Black Diamond Pearl, by 1939 Ensemble

Black Diamond Pearl

by 1939 Ensemble

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

Purchasable with gift card

name your price
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
We found the last 60 copies of these going through the archives, don't miss out! Featuring guest appearances by M. Ward, Like A Villain and Mark Orton.

Includes unlimited streaming of Black Diamond Pearl via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

$20 USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Highly portable CD version of this stunning percussive jammer.

Includes unlimited streaming of Black Diamond Pearl via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

$10 USD or more

1.	Ryder 04:31	buy track
2.	Circles 03:18	buy track
3.	Dose 03:34	buy track
4.	BDP 03:22	buy track
5.	Into the Woods 03:05	buy track
6.	Judgement 04:30	buy track
7.	Slade 03:03	buy track
8.	Invisible Whip 02:55	buy track
9.	Shadow 02:33	buy track
10.	Earth 03:44	buy track
11.	Brassy Cassy 03:43	buy track
12.	Constellation 02:26	buy track

about

What happens when percussionists José Medeles and David Coniglio prove that a drum and vibes record doesn't have to be a niche project only drum enthusiasts will love? They do it again. However 1939 Ensemble's second album, Black Diamond Pearl, is not a repeat performance. This time, with less to prove and a solid fan base eagerly awaiting more, the band is now comfortable in its own skin. And it shows. There is a tonal shift in Black Diamond Pearl that reflects the ease and confidence 1939 has earned, allowing the band to take more risks and have more fun.

For their second album, 1939 Ensemble added a third member, multi-instrumentalist Josh Thomas, whose musicality adds a rich ostinato to Medeles and Coniglio's dialogue. Next, the band put together a dream team of like minded individuals to help build the record, including John McEntire (Stereolab, Trans AM, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise), Tucker Martine (Decemberists, My Monring Jacket, Brian Blade), Mark Orton (Tin Hat Trio), Holland Andrews (Like A Villian), M. Ward and Michael Flinn. “These folks are incredible creative forces that bring out the best in you,” reflects Medeles.

Like their debut Howl & Bite, Black Diamond Pearl is a journey, cinematic in nature and ranging the full spectrum of emotion. The album opens up with Ryder, a puckish romp in vivid colors, a bright trumpet peppering the ebullient rhythms. Some of the more percussion-heavy songs are exercises in tom work, and you can imagine McQueen in Bullitt blasting these high octane tracks as he races up and over impossibly steep San Francisco streets in his '68 GT. Vintage California pervades such songs, even in the way a rhythm might unravel at the end like a sunset dissolving into the Pacific. At other times, the drum language is subtler, and newly wrought space is filled with penetrating brass, etherial vocals (provided by Like A Villian’s Holland Andrews), and industrial noise. A sense of impending catastrophe might arise in the shudders and booms, or a glimmering melody will give way to something darker--the hi-hat, steam drifting over seedy streets of some urban dystopia, the lonely trumpet, a monologue of discontent.

Black Diamond Pearl will leave its listener breathless, unable to anticipate what is coming around the next curve, but 1939 Ensemble will take your hand and get you through this twisting and turning soundscape--probably in one piece.

credits

released April 28, 2015

Written & Performed by José Medeles, David Coniglio, and Josh Thomas

M. WARD-guitar
MARK ORTON-lap steel
HOLLAND ANDREWS-vocals
Engineered by John McEntire (Tortoise..Stereolab..Broken Social Scene)
Engineered by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket..Sufjan Stevens..Bill Frisell)
Mixed By Paul Laxer (Typhoon..Hustle and Drone)
Mastered By Carl Saff (Grails..Joan of arc)
Recorded at Flora Playback and Sound, Portland OR

license

about

1939 Ensemble Portland, Oregon

1939ensemble.com

contact / help

Contact 1939 Ensemble

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like 1939 Ensemble, you may also like:

ZEROZEROZERO
by Mogwai

supported by 4 fans who also own “Black Diamond Pearl”

It’s hauntingly beautiful and conjures up intense emotions. christinal
go to album
Deep Fried Grandeur
by Ryley Walker And Kikagaku Moyo

supported by 4 fans who also own “Black Diamond Pearl”

we go to last live in tokyo. love sound hide420
go to album
Lost in Place
by I Hold the Lion's Paw

The latest album from the electronic artist is a mash-up of musical influences including reggae, trance, prog rock, and free jazz. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 1, 2021
go to album
the disagreeable subject of Varèse's father
by Stone Echidna

Textural cinematic music ranging from hovering drone to barren Appalachian folk, designed to create a mood of mystery. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 8, 2020
go to album
Descension
by Patrick Shiroishi

Layered sax and synths combine in this rich, absorbing work that sounds like elegiac lounge music from another dimension. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 13, 2020
go to album
Y'Y
by Amaro Freitas

featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 14, 2023
go to album
Ultraviolet
by Billy Mohler

Bassist/composer, Billy Mohler’s third album is a triumph of bright, soaring melodic jazz. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 15, 2023
go to album