for every oneThis Sunday, Jon and his ensemble will be performing with the inimitable Irish crooner Jack Lukeman, who will be performing songs off his new album The 27 Club.
Show is guest list only, and there are limited spots available. Jon performs at 6:30 PM, followed by Jack at 7:30 PM. Please RSVP in advance at the Mercury Lounge site here.
Read the full Flipside review here:
“What does strike you is DeRosa’s capable crooning. Sounding not unlike a teen-idol and writing like a stalwart, this man is equal parts Neil Hannon, Richard Hawley, Scott Walker (the ’60s version), Bobby Darin and DeRosa himself…”
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Read the full Happening review here:
“In essence, A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes is a beautiful collision between the dark dreaminess of Echo & The Bunnymen, and the orchestrated pop ballads of the 50s and early 60s, polished off with some natty 40s vocal styling – all of which has influenced 33-year-old DeRosa down the years. Mostly sombre in tone, the album also reveals flashes of pop perfection, such as opener ‘Birds of Brooklyn’, which manages to walk the wobbly line between being instantly agreeable yet understated enough to avoid a sugary aftertaste.”
Tuesday, December 18th
Bowery Electric
327 Bowery @ 2nd St. NYC
Doors 6 PM / NO COVER!
Join us as we perform our last show of 2012, with the full orchestral ensemble to boot! Jon will be performing at 9 PM, but come early for a music-filled evening with the latest and greatest of Mother West, some new friends, DJ’s and more..
Also performing will be Cold Blood Club, Tom Shaner, Raccoon Fighter, Kris Gruen and John LT. Featuring special guests: We Are The Woods.
Early jazz set by Michael Feinberg and Steve Brickman & DJ sets by Gillian Driscoll of Sound Dessert and DJ Cmon.
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A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes limited edition vinyl still available: Mother West Records
CD available on Rocket Girl Records via Darla Records in the US / Rough Trade in the UK
For updates and performance schedule: Jon DeRosa on Facebook and Twitter.
Excerpted below, read the full review here:
“Jon DeRosa’s latest album A Wolf in Preacher’s Clothes is sort of the missing link between Jarvis Cocker and Leonard Cohen…This one finds him alternating between dark, lushly crooned, Scott Walker-inflected chamber pop and more minimalist, postpunk-tinged, distantly creepy rock. Violinist Claudia Chopek’s string arrangements – also featuring Julia Kent on cello – are to die for, a rich, velvety chocolate truffle for the ears. Overhead, DeRosa’s nuanced, cat-ate-the-canary baritone lingers, sometimes ominous, sometimes with more than a hint of rakishness. And he paints a hell of a picture…”
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Limited edition vinyl still available: Mother West Records
CD available on Rocket Girl Records via Darla Records in the US / Rough Trade in the UK
For updates and performance schedule: Jon DeRosa on Facebook and Twitter.
Mike Madrigal and The Magic Motion Music Company present “Olivia”!
A new monthly event featuring Live Music, Burlesque Performances, Video Art & Cinema…
Jon DeRosa will be performing songs from his new album A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes at 9:30 PM.
Other musical acts include Facecrimes, Autodrone and Eddie The Gun. Featuring living Art Installation of the Garden of Eden and hosted by Mike Furey, Dalton Flint, Allison Wonderland and MC Super Jem.
“Olivia” is held at R-Bar on 218 Bowery in New York City. Tickets and information available at the official site here.
Read the full review here:
When Jon DeRosa croons “don’t say goodnight” in the song of the same name – his rich voice tempting an unnamed companion for one last drink in an emptying bar-room – the soulful seduction puts into images A Wolf…‘s overriding atmosphere. Continuing the romantic night-music style established on last year’s Anchored EP, DeRosa’s first album under his own name confirms the New Jerseyite as an estimable find.
Both lyrics and delivery of “True Men” convey vintage interests (name-checking Robert Mitchum and William Holden and smoothly singing “I’ve played the part, I’ve played the fool” like a lovesick Sinatra), as does a smoky, jazz-flecked version of The Blue Nile’s “Easter Parade.” Elsewhere, there are echoes of Stephin Merritt (with whom DeRosa worked on Showtunes) and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, so while it would be a push to describe this as a unique record, it’s no exaggeration to call it an excellent one.
Read the full review here:
A strong strain of pop classicism and a certain quantity of melancholy runs through this record. DeRosa’s deep, resonant voice reminds you first of Scott Walker and Richard Hawley but it’s not fanciful to go further back, to singers like Sinatra and Tony Bennett, especially when you hear DeRosa on his versions of the Blue Nile ’s ‘Easter Parade’ or the LD Beghtol song ‘Who Decides?’ The literate chamber pop – ‘True Men’ references Robert Mitchum and William Holden and is the source of the album’s title – puts you in mind of Stephin Merritt’s work while the orchestration is well-sourced, featuring a host of players including cellist Julia Kent from Antony & the Johnsons and Jon Natchez on trumpet. It’s a far cry from DeRosa’s ambient-pop project Aarktica.
Wolf… resurrects classic pop tropes, avoiding cliché or parody; ‘Say Goodnight’ is a lovesong with an unsalacious twist while ‘Teenage Goths’ is an insistent showtune despite the quirky title. But the standout song is the opening track; ‘Birds of Brooklyn’ is like the 60s as interpreted by Echo and the Bunnymen, accompanied by strings and brass, comfortably straddling the decades so that it sounds both classically old and glisteningly new. As a taster for the record, fans of the Magnetic Fields, Richard Hawley and late 60s Scott Walker (Scotts 3 and 4) should make a date to hear it.
Jon DeRosa is featured in this week’s WNYC Soundcheck blog!
For nearly fifteen years, Jon DeRosa has written and recorded ambient works and sometimes shoegazey instrumental soundscapes under the name Aarktica. [Full disclosure: I contributed to one of those albums, years ago]. Now, he’s shed the pseudonym and stepped up to the mic. The Danzig-loving songwriter presents like a post-punk Sinatra on his new album A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes — a record that was self-released last year, and is now getting wider distribution. But this musical shift is not as dramatic a turn as it sounds.
On songs like “Snow Coffin,” — featuring cellist Julia Kent — DeRosa crafts brooding arrangements under a noir storytelling sensibility. And with lyrics like “Got a knife, got a hunting blade too…Not much time before she awakes in my snow coffin tonight,” DeRosa tells a chilling tale of wintry violence with a disarming sweetness.
Visit WNYC Soundcheck online to download “Snow Coffin” off the album A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes, available November 5th throughout Europe on Rocket Girl Records!
And if you’re in the NYC area, Jon and his full band will be performing Sunday, November 4th at Rockwood Music Hall! Advance tickets and show information available here.
We’re pleased to announce that Jon DeRosa has signed with Rocket Girl Records in the UK!
Rocket Girl will release A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes on CD November 5th throughout Europe. It will also be available in the US via Darla Records. The first single “Birds of Brooklyn” (pictured left) will be available digitally throughout Europe on October 15th. The B-side will be DeRosa’s cover of the Nick Charles track “Sunday Jealous.”
Copies of the limited US vinyl edition of A Wolf… are still available through Mother West Records.
From Leonard’s Lair in the UK:
“Upon encountering Jon DeRosa’s music, courtesy of last year’s Anchored EP, it was hard not to draw parallels between his journey and that of Richard Hawley. Both were largely unknown for their vocals in the early part of their career and then came to the forefront as modern day crooners some time later. A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes is DeRosa’s first album and one wonders why his voice was hid away for so long.
The New Yorker’s delivery is rich, expressive and elegant like The Divine Comedy‘s Neil Hannon when he wasn’t being too theatrical.’Birds Of Brooklyn,’ ‘Ladies In Love,’ and ‘Teenage Goths’ revel in 1960′s classy trappings and ‘True Men’ harks back to the crooners of at least a decade further back. There’s even a respectful and very lovely cover of The Blue Nile‘s ‘Easter Parade,’ which emphasises the stark beauty of the original but also introduces a tender American viewpoint.
However, as it happens, DeRosa impresses most on the most modern-sounding material.’Snow Coffin’ came from the earlier EP and stands out for its light but insistent post-punk rumble whilst excellent last track, ‘Hollow Earth Theory.’ emphasises his indie songsmith credentials. A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes is undoubtedly a classy album and the arrangements wisely put DeRosa’s vocals to the forefront. Having said that, if more risks were taken and he concentrates on post-1980′s styles and beyond, DeRosa could be pushed into levels of further greatness.”
