Porter Block
Porter Block is a Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter who on his fourth studio album was in search of a new challenge. Deeply ingrained in the New York indie music scene, he recognized the creativity blossoming all around him and wanted to make an album that was both a dedication to the area in Brooklyn where he lives and records music as well as a musical conversation between songwriters. The result is The Gowanus Yacht Club.
The Gowanus Canal is known throughout the borough as one of the more environmentally disturbing parts of Brooklyn. For this reason itself, the small beer garden Gowanus Yacht Club receives patronage simply due to the irony in a name. But the waterway is part of Brooklyn and therefore part of the residents and a part of Block.
The Gowanus Yacht Club (Engine Room Recordings) was titled as both an homage to the beer garden that sits just steps away from the studio where Block recorded the album but also to the canal itself--with the cover art serving as a slight reference to The Beach Boy's 1973 album "Holland" with the image of Kromme Waal, a canal that runs through Amsterdam.
Block's second album release in 2009 is a collection of collaborations between Block and a handful of talented NYC-based singer/songwriters. This series of inspired encounters provides an indie-folk rock version of what was Herbie Hancock's Possibilities. Guests include: Wes Hutchinson, Paul Basil (Great Elk), Casey Shea, Angela McCluskey, Jason Rabinowitz (The Bloodsugars), Nate Campany, Terry Radigan and more. The album is a cohesive unit; at no point does it feel like eleven songs by eleven artists--it is a blending of musical sensibilities to its very best. "I wanted to start something new," Block explains, "and I thought it would be a great way to work with these artists, some of whom I knew, some of whom I had never met before in my life."
The Gowanus Yacht Club opens with "Youth's Magic Horn" featuring Paul Basil, an uptempo multi-layered song made complete with Basil's uniquely gravelly voice. "Got to Get Back" is a testament to Block's adherence to the honest forging of creative collaborations with each musician as the song rings true to the sound that Shea exudes in his own music. It is an airy heartfelt tune in line with the pleasingly reminiscent sound of musicians gone by. "Your Heart is a Broken Thing" is the only duet created with a non-New Yorker--Angela McCluskey. Block refers to the song as the "red-headed stepchild" on the album--one he loves to equal if not stronger measure to the others. The song was written by Block and Luke Janklow with McCluskey's gritty and soulful voice in mind.
Block credits the entire process as a "smashing creative success." Heralding it as an uplifting experience he says that "the whole project just emphasized, whatever that horrible cliche is, that music is the universal language." TheGowanus Yacht Club is on the whole one of the more interesting and worthwhile albums of the year. In this time of single downloads and bleak futures for the concept of whole albums, Block has tapped into the resources around him to create a record that begs to be played in its entirety and perhaps on repeat.
Block went on tour earlier this month supporting Mike Doughty with the intention to take Gowanus out of the city, traveling to 16 different cities. He wanted to share his ode to the borough with those who just might not get the titular reference. This Halloween, he will be back in New York City at Le Poisson Rouge at 8pm. The show will be streamed live on StreamJam's facebook application starting at 7:30pm EST for those who don't live in NYC or are a bit too frightened to manage the crowd from the parade.
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