Title: Come to Life
Artist: Keram
Label: CD Baby
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 885767161269
Genre: Rock
CD features crowd-funded 16-page booklet with lyrics, liner notes and full color artwork by some of Los Angeles' best new artists including Craola, Nicola Verlato and Nathan Spoor! Praise for Come to Life: 'After listening to COME TO LIFE, I feel as though my entire music listening life has flashed before me - in a very good way. Keram makes excursions into almost every style of music imaginable here and does it with such flair that these very pleased ears, he could have settled on any of these genres and made just as brilliant a record.' - Mark Rheaume, CBC Radio 'With the executive producer role played by Rush's Alex Lifeson (who also adds some sick riffs to three of the album's 10 tracks), the record perfectly captures the mid-'90s alt-rock sound, while still having enough room to experiment within the broader mainframe of modern progressive rock. For those who like their records to end with 20-minute space rock odysseys, the closing title track will fulfill all your psychedelic, neo-spiritual needs, what with it's lengthy ambient jazz segues and inspiration from the Tibetan Book of the Dead.' ~ Matthew Ritchie, exclaim. Ca Keram, an accomplished musician, film and television actor and founder of the long-running Robot Pride Day, is an out-of-the-box artist. His newest album, Come To Life - executive produced by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson - is a sprawling, other-worldly roots-rock adventure that took an army of about 30 musicians, whose collective credits include Coheed & Cambria, Zappa Plays Zappa, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and of course Rush. From "Killing Days, Living Nights" that sounds like a cross between Neil Young and D'Angelo to the 12-minute "The Devil Knows Me Well," an audio history of the blues that starts with the Delta, visits the Stones, pulls in Beach Boys-type harmonies and on to Hendrix, the 10-song opus is an unpredictable hybrid of Americana, new age, electronica, roots, rock, theatre, experimental, jazz, pop, and then some. It ends with the title track that then embarks on 20 minute improvisational ambient-jazz journey inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Recorded in Toronto and Los Angeles, Come To Life was seven years in the making. Keram says he chose the musicians for their improvisation skills. "I let them go crazy. We captured lightning in a bottle" - including Lifeson who appears on "Devil Knows Me Well," "Mary Magdalene" and "Moving Dark Circles" and whose intuitive guitar solos work perfectly with the songs. The whole album was mastered by Andy Vandette (Rush, David Bowie, Dream Theater) and "Mary Magdalene" was mixed by Rich Chycki (Rush, Dream Theater, Aerosmith). As an actor - who has appeared in the films American History X, Punisher: War Zone and Texas Chainsaw 3D and TV shows True Blood, The Mentalist and 24 - Keram (Malicki-Sanchez) brings that expression to his music too, writing from other character's perspective to explore his themes. Leading Blue Dog Pict in Toronto in the 90s, Keram created a movement with an elaborate stage show featuring multi-media, props and costumes. He had his own record label at 14, released three albums, and the cultish devotees known as "Sky Pirates" became part of the live experience. Major labels courted them. Then Keram was called away to LA so Blue Dog Pict was dismantled. There, Keram got his legs back at breeding ground Hotel Café, performing acoustic shows that were influenced lyrically by living in Hollywood. "But it's not just a record about Hollywood. I probably feared what the Internet might do to us all. Robots coming to life represented the technological age, the new machines. "The whole idea is coming back to life, look beyond your little mobile screen, look at the world around you, and see how you can become involved in it."
Tracks:
1.1 We Breathe So Brief
1.2 Killing Days, Living Nights
1.3 Infidel
1.4 Samsara
1.5 Mary Magdalene
1.6 Medicated
1.7 The Big End
1.8 Moving Dark Circles
1.9 The Devil Knows Me Well
1.10 Come to Life
Audio Sample:
All soundclips are provided by Tidal and are for illustrative purposes only. For some releases, the tracks listed may not accurately represent the tracks on the physical release.
