Thursday, June 22, 2006

Indio -"Big Harvest" [1989] @256 Excellent and very rare Art-Pop

Indio can be classified under your One Hit Wonders folder. No one knows for sure why Indio’s leader, canadian Gordon Peterson, disappeared from the face of the earth after making such a fantastic album. Some have compared this work to the likes of Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon, but that comparison could be misleading. Certainly he used World Music elements in the song-building process as they did in the late 80's but his marvelous voice and exquisite arrangements make this album a unique listening experience. Indio was not a band but a gathering of virtuosos, under peterson's command. That differs from the above mentioned artists' way of making music.

Big Harvest is Pop oriented, yes, but don’t let that scare you. There’s good Pop around and this is certainly one of the best examples ever of what good Pop should be. Excellent lyrics, great song writing, edgy progressive and eastern elements here and there.

Un fortunately Peterson never resurfaced. It an very short statement (perhaps apochryphal) he said that he couldn’t cope with the pressures of the music industry. (nervous breakdown, maybe?). Anyway he’s alive and kicking and rumours of new songs float in the air.

Read the line up of the album and you’ll wonder, like myself, why this guy never got to be a superstar:

Gordon Peterson: Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Choir, Chorus, Producer, Chant, Art Direction, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Strings
L. Subramaniam: Violin
Vinnie Colaiuta: Drums
Alex “Neciosup” acuña : Percussion
Brenda Russell: Chorus
Bill Dillon: Chant, Guitar, Mandolin
Adrain Brett: Wood winds
David Bottrill: Engineering
Larry Klein: Bass
Manny Elias: Percussion, Drums
Tony Pleeth: Cello
Van Dyke Parks : Accordion
Produced by David Rhodes, who also played guitar

I believe this album is one of the great mysteries of the history of Good Music.

Highly recommended.

>>>Links in comments<<<
Indio - The Grinding Wheel...

15 comments:

Jaime Antonio Alvarez said...

Link to Indio - Big Harvest

http://tinyurl.com/jpa5m

Anonymous said...

H: too many Thunderstorms here to listen all the way through,
but sounds as if I'll like it more and more! Thanks & Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Great album, long time no hear 'cos I lost my tape...

Thanks

Anonymous said...

One of the most amazing albums ever! I kept hearing the song "Hard Sun" on JACK FM here in the Toronto area, loved it, and started searching for the album. Finally found it on Ebay. The CD isn't available from the record company anymore. Beautifully produced, lush vocals and instrumentation. Haunting lyrics. Such a shame that this album and artist weren't marketed properly. I think Gordon Peterson could have become a major star. Perhaps he didn't want that. To my ears the album sounds like a mixture of Sting, Peter Gabriel, and a little bit of Brian Ferry. I'm going to wear out this CD so I've already made 2 copies!

Anonymous said...

Hi

What a great blog !
and such great music !

I found here lot of music I only had in vinyl, long time ago...
could it be possible to have Indio again, no longer available coz of
"Inactivity-timeout exceeded"

Anonymous said...

hi man, could you repost the link? thanks?

Anonymous said...

This sounds so great. Please can we have a repost.

Cheers

Lilo

John said...

Can you repost Indio's Big Harvest please?

Anonymous said...

Yes, could you please repost this? Please? :(

Anonymous said...

Yes, could you please repost this? Please :(

Anonymous said...

A repost of this would be great - especially in light of Eddie Vedders new cover of Hard Sun. Thanks!

Angela said...

still dl'ing

but heres a piece of work that peterson recently did: http://www.geocities.com/saveforthememory/this_way_down_j30fx16_mp3.mp3

its good and we might take this as some sense of reason behind his intentional absence.

Anonymous said...

I have a promotional copy of the CD "Big Harvest"
and will sell it reasonable.

Anonymous said...

great post, great blog: great thanks

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Gupta5

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