Megafaun is an American psychedelic folk band based in Durham, North Carolina.[1]
History
editBrothers Brad Cook (bass, guitar) and Phil Cook (keyboards) are from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and Joe Westerlund (percussion) is from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They first met at the H.O.R.D.E. festival in 1997, and played together in various combinations, including in DeYarmond Edison with Justin Vernon.[2] After that band broke up in 2006, Vernon went on to record a solo project For Emma, Forever Ago as Bon Iver, and Westerlund and Brad and Phil Cook formed Megafaun.
Megafaun's first release was Bury the Square in 2008, on which the band were described as "[doing] away with Edison's polite experimentation in favor of full-bore concrète music, harsh noise salvos, and wild free-jazz interventions".[3] The group's second album, Gather, Form & Fly, was released in 2009 on the Hometapes label. It was described by Pitchfork Media as "a headily absorbing, occasionally unsettling listen",[4] and by Drowned in Sound as "a tapestry of sound collages and a freedom with form which creates a richly textured whole".[5] A third album, Heretofore, was released in 2010.[6] The self-titled Megafaun was released in 2011.
Producer Nick Sanborn played bass with Megafaun.
Megafaun has toured with the Mountain Goats, Bowerbirds,[2] Akron/Family, and in April 2012, The Drive-by Truckers, Damien Jurado (August 2012) among others.
The band released its first music video, produced by the art collective Sirocco Research Labs, to promote the single "Carolina Days" on Pitchfork.tv during the spring of 2011.[7]
They played with Arnold Dreyblatt at the third annual Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, which took place September 6–8, 2012.[8]
In October 2012, Megafaun announced on their website that they were going on indefinite hiatus "to re-tool the shed, so to speak."[9]
Discography
edit- Albums
- Bury the Square (2008), Table of the Elements
- Gather, Form & Fly (2009), Hometapes
- Heretofore (2010), Hometapes
- Megafaun (2011), Hometapes
References
edit- ^ Mongillo, Peter (2010) "Megafaun relaxes into headlining slot", Austin American-Statesman, April 27, 2010, p. D02
- ^ a b Jarnow, Jesse (2009) "Megafaun's Gather, Form & Fly", Independent Weekly, July 15, 2009, retrieved 2011-05-27
- ^ Howe, Brian (2008) "Megafaun Bury the Square", Pitchfork Media, September 9, 2008, retrieved 2011-05-27
- ^ Deusner, Stephen M. (2009) "Megafaun Gather, Form & Fly", Pitchfork Media, July 24, 2009, retrieved 2011-05-27
- ^ Perry, Kevin E.G. (2009) "Megafaun Gather, Form and Fly Archived 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine", Drowned in Sound, October 19, 2009, retrieved 2011-05-27
- ^ Thurston, Jason "Megafaun Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2011-05-27
- ^ "Megafaun Music Video Launched on Pitchfork « Sirocco Research Labs". Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
- ^ "Hopscotch Music Festival Lineup". Archived from the original on April 21, 2012.
- ^ "Megafaun". Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-06-29.