ARTiST: Josh Pyke
ALBUM: Chimney\\\\\\\'s Afire
BiTRATE: 177kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Ivy League
GENRE: Pop
SiZE: 59.74 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 44min 55sec total
RiP DATE: 2008-09-09
STORE DATE: 2008-10-03

Track List:
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01. Chimney\\\\\\\'s Afire 1:22
02. You Don\\\\\\\'t Scare Me 3:40
03. The Summer 3:25
04. The Lighthouse Song 3:35
05. Candle in Your Window 3:15
06. Variations 2:53
07. Make You Happy 2:58
08. Our House Breathing 3:11
09. Even In Corners 2:43
10. Don\\\\\\\'t Wanna Let You Down 3:41
11. Parking Lots 2:57
12. Eat Me Alive 3:51
13. New Year\\\\\\\'s Song 3:51
14. Where Two Oceans Meet 3:33

Release Notes:
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‘Chimney\\\\\\\'s afire’ is the cry whalers of yesteryear made when they harpooned a
whale and a plume of blood and water spurted out of its blowhole into the air.
“It\\\\\\\'s a horrifying, brutal image, but the actual language is evocative and quite
amazing,” says Josh Pyke of the title of his new album, the follow-up to his
ARIA Award winning debut ‘Memories & Dust’.
While Pyke’s interest primarily lies in the language of the time rather than the
act of whaling itself, references of a nautical nature flow through the album.
“I\\\\\\\'ve always been interested in maritime history... my ancestors were all
whalers and Navy men, so I feel some kind of pull for that kind of life and
history,” he says.
Maritime themed books about Magellan, Moby Dick and Joshua Slocum’s solo voyage
around the world contributed to the imagery in the songs as well as childhood
reminiscences and stories.
“Ever since I was a kid reading adventure books, especially Huckleberry Finn,
I\\\\\\\'ve always had the desire to jump on a raft and disappear down a river,” says
Pyke. “When I was growing up there was a beach town called Patonga that my
family would go to every year. The song ‘The Summer’ is based on that town.
Everyday I\\\\\\\'d jump in a canoe and paddle up the river and set crab traps, or jig
for squid from the wharf or get my dad to drive me to the next town to go
surfing. I always think of those simple pleasures as the ultimate happiness, and
so I think I relate solid, seafaring adventuring tales as the romantic,
alternate universe that I\\\\\\\'d want to live in if I was ever to throw it all away
and disappear.”

The album is more than a simple ode to seafaring though. Pyke traverses an ocean
of memories, ideas and thoughts about everyday concerns, with stability and the
notion of making up your own mind emerging as overriding themes.
He explores the concept of a home, what it means and why it\\\\\\\'s important; fate,
and whether there is a plan for us all; getting older and what it means to
settle down; responsibility; being careless or careful with people and the
legacy one leaves when they go. While these concepts aren’t exactly unchartered
musical territory, it’s Pyke’s unique way with words, sense of melody and quirky
song structures though that set him apart from other singer/songwriters.

With ‘Chimney’s Afire’, Pyke is set to anchor himself as one Australia’s most
talented artists. While he co-produced ‘Memories & Dust’ with Wayne Connolly
(resulting in an ARIA Award for Producer of the Year), this time around he
recorded and produced the majority of the record himself. In the studio, Pyke
would perform the songs then dash into the control room to compile in Pro-Tools,
as well as arrange the songs and direct the additional musicians.
“The main challenge was switching roles a million times a day and not losing
that sense of fun when I was doing the performance side, and not losing the
sense of objectivity when I had my producer’s hat on.”
While other artists have chosen to self-produce records because they haven’t
been happy with earlier albums, this wasn’t the case for Pyke.
“I’ve learned so much from people like Wayne Connolly, and I want to produce
other artists in the future, so it seemed like the natural progression to
develop my skills on my own record. At least that way if I was no good it\\\\\\\'d be
my own record and not someone else’s that I\\\\\\\'d be ruining!”
Both Connolly and Paul McKercher (Augie March, You Am I) co-produced a pair of
songs each, while the album was mixed by both Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck,
The Vines) in Los Angeles and McKercher in Sydney.

P.S. This gave me an error trying to upload in any audio category, so just upped it like this