Robbins, J.

Robbins, J.

Basilisk

Dischord

***Eleven songs by J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines). Recorded at his Baltimore-based studio, The Magpie Cage, between 2021 and 2022 with the assistance of Brooks Harlan (bass), Darren Zentek (drums), Gordon Withers (cello and guitar), John Haggerty (guitar) and Dave Hadley (pedal steel). J. Robbins on Basilisk: 2020 gave us the pandemic, which despite all its awfulness also gave me a lot of opportunities to write and demo music—but everyone was terrified to get into the same room together to play. Finally, around February of 2021, I called up Brooks Harlan and Darren Zentek and asked if they be down to meet me at the studio and do a 2-day session and see how it turns out. Brooks and Darren were into the idea—we were all in full cabin fever mode at that point and dying to do anything—so I sent them the demos and we did it. The musical connection had always already been there, but the energy that came from all being in the same room doing this together—something we had just spent a year wondering if we’d ever get to do again—was wonderful. It felt like having been lost in the desert, and then finding an oasis. I’ve never been so happy with a session—both the results and the experience, and the out- come was exactly what I had wanted: something more stripped down and very immediate. We were all fired up and we did a second session in March 2022. In the interim I enlisted some...

Robbins, J.

Un-becoming

Dischord

***New white vinyl pressing!!!  J. ROBBINS has been the guitarist/singer and primary songwriter (or pushiest collaborator) in several bands since the early ’90s, including JAWBOX, BURNING AIRLINES, CHANNELS and OFFICE OF FUTURE PLANS. He has also played bass for GOVERNMENT ISSUE and the Vic Bondi project, REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY. For the bulk of that time, he has also been active as a recording engineer/producer, working with musicians from around the world at his Baltimore-based studio, the Magpie Cage. J. started performing as a solo artist around 2010, making occasional low-key releases on Bandcamp and contributing to two benefit compilations that were released on Germany’s Arctic Rodeo Records. Un-Becoming—which came together in short bursts of activity spread out over the long stretch between 2016 and 2019—is his first full-length solo record. On 11 of the LP’s 12 songs, J. is joined by PETER MOFFETT on drums, BROOKS HARLAN on bass, and GORDON WITHERS on cello and guitar.