Damon and Naomi
Encyclopedia
Damon & Naomi are an American
dream pop
/folk-rock duo formed in 1991 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, formerly of Galaxie 500
.
(UK) in July 1991. The duo then spent time working on their book publishing company Exact Change
, with no plans to return to recording, until producer Mark Kramer
urged them back into the studio. The resulting album, More Sad Hits was released on Kramer's "Shimmy Disc" label in 1992.
Following the release of More Sad Hits, Damon and Naomi were contacted by Kate Biggar and Wayne Rogers, whose band, Crystalized Movements
, had recently lost its rhythm section. The two couples teamed up to form the psychedelic rock band Magic Hour, and released three albums between 1993 and 1996. At the same time, Damon and Naomi continued to record as a duo, releasing their second album, The Wondrous World of Damon and Naomi on Sub Pop
in 1995. The album was again produced by Kramer.
After the release of their second album, Damon & Naomi finally decided that they were ready to return to live performance. In a 1998 interview, Krukowski said "We never thought we would perform because there's no rhythm section, and us being a former rhythm section, we thought there's nothing worse than a band without a rhythm section."
Their third album, Playback Singers, in 1998 was recorded at their home studio (Kali Studios) in Cambridge, MA, and was their first album recorded without the assistance of Kramer. The album included the song "Awake in a Muddle", written by Masaki Batoh of the psychedelic rock band Ghost
, which marked the beginning of the ongoing relationship between the duo and the Japanese band. The album also included a cover of the Tom Rapp
(Pearls Before Swine
) song "Translucent Carriages", which the duo had performed with Rapp when he came out of retirement for the first Terrastock
music festival
in 1997. Krukowski produced re-recordings of two Pearls Before Swine tracks that appeared on the compilation album Constructive Melancholy that was released in 1998. He also produced Rapp's 1999 album A Journal of the Plague Year
, on which both Damon and Naomi appeared as musicians.
In 2000, they cemented the relationship with Ghost by releasing the collaborative album Damon & Naomi with Ghost, recorded once again at the duo's Kali studios. The tour in support of the album featured Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara
. In 2002, the Live in San Sebastian album was released, which had been recorded in May 2001 with Kurihara; the album was released with an additional DVD featuring a video tour diary by Yang.
During 2004, Damon had a book of poetry published (The Memory Theater Burned) and the duo also worked on pulling together a double DVD of Galaxie 500 videos that was released by Plexifilm
. On Valentine's Day
2005, Damon & Naomi's fifth studio album, The Earth Is Blue, was released on their own |20|20|20 label, the duo having amicably terminated their relationship with Sub Pop. The album again featured Kurihara on guitar as well as the avant-garde
brass section of Greg Kelley and Bhob Rainey of Nmperign
. The supporting tour featured all the guest musicians and one of the Japanese dates of the tour was videotaped and released as a limited-edition DVD at the end of 2005.
In 2006, Damon & Naomi set about recording their next album at Kali Studios, once again with Kurihara guesting. In 2007, they did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon
. The band's sixth studio album Within These Walls was released in September 2007, also on their own |20|20|20 label.
Damon & Naomi released their seventh studio album False Beats and True Hearts on May 9, 2011, once again on their |20|20|20 label and on Broken Horse (UK & Europe).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
/folk-rock duo formed in 1991 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, formerly of Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...
.
History
After Galaxie 500 completed a tour of the US supporting The Cocteau Twins, guitarist and vocalist Dean Wareham quit the band, forcing the cancellation of an imminent Japanese tour. Damon and Naomi had recorded a few tracks before the split, and these were released under the name Pierre Etoile by Rough TradeRough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
(UK) in July 1991. The duo then spent time working on their book publishing company Exact Change
Exact Change
Exact Change is an independent book publishing company formed in 1990 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang of Galaxie 500 and later of Damon and Naomi...
, with no plans to return to recording, until producer Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer , known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc...
urged them back into the studio. The resulting album, More Sad Hits was released on Kramer's "Shimmy Disc" label in 1992.
Following the release of More Sad Hits, Damon and Naomi were contacted by Kate Biggar and Wayne Rogers, whose band, Crystalized Movements
Crystalized Movements
Crystalized Movements were a psychedelic rock/punk/folk band who recorded and performed sporatically from 1980-1993. The band was formed by Wayne Rogers and Ed Boyden in Tolland, CT when they were high school freshmen.-History:...
, had recently lost its rhythm section. The two couples teamed up to form the psychedelic rock band Magic Hour, and released three albums between 1993 and 1996. At the same time, Damon and Naomi continued to record as a duo, releasing their second album, The Wondrous World of Damon and Naomi on Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
in 1995. The album was again produced by Kramer.
After the release of their second album, Damon & Naomi finally decided that they were ready to return to live performance. In a 1998 interview, Krukowski said "We never thought we would perform because there's no rhythm section, and us being a former rhythm section, we thought there's nothing worse than a band without a rhythm section."
Their third album, Playback Singers, in 1998 was recorded at their home studio (Kali Studios) in Cambridge, MA, and was their first album recorded without the assistance of Kramer. The album included the song "Awake in a Muddle", written by Masaki Batoh of the psychedelic rock band Ghost
Ghost (band)
Ghost is an experimental rock group formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 1984.- History :Core-member Masaki Batoh grew up in Kyoto, Japan where he attended a private school...
, which marked the beginning of the ongoing relationship between the duo and the Japanese band. The album also included a cover of the Tom Rapp
Tom Rapp
Thomas Dale Rapp is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the leader of Pearls Before Swine, the psychedelic folk rock group of the 1960s and 1970s. More recently he has practiced as a lawyer.-Life:...
(Pearls Before Swine
Pearls Before Swine (band)
Pearls Before Swine was an American psychedelic folk band formed by Tom Rapp in 1965 in Eau Gallie, now part of Melbourne, Florida. They released six albums between 1967 and 1971, before Rapp launched a solo career.-Early years, 1965-68:...
) song "Translucent Carriages", which the duo had performed with Rapp when he came out of retirement for the first Terrastock
Terrastock
Terrastock is a music festival organised periodically by Phil McMullen, formerly editor of the Ptolemaic Terrascope and since 2005 the publisher of the Terrascope Online website. The event typically features independent bands playing psychedelic rock....
music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
in 1997. Krukowski produced re-recordings of two Pearls Before Swine tracks that appeared on the compilation album Constructive Melancholy that was released in 1998. He also produced Rapp's 1999 album A Journal of the Plague Year
A Journal of the Plague Year (album)
A Journal of the Plague Year was an album released on CD in 1999 by American singer-songwriter Tom Rapp, leader of the 1960s/70s psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine...
, on which both Damon and Naomi appeared as musicians.
In 2000, they cemented the relationship with Ghost by releasing the collaborative album Damon & Naomi with Ghost, recorded once again at the duo's Kali studios. The tour in support of the album featured Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara
Michio Kurihara
is a Japanese guitarist who has played with Ghost, Boris and The Stars, formerly known as White Heaven. He has also released a solo album, Sunset Notes. He collaborated with Boris on the albums Rainbow and Cloud Chamber, and also appears on the Boris album Smile.-References:...
. In 2002, the Live in San Sebastian album was released, which had been recorded in May 2001 with Kurihara; the album was released with an additional DVD featuring a video tour diary by Yang.
During 2004, Damon had a book of poetry published (The Memory Theater Burned) and the duo also worked on pulling together a double DVD of Galaxie 500 videos that was released by Plexifilm
Plexifilm
Plexifilm is an independent DVD label and film production company co-founded by Gary Hustwit and Sean Anderson in 2001...
. On Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
2005, Damon & Naomi's fifth studio album, The Earth Is Blue, was released on their own |20|20|20 label, the duo having amicably terminated their relationship with Sub Pop. The album again featured Kurihara on guitar as well as the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
brass section of Greg Kelley and Bhob Rainey of Nmperign
Nmperign
- Early history :The idea for the group came when soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey decided to embark upon an ambitious cross-country tour, choosing trumpeter Greg Kelley and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani as his travelmates...
. The supporting tour featured all the guest musicians and one of the Japanese dates of the tour was videotaped and released as a limited-edition DVD at the end of 2005.
In 2006, Damon & Naomi set about recording their next album at Kali Studios, once again with Kurihara guesting. In 2007, they did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon
Vincent Moon
Vincent Moon is an independent filmmaker from Paris mainly known for his field work music videos of indie rock related musicians as well as some notable mainstream artists like Tom Jones, R.E.M. or Arcade Fire. Besides making music videos he also makes experimental films and documentaries...
. The band's sixth studio album Within These Walls was released in September 2007, also on their own |20|20|20 label.
Damon & Naomi released their seventh studio album False Beats and True Hearts on May 9, 2011, once again on their |20|20|20 label and on Broken Horse (UK & Europe).
Albums
- More Sad Hits (19921992 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
) Shimmy Disc - The Wondrous World of Damon & Naomi (19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
) Sub Pop - Playback Singers (19981998 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
) Sub Pop/Rykodisc - With Ghost (20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) - Song to the Siren (20022002 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
) - The Earth is Blue (20052005 in music-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
) - Within These Walls (20072007 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
) - False Beats and True Hearts (2011)