While Steve Eggers has honed his craft for the last several years in earlier incarnations of The Nines, "Calling Distance Stations" is the first recording to reveal the breadth and depth of his gift. Among those who willingly participated in the project were XTC auteur Andy Partridge, who collaborated with Eggers on “Receiving Me,” and smart-pop cult hero Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, the Grays, Air, Paul McCartney), who mixed several tracks and sang backing vocals on “Darkening Sky.” Joao Carvalho (Sloan, Barenaked Ladies, Cowboy Junkies) and John Adams (Sarah Sleen, John Cage) split up the rest of the mixes.
BACK STORY: The first Nines LP, Wonderworld of Colourful, came out in Canada in 1998 on the Bare Naked Ladies’ Page label and was distributed through EMI. Later that year, Universal Music Canada released a piano-based four-song EP. This preliminary version of the band was sufficiently appealing to connect with the pop underground and top the Canadian college chart, but, as Eggers readily admits, the Nines were then still very much a work in progress. Still, this initial studio foray did offer a tantalizing glimpse of the young artist’s potential. The second Nines lineup cut Properties of Sound, released in North America in 2001 (Airmail Recordings picked up the album in Japan a year later). Additionally, several of Eggers’ songs wound up on network TV series, including Dawson's Creek, Party of Five and Joan of Arcadia (and most recently the theme song for Global Television's comedy sitcom "The Jane Show"). Since then, Eggers has totally committed himself to the making of "Calling Distance Stations",writing, refining and recording the material, and finding cohorts who could help him achieve his vision, which is predicated upon bringing the grand legacy of the 1960s into the present. Picking up where the Beatles left off is a big challenge, but it can be done, as XTC, Jellyfish and Spoon have proved. The Nines belong in that rarefied company.
written by: Bud Scoppa (Rolling Stone Magazine, Hits Magazine, Paste)
Download : The Nines - Calling Distance Stations
