Cotton Mather: S&D

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I recently unearthed a CD i got free on the front cover of Uncut in 1999. One of the tracks is called "My before and after" by Cotton Mather and I really love it!

Can anyone recommend anything else by Cotton Mather? I understand that the aforementioned song comes from an album called Kon-tiki - are the other tracks on the album any good?

MarkH (MarkH), Saturday, 31 January 2004 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

All Cotton Mather's albums are good, actually. The first album, Cotton Is King, has been out of print pretty much since it showed up in 1994. It's very Squeeze/Beatles influenced, and probably the most amateurish of them all. Kontiki and The Big Picture are damn amazing.

I might be biased, though. The guitarist is an acquaintance of mine.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Saturday, 31 January 2004 21:19 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks Johnny. I believe CM are from Austin, TX am i correct?

MarkH (MarkH), Saturday, 31 January 2004 21:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Correct.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Saturday, 31 January 2004 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Not very good. Nice concept flawed in design and practice. Search: The Shazam. Destroy: Cotton Mathar.

Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Saturday, 31 January 2004 21:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Try "Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-England
Canaan".

Goody Simms, Sunday, 1 February 2004 06:37 (twenty-two years ago)

The rest of Kon-Tiki is just as good -- buy it without fear. Their first album is competent but not worth what you'd probably have to pay to get it. There are a few live shows on SLSK with kind of lousy sound.

dlp9001, Monday, 2 February 2004 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Kontiki is pretty average. "My Before and After" is the best of the up-tempo stuff and then a couple of the ballads (which are a bit more Dylan than Beatles) are ok too...

David Nolan (David N.), Monday, 2 February 2004 02:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Seek: Everything

In a fair world, everybody would want to sound exactly like Cotton Mather

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, seek their producer Brad Jones' marvellous 1996 solo release "Gilt-Flake", which is equally brilliant.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:51 (twenty-two years ago)

eleven months pass...
Anyone know if the band is still together? I haven't spoken with Whit in an age and their site is down.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 15:32 (twenty-one years ago)

This just in from an Austin pal, who ran into the drummer last year: CM defunct.

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/law/witt/raw_images/lect3/pelham_cotton_mather.jpg

Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

The Magnalia Christi Americana is by far the most entertaining Puritan history I've ever read.

jsk baby (jsk baby), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

This is happening, btw

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/918576463/kontiki-deluxe

About this project

In 1997 my band Cotton Mather recorded our second record, Kontiki, on 4 track cassette and ADAT in an old house about 30 minutes outside of Austin. It was released in the US without much fanfare on a little label called Copper. But when the record made its way to the UK a year later on the Rainbow Quartz label Kontiki was quite the hit with the press and music fans.

Now Kontiki, the "lost classic" has been out of print for years. I (Robert Harrison) have been busy readying a re-release of Kontiki which will include an entire second disc of bonus tracks. Not just a few out-takes but an entire discs worth of extras because when I dug back into the archives I found some real treasure.

I need YOUR help to finance the release of Kontiki Deluxe! If this record is important to you - you could really make a difference with even the slightest contribution. Its not too late for you to help Cotton Mather. We never had a big record deal and never reached the masses -which some people say is a crime. And although I never really think of it in those terms and I stay pretty these days with my band Future Clouds and Radar- I do think there is something undeniably magical about Kontiki. It was a special moment in time we landed on back there. All of us from Cotton Mather would love more people to hear it. So lets get Kontiki in the hands of the people and help Cotton Mather at long last shed the mantle of rock cult obscurity.

The money we raise will pay for mixing an 11 track bonus CD (the first one will remain as it was), mastering, new artwork with extensive liner notes about the making of Kontiki and the history of Cotton Mather, manufacturing, publicity and and if we go past the target a good ways- a vinyl pressing. Then of course if somebody goes for the grand prize..... look out!

Thank you

Robert Harrison

Johnny Fever, Friday, 25 March 2011 07:14 (fifteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

heard on NPR yesterday they've got a spot on SXSW and are looking to reissue Kontiki. so must not have come to pass in 2011. It was interesting to hear the story behind why they fell off the face of the earth and I'm glad it isn't another Daniel Johnston situation. He lost his mom and dad pretty suddenly during his Cotton Mather days - dad just as he was touring Europe for Kontiki.

Here's to hoping for success in 2012!

Jen Echo, Wednesday, 14 March 2012 19:02 (fourteen years ago)


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