Stephen Clair

Transmissions

Rock City Records

Stephen Clair has spent most of his life obsessed with music. He remembers his grandfather singing while driving his car, and gifting him a Johnny Cash record. It made an indelible impression, one he carries with him even now. He remembers when at the age of five, he would play air guitar while listening to Edgar Winter. Before he was out of his teens, he was writing his own songs, and teaching guitar. His stories and poems began to appear in journals and magazines. In 1997 Clair released his debut album, “Altoona Hotel”,

named for the place his grandfather called home. This new album is Clair’s eleventh studio album the last being “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”. He states that his songs often read like a collection of short stories, the space between the notes as essential as the actual sounds themselves. Clair meticulously labors over these intimate arrangements. His transmissions refer to the intangible, thoughts that eminate from his mind, personality and perspective, always maintaing equal footing.

“Transmissions” is co-produced by Will Bryant and Clair @ The Building in Marlboro, New York. It is mixed and mastered by Brandon Morrison. The band lineup includes Clair, vocals and guitar; Bryant, keyboards and backing vocals; Daria Grace, bass and backing vocals; and Aaron Latos, drums. The infectious lead-off track features the lyric “I’m tired of waiting around”. “Vegas Sunrise” includes Clair singing “get up, get out, get out”, as Vegas never sleeps. “Blue and Red Lines” are possibly meant to be topical, but then get sanitized by “If I could walk away…I don’t even care”. “Cigarette! Cigarette!” is a “call and response”, “never forget, love that cigarette!” with some great piano from Bryant.

“It’s So Strange”, “it’s so strange, you don’t change…how am I supposed to feel”, with more great piano. “Fritz” possesses a polka or hold steady, ska like sound, beautifully sung by Clair. “Naomi’s Phone is Dead” is a narrative, possibly about a daughter and a word of caution “brand new friends, they only just met…Naomi’s phone is dead”. “Swept Away”, is another great vocal with the lyric, “if you love me too long…there is a price you pay”. On the closer, “Take This Walk With Me” Clair sings “take this walk with me, down the stairs, just to see…take this walk with me”, with some more rickety piano.

While previously the band recorded over one or two weekends, this time they spent two years getting thigh slaps, tympani, synth arpeggios, and electric guitar sounds just right. They even mixed and mastered the album twice. Ultimately Clair forged his own path, and his sound and songs are all his own. This joyous album is full of surprises and just hooky as all hell.

Richard Ludmerer

Contributing Editor/Making A Scene

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