Decoration Day

The Decoration Day EP is Town and Country's second release and their first on Thrill Jockey. It expands their all-acoustic instrumentation from the guitar, harmonium and 2 string basses of the first release to Josh Abrams on contrabass, piano and kalimba, Liz Payne on piano, snare drum and guitar, Jim Dorling on harmonium and celeste and Ben Vida on guitar and accordian. (The EP was recorded while Liz was recovering from a woodshop hand injury that prevented her from playing the contrabass, she's playing it again at the time of this writing) The four met on the Wicker Park improvised music scene and began playing as a group in January 1997.

On Decoration Day, Town and Country has coaxed their back-porch minimalism out into the café. The layered, unhurried drones developed on the first release now function to resolve through-composed pointillist melodies. Inspired by the music of Morton Feldman and Franco Batiato, Town and Country continues to present music in which the slightest changes are strongly felt.