New York’s Andy Chase of Brookville, a musician and producer best known as member of the band Ivy, is joining today’s top tier of progressive artists who are taking complete control of their craft. With a highly anticipated new project, a freshly launched label, and a fully stocked NYC recording studio, Andy Chase’s revered music career has just begun.
Flaunting a sleek and slender Euro-romantic sound, Brookville is a beautifully rendered project that allows Chase to balance his talent for songcraft with his love for rich sonic landscapes and textures. It is in some senses a “solo record,” on which Chase was free to explore the type of languid, atmospheric music that was only hinted at within the tight pop framework of Ivy’s records. But the many contributing musicians on the album – including James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) Eric Matthews (Cardinal), Jean-Pierre Ensuque (Autour de Lucie), Jon Skibic (Gigolo Aunts), Danny Wienkauf (They Might Be Giants), producer-programmer Michael Hampton, and many others – suggest that the making of Brookville’s Wonderfully Nothing was also a collaborative effort that left ample room for experimentation and exploration.
Andy Chase likens the Brookville recording process to careful sound layering, bolstered by his cohesive overall vision. According to Andy, “I would go into the studio, put on headphones, and just layer sounds and samples on top of each other and create the song that way, but underneath a lot of the sonic textures there’s still, at the core, a songwriter there. It’s a pastiche of sounds, but you still get the feeling that there’s a driving force in control.”
Besides co-owning Stratosphere Sound recording studio in New York with James Iha and Ivy bandmate Adam Schlesinger, Andy Chase has co-produced and co-written all of the music on Ivy’s three critically acclaimed albums, as well as Ivy’s score for the recent Farrelly Brothers movie Shallow Hal. As a producer, he has enjoyed success with the French pop group Tahiti 80, whose debut album Puzzle was a critical and commercial hit around the world (#1 in Japan).
Despite his many accomplishments, however, if you ask Andy about his inspiration for starting Brookville, he’ll humbly point to the musicians around him. So says Andy, “a while back, I had Eric Matthews, who plays trumpet and sings, do horn parts on Tahiti 80, then Ivy, then on another song I had written that didn’t have a home. His reaction to that one song made me take the idea of a new band more seriously. And now that I’ve started Brookville, I realize that a lot of the credit goes to him, as well as James [Iha].”
But perhaps the best lesson Andy’s learned from his experiences is the most humble of all: “Just don’t try. Just make it nothing. But when you’re making it nothing, make it Wonderfully Nothing.”
Ivy’s Andy Chase has released a second album as Brookville; the album will appeal to diehard Brookville fans and Ivy completists alike. “Nothing’s Meant to Last,” featuring a great call-and-response vocal turn from Brazilian Girls’ members Didi Gutman and Sabina Sciubba reminds you of how well Chase collaborates with Ivy’s Dominique Durand and how they’ve managed to keep putting out consistently good records.
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Andy Chase, best known as the sonic architect behind Ivy, fits the definition of auteur. Brookville’s second album follows a path similar to Ivy. He is a proficient interpreter of moods, which here tend toward the reflective and melancholic. A superb, atmospheric album.
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August 26, 2006
Getecho
Brookville comes from NYC and this June (13th) will release his sophomore solo album called Life In The Shade via Unfiltered Records. Brookville is actually Ivy´s co-founder, producer and co-owner of Stratosphere Sound recording studio Andy Chase. Life In The Shade seems to be more atmospheric, more quiet, more poppy and electronic. Many contributing musicians appear there as well as great covers. The music reminds a bit New Order´s sound. It´s the follow-up to critically acclaimed Wonderfully Nothing, the debut recording released in 2003. Great easy-listening music.
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August 09, 2006
Babysue
Soft, moody, melodic pop. Brookville seems to be mainly driven by the talents of singer/songwriter Andy Chase. Life in the Shade is a compelling and rewarding collection of smart soft pop tunes. The songs feature great melodies and personal lyrics that seem genuine and sincere.
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Brookville, Andy Chase’s Ivy side project (with help from French composer Cyril Moisson), has released Life in the Shade, the follow-up to 2003’s critic-darling Wonderfully Nothing. European chill out tunes for lounging….“Nothing’s Meant to Last” and “Golden” are definitely a couple standout tracks to add to the ol’ iPod.
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New York-based musician and producer Andy Chase has already made a huge impact in the US since the formation of his new band. This has a musically minded electronically infused feel. Fans of Thievery Corporation, Air, Kings of Convenience and Four-Tet will appreciate the pastiche of sounds, layers of sonic textures and melodic driving force throughout. But this is not only a must have album for downtempo disciples; no, with massive crossover appeal, featuring tracks used on US TV shows “Nip/Tuck” and “The OC”, Brookville’s future is anything but Smallville.
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With tracks featured on major transatlantic TV hits Nip/Tuck and the OC, Brookville’s sound – a chilled, lounge-room pop – will be subliminally familiar to many already. This is subtle music-making, with textures of melody which make it a rarity amidst the clumsy noise of much of modern New York’s output.
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Wonderfully Nothing is a sly and seductive beast. Not only does Chase get a chance to show off his superb songwriting skills, but he is also given the opportunity to spend more time toying around with the deeply woven textures he loves so much. Chase breaks out of the tight pop framework of what he does with Ivy and is free to wander to more atmospheric places, blending live and electronic instruments to create a sort of sleek lounge pop that is perfect for laying in bed alone on an early week-day morning, or with a loved one on a late weekend night.
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One would be inclined to label Brookville mainman Andy Chase ‘one to watch’… except that he’s already arrived. Chase being a compatriot of Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha, Fountains Of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, and the man behind indie-influentials Ivy is ‘One to keep watching’, then.
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Wonderfully Nothing triumphs: the extra time spent in the studio only enhances the overall feel of the album, a slightly melancholy reflection on life told through sonic vignettes. Chase is clearly a studio rat; Wonderfully Nothing could very well have been a senior project in audio engineering with ProTools. But Chase doesn’t sacrifice soul for cleverness. Chase obviously spent a long time figuring out exactly what he wanted these songs to sound like. Though the lyrics are solid throughout, the texture and sound of the songs reveal how Chase has matured as both an arranger and a musician. He knows what works and what doesn’t. Streaked with imagination and care throughout, Wonderfully Nothing is wonderfully something.
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Brookville is just as strong, if not better, than the best of Ivy. Andy is an artist who knows his limitations and uses them advantageously. Why have an overly ambitious record, when you can craft a beautifully lush and intimate album full of astute pop? By all means, overlook the misleading album title and dim the lights because this album is wonderfully something.
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October 19, 2003
Ramp
Engaging, muted ecstasy.
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“HOLLYWOOD, CA — It was an annoyed crowd BROOKVILLE (current project of Andy Chase, erstwhile Ivy member) was faced with when the band finally hit the stage at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on October 8. Due to technical difficulties with headliner GOLDFRAPP’s set-up, soundcheck had continued until minutes before the performance, almost two hours after the posted set time. With the help of muted
blue and green lighting and soothing tones, Brookville’s gorgeous, effortless melodies quickly turned the peeved crowd’s mood around. Shoved to the very front of the stage (in order to make room for Goldfrapp’s gear), the band connected with the audience, creating an intimate atmosphere in the spacious theater. They played a meager six-song set from their album, ‘Wonderfully Nothing.’ Chase’s low and
deep sensual vocal delivery slid over the simple yet powerful arrangements of tunes such as “Walking on the Moonlight,” while easy instrumentals such as “Fleet” brought memories of the French group Air to mind. The curtain actually came down on Brookville while Chase was still speaking to the crowd; calls for “Freebird” were rejected due to the abbreviated set."
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September 21, 2003
Harp
Brookville makes sweet black-and-blue pop of hushed vocals matched with resonant instrumentation and insular electronica. The music is intriguing. Chase’s enduring talent for melody create a lushness recalling Everything But The Girl or Avalon-era Roxy Music.
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Even with three fine albums to its credit, the excellent New York pop trio Ivy never quite got its due. With fellow Ivy songwriter back to work with Fountains of Wayne, Andy Chase’s other songwriting force has initiated his own project, Brookville, which at times also involves multi-instrumental buddy Eric Matthews and co-producer Jean- Pierre Ensuque. Not surprisingly, songs such as “Walking On Moonlight” and “Sweet Sensation” recall some of the more sophisticated moments of Ivy, with Chase doing his best chanteuse impression on vocals.
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