Matteah Baim
Falling Theater is the third solo album from Matteah Baim. The new album features eight new Baim originals and was recorded and mixed by Eric Gorman at his studio in Brooklyn with arrangements by Maxim Moston. Special guests include Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons and James Richardson of MGMT. Falling Theater is being released June 17 on Dream Drive Records, distributed by Kobalt Music.
Falling Theater was arranged by Maxim Moston of Antony and the Johnsons and features contributions from several members of the Johnsons, as well as Au Revoir Simone, MGMT, New York Philharmonic, and The Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem. The album reflects the state of America’s pre-war movie theaters: both luxurious and decayed. Like the theaters that exist now as something distinctively far from where they began, it presents music that has been “time treated.” Baim designed the album to be both musically seamless and lush as well as offer some unexpected elements and textures similar to the way a faded pair of jeans might have one ripped knee. The album art was shot in Los Angeles’ theater district by Lauren Dukoff, a photographer noted for her portraiture and documentary work of musicians and actors.
Matteah Baim is a New York-based artist whose career bridges both music and visual art. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the San Francisco Art Institute, Baim moved to New York and formed the self-described “soft metal” band Metallic Falcons with Sierra Casady. Their 2006 debut, Desert Doughnuts, was released on Touch and Go Records. She went on to record her first solo studio album, Death of the Sun at her then-home in Venice Beach, CA in 2007 for Dicristina/ Revolver USA. Laughing Boy, her second solo album, was recorded and released two years later.
Baim has performed at ATP UK, Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheater, and at The Meltdown Festival as part of events for the 2012 Olympic Games. She has also performed in conjunction with Antony and the Johnsons’ US tour of “The Crying Light” as well as with Devendra Banhart, Sharon Van Etten, Lower Dens, Lucky Dragons, Jim Jarmusch, Liturgy, and Vashti Bunyan. Her visual art has been included in exhibitions at MoMA PS1, The Kitchen, Agnes B, The New York Armory Show, Gavin Brown Enterprises, and White Columns.