Album Notes

SPOOL SAVES THE WORLD is the long-anticipated second CD from the band SPOOL, whose debut self-titled release in 1998 stunned and seduced listeners and critics alike with its lush foliage of acoustic/organic electronica. SSTW delivers more of SPOOL's unmistakable vibe, but pushing in new directions - from the melancholic reflection of 'tuesday' to the triumphant cataclysm of 'xok'.

SPOOL is the collaboration between jhno (John Eichenseer) and John Ridenour. jhno was a fixture on the San Francisco Bay Area 'ambient scene' in the late nineties and early two thousands, whose work is documented by a series of recordings released by Delicate Ear Records (his own label), New Dog/World Domination, C74 (CRATER), Instinct, and other labels. John Ridenour is now based in Illinois, and has recorded with Bobby Conn (Thrill Jockey), The Aluminum Group (Minty Fresh), and other bands in addition to producing his own records (Yin, Goodbye Songs).

On SSTW they are joined by Bryan Bowman on drums and percussion, and John Christensen on bass. Noted cello sorceress Zoe Keating is featured on one track. The songs were recorded in 1999, and developed into a live show that SPOOL toured with briefly, with John Ridenour playing guitar and jhno on keyboards. This period of activity was followed by a five-year delay as jhno produced the music software radiaL (with Cycling '74), played with the band CRATER (with Scott Amendola and Nels Cline), and moved to Europe. SSTW was finally mixed and completed in Germany in 2005-2006.

The new SPOOL record signals the dawn of a new epoch of human history, a new level of consciousness, and hope for the planet via deus ex machina, the unexpected and inexplicable transformation and transcendence of reality by processes and energies we do not understand, but toward which we knowingly and passionately devote the fullness of ourselves.