Album Notes

Michael Chagnon's self-titled compilation album features his best work from 2005 to 2009. With a voice comparable to Rufus Wainwright and the melodic structure of The Beatles, Michael's sometimes simple, sometimes quirky lyrics, and his flirtation with distorted rock guitars reveals a mixture of influences ranging from artists such as Weezer and Ozma to Beulah and of Montreal.

Having engineered the recordings, the compilation also reveals Michael's transition from a lo-fi, raucus, and direct approach to a smoother, more polished sound. The album itself is arranged so that the transition is more apparent to the listener.

The only new recording on the compilation is a song called "The only one". It was co-produced by Geoffrey Osborne while Michael helped produce Osborne's upcoming CD. "The only one" serves as a nice segue from the older recording period to the newer. It was purposefully placed in the center of the thirteen-song set, directly before the raw and bluesy single "Love me to death". Additional songs included on this release have been played on MTV during the network's reality programming, such as the album opener "Gwynneth".

Michael has toured with this material from Florida to his home town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, pushing onward to New York City, going up as far north as Vermont. The previous albums that these songs were released on are now out of print. Michael felt the need to put these songs out in a definitive form before he began working with Geoffrey Osborne on their new co-written album.