We’ve been proud to represent the catalog of San Francisco’s inimitable singer/songwriter Matthew Larkin Cassell since he busted Stones Throw, then under Egon’s helm as General Manager, for an uncleared sample on Madlib’s Madvillainy 2. As was the case of Oneness of Juju and Raymond Scott, it didn’t take long before Egon and MLC built up a musical friendship, and, well, we’ve been grooving to his blue-eyed genius ever since.
His lauded recordings included his landmark album jazz/soul album Pieces (!977), the disco/boogie EP Matt the Cat (1978) and the 7″ EP known as Love to Love (1980). All feature his winsome vocals atop groove driven, keyboard driven melodies, all self-penned and produced so expertly as to give Ned Doheny’s major label recordings pause.
Most don’t know that MLC has remained recording – he issued his fourth vinyl release, Private Press, in 2009, and recently recorded a new original, “Cherry Blossom Rain,” in San Francisco. We’re offering two downloads below – one, “Ecoutez Moi,” from Pieces, and “Cherry Blossom Rain,” below, to give you a sampling of MLC’s unforgettable style. Of his latest recording, MLC remarked:
“I wrote the words and music to this song when I stuck my head out the backyard porch and turned my face into the wind and cherry blossoms were falling from the trees. The first track was Spanish guitar, the same guitar I recorded my first LP Pieces with, the one my mom gave me at the age of twelve. Then came the drums and upright bass on keyboard using Audio Logic, without a click track or metronome, editing or corrections, to keep the gelled sound and add some warmth. I played the piano last.”
We just love this dude.
Download: Matthew Larkin Cassell – Ecoutez Moi
Download: Matthew Larkin Cassell – Cherry Blossom Rain