Chris Weisman “Maya Properties (Volume 5)” LP Edition of 220
Original Art by Sarah Smith & Printed Art by Ruth Garbus

Vinylization of the digital release by OSR Tapes !
Available on YOUTUBE !

This is the fifth and final vinyl volume of Chris Weisman’s massive Maya Properties project, originally a download of 88 songs, now a gorgeous set of LPs with individually hand-crafted cover art. There are a couple of extra players on this one. Chance McNiff plays sax on “Another Sphinx” and Patricia Hartland plays bass on “Love Will Live On.” But the rest is all Weisman all the time.

The mood throughout is classic early folk-rock. There are snootfulls of the Liverpool docks (circa Rubber Soul), Manhattan’s bridges (circa The Sounds of Silence) and even the Hollywood sidewalks (circa Folk ‘N Roll), but most of this is the dictinct product of the Brattleboro “here & now” (or, at least, the “there & recent”). Because for all its formnal detailing, there are plenty of contemporary style tropes that would have been too avant-garde for the ’65 Beatles to’ve even imagined. Let alone Simon and Garfinkle. Weisman’s genius is to toss these shards of style up into the air like the most very talented fresh water seal to ever swim up the Connecticut River Valley, balancing each in spinning unison, as they all pile up on the tip of his slippery nose. It’s a great damn trick.

Chris’ songs have the same timeless quality as its antecedents, steeped in a bath of psychedelic smoke that can only come from burning pinecones. Making this deep woods pop aktion at the apex of high.

Cover art this time by Sarah Smith. Over and out. Hope you were able to get them all.

– Byron Coley, 2015