{"product_id":"marc-ribot-map-of-a-blue-city","title":"Marc Ribot - Map Of A Blue City","description":"\u003cp\u003eMap of a Blue City is the record where Marc Ribot finally sings, after thirty years of letting his guitar do all the talking for other people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRibot has spent decades as downtown New York's most reliably brilliant sideman, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and John Zorn among the names that made him famous without ever putting his own voice on record. This 2025 album, produced by Ben Greenberg, changes that, and the results are closer to a singer-songwriter record than anything he's attempted, his voice arriving lo-fi and gritty, a soft growl over acoustic guitar work that's languid and warm rather than showing off. Roots, bossa nova, no-wave, and free jazz all pass through, but nothing here feels like genre tourism, just Ribot pulling from everywhere he's ever actually played.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title track stretches past six minutes as the album's most exploratory statement, guitar wandering while the vocal stays grounded. His reading of the Carter Family's When the World's on Fire turns old-time gospel into something quietly unsettled, and Sometime Jailhouse Blues sets an Allen Ginsberg poem to music with real conviction rather than reverence. Death of a Narcissist carries the record's sharpest, most direct writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThirty years of being everyone else's secret weapon, and it turns out he had plenty to say himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTracklist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSide A\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eElizabeth\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor Celia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSay My Name\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDaddy's Trip to Brazil\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMap of a Blue City\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSide B\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDeath of a Narcissist\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen the World's on Fire\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSometime Jailhouse Blues\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"Optimism of the Spirit\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"Alliance Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51305157886257,"sku":"607396591114","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0704\/2026\/7313\/files\/Marc_Ribot_-_Map_Of_A_Blue_City.jpg?v=1788087634","url":"https:\/\/vinyl.com\/products\/marc-ribot-map-of-a-blue-city","provider":"Vinyl.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}