Party Pack ICE is one of a few compositional outlets led by Brooklyn bassist Adam Hopkins, who is more often a sideman than composer with the likes of Ideal Bread, Kate Gentile Mannequins, and Christopher Hoffman Trio. Party Pack was born as an instrumental grunge-rock trio in Baltimore (Hopkins’ hometown), essentially formed to open for the legendary band The Oxes for a one-off performance in 2010. The trio of Party Pack was Hopkins on bass, with Dustin Carlson on guitar and Nathan Ellman-Bell (Hopkins’ long-time counterpart in Signal Problems, Quartet Offensive, Turn Around Norman) on drums. Upon moving to Brooklyn in 2011, two tenor saxophonists Patrick Breiner (Battle Trance) and Eric Trudel (also of Signal Problems and Quartet Offensive) were added to the trio. The music was reimagined as a collision of Hopkins’ early guitar-heavy influences like Pavement, Nirvana, and Sonic Youth with his influences as an improviser and composer, Tim Berne, Michael Formanek, and Henry Threadgill. Party Pack ICE was born, never to return to the trio format. Released in August 2017 on pfMENTUM, Party Pack ICE is a 23-minute soundscape with compositions spanning the past seven years of the band’s existence. All of the seven compositions give a nod to the band’s roots in Baltimore, MD.
license
Adam Hopkins – bass, compositions
Patrick Breiner – tenor saxophone
Eric Trudel – tenor saxophone
Dustin Carlson – guitar
Nathan Ellman-Bell – drums
credits
released August 10, 2017
All music © 2017 Adam Hopkins / Add-Hop Music (BMI)
Recorded live by Nathaniel Morgan at iBeam Brooklyn, March 18, 2015.
Mixed and edited by Nathaniel Morgan at Buckminster Palace, 2016.
Mastered by Wayne Peet at Newzone Studio, 2017.
Artwork, layout, and design by TJ Huff (huffart.com).
Very sincere thanks to TJ Huff and Nathaniel Morgan–your artistic and musical visions exceeded all expectations in their contribution to this project. Special thanks to Jeff Kaiser, Maxwell Gualtieri, & Louis Lopez at pfMENTUM for their support and enthusiasm for this record, and for creative music as a whole. And finally thanks to friends, family, and places in Baltimore from various points in time over the past 7 years–you inspired this recording in pretty much every imaginable way.
PFMCD107
pfMENTUM Website: pfmentum.com