Album Notes

thebrotheregg:
snowflake & fingerprint machine
Woronzow: England
Rubric: USA

What can you say about a new album from a relatively unknown band that doesn't sound like a load of hype? Only that if we didn't think it was a masterpiece, we wouldn't have put it out. Let's face it, Woronzow is a small company and every title we issue is to some degree a bit of a gamble. Therefore, we can only commit ourselves to projects that we genuinely adore. You've probably never heard of thebrotheregg. Well, they're from Portland, Oregon, and they've been in existence for several years. They supported The Frond the first time we played there back in 1998, and were extremely friendly and helpful to us. Our van had broken down in Montana, and we'd had to leave much of our equipment (and our roadie) there, while it was being repaired. We arrived in Portland in a hired jeep. thebrotheregg lent us their equipment, and even ran the merchandise stall for us. As a result we stayed in touch. Earlier this year, a demo CD plopped through the Woronzow letter box. It was thebrotheregg's new album. They'd sent it around and had no response, and wondered what we thought. To be honest, we had no idea what to expect, as the line-up was completely different apart from their mainman, Adam Goldman. Within ten minutes of sticking it on the CD player, we knew we had to put it out on Woronzow. 'Snowflake & Fingerprint Machine' is a stone cold work of genius. One of the best thing we've heard for years. It's as simple as that. Adam's been working on this album for two whole years! And it shows. It's complex without being too anal, it's beautifully produced. The songs are strange, twisted ballads full of odd imagery and unexpected tangents, but always fantastically melodic. Great harmonies, and wonderful playing on an array of usual and unusual instruments. You've got your guitars, keyboards, bass (mostly upright string bass) and drums, but also brass sections, theremins, electronic effects, string sections, analogue synths and lot more. It's a magnificent piece of work which we truly believe dumps all over Mercury Rev, Flaming
that. Who's nominating albums for the Mercury Prize these days? They ought to give this a listen. Then again maybe not; we couldn't have a winner who hasn't been promoted at all, who hasn't been the poodle of the press, and who isn't on a wealthy label now, could we? As we've said already, this is something very special. But don't take our word for it, find out for yourself. We promise you won't be disappointed.

- Woronzow press release