With the release of "What Are You On?" we are offering our first ever Merge podcast! EAST RIVER PIPE is not a touring band, so this recording offers rare insight into F.M. Cornog, the enigmatic mastermind behind the music.
Drugs are a big deal in rock ‘n’ roll and the counter culture. And it’s definitely clear from the title of EAST RIVER PIPE’s sixth album – "What Are You On?" – that they’re a big deal for Cornog. But if you think you’re in for a riotous ride of psychedelic or amphetamine-fuelled hedonism, step away quietly and calmly from the stereo. Cornog may sing of such “better living” half way through the title track of his latest collection, but the characters that inhabit Cornog’s world are hardly party monsters. Many are creatures who rely on drugs for their survival. It’s hard to tell how much of Cornog’s music is genuinely autobiographical. It would be easy to see it all as such, especially given the intimacy of the recordings. It’s also no secret that Cornog knows what he’s singing about. But it’s still merely conjecture: the characters he sings about are cyphers, delicate sketches that tell us about the human condition and its needs. Who they are is irrelevant. What they do, and how they do it, is what matters.
"What Are You On?" and Other Stories
A Merge Records podcast from East River Pipe
Additionally, here are two awesome MP3s from the album and a link to stream the whole thing:
What Does T.S. Eliot Know About You?
Crystal Queen
What Are You On?
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