The Conglomerate - Australian studio releases - Hold Your Breath (2008)

Hold Your Breath is the second release by Melbourne jazz quartet, The Conglomerate. Recorded in 2005 at Sing Sing Studios, the album was not released until the launch party at Bennett's Lane Jazz Club on March 28th, 2008. The album was independently produced and distributed, and is released with no full booklet - it contains a single, printed glossy insert. This was due to a number of reasons - Ollie and Harry were touring with Jackson Jackson and The Cat Empire - as such it took a long time to get the string section recorded and mastered; Harry Shaw-Reynolds (drummer) had been sick, and is still today in and out of hospital constantly - as such he has been replaced by another Melbourne jazz drummer - Rory McDougall.

The entire recording process of the album only lasted for 5 days in total - the band went in and recorded all the songs (with lyrics) on days 1 and 2, whilst day 3 was spent jamming (many of the jams can be found on bootlegs/demos). They then went away and produced a rough cut of the album, and based on those cuts, Ollie wrote the string parts (based on improv/jam sessions with the band) and had the quartet come in and record them.

The album is much more 'defined' than Go to the Beach, and is completely different. Most tracks feature vocals, have a definite song structure and don't tend to 'trawl' on for 9+ minutes - the album could be classed as more mainstream. Personally, I think it is the better of the two - a lot of work has obviously been put into it, and has definitely paid off.

Again, like the other album, you can purchase it through Jeremy, manager of Bennett's Lane Jazz Club and The Conglomerate (contact me for details or head over to the Bennett's Lane website).

The track listing is as follows:
1. Another Hot Day - 4:13
2. Cherry - 6:10
3. No Imagination - 4:56
4. Yakini (The Last Gorilla) - 5:32
5. Theme - 1:30
6. One Star Hotel - 9:57
7. A Thief in the Garden - 3:19
8. Fish - 6:53
9. Hold Your Breath - 4:53
10. Wind-Up Song - 2:04

No tracks are credited anywhere on the artwork, but I have confirmed with a reliable 'source' (thanks Jeremy :P) that all lyrics are by Harry James Angus (with all the music by The Conglomerate). The aforementioned source has also helped with a lot of the information regarding The Conglomerate.



Pictures:


Front (of booklet)



Back of booklet



Disc



Insert - Back



Insert - Inlay