RICHARD Y O U N G S

THE NAIVE SHAMAN

Richard Youngs has been making music for over two decades. The Naive Shaman,

released in dual format (cd and lp), is his seventh album for Jagjaguwar and is a deeply

personal work. Created on a computer at home, it is a high density digital song cycle

driven by heavy, heavy electric bass guitar.

The opening “Life On A Beam” combines a modal vocal line with throbbing sonics and

non-linear percussion. Elsewhere a plaintive voice threads itself through frosted atmo-

spherics and we hear Richard’s first recorded kazoo work since 1992’s “New Angloid

Sound”. At the core of the album is “Sonor In My Soul”, a bass loop on to which are

collaged strangulated guitar, singing and more singing. The track climaxes in a hollered

plea for “unity”. The second half of the set contrasts “Once It Was Autumn”, a succint-

ly crafted dub chant, with the epic “Summer’s Edge II” whose sprawling 16+ minutes

anchor a floating vocal melody and free-flowing drums with fuzzed bass octaves.

At a time when he has increased his commitment to live performance, Richard has—

paradoxically—produced an album that explores recording technology as an instrument,

Life On A Beam • Illumined Land • Sonar In A Soul• Once It Was Autumn • Summer’s Edge II

1. Scheduling first US tour (concentrating on the Northeast, Midwest, and East Coast);

touring with

Matt Valentine and The Skygreen Leopards

2. Richard Youngs has recently been playing bass for the infamously recluse Jandek,

Richard can be heard on the new live Jandek release

3. Full press and radio publicity is planned.

Richard Youngs “The Naive

Shaman”

on JAGJAGUWAR, catalog no: JAG071

Release date: September 6, 2005

Format: CD and LP (VINYL NON-RETURNABLE)

CD BOX LOT: 2 5

units

CD UPC:

656605207124

[phone] • www.jagjaguwar.com •

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56605 20712

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56605 20711

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