Netherfriends is the inexhaustable brainchild of Shawn Rosenblatt. Mr. Rosenblatt has one interest and a ruthless dedication to that interest, which has left him jobless and homeless. But that's a square's perspective on Netherfriends' lifestyle. In 2011, Netherfriends released a ambient meditation record entitled Alap, made a record of the silliest Nilsson samples ever written, and took it upon himself to redo the score from the film Baraka – you know, just make it more drone-y and ambient. He is a songwriting and touring machine that spent last year on a 50 state tour, writing and performing songs with musicians in each state.
The first installment of his 50-song journey is Middle America. The first city, state and single to debut is “Bloomington, IN”. A tree city with a population of 80, 405, Bloomington is a fine place to record a rolicking indie jam with hints of tropicalia. Rosenblatt possibly wrote “Bloomington, IN” deep into his 50 state adventure (just a theory), which could explain the lyric “then maybe one day music wouldn't take up all my time / and I could feel like every guy”. We've never been to Bloomington and these songs are not supposed to be dedications to the locales, but something about Bloomington encouraged Rosenblatt to yearn for the carefree times. The mayor of Bloomington would be wise to make this the official song of the city.
Middle America is out February 7 on Kilo Records.
