oRSo

oRSo is the project of ex-rex member and oft-time HiM and Loftus contributor Phil Spirito. After a series of releases for Perishable Records, oRSo has teamed up with Contraphonic in this year of their decennial celebration. oRSo's previous release, My Dreams Are Back and They Are Better Than Ever, earned nearly universal acclaim and saw the band opening for Califone on extended domestic and Italian tours. Building upon that success, oRSo's hypnotic mix of tenor banjos, soft organs, muted brass, and calm harmonies are in full force on the majestic Ask Your Neighbor. It's like taking a walk in the woods with music dripping off every leaf passed by.

After a childhood of playing drums and percussion, as well as learning guitar and bass, Phil Spirito took an abbreviated trip to music school before moving to Portland, Maine, where he played bass and fronted many bands that have long since been forgotten. Spending time working as a DJ at Portland's community radio station, WMPG, Spirito branched out from the classic rock of his youth, discovering (and becoming obsessed with) world and experimental music. This is when his lifelong admiration of Captain Beefheart started. After 10 years of playing many different kinds of music (rock, jazz, experimental, improv, world) in Maine's small music scene, Phil was invited to New York to play bass with some old friends. He jumped at the chance, and in 1994, they started the band rex.

rex went on to record for Southern Records. It was at this time, towards the end of rex's history, that Phil started to have ideas about starting his own project. Those ideas were developed even further when rex toured with Red Red Meat. There was a fast and super meeting of musical minds and many friendships were born on that tour. In 1996, rex and Red Red Meat joined together once again to record the Loftus album. We hear the first seeds of Spirito's new musical ideas in some of the Loftus recordings. Phil had been playing banjo once in a while, but it was during those Loftus sessions that he started to play more frequently. On the last rex tour, Phil bought his first tenor guitar, a purchase that helped begin to round out the true oRSo sound. This four-stringed mini-guitar, the banjo, and tenor banjo have since become the musical core of oRSo. That winter, Phil traveled to Chicago recruiting Julie Lui, Ben Masserella and Brian Deck to play and record oRSo's first self-titled album. oRSo: version one and the Binto Family were born.

The first oRSo album was released in the fall of 1998. It was at this time that Phil began to form his theory of music shells. The idea is this: Phil writes the tunes on his instrument of choice and then finds musicians that he can trust to fill out, with some guidance, the already formed shells. Subsequent versions have been formed by bringing together musicians who, as a group, can best paint the oRSo vision no matter how abstract.

Phil was still bringing in his shells, but over time the different versions of oRSo led to an incredible group chemistry that fostered the writing of songs as a unit, something that has become more frequent as time passed. To date there have been six versions of oRSo that have recorded three albums, with the most recent group including Libby Reed on keyboards (and back-up harmonies) as the core member of version six, as well as Rob Stephenson on guitar and Dylan Ryan on vibes.

Ask Your Neighbor was recorded over three years at oRSo's home studio and at Four Deuces with Jim McGranahan, and it was mixed with Griffin Rodriguez (Icy Demons, Bablicon) at Shape Shoppe. The evolving line-up of oRSo continues on this release, with contributions from Tim Rutilli, Jim Becker and Ben Massarella (Califone), Nick Macri (The Zincs), and others, including full-fledged oRSo member Libby Reed (Coat). In 2008, Contraphonic will also be releasing a series of digital-only albums combing the oRSo archives, and there will be exclusive engagements in Los Angeles and Chicago with accompanying film(s) by Phil Spirito.

Upcoming Shows

07.28.09 Chicago, IL @ The Whistler Contraphonic Weird Folk Series.

Downloads / URLs

Press Photo (72dpi)
Press Photo (300dpi)
"See Me" (mp3)
myspace.com/bintofamily

Releases on Contraphonic

  • Available now in the ContraStore in MP3 format.
    Is Xmas Tomorrow?. CON 077. Released: 12.10.08
    Tracklisting: Intro / Is Xmas Tomorrow? (Little Soul Mix) / Arm and Arm with Duke Lee Battling the Strange Birthday Revelers / Lynchpins UV Chaos / Is Christmas Tomorrow? / Silver Bells and a Roasting Fire
  • Available now in the ContraStore in CD format.
    Ask Your Neighbor. CON 071. Released: 09.09.08
    Tracklisting: All Suffer Fools / Anniversary / Warm Up / I'm High / Not Likely To / Nice To See You / Protest Song / See Me / To Be Held / The Hope / Egg / Way Way
  • Available now in the ContraStore in MP3 format.
    Alterations Two. CON 071. Released: 05.13.08
    Tracklisting: Murder to be Made / Paul Ascends / Gotti Is Made / Mistakes / Pauly Returns / He's Gotta Go / Safety to Sing / Why Me Lord / Sammy Tells All
  • Available now in the ContraStore in MP3 format.
    Alterations One. CON 070. Released: 05.13.08
    Tracklisting: 3rd / For Lack of Better Words / Golden Mole / Fitted Sheet / Swiss Chard / Old Mr C's World / Mama / Conference Room / LF