybe is available for download on the Flute Flies bandcamp page using the pay-what-you-want feature. 100% of the proceeds from the any donations they receive for the record will go toward CyTunes and then donated to the TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CENTER at Duke University in Cy’s honor.
Visit the Flute Flies bandcamp page to listen to the songs and CyTunes for more information.
05/29/12
Visit iTunes to download the new Merge Spring sampler! Featuring songs from our recent releases as well as a song from our forthcoming reissue of Sugar’s Copper Blue, the sampler makes a great mixtape for your spring BBQ all for the low price of $2.99.
Visit iTunes to download Merge Records Spring Sampler 2012 now
Visit the Merge store to find full-length albums from these artists, and bookmark our SoundCloud page where we are adding new songs all the time!
Track list:
1. The Magnetic Fields “Andrew in Drag”
2. Sugar “A Good Idea”
3. Times New Viking “Try Harder”
4. Eleanor Friedberger “Heaven”
5. The Rosebuds “Second Bird of Paradise”
6. Archers of Loaf “Dead Red Eyes”
7. Wild Flag “Electric Band”
8. Imperial Teen “Out from Inside”
9. Hospitality “Friends of Friends”
10. M. Ward “The First Time I Ran Away”
11. Stephin Merritt “Forever and a Day”
12. Lambchop “Gone Tomorrow”
13. Crooked Fingers “Heavy Hours”
Visit iTunes to download Merge Records Spring Sampler 2012 now
Visit the Merge store to find full-length albums from these artists, and bookmark our SoundCloud page where we are adding new songs all the time!
Track list:
1. The Magnetic Fields “Andrew in Drag”
2. Sugar “A Good Idea”
3. Times New Viking “Try Harder”
4. Eleanor Friedberger “Heaven”
5. The Rosebuds “Second Bird of Paradise”
6. Archers of Loaf “Dead Red Eyes”
7. Wild Flag “Electric Band”
8. Imperial Teen “Out from Inside”
9. Hospitality “Friends of Friends”
10. M. Ward “The First Time I Ran Away”
11. Stephin Merritt “Forever and a Day”
12. Lambchop “Gone Tomorrow”
13. Crooked Fingers “Heavy Hours”
09/01/11
The 2nd annual Hopscotch Music Festival will take place September 8-10, 2011, in Raleigh, NC. Mark your calendars so you don’t miss out on these performances (updated with an appearance by Merge’s newest band, Hospitality!) :
Thursday, Sep. 8 @ 11 pm:
The Love Language – The Lincoln Theatre
Friday, Sep. 9 @ 12:30 am (Saturday morning):
Hospitality – The Union
Saturday, Sep. 10 @ 6:45 pm:
Superchunk – City Plaza w/ The Flaming Lips and Dreamers of the Ghetto [tickets]
Saturday, Sep. 10 @ 12:30 am (Sunday morning):
Times New Viking – The Union
Saturday, Sep. 10 @ 12:30 am (Sunday morning):
KORT (Kurt Wagner of Lambchop and Cortney Tidwell) – Kings Barcade
In addition, there will be a few FREE Merge-related daytime activities:
Friday, Sep. 9, 2-4 pm: Foundation will host a Wild Flag listening party. Come by for great music, drink specials, and door prizes.
Friday, Sep. 9, 3-5 pm: Stuart McLamb of The Love Language will participate in an artist-and-author discussion panel called “Simple Words: The Power of Narrative Songs” at the Raleigh City Museum. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Saturday, Sep. 10, 11 am-5:30 pm: Hopscotch presents The Rosebuds & Friends, a block party outside the Lincoln Theatre. The seven-band lineup concludes with a performance by The Rosebuds at 4 pm. Food will be provided by Ashley Christensen and AC Restaurants, the proceeds from which will benefit the Frankie Lemmon Foundation.
And finally, SHOPscotch, a temporary pop-up store, will be open in Raleigh’s historic City Market every day during Hopscotch and on Sunday the 11th. This is the place to get Merge releases as well as records, t-shirts, and other merchandise from some of the festival’s participating bands. Business hours and more details can be found here.
03/30/11
The Rosebuds will release their new album Loud Planes Fly Low on CD, LP and digital download on June 7.
After The Rosebuds released Life Like, their fourth album for Merge Records, the marriage that inspired the band ended. Ivan and Kelly were done, and The Rosebuds—Merge’s buoyant pop-rock couple who’d youthfully named their first album The Rosebuds Make Out—were in limbo.
But Loud Planes Fly Low, The Rosebuds’ fifth and most inventive album to date, is a sad-eyed and bright new start for Kelly and Ivan, beautifully born of the struggle to define their relationship as bandmates—and more importantly, friends—outside of the context of marriage. It wasn’t easy. Written and rewritten, recorded and re-recorded in fits and starts, Loud Planes Fly Low allowed Kelly and Ivan to have the very conversations about their relationship that they’d long avoided.
Despite the hard times now behind them, for The Rosebuds, the present is what’s most remarkable: These ten tunes are not only some of The Rosebuds’ riskiest and most rewarding to date, but they also reveal a band eager to push their own limits, a couple of musicians who have come to cope with their complicated story for this blessed moment of restart.
Proudly mature, genuinely reflective, Loud Planes Fly Low is the most honest Rosebuds record since Ivan and Kelly made their way out of the gates in 2003.
Visit TheRosebuds.com to download “Second Bird of Paradise” from Loud Planes Fly Low now! Watch this great “trailer” for the album, and pre-order Loud Planes Fly Low on CD and LP now in the Merge store, too!
After The Rosebuds released Life Like, their fourth album for Merge Records, the marriage that inspired the band ended. Ivan and Kelly were done, and The Rosebuds—Merge’s buoyant pop-rock couple who’d youthfully named their first album The Rosebuds Make Out—were in limbo.
But Loud Planes Fly Low, The Rosebuds’ fifth and most inventive album to date, is a sad-eyed and bright new start for Kelly and Ivan, beautifully born of the struggle to define their relationship as bandmates—and more importantly, friends—outside of the context of marriage. It wasn’t easy. Written and rewritten, recorded and re-recorded in fits and starts, Loud Planes Fly Low allowed Kelly and Ivan to have the very conversations about their relationship that they’d long avoided.
Despite the hard times now behind them, for The Rosebuds, the present is what’s most remarkable: These ten tunes are not only some of The Rosebuds’ riskiest and most rewarding to date, but they also reveal a band eager to push their own limits, a couple of musicians who have come to cope with their complicated story for this blessed moment of restart.
Proudly mature, genuinely reflective, Loud Planes Fly Low is the most honest Rosebuds record since Ivan and Kelly made their way out of the gates in 2003.
Visit TheRosebuds.com to download “Second Bird of Paradise” from Loud Planes Fly Low now! Watch this great “trailer” for the album, and pre-order Loud Planes Fly Low on CD and LP now in the Merge store, too!
10/13/09
Today on Converse.com, see The Rosebuds play an acoustic version of “Leaves do Fall” from their 2005 album, Birds Make Good Neighbors, during XX Merge.
The Rosebuds performance completes the six week series at Converse.com showcasing Merge bands performing stripped-down sets somewhat spontaneously in various locations during the festival. Visit the XX Merge section of Converse.com for videos from Superchunk, The Clientele, Telekinesis, Lou Barlow, Wye Oak, and The Rosebuds.
Visit Converse.com to watch the complete series, and don’t forget to check out the Merge channel at Babelgum for live footage from the XX Merge 20th anniversary shows held July 22-26th at the Cat’s Cradle and Memorial Hall.
The Rosebuds performance completes the six week series at Converse.com showcasing Merge bands performing stripped-down sets somewhat spontaneously in various locations during the festival. Visit the XX Merge section of Converse.com for videos from Superchunk, The Clientele, Telekinesis, Lou Barlow, Wye Oak, and The Rosebuds.
Visit Converse.com to watch the complete series, and don’t forget to check out the Merge channel at Babelgum for live footage from the XX Merge 20th anniversary shows held July 22-26th at the Cat’s Cradle and Memorial Hall.
09/14/09
The Rosebuds will bring the party to China and Europe this fall! Kelly & Ivan head to China on Wednesday to play some shows and eat lots of exotic food. Stay tuned to the Rosebuds blog for photos and tales from the road!
Next up, The Rosebuds will tour Europe with labelmates, Telekinesis. Ivan will pull double-duty XX Merge style as the bass player in Telekinesis, too. Telekinesis mastermind, Michael Benjamin Lerner will, no doubt, have lots of great photos on his Flickr page!
The Rosebuds in China:
9/18 Tianjin, China @ Babi Club
9/19 Shenyang, China @ SOS
9/25 Guangzhou, China @ Classic Club
9/26 Wuhan, China @ Return 77
Telekinesis + The Rosebuds in Europe:
* = Telekinesis only
9/26 Hamburg, Germany @ Reeperbahn Festival *
9/28 Ghent, Belgium @ Cafe Video *
9/29 Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix *
9/30 London, England @ Cargo *
10/1 Nottingham, England @ The Malt Cross *
10/2 Belfast, Ireland @ Black Box
10/3 Cork, Ireland @ Cyprus Avenue
10/5 Manchester, England @ Dulcimer
10/6 Cardiff, England @ Buffalo Bar
10/7 London, England @ Windmill Brixton
10/9 Toulouse, France @ Le Saint Des Seins
10/10 Vic, France @ Jazz Club
10/12 Barcelona, Spain @ FNAC In-Store
10/13 Valencia, Spain @ El Loco Club
10/14 Madrid, Spain @ Moby Dick Club
10/15 Murcia, Spain @ Media Club
10/16 Salou, Spain (Terragona) @ Zeppelin Club
10/19 Dudingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn
10/21 Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk
10/22 Mannheim, Germany @ Alte Feuerwache
10/23 Bochum, Germany @ Banhof Langendreer
10/25 Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol
10/25 Berlin, Germany @ Lido
10/27 Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
10/28 Amsterdam, Germany @ Melkweg
Next up, The Rosebuds will tour Europe with labelmates, Telekinesis. Ivan will pull double-duty XX Merge style as the bass player in Telekinesis, too. Telekinesis mastermind, Michael Benjamin Lerner will, no doubt, have lots of great photos on his Flickr page!
The Rosebuds in China:
9/18 Tianjin, China @ Babi Club
9/19 Shenyang, China @ SOS
9/25 Guangzhou, China @ Classic Club
9/26 Wuhan, China @ Return 77
Telekinesis + The Rosebuds in Europe:
* = Telekinesis only
9/26 Hamburg, Germany @ Reeperbahn Festival *
9/28 Ghent, Belgium @ Cafe Video *
9/29 Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix *
9/30 London, England @ Cargo *
10/1 Nottingham, England @ The Malt Cross *
10/2 Belfast, Ireland @ Black Box
10/3 Cork, Ireland @ Cyprus Avenue
10/5 Manchester, England @ Dulcimer
10/6 Cardiff, England @ Buffalo Bar
10/7 London, England @ Windmill Brixton
10/9 Toulouse, France @ Le Saint Des Seins
10/10 Vic, France @ Jazz Club
10/12 Barcelona, Spain @ FNAC In-Store
10/13 Valencia, Spain @ El Loco Club
10/14 Madrid, Spain @ Moby Dick Club
10/15 Murcia, Spain @ Media Club
10/16 Salou, Spain (Terragona) @ Zeppelin Club
10/19 Dudingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn
10/21 Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk
10/22 Mannheim, Germany @ Alte Feuerwache
10/23 Bochum, Germany @ Banhof Langendreer
10/25 Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol
10/25 Berlin, Germany @ Lido
10/27 Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
10/28 Amsterdam, Germany @ Melkweg
The Rosebuds vs Utah! split :: 7" (Pidgeon English) 2003
The Rosebuds Make Out :: CD (Merge) 2003
The Rosebuds Make Out :: LP (Pidgeon English) 2004
split 7" w/ The Close :: 7" (Goodnight) 2004
The Rosebuds Unwind :: CDEP (Merge) 2005
Birds Make Good Neighbors :: CD (Merge) 2005
Night of the Furies :: CD (Merge) 2007
Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep (Night of the Furies Remixed) :: digital (Merge) 2008
Life Like :: CD/LP (Merge) 2008
Live at Cat's Cradle :: digital (cytunes.org) 2008
Loud Planes Fly Low :: CD/LP (Merge) 2011
The Rosebuds Make Out :: CD (Merge) 2003
The Rosebuds Make Out :: LP (Pidgeon English) 2004
split 7" w/ The Close :: 7" (Goodnight) 2004
The Rosebuds Unwind :: CDEP (Merge) 2005
Birds Make Good Neighbors :: CD (Merge) 2005
Night of the Furies :: CD (Merge) 2007
Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep (Night of the Furies Remixed) :: digital (Merge) 2008
Life Like :: CD/LP (Merge) 2008
Live at Cat's Cradle :: digital (cytunes.org) 2008
Loud Planes Fly Low :: CD/LP (Merge) 2011
Press - Christina Rentz: christina @ mergerecords.com
Radio - Lindsey Kronmiller: lindsey @ mergerecords.com
Booking - Jackie Nalpant @ Paradigm : jnalpant @ paradigmagency.com
The Band - Ivan & Kelly: therosebudsrock @ yahoo.com
Radio - Lindsey Kronmiller: lindsey @ mergerecords.com
Booking - Jackie Nalpant @ Paradigm : jnalpant @ paradigmagency.com
The Band - Ivan & Kelly: therosebudsrock @ yahoo.com
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