Ernest Hood grew up in Portland, Oregon, and his memories of childhood informed the creative process of his 1975 private press release, Neighborhoods, which is being given the vinyl reissue treatment courtesy of Freedom to Spend.
The album’s combination of “zither, synthesizer melodies, and foraged pedestrian sound” contributes to the sense of nostalgia throughout. As the label writes, “Hood’s nostalgic impulse ran parallel to the developments of other artists, writers, and filmmakers of the 1970s who were looking back to the 1950s to convey a collective memory of childhood. Unlike some of the widely embraced work of this nature, the music of Neighborhoods eschews irony or detachment for lucidity, striving above all for a dream-like return to the details of sensory memory.”
Neighborhoods will be released on digital and vinyl October 11. Take a walk down memory lane with the Jodi Darby directed video for “Night Games,” featuring old time-y videos of Portland “back in the day,” streaming below.
Neighborhoods tracklisting:
01. Saturday Morning Doze
02. At The Store
03. August Haze
04. The Secret Place
05. After School
06. Gloaming
07. From The Bluff
08. Night Games