The Album Leaf
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (November 2022) |
The Album Leaf | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Arena Rock Recording Co. |
| Members | Jimmy LaValle |
| Website | thealbumleaf |
The Album Leaf is an American musical project founded in San Diego, California, in 1998 by Jimmy LaValle.[1] He is known for his use of electronics, synthesizer, and Rhodes piano. His performances often feature projected visual art.
History
Inception
The Album Leaf officially began in 1998 as the solo project of Jimmy LaValle,
An Orchestrated Rise to Fall
During downtime in the fall of 1998, LaValle began playing drums for San Diego band GoGoGo Airheart. Their singer and guitarist, Mike Vermillion (who later inspired the song name "Vermillion" on One Day I'll Be on Time), recorded LaValle doing improvised material on a Rhodes piano to a vintage Roland drum machine. This would become his first full-length album, the 10-track An Orchestrated Rise to Fall. Benjamin White of GoGoGo Airheart and Vermillion supplied synthesizers and vocals to these recordings.
Before Tristeza released
LaValle played his first official The Album Leaf show at the
One Day I'll Be on Time
Soon after signing with Tigerstyle Records, LaValle received his first recording advance. He used this money to buy his first computer, and purchase equipment for a home recording studio. He completed his first recordings, and those songs were released as a 4-song EP entitled In an Off White Room on Troubleman Records Unlimited. The title for the EP was named after the color of his home studio, which was in his living room. During time off from Tristeza's tour promoting Dream Signals in Full Circles in 2000, he began writing One Day I'll Be on Time.
The Album Leaf performed their second show during Tristeza's 2000 spring tour, at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The show was at Club Deville, at a day party for online distributor Insound.com. The lineup consisted of Lavalle, Leilani Clark on guitar and keyboards, Tana Helean on keyboards, Susanna Waiche on bass, and Jay Hough (of GoGoGoAirheart) on drums. They shared the stage with Tristeza and The American Analog Set. This lineup also did a 4-week U.S. tour in the summer of 2000, with Andy Robillard (also of GoGoGo Airheart) replacing Hough on drums.
After the summer tour, LaValle took a full-time job in San Diego at the newly launched music house "Singing Serpent", producing
One Day I'll Be on Time saw worldwide release in early 2001.
During this time, LaValle wrote two songs, "Hungry for a Holiday" and "Bad Blood", for
In January 2003, The Album Leaf toured Japan for the second time. The first time had been an opening slot for LaValle's band Tristeza in the spring of 2002, where he performed with fellow band members Luis Hermosillo and Eric Hinojosa. This was a headlining tour with fellow San Diego band Ilya supporting. LaValle enlisted Duane Pitre, Matthew Baker, and Hank Morton of Ilya to back him, along with Robillard on drums.
Immediately following this tour, LaValle was offered to support Sigur Rós' European tour. On this tour he performed solo and started incorporating electronic beats and loop pedals into his live show in order to perform his songs as a one-man band. Later during this tour, Kjartan Sveinsson, Orri Páll Dýrason, and María Huld Markan of Sigur Rós and Amiina respectively, began to join LaValle on stage, performing on a couple of songs during his half-hour performance slot.
Upon returning home, he had put together another lineup for supporting the U.S. portion of Sigur Rós' tour. This lineup was made up of Hermosillo, Delffs, and Tim Reece now on drums. Kjartan Sveinsson, Orri Páll Dýrason, and María Huld Markan would still join them on stage. This tour saw The Album Leaf playing at music venues such as Radio City Music Hall in New York City, gaining even more popularity for the band.
After these tours, LaValle decided to leave Tristeza and focus on The Album Leaf full-time.
A Lifetime or More and the Seal Beach EP
During the following months of 2003, LaValle began recording again. He recorded 3 tracks for a split EP with New York City's,
In August 2003, The Album Leaf headlined a tour of the U.S. with fellow San Diego band Ilya. This tour introduced The Album Leaf's use of live visual projection art by Andrew Pates and the lineup went down to just LaValle and Drew Andrews on keyboards and guitar, with them incorporating laptops and Pates projecting visuals onto a backdrop of the stage. The lineup was becoming more permanent.
Following this tour, LaValle traveled to Iceland to begin recording his third full-length album. During the Sigur Rós European and U.S. tours, LaValle received an invitation from Sigur Rós to record in their Icelandic studio. During these recording sessions, The Album Leaf performed two shows in Iceland, one being a part of the Iceland Airwaves music festival with LaValle being backed by Kjartan Sveinsson, Orri Páll Dýrason, and María Huld Markan of Sigur Rós and Amiina with Sindri Mar Finnbogason playing bass.
In December 2003, The Album Leaf opened for The American Analog Set on their U.S. tour. This lineup consisted of Matt Resovich on violin, Andrew Kenny (of The American Analog Set), and Sean Ripple (of The American Analog Set), with Pates doing live projections.
In a Safe Place
In January 2004, LaValle signed with Seattle-based record label
In a Safe Place was released on June 22, 2004. The Album Leaf played a record release show at M-Theory Records in San Diego with its current lineup of Matt Resovich on violin, keyboards, glockenspiel, guitar, and vocals; Drew Andrews on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; Tim Reece on drums and keyboards, with Andrew Pates projecting live visuals. Following the release, The Album Leaf toured for a year with little time off performing in the U.S., Europe, Taiwan, and Japan. During this time, they self-released the Red Tour EP which contained 5 tracks. This was to showcase the band as individuals and each member (with the exception of Reece) providing their own song; the cd is also enhanced with a tour video made by Andrew Pates. The EP also featured a live recording of "Micro Melodies", a song that only appeared on the soundtrack for the film Moog, a documentary about Robert Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer. The track "Over the Pond" is also used in the film The Family Friend (L'Amico di Famiglia) by Paolo Sorrentino.
This record saw more commercial success and popularity, establishing LaValle's The Album Leaf on the map and playing to bigger audiences. Many of the tracks from In a Safe Place were used in soundtracks for television shows such as
Following extensive touring, LaValle re-joined Tristeza, filling in on guitar for two shows in
In December 2005, LaValle traveled to
Into the Blue Again
On September 12, 2006,
The album's first track, 'The Light', was used in advertisements for Channel 4's series of programmes Disarming Britain and the 2012 documentary film
"Writings on the Wall" was used in the pilot episode of Sons of Anarchy in 2008.
2008
In June 2008, the band performed an original score to F. W. Murnau's 1927 silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans at the Seattle International Film Festival. These performances were held at The Triple Door in Seattle.[5] Also in June, they collaborated with Mike Heron of The Incredible String Band for a one-off show at the legendary 17,500-seat capacity Hollywood Bowl, opening for Gilberto Gil and Devendra Banhart.[6]
A Chorus of Storytellers
Between Waves
The Album Leaf released their sixth full-length album, Between Waves, on August 26, 2016. It is the first album by The Album Leaf to feature the band's full current lineup. It is also the band's first release on Relapse Records, which they signed with in early 2016. The 8-song album has a greater focus on a group dynamic, having been entirely produced and recorded by LaValle and the band.
They spent the rest of 2016 touring the United States, Canada, and Europe in support of the new album. In December 2016, American webzine Somewherecold ranked Between Waves No. 5 on their "Somewherecold Awards 2016" list.[8]
One Day XX
On September 17, 2021, The Album Leaf released One Day XX, a 20th-anniversary reimagining of their sophomore album, One Day I'll Be on Time.[9]
Future Falling: 2023
In February 2023, LaValle announced that a new Album Leaf record, titled Future Falling, would be released on May 5.[10]
Live band members
Current
- Jimmy LaValle – Rhodes piano, guitar, synths, vocals
- Matthew Resovich – violin, synths, glockenspiel, vocals
- David LeBleu – drums, synths, keyboards, misc.
- Brad Lee – bass, guitar, keyboards, trumpet, misc.
Former
- Tim Reece – drums and keyboards
- Drew Andrews – guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Gram LeBron – guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals
- Andrew Pates – live visuals
Discography
Studio albums
- An Orchestrated Rise to Fall (1999)
- One Day I'll Be on Time (2001)
- In a Safe Place (2004)
- Into the Blue Again (2006)
- A Chorus of Storytellers (2010)
- Between Waves (2016)
- One Day XX (2021)[9]
- Future Falling (May 5, 2023)[10]
EPs
- In an Off White Room (2001)
- Seal Beach(2003)
- Seal Beach(2005)
- Red Tour EP (2005)
- Green Tour EP (a.k.a. The Enchanted Hill) (2007)
- There is a Wind (2010)
- Forward/Return (2012)[11]
- Past and Future Tense EP (2022)[12]
Collaborations/split albums
- Collaboration Series no. 1 with Bright Eyes (2002)
- On! Air! Library!(2003)
- Collaboration Series no. 2 with Her Space Holiday (2003)
- Jimmy Lavalle) with Mark Kozelek(2013)
Compilation appearances
- Holiday Matinee CD Compilation Vol. 2 (2000)
- Ilya - Japanese Mini-Single (remix of B.P.D. by The Album Leaf) (2002)
- Music from the OC mix 2 (2004)
- Nightmare Revisited (2008)
Soundtracks
- Torey's Distraction (Electra Fidelis Films) (2012)
- Adrift (short film by Simon Christen) (2013)
- Before You Know It (as Jimmy LaValle) (2014)
- Spring (as Jimmy LaValle) (2014)
- The Endless (2017)
- Synchronic (2020)
- Something in the Dirt (2022)
- Things Will Be Different (2024)
See also
References
- ^ Bystrak, Rosemary (April 20, 2020). "Jimmy Lavalle Knows the Score — Just Ask Netflix". NBC 7 San Diego. NBC San Diego. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
- ^ "Jimmy LaValle". San Diego Reader. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- AllMusic
- ^ "The Album Leaf Steps 'Into The Blue'". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 24, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
- ^ "The Album Leaf Performs Sunrise (Face the Music Live Event) | 2008 Seattle International Film Festival | F. W. Murnau | USA < Films". Siff.net. June 13, 2008. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "The Album Leaf featuring Mike Heron from The Incredible String Band - About the Performer|Hollywood Bowl Presented by LA Phil". Hollywoodbowl.com. May 26, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ ATP: I'll Be Your Mirror Asbury Park
- ^ Lamoreaux, Jason T. (December 9, 2016). "Somewherecold Awards 2016". Somewherecold. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
- ^ a b "The Album Leaf Announce 'One Day XX' A Rework of 'One Day I'll Be on Time'; Share "Vermillion (JMJL Rework)"". nettwerk.com. July 9, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "The Album Leaf Announces New Album 'Future Falling'". exclaim.ca. February 3, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ^ "The Album Leaf Look Forward and Return to Simplicity". Retrieved December 4, 2012.
- ^ "The Album Leaf drop exclusive LP for record store day tomorrow". nettwerk.com. June 17, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
External links
| International | |
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| Artists | |
