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Cited two major sources, added some information regarding the production, modified the personnel section, and cleaned up a few other items. Anything in the background section which is not cited comes from Harrison's liner notes from the 'Kontiki Deluxe Edition' CD. I don't know the proper way to cite this.
Missed an error in the Infobox for the album regarding the recording period.
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| alt =
| alt =
| released = November 26, 1997
| released = November 26, 1997
| recorded = 1997
| recorded = 1995-1997
| studio = Alex the Great <small>([[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]])</small></br>Music Lane<ref name="Muze"/> <small>([[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]])</small>
| studio = Alex the Great <small>([[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]])</small></br>Music Lane<ref name="Muze"/> <small>([[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]])</small>
| genre = [[Power pop]]
| genre = [[Power pop]]

Revision as of 09:03, 9 April 2020

Kontiki
Studio album by
Cotton Mather
ReleasedNovember 26, 1997
Recorded1995-1997
StudioAlex the Great (Nashville, Tennessee)
Music Lane[1] (Austin, Texas)
GenrePower pop
Length40:01
LabelCopper Records
ProducerRobert Harrison with Whit Williams and Brad Jones
Cotton Mather chronology
Cotton Is King
(1994) 		Kontiki
(1997) 		Hotel Baltimore
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Austin Chronicle[3]
Boston Phoenix[4]
Mojofavorable[5]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)B+[6]
NME7/10[7]
Optionfavorable[8]
PopMatters8/10[9]
Trouser Pressfavorable[10]
Uncut[1]

Kontiki (sometimes Kon Tiki) is the second studio album by American power-pop band Cotton Mather. It was originally released in 1997 on Copper Records, but did not see any success until it was re-released in 1999 by Rainbow Quartz International. In 2012, it was reissued on the Star Apple Kingdom label, with a bonus CD of extra tracks, as Kontiki Deluxe Edition.[11][12]

The album is named after the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, although Robert Harrison deliberately condensed the name into one word for the album title.

Background and recording

Following the commercial failure of the group's first album, Cotton is King, bassist Matt Hovis and drummer Greg Thibeaux left the group and were replaced by George Reiff and Dana Myzer, respectively, both of whom were involved with several local bands around Austin. Initial recordings with producer Dave McNair did not yield the results that Harrison was looking for, leading McNair to suggest Harrison produce the album himself.[13]

Harrison's friend Joe McDermott owned a small house in Leander, Texas, which had a small recording setup. Harrison and Whit Williams began writing and recording what would become Kontiki at the house, on McDermott's ADAT machine and Harrison's 4-track cassette. At first, Harrison had doubts that the music would be taken seriously due to the quality of the recording gear, but the encouragement of former bassist Matt Hovis towards the material pushed him to continue the recording. Reiff, Myzer, and Darin Murphy contributed to the recordings made in Leander via overdubbing, but the basic tracks of several songs were also recorded live to tape in Harrison's living room, with assistance from Dave McNair.

When the recording was done, Harrison contacted Nashville musician and producer Brad Jones, and the two assembled the album from the various cassettes and ADATs the songs existed on. For his assistance in assembling the album, as well as suggesting and recording several overdubs, Harrison gave Jones a co-production credit. Jones said that if he was listed as a producer, listeners would think that he had done the bulk of the production, rather than Harrison; years later, many sources still mistakenly cite Jones as the album's primary producer.[14]

Release and reception

Kontiki was released on November 26, 1997, on Copper Records. The album received highly positive reviews and was played on independent radio stations, although listeners had difficulty finding the album in stores because Copper had only produced a limited amount of copies. Harrison's disappointment at the poor distribution of the album began to inform the songs he was writing, which would later become The Big Picture.

Following the album's muted release, a copy was played at a party hosted by Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. Noel Gallagher of Oasis, in attendance at the party, tracked down a copy of the album and began to praise Cotton Mather in interviews.[13] Following this, the label Rainbow Quartz International licensed the album and released it in the UK in 1999, along with three singles from it. Cotton Mather performed in the UK, opening for Oasis, in 2000. An electric version of "Spin My Wheels", recorded during the early sessions with Dave McNair, was included on a bonus track on the Japanese CD edition, also released in 1999.

During the group's hiatus, which began in 2003, Kontiki began to grow in stature in underground music circles and among power-pop fans. Artists such as Britt Daniel of Spoon and Nicole Atkins praised the album in interviews, and the song "Lily Dreams On" was used in the 2005 television series Veronica Mars. Inspired by the re-discovery the album was experiencing, and due to the fact that copies of the CD were becoming increasingly hard to find, Harrison launched a Kickstarter project in 2011 to reissue Kontiki with a second CD of bonus tracks. The campaign was a success, and the expanded reissue was released in the spring of 2012. In addition to the bonus disc, Harrison penned an essay in the booklet called "Where Did Kontiki Come From? Recollections of Cotton Mather", which included contributions from Reiff, Myzer, McNair, Murphy, Williams, and Jones.

During the summer of 2019, Harrison provided an in-depth look at the process of writing and recording Kontiki via his Patreon. This included videos discussing the tracks in detail, a home-made CD-R containing the mixes Harrison originally sent to Brad Jones, instrumental mixes of several tracks, and a downloadable folder containing the stems for eight of the album's songs.

Track listing

Original Release

All tracks are written by Robert Harrison

No.TitleLength
1."Camp Hill Rail Operator"3:21
2."Homefront Cameo"3:11
3."Spin My Wheels"3:29
4."My Before And After"2:53
5."Private Ruth"3:04
6."Vegetable Row"5:01
7."Aurora Bori Alice"2:38
8."Church of Wilson"2:01
9."Lily Dreams On"2:50
10."Password"3:12
11."Animal Show Drinking Song"1:16
12."Prophecy for the Golden Age"0:56
13."She's Only Cool"2:31
14."Autumn's Birds"3:37
Total length:40:01

Japanese Release Bonus Track

No.TitleLength
15."Spin My Wheels (Electric Version)"4:07
Total length:44:08

Kontiki Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc

No.TitleLength
1."Homefront Cameo (4-Track)"3:12
2."Pine Box Builder (No. 1)"2:40
3."Camp Hill Rail Operator (Acoustic)"2:41
4."Little Star"5:36
5."Baby Freeze Queen (No. 1)"1:19
6."Altar Boy (Live to ADAT)"2:41
7."Flying Annie's Kite"3:06
8."Innocent Street (Acoustic)"3:11
9."Spin My Wheels (Electric)"3:32
10."Church Of Wilson (4-Track)"1:51
11."Private Ruth (Acoustic)"2:30
12."The Gold Gone Days"2:37
Total length:34:57

Personnel

Musicians

  • Robert Harrison - vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion
  • Whit Williams - vocals, guitar
  • Dana Myzer - drums
  • George Reiff - bass
  • Darin Murphy - drums
  • Brad Jones - percussion
  • Greg Thibeaux - drums on "Vegetable Row"

Technical

  • Robert Harrison - recording, mixing, production
  • Brad Jones - mixing, co-production
  • Whit Williams - co-production
  • John Croslin - recording (drums on "Vegetable Row")
  • Mark Wilder - mastering
  • Dave McNair - recording (bonus disc only)
  • Lars Göransson - mixing, mastering (bonus disc only)

References

  1. ^ a b "Cotton Mather - Kon Tiki CD Album". CD Universe. Muze. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  2. ^ Mason, Stewart; Sendra, Tim. "Kontiki - Cotton Mather". AllMusic. Review. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  3. ^ Toland, Michael (February 10, 2012). "Record Review". The Austin Chronicle. Austin: Austin Chronicle Corp. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  4. ^ Lundy, Zeth (February 14, 2012). "Kontiki [Deluxe Edition] - CD Reviews". Boston Phoenix. Boston: Phoenix Media/Communications Group. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  5. ^ "Review: Kon Tiki". Mojo (64). London: EMAP: 88. March 1999.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (April 13, 2012). "Cotton Mather/Oasis". MSN Music. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  7. ^ "Kontiki". NME. January 25, 1999. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  8. ^ "Cotton Mather - Kon Tiki". Option (79): 82. May–June 1998.
  9. ^ Horowitz, Steve (February 20, 2012). "Cotton Mather: Kontiki (Deluxe Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  10. ^ Horton, Marc. "Cotton Mather". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  11. ^ "Oct 2006, Power Populist, "Cotton Mather" ("a brilliant fusion of the Beatles, Squeeze, and Guided By Voices")".
  12. ^ "Cotton Mather, "Kon Tiki"".
  13. ^ a b "The Album Oasis Wish They'd Made". Live4ever Media. 2017-04-24. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  14. ^ Staff, MAGNET (2016-08-08). "From The Desk Of Cotton Mather: Paul, Ham Sandwich And Brad". Magnet Magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
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