About the Album
Late ‘90s downtown New York band Ursa Minor has returned with Sian Ka’an, out now on Velvet Elk Records, the label founded by Jesse Malin and Don DiLego. Produced by Tony Scherr, Sian Ka’an (see-AHN KHAN, Mayan for “origin of the sky”) is the companion to 2003’s Silent Moving Picture, released on Steve Shelley’s Smells Like Records.
Ursa Minor is led by Michelle Casillas—former sound engineer for downtown New York’s famed avant-garde venue, Tonic—with guitarist Tony Scherr (Bill Frisell, Lounge Lizards) and longtime members drummer Robert DiPietro (Elysian Fields) and bassist Rob Jost (Bjork).
The band has also released a video for their version of Chad Vangaalen’s “City of Electric Light” (directed by Steven Dempsey). “I’ve always loved Chad’s music, and this song in particular,” says Casillas. “The surrealness of his imagery is in perfect alignment with the sound that was unfolding on our album. The wonder of the natural world and the edge of the city—coexisting realities.”
Casillas and the band began writing the album after her visit to the protected bioreserve in the Yucatán. “We captured the barebones vulnerability of the first album,” she adds, “with new resolve, tranquility and ferocity.”
TRACK LISTING:
| City of Electric Light |
| Surrender |
| Into the Cool |
| Maple Man |
| Turbo |
| Sian Ka’an |
| Fallen |
| Sum of All Things |
| Root and Rise |
| Stardust |
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Credits
Sian Ka’an was produced by Tony Scherr, recorded analog to Otari 8 track by Derek Neivergelt, mixed by New York musician/producer/engineer Mark Plati (Bowie), and features special guests violist Caleb Burhans (John Cale, Steve Reich) and organist Todd Caldwell (Crosby, Stills, Nash).