Martin McNulty Crane V comes from a long line of exceptional Martins. There’s an orphan who became attorney general of Texas and fought the KKK, a lieutenant who fought in WWI, an airline pilot who raised his family in Iran, and a scientist. Our Martin Crane, who now records as Brazos, is on track to become a leading musical light, with a burning creative mind and a searching soul.

Brooklyn (by way of Austin) -based Brazos gained recognition in 2009 with Crane’s self-released debut album, Phosphorescent Blues. The album was hewn around ‘The Observer,’ the 1969 Adrienne Rich poem Crane put to music. From the bouncy, free-formed vocal phrasing of that adaptation grew a style that combined raw energy and dance rhythms with the subtle intricacies of jazz and folk.

On Brazos’ new album, Saltwater, Crane’s acoustic guitar, Spencer Zahn’s warm bass lines, and Ian Chang’s frenetic, melodic drumming were all recorded live. Over several months, Crane added and refined layers of pianos, synths, guitars and production embellishment. The multi-talented Sandro Perri mixed the final arrangements into a quixotic melange that is both understated and startlingly honest.

Like a stunning spring morning, Saltwater is buoyant, expansive pop, with an astonishingly sure hand of craftsmanship. Gestated in an atmosphere of listening to “transcendent groove music” (Pharaoh Sanders, Can, Harmonia, Fela Kuti, among others) Crane brings a light and lilting poise and unique perspective, mixed with the emotional urgency of The Walkmen, a James Mercer timbre, and a wry, unencumbered sense of being, a la Deerhunter or Cass McCombs.

This is our Martin Crane – the restless, yearning, young musical adventurer – balancing raging power, with a lovely articulation of deep feelings.

He has no tattoos.

Brazos Website

Hi, and thanks for your interest in our store!

We’re located at 181 Franklin St in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, just a short walk from the Greenpoint Ave. stop on the G train. We are open 7 days a week, from 12pm – 8pm.

We stock New and Used LPs, CDs, DVDs, 45s & 12s in all genres. We try to make sure that our store has something for everyone. Sign up for our mailing list for weekly lists of new in-stock & back in-stock titles. If you have any immediate stock questions, please don’t hesitate to call the store at 718-383-4083. We’ll be happy to help you out.

In addition to music, we also carry all sorts of accessories, such as replacement needles, cartridges & headshells designed to fit a wide variety of turntables. If your turntable isn’t giving you the sound quality it used to, that doesn’t mean it’s broken. You probably just need a new stylus, and we can help you out. We also carry slip mats, adapters for 45s, additional cabling, and cleaning kits.

Lastly, if you’re looking to protect your vinyl records, we’ve also got all sorts of sleeves for you to buy. Paper & plastic, re-sealable and slip, for 7”, 10” and 12” records. They’re all here.

Have old records you want to sell? Get all the details at our buying page.

Enjoy!
-p-recs

Aww yeah! New shirts and tote bags are here, and they are looking SHARP!

This time we’ve got white shirts with our blag logo, and white/canvas bags
with a black logo. Together, they make quite a pair. Shirts are $15
and available in a variety of shapes & sizes. And
totes are only $5.99. Enjoy!