Tod Lippy

Up until now, Tod Lippy has been best-known as the creator of the award-winning arts journal ESOPUS (called “a thing of lavish, eccentric beauty” by The New York Times). Every issue of ESOPUS included a CD of new music Lippy commissioned from musical acts such as Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Neko Case, and Kimya Dawson, and it was Lippy’s interaction with these musicians that inspired him to create music of his own. “I studied classical guitar when I was younger but gave it up when I got to college. About 10 years ago, I started playing around with Garageband whenever I had a spare minute.” Over the years, in between issues of ESOPUS and other projects, Lippy developed his songwriting practice and honed his home-recording skills, eventually coming up with nearly 30 demos. In the summer of 2019, he sent a selection of these to Luna front man Dean Wareham, who connected him with Kramer, the producer and musician whose iconic work includes all three of Wareham’s first band Galaxie 500’s seminal records. Kramer and Lippy mixed the record in New York City in July 2019. In Kramer’s words, Lippy’s songs are “essential to any listener craving the raw conveyance of real experience and real life. They’re unforgettable songs about unforgettable moments—memory born through music.” The album's first single, “Good Start,” was recently chosen by influential LA-based radio station KCRW as one of its “Today’s Top Tunes."