Coloma is the collaboration between singer/lyricist Rob Taylor and producer/composer Alex Paulick. Though originally from England, the two spent a period of musical education and discovery in Cologne, Germany, where Taylor is still based. Paulick flits between Berlin, the UK and his teenage hometown in California (a few miles from the Gold Rush town of Coloma). This geographical caprice is without doubt one key to the Coloma sound.

The fourth Coloma album is a song cycle with recurring harmonic and rhythmic themes. Lyrically, Love's Recurring Dream is a narrative chronicling the phases of a romance, which symbolically runs over the course of a year. In the twelve songs, singer Rob Taylor follows the progress of the seasons from spring, summer and autumn to winter, with the implicit promise that a new spring will follow. For the recording, a group of musicians was assembled in San Francisco for improvisational sessions that make up the body of the album. Precise editing by producer Alex Paulick brings coherence to these spontaneous takes, with performances ebbing and flowing between rather loose and artificially tight. Under the influence of co-producer Bacchus Marteau, female backing vocals, harpsichords and vibraphones were added to the fold. Pristine mixes by Marcus Schmickler (PLURAMON) ensure that this ambitious contrast of sounds remains delicately balanced.

Artist: Coloma
Title: Love's Recurring Dream
Format: CD / Digital
Label: ITALIC
Cat. No.: ITA083
Release date: 23 February 2009

Words and music by Taylor/Paulick. Produced and arranged by Alexander Paulick with Bacchus Marteau. Robert Taylor - vocal Alexander Paulick - bass guitar, lap steel Nolan Churn - drums Rusty Miller - dry electric guitar, marimba, organ Dave Brockman - Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, piano Ben Fargen - electric guitar atmospherics Chris Ross - realtime effects, synthesizer Benedikt Filleböck - harpsichord Gabriele Jüttner - vibraphone Hayden Chisholm - bass clarinet, clarinet Michael Pappagallo - clarinet, bass clarinet Kim Witt - oboe Marian Haste - backing vocals Anna Wren - backing vocals.

Basic sessions recorded at Hyde Street Studios, San Francisco by Gabriel Shepard and The Hangar, Sacramento by Chris Ross. Overdubs recorded at Transporterraum, Berlin by Ben Lauber and Piethopraxis, Cologne by Marcus Schmickler. Additional studio support by Stephen Armstrong, Jeff Cleland, John Baccigaluppi, Wes Steed, Moses Schneider, Tyler Pope, Bob Humid, David Nash and Juan Tanoira. Mix and additional production by Marcus Schmickler at Piethopraxis, Cologne. Mastered by Michael Schwabe at Monoposto, Düsseldorf. Sculpture by Min Stiller. Photo by Roman Schramm.

℗ 2009 Italic Recordings © 2009 Italic Songs