Nicholas Kent
This is an absolutely essential album in every sense of the word - and this is another baffling example of a band that should have been far more appreciated and known than 90% of the bands around at the time and since. My only gripe about this remaster is that some of the guitar parts seem quieter than they originally were and those were some of my favorite elements of the record. Regardless, this is an A+++++++ album!
Favorite track: A Dozen Roses (Remastered 2023).
Dereck Blackburn
I love this record because not only is it the sound of our collective youth but it was the springboard for so many creative endeavors of the time from music to art and media to the written word. Who knows how many young hearts this record inspired to chase their dreams in what we now know was a period of social lucidity and opportunity?
Kirk Gauthier
Not to sound like an old fart reminiscing about “the good old days,” but the ‘90s were such a great time for music. You had grunge, alternative rock, emo, indie rock, and so much more. Braid is a little bit of all those things rolled up into one great package, and this remaster of their third album is pretty essential if you’re into that late ‘90s scene. It’s crisp, clean, and full of energy. Don’t miss out on this one!
Favorite track: Collect From Clark Kent (Remastered 2023).
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
-Expanded packaging features a deluxe gatefold jacket with embossed covers and interior pocket print.
-Includes full-size 12-page booklet with lyrics, rare photos and new liner notes from each band member.
Includes unlimited streaming of Frame & Canvas (25th Anniversary Edition)
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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T-Shirt/Shirt
T-SHIRT BRAND: Next Level
T-SHIRT COLOR: Cardinal
INK COLOR: White
Features the iconic lyrics from “The New Nathan Detroits” (the opening track off Braid's seminal 1998 album Frame and Canvas).
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got caught kicking the canvas down i had plans but they never seemed to work out wide-eyed and on the lookout got caught tearing the whole thing down i was halfway done but then you know this painted scene could never leave me oh please believe me caught killing a camera now it seems calming and clear to hire a cast of kittens, the cats we've been kissing for the cameras we're lowering here got caught tearing the whole thing down i was halfway done but then we sang it for memphis: the new slang in frame and canvas just for the cameras when we are away we sing "never ever" this is where you must make up your mind should beauty be design this time? this time you decide cause we go with whatever we take our time got a cough my throat kills from singing my ears are ringing the stage is slowly sinking and we're all thinking the same thing let's not settle for satisfaction we are women and men of action let's stop clapping, let's start doing a dream for the teens and in-betweens and twenties yet unseen.
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Frame & Canvas has been completely re-mixed by J. Robbins and re-mastered by Dan Coutant (with vinyl mastering by Bob Weston).
Frame & Canvas is a landmark. Released in April of 1998, Braid’s third studio album and first full-length with Polyvinyl wasn’t their first nor last important statement, but its urgency, precision, and non-stop rush of innovative ideas lined up perfectly with the time it was created in to effect a profound shift. In the small but growing circles of Midwestern emo of the late ‘90s, and all that would eventually ripple outward and upward from those circles, nothing was quite the same after this record. We celebrate 25 years of Frame & Canvas with the first proper re-release of the album, not just newly remastered, but remixed from the original tapes.
By the time they were ready to track their third album in late 1997, Braid had become an unstoppable machine. The band hit the ground running upon forming four years earlier, churning out new material as fast as it could be put to tape and sharpening their performance chemistry with constant, nearly compulsive touring. On one of their many runs of shows, the band crossed paths with Jawbox’s J. Robbins, a presence in the Washington D.C. scene known not just for his bands, but for his stellar work as an engineer and producer. When this group of self-professed Jawbox superfans meekly asked Robbins if he’d be interested in producing their next album, his agreement lit an even bigger fire to the creative engines of a band already in hyperdrive. True to their road-dog work ethic, Braid booked a tour that routed them to D.C. and back, working in the middle for just five blurry days at the legendary Inner Ear Studios, walking away with Frame & Canvas.
These twelve songs were not just the culmination of everything the band had been building up until that point, but an energized advancement. Guitarist/vocalists Chris Broach and Bob Nanna, and bassist Todd Bell had recently been joined by new drummer Damon Atkinson, but even less than a year into this new configuration, Braid was locked in and making some of their most inspired work. The heightened frequency the band was operating at is immediately apparent with the way “The New Nathan Detroits” charges out of the gates, opening the album with a barrage of speedy, dissonant hooks that hit like an orchestrated car crash. Throughout the album, the band masterfully balances intensity and control. Songs like “Consolation Prizefighter” lean into dynamic math rock construction, while the band’s restless melodicism guides “Killing A Camera” and slower moments like the yearning, twin-guitar beauty of “Never Will Come For Us.” Listening closely to “Collect From Clark Kent” is head-spinning, not just in trying to decode its intricate construction, but hearing it played with an effortlessness that sounds second nature. There are moments on every song that reflect the excitement and possibility of youth that the members of Braid were actively living at this point. These were four friends living, breathing, and constantly finding their way together with their music. With Frame & Canvas, they reached a new apex.
In September of 2021, J. Robbins received a message from Inner Ear founder Don Zientara, letting him know that the studio was closing and scheduled to be demolished soon, and inviting him to stop by to see if there was anything there he wanted to salvage before the bulldozers started showing up. As Robbins was rummaging through the studio, he was surprised to find the original 2” tape reels Frame & Canvas was tracked to so many years earlier. Discovering these tapes got the ball rolling for ideas about the upcoming 25th anniversary of the record. Budget constraints severely limited the band’s time in the studio back in December of 1997, but now Robbins was able to take his time crafting an entirely new mix from the excavated tapes. This new mix is given the perfect finishing touch with fresh mastering from Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio. These careful and detailed revisions bring a new clarity to the album without sacrificing any of the original spirit or intention.
For those already well-familiarized and imprinted with Frame & Canvas, this updated rendering offers a new way to hear an evergreen classic, and in doing so, perhaps find some new layers of meaning, new angles of remembering the people we were when these songs first became a part of our lives. For those lucky souls hearing the album for the first time, this is a perfect entry point to Braid’s world of explosivity and self-searching. The renovated Frame & Canvas is the brightest articulation of a document that’s been an inextricable force of influence and inspiration since it arrived 25 years ago.
supported by 55 fans who also own “Frame & Canvas (25th Anniversary Edition)”
Alvvays has always been great, but with this album they took it to the next level. Every one of these songs is lodged in my brain now, permanently (in a good way). s. moxley
