“Working like a novelist, [Harnetty] has immersed himself in an archive of field recordings – slices of past lives – and now emerges to create a new text, breathing new life into old chunks of sound by radically recontextualising them.” — Clive Bell, The Wire

Late at night, just before closing; sleepy, between awake and dreaming; old jukebox, conversation, laughter––and then, transformation.

Silent City is the internationally acclaimed follow-up to Harnetty's 2007 debut, American Winter. Giving the album 5 out of 6 stars, France's Magic RPM Magazine states that Silent City creates a "new Appalachian sound," where "time stretches out before our eyes." The album is a mix of songs, instrumentals, and field recordings that are loosely centered around Junction City, Ohio: the small, rural town where Harnetty's father grew up. His family's apple orchard and home were across from a local cemetery, which they referred to as "silent city." The album features three collaborative tracks with Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It also features sampled recordings from the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives.

Musician and author David Grubbs adds these words for Silent City: "A clock ticks 'til the day calls for me. It really does arrive. It really does cease. At 11AM the church bell across the street sounds its throb. It continues, and the rain stops after fifteen minutes. I think about the coming small disappointment."

released August 11, 2009

Artwork: Nathaniel Parsons
Design: Yuri Ono
All samples are from the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives, and are used with permission.
Mastering: Jonathan Schenke, Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago