GROUPER
TEXT: Edward Smith  |||  PHOTO: Scott McMillan  |||  LABEL: Room40

Grouper—a.k.a. Portland, Oregon’s Liz Harris—released her first album in 2005, Way Their Crept, to limited but enthusiastic acclaim and has steadily garnered attention until she released Dragging a Dead Deer Up A Hill in 2008, the latest release. This was considered by many reviewers, including those at Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound, as the most notable album of that year. With atmospheric drone and haunting, half-audible lyrics, Grouper creates a dreamscape that conjures visions of dark forests, vast oceans and decaying animals. Dreaming and sleeping are themes that play heavily in the the most recent album and the personal qualities of these states can be heard in the strumming of her guitar and the delicate tolling of a Wurlitzer. The name Grouper comes not from the variety of fish but from Harris’ experience in a California commune or group. The title is a little ironic as her music evokes a feeling of solitude; of waking from—or entering into—a dream. Liken it to the experience of the listener who lying in bed late at night, with headphones on, losing him/herself in the forest or floating to the bottom of the ocean.



DISCOGRAPHY



Way Their Crept (2005)
Wide (2006)
Cover the Windows and the Walls (2007)
Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (2008)

LINKS

+ Grouper on MySpace
+ Grouper website



TOUR

September 05, 2010 • San Francisco, CA Café Du Nord Swedish American Hall
September 23, 2010 • Seattle, WA Pravda Studios
November 04, 2010 • Salford, UK Islington Mill
November 05, 2010 • London, UK Café OTO

Grouper - Hold the Way from Weston Currie on Vimeo.