MORPHINE
LIKE SWIMMING (180G RED VINYL) (MODERN CLASSICS)
- First time on vinyl - Pressed on 180-gram vinyl - Remastered from the original tapes by Pete Weiss - Housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket and featuring art direction and design by Darryl Norsen - 20-page booklet featuring lyrics, unseen photos, ephemera and art work by Mark Sandman, along with new liner notes by Ryan H.
Walsh - available on two special color vinyl editions: Opaque Blue Wax & Translucent Red Wax // Modern Classic Recordings, an imprint of Light in the Attic Records, proudly announces the deluxe vinyl reissue of Morphine's 1997 album Like Swimming, marking the very first availability of the title on wax.
Formed in 1989, Morphine quickly gained a name for themselves in Boston's underground scene, thanks to their unconventional instrumentation, their clever, offbeat lyricism, and their utterly unique sound.
Named for Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams, the trio (singer, songwriter, and bassist Mark Sandman, saxophonist Dana Colley, and drummer Jerome Deupree) delivered a mesmerizing blend of tonalities that were moody, yet seductive: Sandman's intriguing baritone vocals and a two-string slide bass guitar (initially outfitted with just one string), Colley's baritone sax (he was known to play two horns at the same time), and the vibrant percussion of original drummer Deupree and then Billy Conway, who frequently stepped in as drummer.
When it came to classifying Morphine's music, critics were at a loss. Was it jazz? Blues? Alt-rock? Beat poetry? To avoid the inevitable pigeonholing, Sandman coined his own genre: Low Rock.
Forming a creative partnership with producer Paul Q. Kolderie (whose credits read like a who's who of alt-rock heroes, including Radiohead, The Lemonheads, Hole, and the Pixies), the band released their critically-acclaimed debut, Good (1991), followed by "Cure for Pain" (1993) and "Yes" (1995) _ by then, the trio had scored several hits on college radio, while videos for "Thursday" (off "Cure for Pain") and "Honey White" ("Yes") played on MTV.
For their fourth studio album they signed with the LA-based major label Dreamworks Records.
Released in March 1997, "Like Swimming" landed at No.67 on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest-selling title of Morphine's career.
In his liner notes for Like Swimming , Ryan H. Walsh suggests that after years of uncertainties, the band's newfound sense of security carried over into their songwriting." Like Swimming is an album about getting into the flow of things finally going your way, about comfortably making use of your talents and doing it all with confidence, grace, and style," he writes.
That air of lightness marked a stylistic departure for the trio and can be heard throughout the album.