Map Of A Blue City
When she was a child, Marc Ribotâs daughter drew a map of a city in deep, rich, vivid blue. When he praised her blue map, she corrected him: It's not a blue map, but a map of a blue city. That distinction stuck with him and eventually inspired a curious song called âMap of a Blue City.
Map of a Blue City ruminates on what it means to be lostâthe confusion and fear, of course, but also the excitement of so many undreamt-of possibilities. Its history is an odd map of its own, full of false starts, blind alleys, dead ends, and one inconceivable tragedy, all leading to what may be his definitive statement as an instrumentalist, as a songwriter, and even as a singer. While itâs not a singer-songwriter album, it is his first to center his plaintive, wise voice quite so prominently.
Map of a Blue City bears the weight of its history gracefully, incorporating recordings made over nearly half of Ribotâs life and reflecting on how he got to this particular moment. âWorking on this album for so long, Iâve seen the world change dramatically and not really change at all. Some of the issues today are the same ones I thought about when I was just starting the album, but some are things I couldnât have dreamt of at the time. But I think thatâs why I was so determined to get the production values right. Recording production is really complicated, but it all boils down to what kind of room the listener feels theyâre standing in. There are some hard truths and cold observations in these songs. I wanted the room to be small enough so that we couldnât turn away: but warm enough to feel like youâre hearing it from a friend.
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When she was a child, Marc Ribotâs daughter drew a map of a city in deep, rich, vivid blue. When he praised her blue map, she corrected him: It's not a blue map, but a map of a blue city. That distinction stuck with him and eventually inspired a curious song called âMap of a Blue City.
Map of a Blue City ruminates on what it means to be lostâthe confusion and fear, of course, but also the excitement of so many undreamt-of possibilities. Its history is an odd map of its own, full of false starts, blind alleys, dead ends, and one inconceivable tragedy, all leading to what may be his definitive statement as an instrumentalist, as a songwriter, and even as a singer. While itâs not a singer-songwriter album, it is his first to center his plaintive, wise voice quite so prominently.
Map of a Blue City bears the weight of its history gracefully, incorporating recordings made over nearly half of Ribotâs life and reflecting on how he got to this particular moment. âWorking on this album for so long, Iâve seen the world change dramatically and not really change at all. Some of the issues today are the same ones I thought about when I was just starting the album, but some are things I couldnât have dreamt of at the time. But I think thatâs why I was so determined to get the production values right. Recording production is really complicated, but it all boils down to what kind of room the listener feels theyâre standing in. There are some hard truths and cold observations in these songs. I wanted the room to be small enough so that we couldnât turn away: but warm enough to feel like youâre hearing it from a friend.
