Best known for his work with the seminal avant-garde rock band Hella, Zach Hill is releasing a solo album titled Face Tat, tentatively scheduled to be released October 19th, 2010 by Sargent House.  Guests range from Devendra Banhart, No Age, Prefuse 73, Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, Carson McWhirter from Hella and more.  Pitchfork has posted the latest video off the album, “The Sacto Smile” and you can download the first mp3 from the album here.

Zach Hill explains the concepts behind the album:

“This record was titled prior to any of its music being made, based on an article I had read about people with facial tattoos potentially having a higher suicide rate than those without. I have friends with facial tattoos who are some of the most positive people I know, and have friends & family without facial tattoos that have taken their own lives within this past year. I found that idea very interesting and metaphorical on many levels — whether true or not — and began using my personal thoughts on this as a muse/concept that could be applied to many different contexts. Musically, socially, politically, the Internet, whatever else… generally the idea/concept of ‘platforms’.

“These thoughts were just a starting point and motivation for me though. The music itself is of course the focal point. This started from myself and friends making the kind of abrasive/forward music in ‘pop’ form I’d want to hear, but hadn’t. There’s an emphasis on experimenting with ‘destroying’ sounds so that the source of  the melody, rhythms, vocals, etc., is not recognizable or traceable, and then building these things into abstract forms of pop music with conventional structures. Some of the most melodic aspects to this recording are coming from things like the sound of pissing/urinating on a stack of Rolling Stone magazines (I have a subscription), kicking in the screen of a computer, arguments on the street, etc.

“Lyrically, many of the songs started from me writing down a lot of out-of-context sentences I’d hear in passing or from personal exchanges that I found really visual, stimulating or to which I felt a connection. So, I wrote stories out of things I’d gathered — in line at the store, in a dream, visiting family in jail, after a show, on a plane, talking with the homeless, etc. — and formed them into songs and shaped them into subjects that I relate to. I like the idea of making these very real but obscure moments that are otherwise unknown or gone forever into their own weird little worlds. So, I’m very stoked about this record & I’m very excited for other people to hear it and as always I hope that people will gain something positive from it.”

Track list:

Memo To the Man
The Primitives Talk
Ex-Ravers
The Sacto Smile
Green Bricks
House of Hits
Jackers
Burner In the Video
Dizzy From the Twins
Gross Sales
Total Recall
Face Tat
Second Life

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