("Jon Says" from the Field Guides' album "Boo, Forever" as remixed by Fred Thomas/City Center)

Check out Fred's doings here: fredthomas.blogspot.com

Some words from Benedict:

"Fred is legitimately one of the only people I know for whom the hyperbole of a word like ‘genius’ actually applies. I remember one of my college bands opening for Saturday Looks Good to Me in 2003 or so above a bar called The Chanticleer… In the middle of one of our songs, the rest of the band abruptly stopped playing. My eyes were closed and I was apparently really “feeling” the music, because I kept playing for another minute or so on my own. When I realized something was odd, I opened my eyes to a blinding beam of light and three or four cops angrily shouting at me to stop playing. The crowd was standing and watching the scene unfold awkwardly. The cops threatened to shut the show down and give the bar a citation if we didn’t turn the volume “way down.” They continued shining flashlights in my eyes the whole time. It was sort of humiliating. I remember Fred giving me a little pep talk after our truncated set. Those days, SLGTM would alternate between touring with these big lineups with horns and all and then more stripped down iterations. But after the interruption, they decided to play a quiet set, barely amplified. I think it was maybe just guitar, Rhodes, and brushed drums. It was incredible. Fred is such a captivating performer, but that night especially he transcended the limitations and used the circumstances to his advantage. The songs were given these intimate treatments, hushed but no less evocative. Everyone’s anxiety was replaced with this sort of shared camaraderie; we were all in on something special. Where I was frustrated and embarrassed, Fred saw an opportunity for something special. It was inspiring. He has always been inspiring. I love his music so much. I feel so incredibly fortunate to know him and so honored that he made a remix of this song. His arpeggiator broke right after making this, and that seems somehow significant. There’s another version which is totally nuts that I’ll share with you if you’re lucky."