“Perfect Halves is the second long-player from the Ashtray Hearts. The album was recorded at Sacred Heart Studios, a landmark nineteenth century cathedral overlooking Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. Recording at the old church during a typical cold and snowy Duluth winter proved to be ideal for the creation of this subtle assembly of wounded songs.”
Track Listing:
Rules; On The Wires; Exits; English; Perfect Halves; New York; Long Enough; Valentine; Where You Sleep; Flowers
Album Notes:
Recorded at Sacred Heart Studio, Duluth, MN with Eric Swanson (January-April 2004). Additional recording, mixing and mastering at Third Ear in Minneapolis with Tom Herbers (early 2005).
THE ASHTRAY HEARTS
Old Numbers(elect003)
"On their debut Old Numbers, the Ashtray Hearts have created a somber, inviting album that reflects those lonely, hopeless wintry days in a city full of broken hearts, dead dreams and bittersweet memories."
- No Depression (Sep.-Oct. 2002)
Track Listing:
Amusement Park; Disaster; The One You're Closest To; Still Shaking; Queen South; Anyone's Guess; Bryn Mawr; Trestle; Country Bar; Spain; Southern Wedding; Watching Me Try
Album Notes:
Released May, 2002, 'Old Numbers' Was recorded and mixed by Jon Tranberry and Quillan Roe at OBT Studios.
THE ASHTRAY HEARTS
Country Bar b/w New York 7” (elect001)
The debut 7" from Minneapolis' The Ashtray Hearts. Sad, somber and heartbreaking.
Track Listing:
Country Bar; New York
Album Notes:
Released 2001, Recorded and mixed by Jon Tranberry at OBT Studios.
APARTMENT MUSIC
Various Artists (elect002)
"Some of Minnesota's all-time greatest records are compilations, starting with 1968's The Big Hits of Mid-America. Yet "various artists" packages have since diminished in influence as Mid-America artists have become ever more various. Each new local free-for-all seems to lose in cohesiveness what it gains in diversity, straining far too hard to encompass every genre. That's why Apartment Music may be a template for successfully compiling such CDs in the future. Here are seven acts that know one another, with two songs each, and one prevailing mood (somberness). (Perhaps they should have updated the hardcore punk slogan "Loud Fast Rules" to "Soft Slow Serves.") The musicians toy with vocal harmonies (the Owls do so strikingly) and draw heavily on acoustic and/or chamber instruments. Both country fan Quillan Roe (formerly of Accident Clearinghouse) and Smog fan Kid Dakota break out lo-fi electronic beats. Ultimately, these small hits stand free from the music community they represent, which is pretty much the definition of transcendent on any good album. - City Pages, Best of the Twin Cities "Best Local Compilation," 2002
