DEAN WAREHAM & CHEVAL SOMBRE
SHARE VIDEO FOR "THE BEND IN THE RIVER"
TRACK OFF RECENTLY RELEASED
DEAN WAREHAM VS.
CHEVAL SOMBRE
PLAYING AT NEW YORK CITY'S LE POISSON ROUGE THIS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
LOS ANGELES SHOW CONFIRMED FOR
JANUARY 25 @ ZEBULON
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Dean Wareham and Cheval Sombre recently released their collaborative effort, Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre (Double Feature Records). Today they reveal a video for their take on Marty Robbins' "The Bend In the River." The clip premiered via Brooklyn Vegan who note that, "mixing vintage western footage with a ghostly image of Wareham on an even more vintage television, its an eerie and effective clip." The video was directed by Matthew Buzzell who also directed the Luna documentary Tell Me Do You Miss Me. WATCH "BEND IN THE RIVER":
Dean and Cheval will be playing this Friday, December 7 in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge.
They have also just confirmed a show at Los Angeles' Zebulon on January 25 and had previously announced a date at The Chapel in San Francisco on January 26.
Comprised of 10 tracks, Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre is a walk through the 60s and 70s as the duo cover songs made famous by among others, Blaze Foley, Bob Dylan, and Merle Haggard.
Downloads available upon request
"It's that rare thing: an album that (virtually) everyone can agree on. While the raw ingredients might sound odd-take one part dream pop, mix with one part country ballads, and serve in the evening hours-the combination is mesmerizing." Vogue
"if Dean Wareham vs. Cheval Sombre was unexpected, it also turns out to be unexpectedly satisfying.... (it) sounds like a dream." Paste
"The two swap vocal duties on work by Marty Robbins, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan and Lerner & Loewe, and do so with elegantly arranged guitar, drum, layered vocals and pillowy echo." Los Angeles Times
"dreamy" Radio Free America
"the results are every bit as alluring as one would expect." Glide
"This is a Western album where ghost towns stand silent and the stars shine bright at night, but the heroes don't so much ride off into the sunset as sink into a shimmering haze of a late-afternoon mirage." All Music
"Wareham and Sombre's take on the tune moves with a slow, trembling hum. Wareham's voice carries the wistful depression of a traveler. The song's production feels both vintage and contemporarily dreamy." Stereogum on "Wayfaring Stranger"
"At this point you know what you're gonna get and, really, you get what you want. Such is the case with (Dean Wareham vs Cheval Sombre)" Brooklyn Vegan
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The genesis of Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre can be traced back to the early 2000s when Porpora began writing and recording songs in a studio apartment on the Hudson River, NY. After sending demos to Sonic Boom, recording sessions took place in 2006, supported by guest musicians Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips. His debut album Cheval Sombre was eventually released on Double Feature Records, Wareham's label. Yet it wasn't until a decade later when the two decided to take their collaborations one step further. Dean notes, "a few years ago, when Chris was recuperating from an illness, laid up in bed and under the influence of painkillers, I sent him a Youtube video of Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson singing "My Rifle, My Pony & Me" (in the film Rio Bravo). I think that was the seed of this idea - to make an album of western songs together." Warham continues, "I've played on the Cheval Sombre records and I've recorded a couple of his songs myself. He has a strange and beautiful voice; like a stoner from another dimension, and when he interprets other people's songs, he often turns them into something unrecognizable."
In 2016, Dean and Chris checked into Palmetto Recording in downtown Los Angeles with producer Jason Quever (Papercuts, Beach House), backed by a band including Britta Phillips (Luna, Dean & Britta, Jem), Anthony LaMarca (the War on Drugs) and Will Halsey (Sugarcandy Mountain). The result is Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre on whichDean and Chris alternate lead vocals and song choices over the course of ten songs. Dean's choices are largely drawn from Hollywood westerns while Chris chose songs by the likes of Blaze Foley, Bob Dylan and Stephen Merritt.
A resident of New York City for most of his life, Dean Wareham now lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles with his wife Britta Phillips. He is regarded as a seminal figure in indie rock, with Galaxie 500 recently appearing twice in Pitchfork's list of top 20 dream pop albums. "Galaxie 500's often quiet and always beautifully rendered music had a profound impact," wrote Mark Richardson in Pitchfork.
Since his debut in 1988 with Galaxie 500's Today album, he has recorded 18 albums, as Galaxie 500, as Luna (who are playing shows again after a ten-year hiatus), as Dean & Britta and as himself. His memoir Black Postcards is a Penguin paperback, and he and Britta have scored films by Andy Warhol and Noah Baumbach.
Following his debut, Cheval Sombre has gone onto release numerous singles and EPs, some of which are now collectors items. His second album, 2012's Mad Love featured musical contributions from Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT.
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Tracklisting for Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre
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