So Runs the World Away
Encyclopedia
So Runs the World Away is the sixth full-length studio album by American
singer-songwriter
Josh Ritter
. It was released on vinyl record
on April 17, 2010 as a part of Record Store Day
in the United States
. The vinyl record came packaged with a CD version of the album as well. The official album release was April 23, 2010 in Ireland
, and May 4, 2010 worldwide. Ritter said of the album that it "marks the beginning of a new period in [his] life," and that overall, "the songs are larger and more detailed, and feel to me as if they were painted in oil on large canvasses." Ritter got the title from a line in the third act of Shakespeare's Hamlet
.
reported looking forward to the album. Irish music magazine Hot Press
featured "Josh Ritter week" with free track downloads from the album, front cover picture, and interviews. Upon its release the album was met with very strong reviews. The Irish Independent
called it "Ritter's most intriguing and rewarding album to date, it's easily his most diverse." Bob Boilen
of NPR
's All Songs Considered
said of the album, "I've come to expect good records from him...but this one took my breath away."
, except "Folk Bloodbath" written by Ritter based on a traditional song by Mississippi John Hurt
.
format only from Josh Ritter's website on February 8, 2010.
Additional musicians
Production
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
. It was released on vinyl record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on April 17, 2010 as a part of Record Store Day
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The vinyl record came packaged with a CD version of the album as well. The official album release was April 23, 2010 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and May 4, 2010 worldwide. Ritter said of the album that it "marks the beginning of a new period in [his] life," and that overall, "the songs are larger and more detailed, and feel to me as if they were painted in oil on large canvasses." Ritter got the title from a line in the third act of Shakespeare's Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
Release and reception
The record's release was met with high anticipation and covered by multiple news and media publications. Stephen KingStephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
reported looking forward to the album. Irish music magazine Hot Press
Hot Press
Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political magazine based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 19,215 during 2007...
featured "Josh Ritter week" with free track downloads from the album, front cover picture, and interviews. Upon its release the album was met with very strong reviews. The Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
called it "Ritter's most intriguing and rewarding album to date, it's easily his most diverse." Bob Boilen
Bob Boilen
Bob Boilen was the director of the NPR show All Things Considered and is the current host's and the creator of NPR's online music show All Songs Considered. Boilen writes music with electronics and friend Michael Barron; both were founding members of the psychedelic dance band , for which Boilen...
of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's All Songs Considered
All Songs Considered
All Songs Considered is a weekly online multimedia program started in January 2000 by NPR's All Things Considered director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on All Things Considered. The program has turned into a source of...
said of the album, "I've come to expect good records from him...but this one took my breath away."
Track listing
All songs written by Josh RitterJosh Ritter
Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
, except "Folk Bloodbath" written by Ritter based on a traditional song by Mississippi John Hurt
Mississippi John Hurt
John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt was an American country blues singer and guitarist.Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine...
.
- "Curtains" — 0:57
- "Change of Time" — 4:04
- "The Curse" — 5:03
- "Southern Pacifica" — 4:24
- "Rattling Locks" — 4:25
- "Folk Bloodbath" — 5:16
- "Lark" — 3:04
- "Lantern" — 5:15
- "The Remnant" — 3:56
- "See How Man Was Made" — 3:26
- "Another New World" — 7:34
- "Orbital" — 3:29
- "Long Shadows" — 2:20
Singles
"Change of Time" was released as a single in digital downloadMusic download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
format only from Josh Ritter's website on February 8, 2010.
Charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... Albums Chart |
41 |
| US Billboard Folk Albums Chart | 1 |
| Irish Indie Chart | 1 |
Personnel
Musicians- Josh Ritter — vocals and guitarsGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Zack Hickman — double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Austin Nevins — electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, baritone guitarBaritone guitarThe baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm...
, e-bowE-BowThe EBow or ebow is a hand-held, battery-powered electronic device for playing the electric guitar, invented by Greg Heet in 1969...
, lap steel, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, mando guitar, baritone ukulele - Liam Hurley — drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Sam Kassirer — electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organsOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, percussion, samples
Additional musicians
- Dawn LandesDawn LandesDawn Landes is a Louisville, Kentucky-born, New York City-based musician who performs under her own name. She is also a sometimes-member of the band Hem, where she has lent her voice to harmony vocals, and plays glockenspiel. She has worked as an audio engineer at Stratosphere Sound in New York...
— backing vocals - Allie MossAllie MossAllie Moss is a New Jersey singer, vocal coach and guitarist. She released her own EP Passerby in 2009. In 2011, Moss released her debut album "Late Bloomer". She regularly performs as lead guitarist for singer/songwriter and friend Ingrid Michaelson...
— backing vocals - Jesse Neuman — trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Rob Jost — French horn
- Tony Barba — tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
Production
- Produced by Sam Kassirer
- Recorded at the Great North Sound Society, Parsonsfield, MaineParsonsfield, MaineParsonsfield is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,584 at the 2000 census. Parsonsfield includes the villages of Kezar Falls, Parsonsfield, and North, East and South Parsonsfield...
, from August 2008 to October 2009 - Mixed by Brandon Eggleston at Secret Society, Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
- Engineered by Sam Kassirer, Brandon Eggleston and Dan Cardinal
- Additional recording by Jim Smith at Saltlands Studio, Brooklyn, New York, and by Austin Nevins at Austin's Studio in Somerville, MassachusettsSomerville, MassachusettsSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
- Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering