SCENIC - Incident At Cima black vinyl LP

Incident at Cima is the 1995 debut album from SCENIC, the group formed by SAVAGE REPUBLIC and IPR founder Bruce Licher. Conceived as an all-instrumental soundtrack for the East Mojave Desert, Licher is joined by former SHIVA BURLESQUE bassist James Brenner and drummer Brock Wirtz, with guest musicians Jeffrey Clark (SHIVA BURLESQUE vocalist), Robert Loveless (former SAVAGE REPUBLIC and 17 PYGMIES member), Chris Manecke (from the ABECEDARIANS) and John Ganem. Together, they have created an aural masterpiece which has received serious critical acclaim. David Fricke in ROLLING STONE magazine writes that SCENIC's music "suggests Ennio Morricone dune-surfing in Death Valley." Robert Levine in huH magazine describes the album as "a sweeping, swirling (sound) that's full of both darkness and wonder." Grant Alden in RAYGUN says "Incident At Cima plays like futuristic chamber music. It is like nothing else on the landscape." And that sums it up pretty well. SCENIC's music is like nothing else on the landscape, and while there is definitely a relation to some of the sounds explored by SAVAGE REPUBLIC during their eight-year existence, SCENIC have created a mature and focused album which is a great leap forward. Incident at Cima is an evocative aural journey, a quite listenable and incredibly honest piece of music, and as such it has the potential to be appreciated by a wide range of listeners. The packaging for Incident at Cima includes a series of photographs Licher has taken in the East Mojave Desert which relate to the various pieces of music on the album, creating a complete audio/visual experience. Four of the songs on Incident At Cima are prominently featured in Stuart Swezey's 2019 feature-length documentary film Desolation Center, including the track Carrying On To Cadiz as heard in the main title sequence.

This all new 2023 black vinyl LP pressing is now available for purchase. Without going into the agonizing details, our previous pressing of this LP had to be recalled due to a pressing plant error and it took way too long to finally get a satisfactory pressing of this exquisite LP, but it is finally here and we’re so pleased to be able to make this unique and excellent album available again on vinyl. This new pressing also features a bonus CD adding 11 previously unreleased tracks (over 50 minutes of music) consisting of early demo recordings and rough basic tracks from 1992, the first year of the band’s existence. This new black vinyl edition features the 2023 printing of a re-designed letterpress-printed artwork based on the original album graphics, a folding perforated oversized poster, IPR’s iconic die cut packaging, and includes a postcard-sized full-color download card with code for a free download of the album.

LP Track Listing

A1. The Shifting Sand
A2. The Kelso Run
A3. Incident At Cima
A4. East Mojave Shuffle
A5. Hole In The Wall
A6. Carrying On To Cadiz
A7. The Mid Hills
B1. Down Black Canyon Road
B2. Chiriaco Summit
B3. Around Sundown
B4. Bossa Dune
B5. Predawn
B6. On The Dune
B7. The Road To Ivanpah
B8. Cima Dome

Bonus CD Track Listing

1. The Kelso Run (Early Demo Recording)
2. Incident At Cima (Early Demo Recording)
3. Sage (Early Demo Recording)
4. Chiriaco Summit (Early Demo Recording)
5. Blind Fire (Early Demo Recording)
6. When The Time Comes (Early Demo Recording)
7. First Time On The Dune (Bruce Licher Solo Demo)

8. Approaching Chiriaco Summit (Bruce Licher Solo Demo)
9. A Glimpse From A Long Forgotten Time (Bruce Licher Solo Demo)
10. A Fragment Of Reality From Another Era (Bruce Licher Solo Demo)
11. Something For Karen (Bruce Licher Solo Demo)

SCENIC - Incident At Cima black vinyl LP

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"Non-vocal in orientation and specializing in cinematic vistas (think Morricone, but with a smart avoidance of pasta-oater twang), Scenic debuted with the 7-inch EP 'The Kelso Run' in late ’93, but all three of its songs appear on Incident at Cima, a 15-track set augmented by 11 demo cuts on the bonus CD... Incident at Cima reinforces Scenic as a very strong early example of post-rock. The music has held up extremely well."
—Joseph Neff, The Vinyl District

"After the original incarnation of Savage Republic went into general stasis during the 1990s, Bruce Licher turned his main musical impulses to the formation of a new band, Scenic, with a goal towards instrumental albums and songs recorded with inspiration from various specific locations. In the case of their full length debut, 1995’s Incident at Cima, that was the east Mojave Desert, and from the start with the slow sweeping moods of 'The Shifting Sand' there’s a definite sense of the mysterious at play. By no means is it simply steady atmospherics – 'The Kelso Run,' first released as a single the previous year, is in a line of descent from Savage Republic’s intensity and their taking inspiration from all corners, where both Ennio Morricone western soundtracks and surf vibes mix and match. Throughout, the core trio of Licher on guitar, Shiva Burlesque veteran James Brenner on bass and Brock Wirtz on drums effectively create something that works in numerous modes, from acoustic-led pieces like 'Down Black Canyon Road,' 'Hole In The Wall' and 'The Mid Hills' to the shimmering kicks of 'On The Dune.'"
—Ned Raggett, THE SHFL

"The instrumentation is basically electric and acoustic guitars, bass and drums with occasional Vox organ and harmonica, guests joining for the odd track on the likes of mandolin, accordion and autoharp. Starting life as acoustic guitar demos, they were built up first with the addition of a 12-string before taking final shape with the line-up that became the band Scenic. The concept evolved with Licher's panoramic photography of the East Mojave Desert and now comes in this super-deluxe LP-with-CD presentation of just 500 copies. There are a couple of longer tracks but with 15 in 40 minutes there's enough going on to hold the attention or else act as a scene-setting medium for relaxation."
—Alan Taylor, Pipeline

SCENIC - Incident At Cima black vinyl LP

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