ABOUT REANIMATION
REANIMATION is the vision of Michael Shanahan. This solo project took root in 2006, but seeds were planted much earlier, during Shanahan's downtime between other music-world commitments. Since 1985, the music of REANIMATION and its forebears has resisted easy categorization by combining elements of psychedelia with progressive, experimental, alternative and pop rock.
Shanahan first made a small ripple in the indie world in 2011 with the REANIMATION debut GIANTS HIDE AMONG US. The self-produced album owed much to its experimental ancestors, with sometimes-eerie progressions and cyclical percussion themes, garnering favorable reviews and modest airplay.
In 2014, Shanahan returned with the release of the ambitious, often dark and mesmerizing UNDER THE LAST TREE ON EARTH. Nine songs that dig deep under the skin, taking the listener on a deep, emotional journey of self-exploration and discovery. Heavy and hypnotic, with expertly assembled textural grooves, the album is a more purposeful and focused result. Still, it remained true to the trademark REANIMATION use of thickly layered sounds and circular song structures.
As 2017 comes to a close, Michael Shanahan returns with the first REANIMATION release in more than three years. THE GHOST OF THE MUSE is a progressive and atmospheric offering that pulls in elements of psychedelic rock, indie, shoegaze, trance, and even ambient touches. Shanahan delivers reflective, introspective lyrics with power and emotion, while heavy, hypnotic, cyclical arrangements dance and build beneath the surface.
In past lives, Shanahan has collaborated on recordings with Washington, DC's Blue Sausage Infant (Flight of the Solstice Queens, 2010; Negative Space, 2011). Before REANIMATION, Shanahan co-founded the Chicago-based alt-rock trio Every Part of the Animal (EPOTA) in 1988, with bassist/vocalist Brad Allen and guitarist/vocalist Bob Bartodziej. EPOTA eventually became a duo (Shanahan/Allen) and released two CDs, Life Imitates Art (1993) and Civilization [Spirit] (1999). Before EPOTA, Shanahan also co-founded Quixotic, with Mark Watson, in 1985. That partnership produced several cassette releases and one CD release, Leap of Faith (1996). With REANIMATION, Shanahan melds these influences into a unique experience based on groove, space, atmospherics and tension.
Michael Shanahan: vocals, drums & percussion, electric and acoustic guitars & effects, bass, piano, synths, mridangam, violin, tin whistle, Chinese zither, recorder, e-bowed zither, Melodica, harmonica, chromatic bells, 10’ corrugated perforated drain pipe, aluminum can and kalimba.
Shanahan first made a small ripple in the indie world in 2011 with the REANIMATION debut GIANTS HIDE AMONG US. The self-produced album owed much to its experimental ancestors, with sometimes-eerie progressions and cyclical percussion themes, garnering favorable reviews and modest airplay.
In 2014, Shanahan returned with the release of the ambitious, often dark and mesmerizing UNDER THE LAST TREE ON EARTH. Nine songs that dig deep under the skin, taking the listener on a deep, emotional journey of self-exploration and discovery. Heavy and hypnotic, with expertly assembled textural grooves, the album is a more purposeful and focused result. Still, it remained true to the trademark REANIMATION use of thickly layered sounds and circular song structures.
As 2017 comes to a close, Michael Shanahan returns with the first REANIMATION release in more than three years. THE GHOST OF THE MUSE is a progressive and atmospheric offering that pulls in elements of psychedelic rock, indie, shoegaze, trance, and even ambient touches. Shanahan delivers reflective, introspective lyrics with power and emotion, while heavy, hypnotic, cyclical arrangements dance and build beneath the surface.
In past lives, Shanahan has collaborated on recordings with Washington, DC's Blue Sausage Infant (Flight of the Solstice Queens, 2010; Negative Space, 2011). Before REANIMATION, Shanahan co-founded the Chicago-based alt-rock trio Every Part of the Animal (EPOTA) in 1988, with bassist/vocalist Brad Allen and guitarist/vocalist Bob Bartodziej. EPOTA eventually became a duo (Shanahan/Allen) and released two CDs, Life Imitates Art (1993) and Civilization [Spirit] (1999). Before EPOTA, Shanahan also co-founded Quixotic, with Mark Watson, in 1985. That partnership produced several cassette releases and one CD release, Leap of Faith (1996). With REANIMATION, Shanahan melds these influences into a unique experience based on groove, space, atmospherics and tension.
Michael Shanahan: vocals, drums & percussion, electric and acoustic guitars & effects, bass, piano, synths, mridangam, violin, tin whistle, Chinese zither, recorder, e-bowed zither, Melodica, harmonica, chromatic bells, 10’ corrugated perforated drain pipe, aluminum can and kalimba.