Program

Decimus has existed as an entity for some years, privately kept secret in the abyss of New York darkest creation.

It is a new recording project from the Brooklyn based Pat Murano, member of underground weird rock/improv gang NO NECK BLUES BAND, Malkuth, K-Salvatore & Key of Shame. DECIMUS is a serious slow burn. Loops of effects laden vocals meet with wandering synths, and electronic melodies with no home to go to, all over sheets of ambient drone.

Dark psychedelia designed to alternately disorient and elate by synthetic means.

"Name any rock band and chances are you can connect its music back to some formal antecedent--Chuck Berry, the Velvet Underground, the Beatles or even just the blues. Sightings are unburdened by--even outside of--that history. The trio's lineup is as basic as they come: drummer, bassist, guitarist who sings. It's just that those elements seem based on some intuitive science that the rest of humanity hasn't quite gotten hip to yet." - Mike Wolf, Time Out New York

Crafting a lasting personal aesthetic in the midst of our ephemeral music culture is as rare as it is cause for celebration. With the release of City of Straw Brooklyn's Sightings can be counted among the few contemporary bands who have forged a unique voice amongst the racket.

Recorded over a number of months in 2009 at The Ocropolis (Oneida's Brooklyn, NY studio), the band's seventh studio album becomes the crucible from which their grandest and most coherent statement finally emerges.

Sightings has never presented a particularly welcoming façade and their sui generis music has perhaps been passed over by less discerning listeners over the eleven years of their existence, but throughout this they have created a singular body of work appreciated and touted by the likes of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Andrew WK. If you've missed the boat up until now - City of Straw is the ideal venue to experience the band's mastery of extreme timbres, astounding instrumental prowess and yes, extraordinary song-craft.

Sightings will insist (and we agree wholeheartedly) that at their core they are a rock band working within the context of pop song-craft. As bassist Richard Hoffman told us recently, "I think everyone in the band tries to remember the value of minimalism. Ultimately I think we try to write pop music, where there's no chaff and everything has a place."

With a deep reach beyond the spirit of their influence from greats like Birthday Party, Dead C and Jesus Lizard, City of Straw finds Sightings working at the peak of their creative powers and is the perfect re-introduction to one of New York's most accomplished bands.

Reviews :
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14134-city-of-straw/
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5644
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/sightings-city-straw
http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/sightings/city-of-straw/38230/

Interviews :
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2010/05/24/100524crmu_music_frerejones
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/sightings
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2010/02/announcing_the_1.php
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A78807

Live review :
http://yourfleshmag.com/music/the-mystery-of-sightings/