As any fan of the Food Network knows, a few scrapes from an orange peel adds zest to a dish. San Francisco Bay Area indie-popsters the Orange Peels, according to master chef Allen Clapp, reinvented themselves by inviting more cooks into the kitchen. The result, Sun Moon (Minty Fresh), is a fully collaborative and very tasty effort. Last summer, Peels bassist (and Clapp’s wife) Jill Pries asked the other two band members—guitarist John Moremen and drummer Gabriel Coan—to drop by their Sunnyvale, Calif., home/studio. “It didn’t mean I was happy about it,” says Clapp, grown used to demoing the band’s material before presenting it to the others. “I told her I didn’t have any songs ready.” Clapp will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Orange Peels feature.
Clapp: I was rehearsing with Larry Winther and Jill Pries in a bedroom in Redwood City, Calif., for an upcoming Allen Clapp & His Orchestra show the first time I heard the Legendary Jim Ruiz. My Minneapolis pen-pal, Rick Durgin (of the fabulous Bomb Pops), had mailed me the new single by the Legendary Jim Ruiz Group on the Minty Fresh label. I think it was 1995. I just remember dropping the needle on that cool grey vinyl and listening in stunned silence as the smooth samba grooves of “Mij Amsterdam” and “Minneapolis” filled the room. Wow. We wanted to play a show with these guys and gals. We wanted to be those guys and gals.
We did, very soon after, fulfill our dream of playing with them. We became friends with them on a West Coast tour in the summer of 1995 in the small clubs of California, everywhere from Santa Rosa to San Diego. Their debut album, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, was a smash hit in our little world, as was their follow-up, Sniff, two years later.
That was all we heard from Jim musically for a long time. We stayed in touch, went hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains when Jim was on a California vacation years later. And we talked a lot about music. More time passed. A couple years ago, Jim called me to ask if I’d like to produce his next album. I was floored, and a little scared. Just trying to compete with the brilliance of his back catalog was kind of daunting.
After working out the details, we decided to make the album in a house instead of a proper studio. Somehow, we procured the use of a Minneapolis mansion with a huge parlor room, perfectly placed overdub and isolation rooms and a three-story spiral staircase, which we used for natural reverb. Jim, his wife Emily (drums) and Charlotte Crabtree (bass and vocals) are the core of what is now the Jim Ruiz Set. The group was augmented by Minneapolis rock royalty, including Peter Anderson, Mike Crabtree, David Salmela, Peter Robelia, David Schelzel, Jim Ouska, Brian Tighe and Allison LaBonne. The Jazz Butcher himself, Mr. Max Eider, even flew in a guitar track from across the pond—the splendid solo on ““Neo-Acoustic Ambassador.”
That was a magical week last summer. The day-long sessions were capped off with evening bike rides with Jim and Emily through the back streets of Minneapolis, great food and more than a few Belgian beers.
Here’s what we came up with: Mount Curve Avenue by Jim Ruiz Set on Mystery Lawn Music and Korda Records. Look for it coming on glorious 12-inch vinyl later this year on Shelflife Records. Look for them at the Chickfactor 21 festival in Brooklyn this June.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnpQ32pOrUo
