{"title":"Herman Dune","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"santa-cruz-gold","title":"Santa Cruz Gold","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst physical release for this 2018 recording. David Ivar on Santa Cruz Gold: \"These songs are the songs of a Swedish-French Jewish immigrant in California. Straight to your ears from my studio, this album was meant to come out for Hannukah, on December 2nd of 2018. I produced and recorded the album, playing almost everything from Drums to Harmonica and had the pleasure to have wonderful guests like Nashville's Caitlin Rose and Steelism, Jolie Holland, Jon Natchez (War On Drugs) and Mayon who sings with me on all songs. I recorded this album after setting up a studio in my garage, for a soundtrack I was working on (Blockbuster, first French Netflix movie). I had just severed ties with all labels, publishers I'd been working with since 2006, and had also completely stopped touring, only performing in San Pedro, Long Beach and the Los Angeles area. Writing and recording at a time when no one was pressuring me to, and I must say at a time when I doubted that anyone would be interested in my songs was more of an existential need than anything else, and definitely not a career move. I shared these songs with David Berman (Poet also known as The Silver Jews) who told me these were my best songs, and even helped me shape the album the way you'll hear it now, editing the tracklist and even some lyrics. If these were my best songs, I was going to make them Gold (a reference to the old 20th century habit of rewarding sales with Gold Records), that's why I called this album Santa Cruz Gold.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BB Island","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50383041659211,"sku":"1140323","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383041265995,"sku":"1140322","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50383041823051,"sku":"1140325","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9b5879cb-1d56-4c3c-9aa3-b255c03c3fa0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726262529"},{"product_id":"portable-herman-dune-the-vol-3","title":"The Portable Herman Dune - Vol. 3","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Portable Herman Dune Vol. 3\u003c\/i\u003e is the final part of Herman Dune’s acoustic anthology, in which 22 years of songwriting are laid bare, stripped to the most intimate bone. Though sonically naked, the songs are bundled up in emotion and loaded with life. Overall, \u003ci\u003eThe Portable Herman Dune\u003c\/i\u003e is raw and straightforward, the songs played as naturally as Ivar wrote them. His voice has become more gravelly after two decades of singing, and his guitar is without embellishment. All the recordings were made live in Ivar’s wooden cabin of a studio in San Pedro, the harbour of Los Angeles. You can hear the old floorboards creaking, a dog barking, or the neighbours driving loud motorcycles. Feet tapping, birds singing, and the cat meowing when songs quieten down. Harmonica and mandolin are only discreet additions to the core of the songs. And a bit of sparkle through a few friend guest. On Vol. 3 we have: Caitlin Rose,  Mayon (David Ivar’s life partner) and Julie Doiron providing vocal counterpoint. Each of the Volumes have a slightly different character. The closing song here is the only cover within the anthology. It's \"My Way\", a hit for Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Sid Vicious.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"B B * Island","offers":[{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50383413641547,"sku":"2022351","price":30.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50383413215563,"sku":"2022345","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383414001995,"sku":"2022352","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/BBI0511X_a407dffb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726269553"},{"product_id":"the-portable-herman-dune-vol-1","title":"The Portable Herman Dune Vol 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Portable Herman Dune Vol. 1 \u003c\/i\u003eis an acoustic anthology, the first of three parts, in which 22 years of songwriting are laid bare, stripped to the most intimate bone, to be released at intervals over the coming months. Though sonically naked, the songs are bundled up in emotion and loaded with life. Centre-stage are David Ivar's songs, with his 1954 guitar, his 1930s mandolin, and his voice, plus exceptional guests: Julie Doiron, Mayon (Ivar's life partner), Caitlin Rose, Jolie Holland, and Kimya Dawson providing vocal counterpoint. \u003ci\u003eThe Portable Herman Dune\u003c\/i\u003e is raw and straightforward, the songs played as naturally as David wrote them. His voice has become more gravelly after two decades of singing, and his guitar is without embellishment. The same guitar - his 1954 Gibson LG, - and one mandolin, a 1930s Kalamazoo A-shape mandolin that Ivar bought with Canadian Dollars from a show in Montreal, where he was stuck during the Travel Ban and played shows and recorded with his decades-long friend Julie Doiron. Some songs have accents of harmonica, upright bass, melodica, accordion, or piano, and two pieceshave the beautiful violin of Jolie Holland, with whom David was recording the soundtrack for Edouard Deluc's new Feature Film (Petaouchnok, meant for release in Nov.2022). Surprisingly, after years and countless performances worldwide with this minimal setting, it's the first time that we get such a sober treatment on a proper Herman Dune album. John Fahey, Elizabeth Cotten, Leadbelly, Nick Drake have always been favourites, and David learned to play guitar with Lennon's 'Working Class Hero' and Dylan's 'Don't Think Twice It's Alright'. \"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should\" is a principle Ivar often thought about while arranging and producing his own albums, \"there's something to a raw song that you can't really beat,\" he says. \"My favourite songs ones are the ones that made the cut as first takes. During the pandemic, I started to perform sets from my kitchen. A weekly rendez-vous with my fans simply called \"The Sunday Transmission with Herman Dune.\" I'd typically do a 13-song set, read the horoscope, do raffles, and read poetry. It became the only way to express myself and do a set of consecutive songs. I got back in touch with my lyrics and voice. Playing from my own songbook was like re-discovering the tunes for the first time. Some songs really stood out as having gained strength and meaning, and I started thinking of recording them for an album. It felt like this was the way it should always have been. The more I recorded, the more songs I had on my hands, and I got more excited. I had more songs than could be listened to at once, and they were all so important to me, so I started thinking in Volumes.\" \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BB Island","offers":[{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50441271968075,"sku":"1165503","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50441271214411,"sku":"1165502","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50441272295755,"sku":"1165501","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/05642c30-7f55-41de-8d4e-60fa5337cc73_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726976145"},{"product_id":"the-portable-herman-dune-vol-2","title":"The Portable Herman Dune Vol 2","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Portable Herman Dune\u003c\/i\u003e is an acoustic anthology in three parts, in which 22 years of songwriting are laid bare,  stripped to the most intimate bone, an being released at intervals over a series of months. Though sonically naked, the songs are bundled up in emotion and loaded with life. Centre-stage are David Ivar's songs, with his 1954 guitar, his 1930s mandolin, and his voice, plus exceptional guests: Julie Doiron, Mayon (Ivar's life partner), Caitlin Rose, Jolie Holland, and Kimya Dawson providing vocal counterpoint. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BB Island","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50466863317323,"sku":"2006856","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466863251787,"sku":"2006855","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466863350091,"sku":"2006858","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/wUmV-v_A_1c27a1d2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727326723"},{"product_id":"notes-from-vinegar-hill","title":"Notes From Vinegar Hill","description":"\u003cp\u003eQuarantined in the sleepy San Pedro neighborhood of Vinegar Hill, on the same harbour-adjacent street where Charles Bukowski lived out his final years, David-Ivar Herman Dune, visual artist and founding anchor of French antifolk stalwarts Herman Dune, turned those Covid-induced anxieties inward and emerged from his home studio with the new full-length LP Notes From Vinegar Hill. There’s something for everyone on this record - folksy rockers, Bakersfield twang, Big Pink-style Americana, 70s AM Gold, and rough-hewn Cold Turkey guitar stomps. The songs speak of the suffocating claustrophobia of isolation and fear, the anguish of being an immigrant in a country where policies harden by the moment, but also of the beauty of California, the ocean, and a quiet life with three black cats that turned the heart of a Scorpio toward felines. This album is dedicated to David Berman. Personnel: David Ivar: Voice, Piano, Guitars, Upright Bass, Drums, Percussions, Whistles and Harmonica Caitlin Rose: Vocals and Duet on Vinegar Hill Mayon: Vocals Spencer Cullum III: Pedal Steel Jon Natchez: Horns on Say You Love Me Too\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"B B * Island","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | LP","offer_id":50480978755915,"sku":"1114176","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cb3ae04e-e926-4b1f-8464-20dbc1bd4326_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727531335"},{"product_id":"odysseus-ek","title":"Odysseus","description":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in the late 1990s, Herman Dune is the project of David Ivar, a Franco-Swedish songwriter based in San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, California. After 25 years of Herman Dune and 15 albums, we are excited to present Odysseús, a new collection of songs that takes you on a journey through the turbulent life of David Ivar, a journey of longing, pain, love, death, faith, and redemption. It's the first time that Herman Dune has worked with an outside producer, David Garza. The set-up is almost all acoustic instruments, recorded live with the band in one room. It's Folk music in the typical style of Herman Dune with touches of Americana, Country, Jewish, and Hispanic traditions, but with a quite new twist in sound and arrangements. The story behind Odysseús: \"The album started when I found myself caught between worlds. Stuck in Montréal, waiting for my paperwork to clear so I could return home to California - I was the sole occupant in an empty and closed-off hotel in the Jewish Italian neighborhood of Mile End. Every day, I'd go visit Leonard Cohen's grave on Mont Royal, leaving a rock or a flower, praying that I would soon be able to return to my wife and our three cats in Los Angeles. That deep sense of longing was the spark that ignited this album, a journey that took years to write. By the time I felt ready to record, I had made it back home, married the love of my life, had the best tour of my career. But when I looked back at the songs, at the pain and relief of the journey, it felt like an Odyssey – the greatest one of my life. That's when I decided to name the album Odysseús. Coincidentally, Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey had just been released, and the joy I found in reading it made everything fall into place.\" \"That's when I met David Garza. It was pure chance in a crowded café in downtown San Pedro. David, a Grammy-winning producer and musician, had worked with Fiona Apple, Iron \u0026amp; Wine, John C. Reilly, and The Milk Carton Kids, and had played with some of my musical heroes, like Lucinda Williams and Townes Van Zandt. We immediately clicked, and he offered to produce my songs. When we felt ready, we gathered everyone at my house for three days of live sessions. It was a chaotic, beautiful process, with everyone in the room playing together, no headphones, no overdubs – just raw, real music.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"B B * Island","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51778171863371,"sku":"R9595-1746","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51778171896139,"sku":"R9595-2484","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/p_f6dded0e-1894-48a7-8cd2-97e8a1fc071b.jpg?v=1746552686"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/herman-dune.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}