Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, his indie rock trio with Shahzad Ismaily and Ches Smith, have announced a new album, “Connection”, which will be out July 14th via Knockwurst Records. This is their fifth album and Ribot calls it “the best thing we’ve ever done;” it features guest appearances from Syd Straw, keyboardist Anthony Coleman, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, organist Greg Lewis, clarinetist Oscar Noriega, and cellist Peter Sachon.
The first single is the album’s blistering title track. “This song’s (and the album’s) title began with a sculpture by our friend (and Ceramic Dog bassist Shahzad Ismaily’s daughter) Anika (age 6),” says Ribot. “A kind of house made by sticking toothpicks into Halloween candies. It’s an odd shaped house, kind of like the frame of a geodesic dome…if it wasn’t a dome. The little structure is home to a drawing of a smiling gingerbread man. Very homey. But, as we all know, it was the gingerbread man’s problematic home that caused him to ‘run as fast as he can.’ And what struck us about this home, apart from its odd beauty, was the fragility of its toothpick design, in which Anika perfectly captured the fragility of our contemporary attempts at human connection, the shadow hanging over our post-everything ‘homes.’ Everything else, the words, and the beat — which, music nerds take note, lays a 4/4 drum beat on top of a 3/4 melody — came later.
Marc Ribot Ceramic Dog Vocals, Composer, Lyricist, Guitars: Marc Ribot Drums, Composer: Ches Smith Vocals, Composer, Bass: Shazad Ismaily
Released on: 2023-05-22
The Fat Angel Sings 