LEWIS - L’AMOUR
RAJ
tenacious local 7,783 Posts
In 1983, a man named Lewis recorded an album named L’Amour, which was released on the unknown label R.A.W. And that’s about all we know.
The record itself is a delicate, whispered album, reflecting the way the artist himself – spectral, movie star-like – almost disappears into the grey of the cover. It should come as no surprise that it failed to shout loudly enough to be noticed, another private press album that sank without trace.
The ingredients are simple: smooth synthesizers, feather-light piano, ethereal, occasionally inaudible vocals and the gentle plucking of acoustic guitars. But the effects are arresting: a spine-tingling, sombre album that echoes Springsteen’s Nebraska or Angelo Badalamenti’s atmospheric soundtracks. Later, Arthur Russell would grasp for something similar on the epochal World Of Echo LP.
L’Amour is a true discovery of the blog age, uncovered in an Edmonton flea-market by collector Jon Murphy, passed on to private press fanatic Aaron Levin, shared on the internet and speculated over by lovers of curious LPs. There’s almost no information about Lewis or the album on the internet. There’s precious little on the sleeve: a dedication to Sports Illustrated supermodel Christie Brinkley, a photo credit for Ed Colver, the noted L.A. punk rock photographer, and credits for engineer Bob Kinsey and synth player Philip Lees. All that was known of Lewis is conjecture: a rumor that he was a con artist who fled after not paying for L’Amour’s photo-shoot and a dubious theory that he was not actually of this earth.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jv9wm93kajj65n/Lewis-L’amour.zip?dl=0
Comments
LOL, after a write-up like that I have to give this a listen. Bravo!
I head of Lewis first through the guy who worked/ran on of the record stores on my city.
He thought id did it, so played me online clips, I wasn't feeling it.
Weeks/months pass and I get interested in the back story of the album, I mean it was being hyped everywhere.
I hear another sound clip from the album, and this time it grabs me.
I eventually end up buying the re-issued album from the guy who played me the clips original.
I play the album from time to time and really enjoy it. It fits in with some if the weird ambient/DIY bits I buy.