Beginning a decade ago, in a Pre-Weird America, Son of Earth has traveled a surprisingly linear trajectory through noise and collective improvisation to a simple, quiet, and more considered music. The band's path has led through hundreds of performances and collaborations (including Shackamaxon, which brought together all three members of Son of Earth with Marcia Bassett and Chris Gray of Double Leopards and Pete Nolan of the Magik Markers), but has resulted in only a handful of releases, often handcrafted and released on the group's Apostasy Recordings label. While still being filled with the unease and tension that is their hallmark, Improvements is the first record that also allows the humor and camaraderie between the members of Son of Earth to come to the fore. Most of their previous releases have been culled from live recordings, and the group has always thrived on the tension of live performance. Earlier studio efforts, such as the acclaimed Pet LP, though recorded at home, were composed in an everyone-has-to be- serious approximation of the live performance experience. This time, possibly for the first time, in a sweaty little room, and in a stairwell, and in a back yard tossing horseshoes in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the group finally dropped all pretense - not of seriousness, but of obligation to some unseen spectator. On Improvements, you can really hear John Shaw, Matt Krefting, and Aaron Rosenblum being themselves, and being Son of Earth and it's weird. Manchester-bred, Rick Myers, who has worked with John Cale, Andy Votel, Dinosaur Jr. and Badly Drawn Boy and has created books with Nieves Zurich and Gladtree Press to name a few, provides the beautiful art/design-work for the LP jackets. LP comes wrapped in letter-pressed band and contains a 16-page art book.
