The Hornbook

Description

Although his journey on this terrestrial plane has taken him from his native Alaska to Utah, through Quebec, Portland, and on to Hawaii where he currently resides (for the next five minutes at least), Gus Englehorn is ultimately a citizen of Planet Gus, a strange universe created by a collision between serene beauty and apocalyptic chaos, populated by folk heroes, frightening characters, and oversized insects. A critically acclaimed indie-rock singer-songwriter, he spent much of his life as a professional snowboarder, but always dreamed of writing songs. Accompanied by his wife Estée Preda, his main collaborator with whom he produces his albums and creates music videos, his approach is visceral, subconscious, and, much like his snowboarding career, risk-taking and unapologetic. The Hornbook magically transmutes the entire history of 20th-century rock 'n' roll—the old 50s hits, 60s garage, 70s glam flamboyance, 80s indie transgression, 90s lo-fi weirdness—into an extraterrestrial transmission from the future. The Hornbook was largely written in Maui but recorded in Montreal with producer Mark Lawson. For fans of The Unicorns.