Radical Face

Radical Face is a musical act consisting of Ben Cooper (born c.1982), a resident of Jacksonville, Florida, who also makes up one-half of Electric President and Iron Orchestra and one third of Mother's Basement. The name Radical Face was chosen after seeing it on a flyer. He later found out it was a plastic surgery flyer saying 'Radical Face-Lift' with the word 'lift' ripped off.^[2]

On November 16, 2010, Cooper released a six-track EP titled Touch The Sky,^[3] the prelude to an announced trilogy of albums called Family Tree. Leading up to the release of The Roots, The Branches: Volume One EP was released track by track. The first album, titled The Roots, was released on October 4, 2011. In August The Roots was accidentally released to users outside of the US on iTunes. The Roots will be followed by The Branches and The Relatives'.^[4]

Clone, an album by Ben Cooper and Richard Colado, was announced to be released through Bear Machine Records and available by fall of 2012. ^[5] In September, 2012, it was announced that the record was delayed and will be released in January, 2013.^[6]

Releases

The Junkyard Chandelier

Ben Cooper's first album to be recorded under the Radical Face pseudonym was The Junkyard Chandelier (2003). The album was never formally released but has since been available as a free download online.

Track listing

1. "Stitches In My Side" - 3:27
2. "The Scarecrows Are Marching" - 4:51
3. "Martyr" - 3:47
4. "Chewing Bottles" - 5:14
5. "Junkyard Chandelier" - 6:19
6. "Paper Birds" - 4:25
7. "Fog In The House Of Lightbulbs" - 6:38
8. "Runs In The Sidewalk" - 5:36
9. "Confidants And Fish Hooks" - 4:59
10. "Pockets Full Of Ink" - 5:20
11. "Burning Bridges" - 3:13

Ghost

Released March 2007

Track listing

1. "Asleep On a Train" - 2:01
2. "Welcome Home, Son" - 4:46
3. "Let The River In" - 5:06
4. "Glory" - 6:14
5. "The Strangest Things" - 4:25
6. "Wrapped In Piano Strings" - 3:37
7. "Along The Road" - 4:13
8. "Haunted" - 4:43
9. "Winter Is Coming" - 4:21
10. "Sleepwalking" - 4:43
11. "Homesick" - 3:39

Touch The Sky EP

Touch The Sky is an EP released in 2010 to bridge the gap between Ghost and The Family Tree Trilogy.

The song "Welcome Home" was used in 2013 for the "I Am Nikon" and Coolpix advertising campaign for Nikon cameras.

Track listing

1. "Welcome Home (EP Version) - 4:47 - Song of the year by Which?
2. "Glory (Acoustic)" - 4:34
3. "Doorways" - 3:00
4. "A Little Hell" - 2:13
5. "The Deserter's Song" - 4:55
6. "Welcome Home (Reprise)" - 2:29

The Bastards - Volume One EP

The EP was released on August 19, 2011, and is the first of a number of free EPs over the course of the Family Tree project, all of them part of a series called "The Bastards". It was made available via the Radical Face website as a free download.

Track listing

1. "All Is Well (It's Only Blood) - 2:45
2. "All Is Well (Goodbye, Goodbye)" - 4:05
3. "We're On Our Way" - 4:08

The Family Tree: The Roots

This album was released in October 2011 and is the first album of three in the Family Tree project that follows the tale of a fictional family, the Northcotes, through its generations. It is dedicated to the first two generations of the Northcotes' family tree and is narratively based in the 1800s.^[7] A Deluxe Version was released specifically for iTunes that included the three tracks from the The Bastards - Volume One EP.

Track listing

1. "Names" - 1:15
2. "A Pound of Flesh" - 3:35
3. "Family Portrait" - 4:40
4. "Black Eyes" - 4:44
5. "Severus and Stone" - 4:28
6. "The Moon Is Down" - 3:18
7. "Ghost Towns" - 3:54
8. "Kin" - 4:04
9. "The Dead Waltz" - 5:23
10. "Always Gold" - 5:56
11. "Mountains" - 4:51

The Bastards - Volume Two EP

A second EP was released on October 8th 2013 to accompany The Branches album. It consists of three songs and can be downloaded for free via the Radical Face website.

Track listing

1. "Second Family Portrait"
2. "West"
3. "Letters Home (Aftermath)"

The Family Tree: The Branches

On November 17, 2010, Ben Cooper announced that the next album in the Family Tree trilogy would be called The Family Tree: The Branches.[1] On May 18, 2013, Ben Cooper wrote on his website, "The record will come out in Fall (likely early October)."[1] In the July 18, 2013 blog entry on his website, Ben Cooper stated that the album was finished and confirmed the October 2013 release date. On September 5, 2013, a information on the Radical Face mailing list revealed that that The Branches would be released on October 22nd in America and November 1st in Europe. It also confirmed a Volume Two of The Bastards EP, to be released prior to the album.

Track listing

1. "Gray Skies" - 0:43
2. "Holy Branches" - 3:37
3. "The Mute" - 3:56
4. "Reminders" - 3:33
5. "Summer Skeletons" - 4:50
6. "The Crooked Kind" - 4:39
7. "Chains" - 2:11
8. "Letters Home" - 4:11
9. "From the Mouth of an Injured Head" - 4:04
10. "Southern Snow" - 3:21
11. "The Gilded Hand" - 6:14
12. "We All Go the Same" - 3:30

Discography

Albums

• 2003: The Junkyard Chandelier (Self-released)
• 2007: Ghost
• 2011: The Family Tree: The Roots
• 2013: The Family Tree: The Branches

EPs

• 2010: Touch The Sky EP
• 2011: The Bastards - Volume One EP
• 2012: Always Gold EP
• 2013: The Bastards - Volume Two EP

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

• Official Page
• The Sounds & Sights of Radical Face - Documentary by Justin Mitchell
• Radical Face Live in San Francisco - By Connor Ellmann