Cotton Mather are reuniting for a series of home town shows this week in Austin, Texas.The band will play the shows in celebration of the deluxe re-issue of the their influential 1997 album Kontiki, starting with a headlining spot at the yearly Art Disaster event at Beauty Bar on Tuesday, March 13th.
NME recently named Kontiki as #2 on it's list of "100 Great Albums You Never Heard," and NPR's "All Things Considered" will air a story today (Tuesday) all about the history of the influential album.
All of this hubbub for a record that while termed a reissue, is actually thought of by band leader Robert Harrison as being issued for the first time. "People have certain assumptions when they hear 're-release,'" says Harrison. "But, if our US label at the time only printed two thousand copies and sent it to rarified writers and overseas, was it ever released in the US at all?"
While the record was never given much of a chance commercially in America, in the UK the album was an instant smash in the press, earning raves from Mojo, Uncut and The Guardian upon its European release. When Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis discovered the record, they talked about it in interviews, and ultimately invited Cotton Mather on tour.
"We were a band operating with a punk rock ethos that eschewed music industry convention and embraced the garage as laboratory in the age before Pro-Tools. The headlines in Europe at the time were all 'Holy s***! It's four-track cassette?'"
Reunite dates at Corp Music Conference
03/13 Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar (617 E. 7th) Fanatic Presents: Art Disaster at SXSW 2012, 12AM
03/14 Austin, TX @ The Four Seasons Hotel (98 San Jacinto Blvd.) KUT Presents, 10AM
03/14 Austin, TX @ Gingerman Pub (301 Lavaca St.) SXSW 2012, Blurt Magazine Party, 5PM
03/16 Austin, TX @ The Dogwood (715 W 6th St.) Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie Showcase, 530PM
03/17 Austin, TX @ Soho Lounge (217 E. 6th St.) SXSW 2012, Official Showcase, 9PM