FIELD REPORT

Partisan Records is incredibly excited to announce that they have signed Milwaukee’s Field Report. The band’s debut record, Field Report, is due to be released on September 11, 2012. Field Report can be seen on tour this summer, supporting Emmylou Harris and Counting Crows, whose lead singer Adam Duritz enthused to Rolling Stone, “It is undeniable when you listen to Field Report. This is just great music.” Rolling Stone agreed, championing the record as a “breakout debut.” The tracklisting and full list of tour dates are below. Field Report is the creation of Chris Porterfield, who cut his musical teeth with DeYarmond Edison (the other members of which were Justin Vernon/Bon Iver and Megafaun). After their breakup in 2006, Bon Iver and Megafaun went on to success while Chris hung back in Wisconsin, thinking his career in music was over. It was really just beginning. For the first time in his life, he began writing his own songs, which he spent the following five years carefully divining, killing off, revising, and honing. In December 2011, the record was finally recorded at Vernon’s studio (with engineer Beau Sorenson). Porterfield explains, “We began to feel like it was time to make a record in the fall of 2011. Around that time, Bon Iver was touring, and came through Milwaukee. I was talking with Justin, and he said that he had heard through the grapevine that I finally had found the right people to play with. He invited us to use his space. We were particularly interested in recording at his studio (April Base) because of the large live room. We wanted to capture the sound of a band in a moment. We specifically brought Beau [Sorenson] in for this reason, and for his love of later Talk Talk.” The result is a haunting set of songs that’s crafty, lyrical, and poignant. After sending a few unfinished tracks to select people, the response was immediate and impactful: producer Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, Warren Zevon, The Pixies, Uncle Tupelo) fell in love with them and offered to mix the record, which he did in February 2012. The songs were also met with acclaim from many SXSW presenters, resulting in invitations to play at several high-profile showcases, as well as a Daytrotter session that can be heard HERE. This momentum continued into the spring, as Rolling Stone’s feature on the band championed them as “poised to break out in 2012.” Much of Porterfield’s early praise has focused on his poetic prowess: admired Pitchfork, “[Porterfield] lifts parables and history lessons wholesale to apply them to his own conflicts.” SPIN loved the band’s “quiet, Will Oldham-like fire,” while the San Francisco Bay-Guardian noted that Porterfield’s “retrospection and emotionality…will make you want to melt into his world.” Aquarian Drunkard was awed by the “honey and gravel vocals,” while NYLON deemed the music “pure stripped-down gorgeousness.”