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Neighborhood Watch

by Gregory Uhlmann

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rrrrohan
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rrrrohan Easily one of the best albums I've found this year.
Favorite track: Spice Girls.
Sean Sandoval
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Sean Sandoval Got it free for ordering something from the topshelf webstore, I've got to say I'm surprised I like it! Reminds me a lot of my all time favorite artist, Alex G Favorite track: Coupon.
Haley Freedlund
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Haley Freedlund Happy to report that I love this sophomore release in equal proportion to Odd Job! Greg does such an amazing job of evoking the raw discomfort of moving through the human experience. This record has perfect moments of angst and tenderness, is masterfully sequential, and will be something you keep reaching for again and again. Favorite track: Spice Girls.
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1.
Coupon 02:26 video
Save more later With this coupon that I found Thought of you and put it in my pocket Half off toothpaste With the purchase of a soft drink of your choice A Coca-Cola Riding the train Meeting your friends Let me know when you’re done there Let me know when you’re done Picking a purpose For your existence Let me know when you’ve found out Let me know when you’ve found The answer that you’re looking for Made you a Pop-Tart In the toaster Cooking never stuck with me Wrote you a love song With only words That I found in The autobiography of a Yogi That my brother got me When I went back home And my mom starting crying Cause we watched a movie With a sappy love scene And she’s got a soft spot
2.
Spice Girls 04:39
The sun has barely shown it’s face We’re already knee deep into some pointless debate Sometimes I say things without thinking through I hope that you know that I love you I think you do Whatcha want whatcha want whatcha want to say? Whatcha want whatcha want whatcha want to say to me? You are a piece of shit I know you’re thinking it I’ll try to be a better man This claustrophobic spell Has touched me can’t you tell I’m crawling in this skin It doesn’t feel that way What is it that you want to say to me I thought we were two books What chapter is that turn to give me that dirty look? Whatcha want whatcha want whatcha want to say? Whatcha want whatcha want whatcha want to say to me? Whatcha want whatcha want whatcha want to say? Whatcha want whatcha want whatcha want to say to me?
3.
Santa Fe 05:20
It’s the smell of a darkroom Where I’d practice guitar It’s the echo of silence Bouncing back through the yard Sante Fe With your crystal balls And the dogs running up the hill When the grandparents call Every year I’d go in the spring And if it were up to me I’d drop out of school Swim in the pool Make friends with the fools Transfixed by the jewel Ooooooo In the “Sea of Cortez” That I found on the shelf A marine expedition From the sea to his mouth I felt like an explorer Writing notes on the page With the smell of green chilies Wafting into my cave Sante Fe With you mountains of white And the smell of piñon That enveloped the night Sante Fe With your turquoise eyes Where time passed like crickets Calling out to the fire Every year I’d go in the spring And if it were up to me I’d drop out of school Swim in the pool Make friends with the fools Transfixed by the jewel Ooooooo
4.
Bed 04:23
When you’re near I want you to go But when you’re far I’m a puddle I’m a mope It’s got nothing to do with you baby It’s that time of year And I’m shivering like a California baby I guess that Midwest has thinned It’s love that I feel for you darling Even when I can’t get out of bed He’ll bring me something Works been slow, but it seems the same for most Running out of friends started letting all the cats in God help me I bought tuna at the store for them The flu came and knocked you off your feet With a fever rising you looked white as a ghost Throwing dirty tissues into a shopping bag It’s love that I feel for darling Even when you can’t get out of bed I’ll bring you something Ooooooooooo oooooooo Ooooooooooo oooooooo Ooooooooooo oooooooo Ooooooooooo oooooooo
5.
DNA 03:14
To crisscross our DNA seems insane I barely know what I’m doing today The trees they talk through the world wide woods In little tunnels carved into their roots Just lie down Take a seat What’s the rush? There’s nowhere to be The more you talk The more I need To feel your touch Your breath on me Oooooooooooooo Oooooooooooooo I’m folding shirts in perfect squares A flannel patch covers the tears It seems that I got an addiction to Coffee in the morning with you Just lie down Take a seat What’s the rush? There’s nowhere to be The more you talk The more I need To feel your touch Your breath on me Oooooooooooooo Oooooooooooooo
6.
Benny 02:58
Tic tac stuck to a coaster She’s a slob and she doesn’t hide it You know not every girl is a neat freak Who’d you learn that from Benny is a tough motherfucker with a snaggle tooth She’s got two brown ferrets and a faux fur coat It’s not in her blood to apologize She’s just moving along she’s just moving along We went on a rollercoaster Benny laughed when I screamed at the apex We drank a bottle of bourbon I threw up for the first time since high school I’ve never met any girl That could move through life with the speed of a freight train Knocking over every hurdle With the slight of her hand and the step of her boot Benny is a tough motherfucker with an iron gut She carried me up without dropping her cup Even in the heat I’ve never seen her break a sweat In her long leather jacker and her yellow vest
7.
She used to sit out all summer Looking after our street wearing only her socks Her brother would bring her a beer And she’d sit and she’d sip until the sun went down She was the neighborhood watch And she’d never left her plot Though she could barely move She’d scream till her face turned blue When she was twelve her mom said Michelle Why don’t you smile why don’t you cheer up? And in the dead of night she wrapped her fingers in bright light Moving them through the shadows filled the room And at school she struggled to make friends Lost in her thoughts she made plans to pretend To care what others thought to see how it felt It didn’t feel good She was the neighborhood watch Whenever bullies fought She’d always break it up There wasn’t any kid as tough
8.
Cool Breeze 04:07
Take me take me To the mall Don’t wanna buy anything Just need to cool off in the air-conditioning Just need to cool off I saw I saw Our neighbor Fry an egg on the street Even the dog couldn’t breath choking on the heat Just need to cool off Coooooooooooool breeze I think it might be time I think it might be time Waking up a mess I can’t remember my own name Waking up a mess I can’t remember your name I want you to be mine Even in this heat I’ll be fine Sheets drenched wet I’m sweating out of every vein Your taste on my tongue The sun will rise again today Take me take me To the pool Let the water wash over me Just need to need to cool off In the chlorine Just need to cool off Cool Just need to cool off Coooooooooooool breeze
9.
Hourglass 03:57
I was born in a hourglass All my children were the sand And as the time passed I fell through to the end Such a thirst and a hunger came I just waited for it to pass I’ve been searching for the word for time But no answer has come alas What does the changing of light mean? What is the feeling of gravity? That makes me fall down Looking out looking out I can see my reflection Is that me a skeleton? With six legs two claws extended Ooooooooooooooo Ooooooooooooooo Ooooooooooooooo Ooooooooooooooo

about

The singer-songwriter and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, a member of Perfume Genius, Fell Runner and the genre-bending improvising trio Typical Sisters, has in the past found loveliness in dark places. His acclaimed solo album of 2016, Odd Job (Dog Legs Music), blended “lush, hypnotic, minimalist chamber-pop with compelling, introspective folk melancholy,” per the Big Takeover. The Chicago Reader had equally high praise for Uhlmann’s “tender singer-songwriter album,” a collection of “beautiful melodies with somber, baroque arrangements.”
For Uhlmann, Odd Job came from a place of yearning and longing—an expression of a young songwriter looking back, often in sadness or regret or angst. But his new project, Neighborhood Watch, while also rich in melodic and textural allure, comes from a place of contentment. Consider it a meditation on domestic bliss experienced in early adulthood, an expression of the sweetness, good humor and fond reflections Uhlmann is compelled toward at this happy place in his life. “Neighborhood Watch is a cozy portrait of grains of sand, cats, ants, getting colds, letting loose, feeling shy, watching movies, and being in love,” the songwriter says.

It’s also, somewhat ironically, a brilliant team effort involving several of Uhlmann’s favorite musicians and most trusted collaborators: Josh Johnson, keys; Anna Butterss, bass; Tim Carr, drums and voice; Matt Carroll, percussion; Lauren Baba, violin and viola; and April Guthrie on cello. Consistent with the majority of Uhlmann’s work, the songs on Neighborhood Watch match consummate musicianship and thoughtful songcraft with an innate gift for melody, and that lyricism is channeled through Uhlmann’s unique singing voice—soft and balmy yet also direct and affecting. Ultimately, the results summon up a number of touchstones in smart, studio-conscious orchestral pop, psychedelic folk and indie-rock: Think of Van Dyke Parks, the Zombies, Cate le Bon, and Bill Callahan.

In the end, however, it is Uhlmann’s life and sound reflected intimately in this music. “Bed” finds the songwriter reconciling his single, independent life with a newer version of himself who desires to settle down. “Benny” is a character study of sorts, and an opportunity for Uhlmann to vicariously throw caution to the wind. Jump-cutting from discordant, brazen sonics to gorgeous strings and supple melody, “Cool Breeze” is lyrically a curio about L.A.’s unforgiving summer heat; “Neighborhood Watch,” based in part on a fellow resident of Uhlmann’s Echo Park, is similarly droll. “DNA” delves into the idea of being in love but having uncertain goals, while “Spice Girls”—title courtesy of Butterss—ruminates on the challenges of falling in love and learning to give of yourself. “Hourglass” finds inspiration in the verse of the late poet W.S. Merwin. Uhlmann enlists vocal help from Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) on “Santa Fe,” a charming reverie in which the songwriter warmly ponders the spring-break trips he took to visit his grandparents. “Coupon” is another poetic travelogue of sorts, this time about a family sojourn to New York.

Raised in Chicago and currently based in L.A., Uhlmann earned a BFA in jazz-guitar studies from the California Institute of the Arts in 2014, also studying composition and various world musics. He has since pursued engaging work in a variety of musical and creative disciplines. Uhlmann’s c.v. includes music for chamber ensembles; scores for dance, film, television and online media, including credits for Vogue, Netflix and the Moth podcast; an ongoing cross-disciplinary collaboration with the poet David Baker; and performances and recordings with many, many remarkable bands and musicians. In 2016, he and Tim Carr (Haim/The Americans) cofounded the production company Dog Legs Music. Prior to Neighborhood Watch, Uhlmann’s most recent release was Hungry Ghost, by the trio Typical Sisters. “This is improvisation-driven music, right at the corner of jazz and post-rock, but there are none of the showy, full-band misdirections that have become so typical of jazz today,” the New York Times wrote of the album. The paper later called the music “group exploration with little flexing or hurry, electric guitar melodies that sound like open promises.”

But Neighborhood Watch is Uhlmann’s most definitive—and private, and fulfilled—effort yet. “This album reflects where I’m at in my life. It feels more grown up, but still contains a certain level of uncertainty and searching. I think I'll always be looking for answers, but I'm more comfortable with the idea that there are not always clear cut solutions and that's ok,” he says.

credits

released July 24, 2020

Gregory Uhlmann - compositions, arrangements, production, guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion
Tim Carr - drums, percussion, vocals
Anna Butterss - bass, vocals
Josh Johnson - keyboards
Elizabeth Baba - violin, viola
April Guthrie - cello
Matt Carroll - percussion
Meg Duffy - vocals (on Sante Fe)

Scott Fraser - engineer for strings
Gabe Wax - mixing
Josh Bonati - mastering

Sam Kaufman - Artwork
Kevin Duquette - Layout

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Gregory Uhlmann Los Angeles, California

Gregory Uhlmann is a Los Angeles based guitarist, producer, and composer with an inclination towards mixing the prickly and the beautiful.

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