Folk-pop singer-songwriter Damien Jurado has come a long way since he first started self-releasing lo-fi folk recordings on cassette. Jurado has been making music since the early '90s, and he recently released his 10th studio album, Maraqopa — his second produced by best friend and Secretly Canadian labelmate Richard Swift. The two complement each other well, with the new album acting as a sort of sequel to the pair's previous collaboration, Saint Bartlett. Both are cohesive concept albums full of songs that make room for a full band.
"It's a direct result of a few things," Jurado says. "One of them being I was sick of playing singer-songwriter, acoustic-guitar stuff — to me, it's kind of boring. But it's funny, 'cause I'm also in this genre where I do that."
Jurado's newest material finds a place for guitar shredding and rampant organ riffs, giving it a jammy quality unusual in confessional singer-songwriter music. Jurado makes his World Cafe debut with host David Dye, and performs songs from Maraqopa.
Don't miss today's Web Extra: an exclusive live premiere of "Horizons/Horizons Phase 2," an adventurous and multidimensional 12-minute opus.
This episode originally aired on July 17, 2012.
Copyright 2012 XPN