LOVERS LANE

I met San Francisco's Ivan Mairesse a few Summers ago at the Cambridge, Massachusetts YMCA Theatre. Julian Lynch was playing a set at The Whitehaus Family's huge Weirdstock event and I believe Ivan knew Julian from going to school in Madison, Wisconsin and was somehow ended up playing harmonium along with Julian's clarinet. After the set I talked with Ivan, he mentioned the music he made, I gave him my email. Months later, literally after I had forgotten about him, Ivan hit me with some exceptionally warm, super-intimate four-track demos. These songs, and the bunch that followed, quickly snowballed into Lovers Lane, Ivan's debut full-length for Triple You Tapes (UUU).

Lovers Lane is a collection of 12 songs; some take a leisurely stroll through soft guitar/keys psychedelia, others float through fuzzier ambient waters. This release comes on the heels of a couple SXSW appearances from Ivan Mairesse & His Band, which features two members of Rangers' live band from SXSW 2010. The live act took on a louder, more rock n roll sound (check out a video from the Underwater Peoples SXSW house show below), very good but also very different from the four-track recordings found on Lovers Lane.

Check out downloads of four songs on bandcamp, stream the rest, then BUY A TAPE/CDR. Lovers Lane will be available in digital formats shortly. Sample a couple of my favorites, check that live video and the inside of the insert with tracklist.

Ivan Mairesse from Blood Drank Magazine on Vimeo.