I first heard of Phoning It In when Nadav
Carmel, the host, contacted us (The Caribbean) to play on the show. I
was intrigued by the format - bands playing live over the phone, then
broadcast live on the radio in Boston - but didn't really give it much
thought beyond that. My first sampling of it, however, was revelatory:
Daniel Johnston's session was fun, intimate, and sweet, and the
sub-lo-fi approach, shockingly, actually enhanced the performance. The
static, the overload, and the tinniness of the connection somehow made
this personal, as if you were eavesdropping on a conversation between
intimates. Having stripped away all artifacts of professional
recording, the listener is left with just the songs and the
performance, undistracted by considerations of mix, effects, or
mastering. Nadav is brilliant for thinking of it, and I thank him for
allowing me to release this series. I'm thrilled to have Daniel Higgs
on this release, as well as Don Zientara, a long-time acquaintance, and
to have us (or at least Michael) appear alongside them both.
