Sketches of Crosstown

by Sean Murphy

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
180g 12" virgin black vinyl in deluxe gatefold cover. Limited to 200 copies. Hand-numbered. Signed by Sean Murphy and cover artist Anne J. Froning

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1.	Hope 03:02	info	buy track
2.	Overtone Seers 04:26	info	buy track
3.	Pulse 03:59	info	buy track
4.	Ruins Rebirth 02:48	info	buy track
5.	Fulfillment Cave 06:02	info	buy track
6.	Crosstown Soul 05:37	info	buy track
7.	Bones 03:37	info	buy track
8.	Urban Ocean 05:35	info	buy track
9.	Tower Red 04:00	info	buy track
10.	Hope (reprise) 01:41	info	buy track

about

recorded inside the abandoned 1.5 million square feet Sears Crosstown building in Memphis TN from August 2011 to June 2012

I have long been fascinated with the way Space and Sound can influence one another. In particular, the way a location (be it a cave, a forest, or a building) quite literally shapes the sounds that are created in their vicinity. I have spent years exploring sounds within natural environments as is documented on my 2011 album Wisp. But what I was really looking for now was a way to explore sounds within the context of architecture. Many artists have explored this territory, and there are some great albums available that truly express architecture through music. In my opinion, three of the finest examples of this expression are Paul Horn’s Inside (Taj Mahal), Eugene Friesen’s Sono Miho, and Michel Godard’s Castel del Monte. In each of these albums the artist had the opportunity to experiment and collaborate with a particular building through the medium of music.

These thoughts were in the back of my mind when I first entered the Sears Crosstown building in 2011. At the time I was mostly excited to finally enter this mythical building of my hometown. Having grown up in Memphis, TN, the Crosstown building was an icon that I watched (albeit not consciously) slowly deteriorate from a vibrant distribution hub of the region into a forgotten and overlooked ghostly shell. Within minutes of entering the building, I realized that I had found not only a haunting, stark space, but also one that was crying out for musical expression. While inside the building, I put a shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) to my lips and gently blew the first note of many that I would play within this wonderful building. As I stopped playing, I listened to the building play the note back to me for a full seven seconds. In those seven seconds, I knew that I had found a building that I would experiment and collaborate with through the medium of music...

credits

released October 20, 2013

produced & mixed by Sean Murphy
engineered by Mary Jane Adams
vinyl mastering by L Nix Mastering, Memphis TN
album design by Sean Murphy & Anne J. Froning of Being:Art LLC
"crosstown reprise" (cover drawing) by Anne J. Froning

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about

Sean Murphy Memphis, Tennessee

Sean Murphy is a multidisciplinary artist living in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a musician, ethnomusicologist, instrument maker, sound healer, teaching artist, nature lover, listener, explorer…