CUP is the duo of Nels Cline (the guitarist/composer best known for his work with Wilco) and Yuka C Honda (the composer/keyboardist/programmer best known for her work with Cibo Matto). Combining aspects of electronica, folk, improvisation, and some heated rocking, this debut recording—perhaps predictably—defies easy categorization. But fear not! Contained within this package is a sometimes sweet, sometimes jarring, but always compelling excursion into what a shared sensibility sounds like, and after taking the journey that is ‘Spinning Creature’ it all feels just right as CUP's music veers from the accessible to the abstract and back.
‘Spinning Creature’ was recorded in about three days in Brooklyn. In the last several years, Nels and Yuka had performed some of the songs included on this record, while always leaving room for improvisation in their sets as well. This recording was approached with those same parameters. Thus, one hears songs with lyrics and some semblance of song structure as well as pieces that were created spontaneously. A significant bonus factor in the recording process is that Yuka could take tracks to her home studio and give them the "Eucademix" treatment, meaning to sculpt details of the tracks, adding her often meticulous sound production while still honoring the live performance aspects. This balance is what CUP music is all about. Nels and Yuka (who are married, by the way) even sing a little here and there as they enter their singular sound world. And now you can enter it, too!
credits
released November 1, 2019
SPINNING CREATURE
Produced by CUP
Recorded at FIGURE 8 RECORDING Brooklyn by Eli Crews
Additional recording and editing at EUCADEMIX LAB by Yuka C. Honda
Tracks 2, 4, 5, and 6 written by (N. Cline, Y. Honda) Nebsonic Music/BMG (ASCAP) / Luminescent Invertebrate Music (BMI)
Tracks 1, 3, and 7 written by (N. Cline) Nebsonic Music/BMG (ASCAP)
“Baby Please Don’t Leave Me” by Buddy Guy. Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.
Thank you to Buttercup, Sean Ono Lennon, Josh Grier, Brandon and Olivia Locher, Eli Crews, all the good people who worked on this record with us, all of our friends and family.
Thanks also to Universal Audio, GHS strings, Red Panda Lab, Expedition Electronics.
CUP is the duo of Nels Cline (the guitarist/composer best known for his work with Wilco) and Yuka C Honda (the composer/keyboardist/programmer best known for her work with Cibo Matto).
supported by 21 fans who also own “Spinning Creature”
Mary Halvorson is a genius composer and guitarist who has developed her own musical language, and with Code Girl she has incorporated poetry into that language. Incredible compositions and lyricism (each track is a different kind of poem). Halvorson's playing is as great as usual, and all the other members of the band sound great. Robert Wyatt's singing in particular works extremely well in the tracks he's featured. Highly, highly recommend. rat