All audio has been meticulously remastered from the original master tapes for this first-ever vinyl edition of Pedal Steal (1985) and first-ever release of the Four Corners radio plays (1986 - 1993).
Deluxe LP+3CD+book set features 145g virgin vinyl LP; heavy-duty board gatefold jacket; printed inner LP sleeve; custom 3CD portfolio; high-res Bandcamp download code; and an exhaustive 28pp. color booklet boasting the first in-depth essay to explore this singular body of work, dozens of images of Allen's related visual art, and full scripts and credits for all five pieces (a total of 33k words).
Legendary Texan artist Terry Allen occupies a unique position straddling the frontiers of country music and conceptual art; he has worked with everyone from
Guy Clark to
David Byrne to
Lucinda Williams, and his artwork resides in museums worldwide.
Pedal Steal + Four Corners collects, for the first time, Allen's radio plays and long-form narrative audio works'two and a half hours of cinematic country-concrète songs, stories, and sound collage'in a deluxe gatefold edition, including one LP, three CDs, a DL code, and an exhaustive 28pp. color booklet boasting the first in-depth essay to explore this singular body of work; dozens of images of Allen's related visual art; and full scripts for all five pieces (a total of 33k words.)
Pedal Steal (1985), originally composed as a soundtrack to a dance performance, appears on vinyl for the first time, as well as on CD. Torso Hell (1986), Bleeder (1990), Reunion (return to Juarez) (1992), and Dugout (1993) comprise the Four Corners suite, radio plays broadcast on NPR and never before released, now spanning two CDs.
All audio has been meticulously remastered from the original tapes. Fans of Allen's violent masterpiece Juarez will find much to love in these haunting desert dramas of the chthonic Southwest, which feature
Jo Harvey Allen,
Lloyd Maines,
Butch Hancock,
Rolling Stones saxophonist
Bobby Keyes, and many others.
Roger Corman failed to option the film rights;
Jesse Helms failed to ban them; now you can own them! Navajo chants blend into fuzzed-up steel guitar; dirty-realist narratives succumb to skeletal ballads; B-movie dialogue blossoms over a plaintive violin. Pedal Steal represents roots rock's rarely encountered experimental fringe. -
The TimesThink Sam Shepard with steel guitar, and you'll get the idea. -
The Independent Allen takes no prisoners, pulls no punches. -
Rolling Stone I love Terry. He's a funny son of a bitch. -
Guy Clark People tell me it's country music, and I ask, 'Which country?' -
Terry Allen
Tracklisting:
Vinyl LP:
Side A:
1. Pedal Steal (Part 1) 16:10
Side B:
2. Pedal Steal (Part 2) 19:25
CD1:
1. Pedal Steal 35:32
CD2:
1. Torso Hell 25:26
2. Bleeder 28:57
CD3:
1. Reunion (return to Juarez) 27:09
2. Dugout 27:57