Maps of Music

Stranger to Stranger (2016)

Where the lyrics of Stranger to Stranger take you, and where it was really made.

Simon moved part of the sessions to Montclair State University so he could play instruments built by Harry Partch, a composer who had to make his own instruments to write on a microtonal scale.

Key places

Recorded at Simon's cottage (2016)

Recording site Simon's cottage (New Canaan) — Simon's cottage in New Canaan is listed as a place where the album was recorded. The point sits at the town centre, not at the cottage itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sessions moved to Montclair State University (2016)

Recording site Montclair State University (Montclair) — In 2013 Simon briefly moved the sessions to Montclair State University to use the instruments stored there. The instruments are kept at this university. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Stranger to Stranger: thirteenth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon
• Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee; released June 3, 2016 through Concord Records
• Experimental music that uses custom-made instruments by composer and music theorist Harry Partch
• Three songs are collaborations with Italian electronic artist Clap! Clap!
• First release in over five years

Background

• Simon began writing new material shortly after So Beautiful or So What, released April 2011
• Clap! Clap! was introduced to Simon by his son Adrian, a fan of his work
• The two met in July 2011 in Milan, Italy, during the So Beautiful or So What tour
• They worked together by email while making the album
• Longtime friend Roy Halee, who had retired years earlier, was recruited to advise on natural echo
• Halee was unfamiliar with Pro Tools, so Simon helped him with it

Recording

• Simon briefly moved the sessions to Montclair State University in 2013 to use the Partch instruments stored there
• The album uses Partch-built instruments such as the Cloud-Chamber Bowls and the Chromelodeon

Cover

• Cover art is a detail of a 2011 portrait of Simon by Chuck Close
• Photo by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Gallery

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Paul Simon (born October 13, 1941, Newark, New Jersey) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• He met Art Garfunkel in elementary school in 1953 and they became known as Simon & Garfunkel in the 1960s.
• The duo's folk-rock hits such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "America" and "The Boxer" defined the 1960s counterculture.
• Their final album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), is among the best-selling albums of all time.

Career

• As a solo artist, Simon explored gospel, reggae, soul and world music.
• Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) drew acclaim and hits such as "Mother and Child Reunion" and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".
• Graceland (1986), incorporating South African influences, became his most successful and acclaimed album.
• He wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman (1998), which was poorly received.
• His later albums include You're the One (2000), So Beautiful or So What (2011), Stranger to Stranger (2016) and Seven Psalms (2023).
• He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice and won 16 Grammy Awards.

Honors

• He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001 and the first Library of Congress Gershwin Prize in 2007.
• He co-founded the Children's Health Fund, a nonprofit providing medical care to children.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score of 85 based on 25 reviews
• Rolling Stone: Will Hermes said it was an album as inviting, immaculately produced, jokey and unsettled as any he has made
• The Guardian: Jon Dennis found the album as rewarding as anything Simon had recorded before, with a tenacious pursuit of new sounds
• Entertainment Weekly: Jonathan Bernstein called it one of Simon's very boldest collections to date
• Los Angeles Times: Randy Lewis called it pop music at its most artful and relevant
• The Independent: Andy Gill hailed it as Simon's best in several years
• The Boston Globe: Steve Smith considered it his richest, most instantly appealing collection since Graceland (1986)
• Spin: Dan Weiss was less impressed and lamented the novelty electronics

Records

• UK Albums Chart debut at No. 1, selling 19,218 copies in its first week
• At age 74, Simon became the oldest male solo artist to chart at No. 1 in the UK
• First UK No. 1 studio album since 1990's The Rhythm of the Saints
• Billboard 200 debut at No. 3 with first-week sales of 68,000 units
• Best-selling album of the week on pure album sales, with 67,000 copies
• Simon's highest charting album in over 29 years, since Graceland (1986)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Simon wrote The Werewolf around a werewolf who is also an angel of death
• The Clock and In the Garden of Edie work as interludes meant to give listeners space
• Those two tracks were first composed for John Patrick Shanley's play Prodigal Son but went unused
• Simon's son Adrian introduced him to Clap! Clap!, who had been a fan of his work
• Simon said Partch had to build his own instruments to compose on a microtonal scale, and that approach runs through this album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

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