In the summer of 2016, Seattle WA band Crystal Desert teamed up with producer Simon Nicol to create a series of recordings which explore the darker corners of their manic psychedelic rock sound. Originally released incrementally as singles on limited-run cassettes, all of the BLACK SUMMER songs are now available here as a definitive collection.
Coming off of a tour in support of the "Four Corners: A Split" compilation and their February 2016 debut EP "What Is Crystal Desert?," the band invested their energy into a series of songwriting and audio recording experiments which became the BLACK SUMMER sessions. All of the songs were recorded in pairs in the foyer of a 115 year old house in Everett, WA. Each pair of songs makes use of a different set of audio engineering techniques.
from
BLACK SUMMER,
released September 24, 2016
:: Ryan Alexander - Guitar & Vocals ::
:: Josh Ihler - Drums ::
:: Christian Smith - Bass ::
:: Recorded in Everett, WA ::
:: Produced by Simon Nicol & Crystal Desert ::
:: Mixed by Simon Nicol & Crystal Desert ::
:: Mastered by Levi Seitz @ Black Belt Mastering ::
:: All songs written by Crystal Desert ::
:: Lyrics by R. Alexander ::
:: Track 3 originally written by Wipers ::
:: Tracks 5 & 6 Produced by S. Nicol, Crystal Desert, & Alex Taschereau ::
:: Additional vocals on Track 5 by J. Ihler & C. Smith ::
:: Additional lyrics on Track 5 by J. Ihler ::
:: Additional keyboard on Track 6 by R. Alexander & C. Smith ::
:: Additional percussion on Track 6 by J. Ihler ::
:: Art & design by R. Alexander ::