Judson Claiborne
Time and Temperature
LSE 017 CD/LP
Following his self-released solo debut, Before Midnight
Scholar, Chicago's Judson Claiborne continues to document the
phenomenon of personal transformation with Time and Temperature,
his new record on La Société Expéditionnaire.
Each song mirrors the greater truths of introspection through unique
tales of characters encountered along Judson’s journey. A
remote viewer, working for the CIA, struggles to maintain his relationship
with his wife as he travels through time and space. A faded barkeep
leaves for the desert to help minimize the number of immigrant border
crossing deaths. A literature student falls in love so deeply that
he eats his partner to absorb her qualities. An artist violently
deconstructs on an urban expressway in protest.
The distant melancholy familiar to listeners of Low Skies (Judson's
previous band) has grown into emerging layers of song in the tradition
of troubadours, journeymen, country-western stars and master-less
wanderers. The roots of country and folk are palatable, but a very
modern sense of uncertainty drains any refuge taken from the dusty
nostalgia of lost eras. Time and Temperature is the finest
blend of Indie Folk with progressive abandon, as the ghosts of the
Great Ones smile down on Judson Claiborne with a nod and a wink.
The artwork is a collaborative effort between the band and New York
based Photographer Sarah Wilmer. She is an artist who creates strange,
dark, and beautiful images with esoteric, mystical narratives weaved
throughout, a perfect marriage of music and photography. Images
were created using props, costumes, space, etc. inspired by small
details and overall themes from the songs themselves. The crew spent
three days playing in the woods near the Michigan shore to create
the right environments for the photographs.
Time and Temperature began in the summer of '08 and was
finished by spring of '09 in the band’s hometown of Chicago,
IL. They worked at Carterco Recording (drummer Jamie Carter’s
studio) and at Soma EMS (John McEntire’s studio) with engineer
Tim Iseler (Wilco, Iron and Wine, The Swell Season) at the helm.
Ronnie Kuller and Jeff Thomas, both of the infamous circus punk
marching band, Mucca Pazza, make substantial contributions to the
songs. Jeff wrote and conducted the horn and string arrangements
while Ronnie played violin and sang harmony throughout the record.
The album features a cover of “The Woman Inside of Me”
by New Zealand singer/songwriter Chris Knox.
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