Chris Robley- songs, guitar, samples, vocals
John Stewart- drums, percussion, gloc, vocals
(playing the part of John Stewart for this upcoming tour will be ex-Boy Eats Drum Machine drummer Peter Swenson)
Rachel Taylor Brown- piano, pianette, accordian, vocals
Arthur Parker- upright, electric, and synth bass, vocals
Ben Landsverk- viola, vocals, percussion
Daniel Adlaf- trumpet
with occasional cameo appearances by a rotating cast of method actors, including:
Benny Morrison- barritione and tenor sax, clarinet, flute
Tim Huggins- bass
James Gregg- trumpet
Drew Norman- guitar, banjo
Steve Keeley- violin, vocals
Dan Mills- guitar
Joshua Brookoff- guitar
Amanda Lawrence- viola
Rob Stroup- guitar, vocals
Robert PeArt- guitar
Kelly Meyer- Viola
Zach "Pony" Domer- bass
The Flote Flute Quartet- ahh, flutes.
Influences
The same as yours, I'm sure.
Sounds Like
John Lennon, John Vanderslice, Grandaddy, Badly Drawn Boy, Nilsson
Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights: movie theatre haiku
Chris Robley: The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love
(Re: Movie Theatre Haiku) This gothic, orchestral indie-pop is sure to leave heads spinning with its unique and haunting sound.
-NPR's Second Stage
After being impressed with Chris Robley's 2005 debut, This Is The, and by his work with sometime band the Sort-Ofs and other projects, I took last year's terrific baroque-pop album, The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love, to be something close to the full flowering of his songwriting and production gifts. This paper duly dubbed it one of 2007's finest local discs. With Movie Theatre Haiku, his first release sharing billing with his support band the Fear of Heights, Robley's only gotten better: more confident both vocally and in the realization of his seemingly endless stream of musical and production ideas... "These songs have serious legs," I wrote in praise of his previous disc. This album's tunes have teeth.
-Jeff Rosenberg, Willamette Week
'Movie Theatre Haiku' is masterfully built upon screen stories both wide and small that are begging to be told.
-Ezra Ace Caraeff, Portland Mercury
(Robley) has a challenge to pull off live the densely figured arrangements that grace his current poetic, evocative album, "The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love." Trust this multi-instrumentalist to come through.
-L.A. Times
(Drunken Dance) is without a doubt one of the strongest independent releases that has come into my hands this year.
-Shawn Kyle. Reax Music
'The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love' is an unusual, evocative album, both musically varied and tuneful.
-All Music Guide.
As subtly composed as fine wine. You know how well-written a song is when you’re not sure why it works; only that you could never write one like it if you tried... It’s clear that Robley’s a major talent, a force to be reckoned with.
-The Indie Literati
Each song is a fully formed vignette that could stand alongside any "Sgt. Pepper" or Queen cut... Looks like these future rock stars paid attention in lit class in college and grew up to be hyper-literate songwriters and pastiche-pretty producers. We'll watch with great interest where the Selzers, Robleys, Wards and Decemberists take us next.
-Don Campbell. The Oregonian
Robley's knack for inspired pop arrangements is astounding, recalling Neutral Milk Hotel, the Beatles and especially Elliott Smith.
-John Chandler. Portland Monthly.
Melodic without being precious or over-the-top, sonically eclectic without being disjointed, Drunken Dance plays like a series of intelligent novellas-as-pop-songs. Its pleasures and intrigues are many, and very refreshing.
-bullz-eye.com
His poetic sensibility gives his music a depth and wisdom many young songwriters lack.
-San Francisco Examiner
Chris Robley is one of those mad scientists of pop-rock, whose baroque experiments include everything but the kitchen synth.
-Tucson Weekly
Despite themes that include nightmares, night sweats, prostitution, bombed out churches and man's disrespect for nature, the music buoys the spirit.
-The Record Searchlight
Drunken Dance of Modern Man In Love is a bountiful improvement from a debut that was already impressive in its own right. Pick this one up. ASAP.
-ObscureSound.com
The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love is nothing short of outstanding in that it mixes and molds so many genres, yet still keeps a cohesive feel. Robley is a fine example of how breaking the boundaries is not only good for music, but essential.
-Tim Wardyn. Ink19
Robley's second coming is even better than the first.... effortlessly literate.
-Serena Markstrom. Eugene Register-Guard
Poetic narratives of death’s shadowy life-affirming presence rise up to greet you.
-PopMatters.com
Criminally "unknown" singer/songwriter Chris Robley is a damned sophisticated standout.
-Phoenix New Times
I can't remember the last time something this artsy didn't annoy the crap out of me, but I guess that's what happens when those rare, golden people who offer substance over self-congratulation make albums. Bless them.
- Eugene Weekly
"this Is the" deserves a place among your Elliot Smith, Badly Drawn Boy, John Lennon, and -- yes, even your Guns 'N Roses albums.
-Splendid e-zine
"this is the" is what John Lennon would be doing today if he wasn't killed a quarter century ago.
-music liberation project
Making creative use of colors from Beatles pop to emo rock to lo-fi indie ache, "This Is The" is definitely unusually abundant in imagination and vision.
-Tamara Turner. CD Baby Editor (before I worked there... I promise)
Understated but assured pop abounds on this singer-songwriter's first solo album. High praise in my book but fully warranted. He shows no lack of ambition in his arrangements. Full but never fussy, tasty but biting, familiar but fresh. Ace all around.
-Foxy Digitalis
The album could have ended up being mere studio trickery, but Robley's songs are so strong he could deliver them given just an unamplified acoustic guitar. Robley's singing, at his most urgent, recalls Lennon's desperate-yet-melodic rasp, but it's evident he's not posturing to achieve the sound, just slipping comfortably into it like a pair of vintage Beatle boots that happen to perfectly fit his feet.
-Willamette Week (jeff rosenberg)
this is the is impressive, proving that Robley has found his voice, working in the great dissonant pop tradition discovered and delivered by the likes of John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Elliott Smith. Live, with his orchestra, though, Robley's songs bloom.
-Willamette Week (Mark Baumgarten)
Left-of-the-dial enough to entice indie-rock fans over into the singer-songwriter world... Robley shakes things up so you never know what to expect, while keeping things tied together enough to make a cohesive album in a bed of experimentation.
-Alex Steininger. In Music We Trust
Chris Robley is a unique musical talent. Hell, I'll say it: He's a genius. True to form, his set last night was full of lush instrumentation, beautiful arrangements, and simply the best pop hooks. Check out Chris next time he plays or go out and buy "This is the..." You can thank me later.
-Casey at X58Radio.com
Though his acid wit and precarious song writing is compared with John Lennon, Robley is no Lennon pastiche... His songs are seldom depressing, though sometimes dark, and constructed with an intimate honesty.
-S.A. Life. Australia. Chris Clark
Tale Telling
Portland busy-boy Chris Robley (the "Stephen King of Indie-Pop") has previously released 2 critically lauded solo albums, "this is the" and "the drunken dance of modern man in love," both produced with Adam Selzer (M. Ward, The Decemberists, Laura Gibson). His third, "Movie Theatre Haiku" was produced with the help of Portland audio-fiends Mike Coykendall, Jeff Stuart Saltzman, and Rob Stroup. It will see a national release in February, 2009, though it is available now at shows and on CD Baby.
The album upholds Robley's reputation for writing story-songs about characters that find themselves in heartbreak and despair. But "Movie Theatre Haiku" also finds him taking his trademark blend of fractured folk and dark, psychedelic indie-pop into more ambitious orchestral and electronic territory.
Touring often, Robley performs his eclectic and hyper-literate psych-folk-indie-pop compositions with backing band The Fear of Heights, a sheets-of-sound arkestra of doom that swings and swells in size from 4 to 11 members including horns, flutes, and strings.
He also fronts the agit-prop-prog-pop outfit THE SORT OFs whose much praised 2006 debut "Anxiety on Parade" detailed the human waste of the post-modern political landscape.
In his spare time he's been known to fill the role of multi-instrumentalist with The Imprints, Norfolk & Western, and Rachel Taylor Brown. He's also appeared as a session player on over a dozen releases and recently produced Little Beirut's sophomore effort "High Dive". He enjoys full contact banking, circuit bending, and watching Battlestar Galactica with his wife Kristiana. Much to their dismay, their cat Fellini is a big fan of Jason Mraz.
Chris Robley & The Fear of Heights's Friend Space (Top 8)
Chris Robley & The Fear of Heights has 2111 friends.
Hey hey, what's happenin?! Yeah, things are good...moved up to Sacramento and started singing. The band is still really young, but we've gotten off to a pretty good start. Hoping to head your way early Fall. How are things with you and the music? When are you going to be in this area next??
Hi Chris. We pick your show at Doug Fir and feature the song, "User-Friendly Guide to Change" on our latest podcast. The podcast also includes an interview with Thao Nguyen along with other great music from shows in Portland this week. Find it at:
sunuvabitch. i missed your DF show cause i thought it was tonight instead. dammit. well, was great to catch you in SD and hang in LA. The album sounds incredible. Rock on. -matt b
Chris Robley's Friday show at Mississippi Studios is picked on the Concert Co-Op Podcast for the week of March 23rd, 2009.
The Concert Co-Op Podcast runs down notable shows happening in Portland area each week.
This week's show features music from:
OK Go
Herman Dune
Shout Out Out Out Out
Bark Hide and Horn
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Pigeon John
and Grey Anne
As well as interviews with:
David Ivar of Herman Dune
Nik Kozub of Shout Out Out Out Out
Peter Valois of Bark Hide and Horn
and Anne Adams of Grey Anne
Podcasts are radio shows that you download as MP3s and listen to whenever you want. Search for "Concert Co-Op" on iTunes and click the "subscribe" button. You'll automatically get the show each Sunday when it comes out.
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