{"title":"Music","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"in-these-times-by-makaya-mccraven","title":"Makaya McCraven - In These Times","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eIn These Times is the new album by Chicago-based percussionist, composer, producer, and pillar of our label family, Makaya McCraven.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough this album is “new,\" the truth it’s something that's been in process for a very long time, since shortly after he released his International Anthem debut In The Moment in 2015. Dedicated followers may note he’s had 6 other releases in the meantime (including 2018’s widely-popular Universal Beings and 2020’s We’re New Again, his rework of Gil Scott-Heron’s final album for XL Recordings); but none of which have been as definitive an expression of his artistic ethos as In These Times. This is the album McCraven’s been trying to make since he started making records. And his patience, ambition, and persistence have yielded an appropriately career-defining body of work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs epic and expansive as it is impressively potent and concise, the 11 song suite was created over 7+ years, as McCraven strived to design a highly personal but broadly communicable fusion of odd-meter original compositions from his working songbook with orchestral, large ensemble arrangements and the edit-heavy “organic beat music” that he’s honed over a growing body of production-craft.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith contributions from over a dozen musicians and\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecreative partners from his tight-knit circle of collaborators – including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, and Marquis Hill – the music was recorded in 5 different studios and 4 live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work from home. The pure fact that he was able to so eloquently condense and articulate the immense human scale of the work into 41 fleeting minutes of emotive and engaging sound is a monumental achievement. It’s an evolution and a milestone for McCraven, the producer; but moreover it’s the strongest and clearest statement we’ve yet to hear from McCraven, the composer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn These Times is an almost unfathomable new peak for an already-soaring innovator who has been called \"one of the best arguments for jazz's vitality\" by The New York Times, as well as recently, and perhaps more aptly, a \"cultural synthesizer.\" While challenging and pushing himself into uncharted territories, McCraven quintessentially expresses his unique gifts for collapsing space and transcending borders – blending past, present, and future into elegant, poly-textural arrangements of jazz-rooted, post-genre 21st century folk music.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased September 23, 2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMakaya McCraven - drums, sampler, percussion, tambourine, baby sitar, synths, kalimba, handclaps, vibraphone, wurlitzer, organ\u003cbr\u003eJunius Paul - double bass, percussion, electric bass guitar, small instruments\u003cbr\u003eJeff Parker - guitar\u003cbr\u003eBrandee Younger - harp\u003cbr\u003eJoel Ross - vibraphone, marimba\u003cbr\u003eMarta Sofia Honer - viola\u003cbr\u003eLia Kohl - cello\u003cbr\u003eMacie Stewart - violin\u003cbr\u003eZara Zaharieva - violin\u003cbr\u003eGreg Ward - alto sax\u003cbr\u003eIrvin Pierce - tenor sax\u003cbr\u003eMarquis Hill - trumpet, flugelhorn\u003cbr\u003eGreg Spero - piano\u003cbr\u003eRob Clearfield - piano\u003cbr\u003eMatt Gold - guitar, percussion, baby sitar\u003cbr\u003eDe’Sean Jones - flute\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music composed by Makaya McCraven; except “Lullaby” composed by Makaya McCraven based off a song originally written by Péter Dabasi and Agnes Zsigmondi. All music published by Makaya McCraven Music (ASCAP) \u0026amp; International Anthem Publishing (ASCAP), administered by Domino Publishing Company USA (ASCAP).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In These Times\" contains an excerpt of audio from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive, used with permission, courtesy of Chicago History Museum and WFMT.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded at Co-Prosperity Sphere Chicago; Symphony Center Chicago; JAMDEK Studios Chicago; Palisade Studios Chicago (fka Decade Music Studios); Shirk Studios Chicago; Makaya Music Studios; Walker Arts Center Minneapolis; Submerge Studios Detroit; Sholo Music Studios LA.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Makaya McCraven.\u003cbr\u003eEngineered and Mixed by Dave Vettraino, David Allen, and Makaya McCraven, with recording assistance from Najee-Zaid Searcy.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering.\u003cbr\u003eExecutive Production by Scott McNiece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Image \u0026amp; Insert Photos by Sulyiman.\u003cbr\u003eArt Direction by Caroline Waxse.\u003cbr\u003eDesigned by Jake Simmonds.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0059 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":45170704318738,"sku":"IARC0059LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0059 Cymbal Sheen color vinyl LP","offer_id":52108985237778,"sku":"IARC0059LPS","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0059 *Exclusive Warehouse Find* Ivory color vinyl LP","offer_id":52108985303314,"sku":"IARC0059LPI","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0059 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52108985270546,"sku":"IARC0059CD","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0059 Digital Download","offer_id":52121006473490,"sku":"IARC0059","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3992958598_16.jpg?v=1773341821"},{"product_id":"to-cy-lee-instrumentals-vol-1-by-alabaster-deplume","title":"Alabaster DePlume - To Cy \u0026 Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eIn the words of Emma Warren:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlabaster DePlume is not doing things properly, and this makes him very happy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDePlume is a Manchester-born, London-based bandleader, composer, saxophonist, activist and orator. He’s a resident at the legendary London creative hub Total Refreshment Centre, a recording artist for the off-grid, Scottish Hebridean island label Lost Map, and now the latest arrival into Chicago-based International Anthem’s growing family of progressive musical explorationists. Whilst much of his music contains vocals – often whispered imperatives – this is a collection of instrumentals, drenched in feeling and recorded over four albums and eight earth years in cities across the UK.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe music of \"To Cy \u0026amp; Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1\" contains naturally elegant orchestration wrapped around something visceral and primordial. Swirled inside the 11 pieces are shades of Japanese Min’yo folk, Celtic folk, the Ethio-jazz of saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya and hints of the pan-human ‘ancient music’ that sat underneath Arthur Russell’s melodies on First Thought, Best Thought. The music is filled with space, inspired, he says, by computer games and Japanese animation, particularly Joe Hisaishi’s\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esoundtrack for Studio Ghibli’s Castle In The Sky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe record combines new compositions alongside bygone instrumentals and understated lullabies that feel like they’ve been picked from between the cracks of civilisation. These songs were collected from albums \"Copernicus,\" \"The Jester,\" and \"Peach\" – under-the-radar records that preceded his critically acclaimed 2019 release The Corner of a Sphere. The new tunes feature Dan ‘Danalogue’ Leavers of The Comet Is Coming and Sarathy Korwar alongside a host of London’s finest musicians.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo Cy \u0026amp; Lee… has a suitably individual genesis. DePlume was working for Ordinary Lifestyles, a charity in North Manchester which supports people with disabilities to live in their own homes and to live fulfilling lives. Specifically, he was working with the titular Cy and Lee. His job was to get the guys socialising and he did this by making up songs with them. They’d make up melodies together, humming tunes in the house when they needed something calm, or when they were haring round the city in a battered car. DePlume would record these impromptu sessions in his phone, then go to the studio and use the material as starting points for songs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe also ran music sessions for Cy, Lee and their friends. “People would focus on a central point, tuning in to one another. There are things we can’t put into words, which can be expressed with sound and music. These guys have fewer words than us, some of them have none. When we put some feelings into a music expression – that’s liberation.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s a method he uses in live shows wherever possible, placing himself and the musicians in the round. The aim is to maximise the creative benefits that a community of players and listeners can bring to the music. It’s a collectivist and humanist approach to making music that sits underneath everything he does. This is music made for a reason, and those reasons include – to paraphrase some of the catchphrases he uses both on stage and in conversation – mixing people up, asking everyone to be as much themselves as they possibly can and the hardcore encouragement expressed in his most popular line, shouted back at him by audiences wherever he goes: “You’re doing very well!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePractically, he purposefully brings together players of different skill levels and different backgrounds so they have to interact differently, placing them in unusual situations in which to record. “I wanted to destroy the idea of correct so we were playing it different ways for fun. We had a very magical time playing the tunes”. This is activism expressed through gorgeous music that breaks down barriers by encouraging that most powerful emotion: connectedness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne source of these gorgeous instrumentals is \"Peach,\" an album that later bestowed a name upon legendary monthly sessions he’d run once he’d moved to London. The music was recorded in the middle of the room at Antwerp Mansion, around a big dinner cooked for 60 people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The dinner made the air vibrate in the way it did. We did it a certain way, for fun, getting people to shout out instructions – ‘make it like a hangover!’ ‘Make it like a barrel rolling down the ice!’ And we did it that way. You’ve got people eating and drinking around you and they might shout out anything. You can let go and respond.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe two new pieces were recorded at London’s now-famous Total Refreshment Centre with Danalogue (on piano) Sarathy Korwar (drums), Chestnutt (of Snapped Ankles, on synth), Donna Thompson (voice) and James Howard (guitar). They had a day to record, and DePlume was in post-gig exhaustion. His saxophone was as battered as he was and was failing to play certain notes. “When something is broken or absent or missing, you go around it and that’s what makes it good,” he says. “Then it belongs to that moment. I want to make things that belong to the moment.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDePlume’s politics might be more evident in vocal songs from his live repertoire when he’s reshaping advertising slogans into a call to arms or encouraging activism on “I Was Gonna Fight Fascism,” but his commitment to the cause is as palpable through the instrumentals of Cy \u0026amp; Lee... This is music designed to respond to what Russian revolutionary poet Mayakovsky described as a “social command.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I like the idea that we’re not just doing frivolous decoration. We’re doing work for society. I like to listen for what needs to be said.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Years ago I played a bit of sax in other people’s gigs. I realised I was waiting for someone to give me permission to do my own thing. I noticed that no-one will ever give you permission to do your awesome shit, because they don’t know what it is. It’s impossible for them to give you permission. Who gave me permission to talk to you like this? I gave myself fucking permission.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlabaster DePlume is not doing things properly. Hallelujah.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eReleased February 28, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0030 Classic Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":45171119816978,"sku":"IARC0030LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0030 - Winter Hibiscus Colored Vinyl LP","offer_id":52115723714834,"sku":"IA-TCLI-IWHC","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0030 - CD","offer_id":52115723747602,"sku":"IA-IARC0030CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0030 Digital Download","offer_id":52121291686162,"sku":"IARC0030","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0030 Test Pressing","offer_id":52115723780370,"sku":"IARC0030LP-1","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3666438350_16.jpg?v=1773693977"},{"product_id":"gold-by-alabaster-deplume","title":"Alabaster DePlume - GOLD","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eThe lightning rod for Alabaster DePlume’s luminous follow up to the widely-acclaimed 2020 release To Cy \u0026amp; Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 was personal. “Someone was going through a thing,” says the Mancunian poet-performer. “I said, ‘go forward in the courage of your love’. And then I thought 'yeah, that's what I need to hear as well’.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGold is a sonorous double album that celebrates the communal act of making music and the relationships that can be explored when you purposefully avoid the standard way of doing things.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt contains filmic pieces that oscillate between the otherworldly and the trenchantly grounded, rendered maximally human through the recording process. There is laughter mid-track and studio chatter. There is the music of shouting and applause generated by a handful of people who were listening from the doorframe and the corridor. Complex vocal harmonies circle the songs like small birds and there’s an undercurrent of steely toughness, necessitated by the musician’s engagement with personal vulnerability and collective politics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn late summer 2020 Alabaster DePlume (real name Gus Fairbairn) booked two weeks of sessions at the influential Total Refreshment Centre in London, recording to tape with Kristian Craig Robinson (aka Capitol K). He invited a different set of musicians\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eeach day, who would record the same tunes at the same speed so that DePlume – who produced the record – could cut them together later, like ingredients. “They didn’t have enough preparation to be able to hide behind this piece of material or skill,” he says. “They had to look up and respond to each other, and that’s what we've recorded.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere were two rules that were essential to the process: that musicians wouldn’t be given enough time to rehearse and that they wouldn’t listen back to the music they recorded. “The method is part of the mission. It wasn’t like school. We had mayhem. We were having fun. That’s the story and the process – and I want to live that way,” he says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe singer and percussionist Falle Nioke’s solo on “Again” is an example of the album’s unusual and liberating recording process. The tune was planned as an instrumental but Falle sang out spontaneously, and stilled the room with his arresting contribution. “He was just one voice in the choir but he suddenly sang lead because he felt it,” says DePlume. “It’s one example of what we were able to record,” he says, “because people felt genuinely personally welcome. Their own voices were made welcome. That is what this album is made of and it’s what the best things in our society are made of. We can either make people welcome or we can make them unwelcome; unseen.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the recording, the artist made a map, because frankly he needed a map after recording more than 17 hours of music. The map dictated which bits of each session to pull into the orbit of the record and it was drawn on a long scroll of paper with lines drawn across it, each line representing one analog tape. The triangles, dots and colors – red for fire, pink for beauty and blue for breath – shaped what emerged. The map has since been requisitioned for a gallery exhibition, and a photograph appears on the Gold artwork.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe music that emerged ranges from sparse understated bangers “Fucking Let Them” and the hypnotic pulse of “Visitors XT8B – Oak” to skilfully soothing instrumentals which will feel familiar to the many people who found To Cy \u0026amp; Lee a pandemic panacea (including Bon Iver, who sampled that album’s top track, “Visit Croatia”).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGold opens with the Portuguese-titled “A Gente Acaba” which itself opens with the hum of voices, rich and human. There are gentle strings, gently strummed. The saxophone leaves vibrating trails in the air. “The Sound of My Feet On This Earth Is A Song To Your Spirit” is beauty and breath, generating the kind of deep warmth and connection that requires no lyrical explanation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is circularity. One piece of music arrives and leaves repeatedly, and a phrase is repeated:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have all I need for the glory of being. I recognise you and celebrate. I am brazen, like a baby, like the stupid sun and I go forward in the courage of my love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’m Good At Not Crying” is a self-accusatory lullaby that lists out the things he excels at (not eating much, not being the bad guy) whilst plaintive and harmonically-rich singers spill and spiral around the low tones of his voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn “People What’s The Difference” he unpicks the selective deafness that surrounds the refugee crisis within a gentle punk-funk frame and towards the end, there’s a lament for the broken earth marked out with plucked strings and harmonies that dip in and out like sharp bells. Softness, in the hands of this Mancunian poet-performer, can be a weapon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The reason for To Cy \u0026amp; Lee was to help people have peace,” he says. “The reason to make Gold is to give people courage and love by putting myself in a situation where I had to bring courage and love. It’s how I made it, it’s what it’s about. It’s what we need next.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the sound of an artist attempting full transparency and maximum relationship. It is also the sound of an artist who has achieved the sound he hoped for. This is the sound of soft power. It’s golden.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum writeup by Emma Warren\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReleased April 1, 2022\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0050 Classic Black vinyl gatefold LP","offer_id":45171223527698,"sku":"IARC0050LP","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0050 - Limited Edition *Obsidian Vortex* color vinyl gatefold double LP","offer_id":52115723419922,"sku":"IARC0050LPS","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0050 - Compact Disc","offer_id":52115723452690,"sku":"IARC0050CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0050 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998314258,"sku":"IARC0050","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0050 Test Pressing","offer_id":52115723485458,"sku":"IARC0050LP-1","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2964482710_16.jpg?v=1773457632"},{"product_id":"come-with-fierce-grace-by-alabaster-deplume","title":"Alabaster DePlume - Come With Fierce Grace","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn order to record the compositions in his critically-acclaimed 2022 release\u003cem\u003e GOLD\u003c\/em\u003e, Alabaster DePlume instilled a culture of creativity by leading his ensembles in spontaneous composition and development. To allow them to be present, he kept the musicians constantly creating across several weeks of sessions at London creative hub Total Refreshment Centre. This process resulted in an abundance of material, much more than he could fit onto the initial double LP.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAfter spending most of 2022 touring in support of\u003cem\u003e GOLD\u003c\/em\u003e, Alabaster spent much of early 2023 revisiting the additional material from those Total Refreshment Centre sessions – adding, subtracting, producing and arranging – resulting in an entirely new album, \u003cem\u003eCome With Fierce Grace\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCome With Fierce Grace\u003c\/em\u003e is an album made of authentic and unstipulated – yet welcomed – human interaction. It is for the most part an album of instrumentals, with exception of a few vocal features by Momoko Gill (aka MettaShiba), Falle Nioke, and Donna Thompson. However the instrumentals on this album are much more embryonic and unfiltered than the lush orchestrations heard on Alabaster’s breakout 2020 album \u003cem\u003eTo Cy \u0026amp; Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eCome With Fierce Grace\u003c\/em\u003e is perhaps the most raw and candid portrait of Alabaster’s creative compositional process we’ve yet to hear, as he’s captured vividly in the room with his collaborators – stretching, exploring, working to deepen and expand the emotions underlying his melodic and poetic frameworks.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRegarding the process, Alabaster cites a similarity to how elements in nature contribute to shared work and beauty without a collective motive – a bee’s own motives result in the delivery of pollen. As he says: “The great thing wants to happen, let us allow it to happen.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRegarding the origin of the album’s name: On his first trip to perform in the US in March 2022, Alabaster collected messages from individuals, as he asked them if there is anything they would like him to share with his audiences. One message (from a person who preferred to remain anonymous) asked Alabaster to encourage people to “come with fierce grace.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReleases September 8, 2023\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduced and arranged by\u003c\/strong\u003e Alabaster DePlume.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRecorded onto tape by\u003c\/strong\u003e Kristian Craig Robinson at Total Refreshment Centre, London.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMixed by\u003c\/strong\u003e Dave Vettraino at International Anthem Studios, Chicago.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMastered by\u003c\/strong\u003e David Allen.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlbum Art by\u003c\/strong\u003e Raimund Wong.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInsert photo by\u003c\/strong\u003e Chris Almeida.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLayout by\u003c\/strong\u003e Craig Hansen.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eComposed in the act of performance by and with:\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlabaster DePlume \u003c\/strong\u003e– tenor sax, guitar, synths and voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFalle Nioke \u003c\/strong\u003e– voice, percussion\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRozi Plain \u003c\/strong\u003e– guitar\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSarathy Korwar\u003c\/strong\u003e – drums, tabla\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTom Skinner\u003c\/strong\u003e – drums\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKenichi Iwasa\u003c\/strong\u003e – percussion\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Howard\u003c\/strong\u003e – guitar\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTom Herbert\u003c\/strong\u003e – double bass\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNatalie Pela\u003c\/strong\u003e – voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRosa Slade\u003c\/strong\u003e – voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eElly Condron\u003c\/strong\u003e – voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLuisa Gerstein\u003c\/strong\u003e – voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMatt Webb\u003c\/strong\u003e – double bass\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Chestnutt\u003c\/strong\u003e – synths\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUrsula Russell\u003c\/strong\u003e – drums\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConrad Singh\u003c\/strong\u003e – guitar\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHannah Miller\u003c\/strong\u003e – cello and voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDonna Thompson\u003c\/strong\u003e – voice\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMatthew Bourne\u003c\/strong\u003e – piano\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMomoko Gill\u003c\/strong\u003e – lead vocal\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRuth Goller\u003c\/strong\u003e – bass\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0070 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":46274399207698,"sku":"IARC0070LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0070 Limited Edition *Greek Honey* Color vinyl LP","offer_id":52115723288850,"sku":"IARC0070LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0070 Compact Disc","offer_id":52115723321618,"sku":"IARC0070CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0070 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998248722,"sku":"IARC0070","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0070 Test Pressing (Pallas)","offer_id":52115723354386,"sku":"IARC0070LP-2","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0070 Test Pressing (Smashed Plastic)","offer_id":52115723387154,"sku":"IARC0070LP-1","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3957026135_10.jpg?v=1773448388"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-requiem-for-jazz-by-angel-bat-dawid","title":"Angel Bat Dawid - Requiem for Jazz","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eComposer, clarinetist, singer and educator Angel Bat Dawid announces the release of a new work, Requiem For Jazz. A 12-movement suite composed, arranged, and inspired in part by dialogue from Edward O. Bland’s 1959 film The Cry of Jazz, the album is a wide-ranging treatise on the African American story from one of its most astute narrators.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eItself an incisive critique of racial politics in the USA, The Cry of Jazz draws formal comparisons between the structure of jazz music and the African American experience - as one of freedom and restraint, of joy and suffering - that manifests in the triumph of spirit over the crushing prejudice of daily life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCutting together archive reels from Black neighborhoods in Chicago with live performance footage from Sun Ra and his Arkestra among others, the film remains a radical and prescient evocation of Black pride and its roots in the history of jazz, from spirituals to blues and beyond.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs South African writer Nombuso Mathibela captures in the album’s liner notes:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[Music is our weapon of struggle]\u003cbr\u003ethat radiantly holds our positive aspiration\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e, group pride and determination as Black people. Sonics! our beautiful fire that gave light to the world.\u003cbr\u003eAnd a world that gave us blues. The blues that gave us Black in jazz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing a through line to today’s vibrant avant-garde, Angel Bat Dawid’s Requiem For Jazz picks up the liberation work laid out by Bland’s film, taking the message of joy and suffering within the Black classical tradition into a contemporary setting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusic from the project was originally premiered at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago in 2019, where Angel conducted a multigenerational fifteen-piece instrumental ensemble of Black musicians from across Chicago’s creative community, alongside a four-person choir (featuring singers from Black Monument Ensemble) as well as dancers and visual artists.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecordings from the performance were then mixed and post-produced by Angel, who added interludes, vocals and additional sounds. As well as transcribing a piece from the film, Requiem For Jazz also alludes to The Cry of Jazz through contributions from the Sun Ra Arkestra’s Marshall Allen and Knoel Scott on the album’s final movement, which were recorded remotely at the historic Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra in Philadelphia in late 2020.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I want us to have this very wonderful conversation that Ed Bland started over 50 years ago and I want to continue the conversation; because this is a loving conversation that we need to have with each other” - Angel Bat Dawid, Feb 2023\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 24, 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRequiem for Jazz Composed, Arranged, Conducted \u0026amp; Mixed by Angel Bat Dawid\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eexcept “My Rhapsody,” from the 1959 Ed Bland film “The Cry of Jazz,” composed by Paul Severson \u0026amp; Norman Leist (Glenayre Publishing Co. BMI), arranged by Angel Bat Dawid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics include extracts from “The Cry of Jazz” and the Roman Catholic Liturgical Requiem Missal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRequiem for Jazz Intros\/Interludes Composed, Produced, Mixed \u0026amp; Performed by Angel Bat Dawid\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRequiem for Jazz premiered Sept, 30th 2019 at the Reva \u0026amp; David Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago, IL. Commissioned for the 2019 Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded Live by Najee-Zaid Searcy \u0026amp; Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Najee-Zaid Searcy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTha ArkeStarzz:\u003cbr\u003ePiano - Dr. Charles Joseph Smith\u003cbr\u003eContrabass - Jeremiah Hunt\u003cbr\u003ePercussion - Vincent Davis\u003cbr\u003eAuxiliary Instruments - Xristian Espinoza\u003cbr\u003eElectronics - Norman W. Long\u003cbr\u003eFlute - Dr. Adam Zanolini\u003cbr\u003eClarinet - Hannah Washington\u003cbr\u003eTrumpet - Sam Thousand\u003cbr\u003eSoprano Saxophone - Isaiah Collier\u003cbr\u003eAlto Saxophone - Fred Jackson Jr.\u003cbr\u003eTenor Saxophone - Kwesaiah\u003cbr\u003eViolin - J’Niya Blunt\u003cbr\u003eViolin - DaJour Smith\u003cbr\u003eViola - Michelle Manson\u003cbr\u003eCello - Olula\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTha Choruzz:\u003cbr\u003eSoprano - Tramaine Parker\u003cbr\u003eAlto - Monique Golding\u003cbr\u003eTenor - Deacon Julian Otis Cooke\u003cbr\u003eBaritone - Phillip Armstrong\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial Cosmic Guests on “Lux Aeterna- Eternal Light\/My Rhapsody”:\u003cbr\u003eMarshall Allen - Alto Sax, Ewi\u003cbr\u003eKnoel Scott - Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDancers:\u003cbr\u003eViktor Le Givens\u003cbr\u003eAquarius\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSet Design:\u003cbr\u003eViktor Le Givens\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVisualz:\u003cbr\u003eJonathan Woods\u003cbr\u003eLiz Gomez\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IMRC0061 Classic Black vinyl 2xLP","offer_id":50256734093586,"sku":"IMRC0061LP","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0061 - Limited Edition *Thy Kingdom Come* Purple color vinyl double LP","offer_id":52120908890386,"sku":"IMRC0061LPI","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0061 - Compact Disc","offer_id":52120908923154,"sku":"IMRC0061CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0061 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998412562,"sku":"IMRC0061","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMCR0061 Test Pressing","offer_id":52120908955922,"sku":"IMRC0061LP-1","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3348922210_10_069a66f4-25bc-4750-9b9a-89741a536e3b.jpg?v=1773691930"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-salty-road-dogs-victory-anthem-by-alabaster-deplume","title":"Alabaster DePlume - Salty Road Dogs Victory Anthem","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eg with a confident charge of swirling saxophone Alabaster, is joined by “one of the most creative yet resilient groups I've put together\" – Rozi Plain on bass, Momoko Gill on drums, and Conrad Singh on guitar – in building a triumphant four-minute crescendo as an homage to everyone 'getting away with it' – the “it” being, simply, life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlabaster in his own words says: “Even this very second, passing your eyes over these words, is a victory. Breathing, you are victorious. Childishly standing with my flag and my anthem of \"I'm alive\" I'm victorious. See inside, how you have your own permission, to be. Celebrated or not by others, in one moment, always, or never. You know you are here and you know this is a victory. We can always be more ourselves, and we can always be less so. But there is no ceremony we must wait for, no test, no judgement, before we can sing our victory anthem.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReleased May 19, 2023\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0069 Limited Edition FLEXI Disc Vinyl","offer_id":50256752935186,"sku":"IARC0069SI","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0069 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998347026,"sku":"IARC0069","price":2.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3660863187_10.jpg?v=1773342226"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-a-blade-because-a-blade-is-whole-by-alabaster-deplume","title":"Alabaster DePlume - A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eAlbum Notes by Liz Pelly:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlabaster DePlume often asks a simple question: what do people need? In his work, at his shows, in his collaborations, the Mancunian singer-saxophonist and poet-philosopher poses this to the people around him. What are people looking for? In recent years, the same reply kept coming up: healing, healing, people need healing. But why, and what does it mean to heal, especially in a world where the very idea is often commodified and sold as a luxury? If people were coming to his music for something so mysterious, he ought to figure it out. Maybe he ought to try some healing himself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“For a long time, I've always tried to give responsibility for my value to someone else,” DePlume told me on a recent phone call. It seemed he’d become so caught up in the work of forging connections, and thinking about the effects of his work on others, that he’d lost a sense of himself. “I was working on that,” he explained.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis experiment in healing included slowing down, reading, reflecting, and even taking up the practice of jiu-jitsu. DePlume wrote poetry, too, including the book 'Looking for my value: prologue to a blade', seventy pages of verse rooted in its title’s great search, in finding strength of self within a community, alongside\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003emeditations on the paradox of the blade. “The blade, that divides, is whole,” he writes in the introduction. “Healing is the forming of a whole, and a whole is singular, more itself, as in more one, as in more alone.” A blade could be used to attack, to shave, to sever, but it could also be used to cut oneself loose—in the process of getting free.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What's the opposite of sleep? It’s trying to sleep,” he told me. “And so what's the opposite of looking for my value? It is knowing my value. It simply is there. My dignity is there. I don't need anyone else to know my dignity, or me, to know it. I know it first. I can't seek it from another. I stand for it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelections from the poetry book ultimately became the lyrics across half of the tracks on 'A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole', DePlume’s latest full-length work for the reliably great International Anthem label: eleven songs of agency and survival and presence; of confronting life’s pains rather than trying to avoid them; of banishing escapism. In sum, it documents his learning of the fact that dignity and self-determination are prerequisites for becoming whole, which is to say, for healing. If a blade were broken it would not serve its purpose; it must be unbroken, it must be whole, to be of use.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the Alabaster DePlume songbook, the celestial ease of his instrumental tracks can sometimes feel like a trojan horse for a voice that is disarmingly honest about the heaviness of existence. Opener “Oh My Actual Days” is true to form in that sense, with DePlume’s tenor sax and Macie Stewart’s ghostly strings playing together like a slow march towards an inner reckoning, one that’s beautiful because it is true. The punchy and contemplative “Thank You My Pain” makes a rhythmic refrain from his titular lyric, inspired by the Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh, who urged the importance of listening to one’s own pain. “Hello my little pain, I know you are here,” Nhất Hạnh would say. “I am home to take care of you. I do not want to cover you up with consumption anymore.” While writing A Blade, DePlume “watched loads of him on YouTube.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen there’s the gorgeous swell of “Invincibility,” an ode to self-respect that feels a bit like a choir of angels led by a trickster, a group contemplating: how do we live with the forces that seek to destroy us? The whole song feels like a heavy exhale, or like the feeling of reaching the surface after a long while underwater. “If I meet with my feelings, they cannot destroy me,” he told me. “When I allow myself to embody them, physically, then I live through that feeling and I meet with it and I make peace with it and I find that my feeling is me, and I welcome it. It is a sense that I cannot be destroyed by my feeling. I am invincible.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Form a V” is the closest DePlume comes to a monologue, and also his song most indebted to his jiu-jitsu practice. “I’ve only been doing it for the past two or three years,” he told me. “But now I don’t know how you get by without it.” The song takes inspiration from a tradition where a whole dojo will stand in the shape of a V, facing just one lone individual, who is then attacked quickly and repeatedly by each of the others. “The title is a challenge to the world,” DePlume explained. “Go on, form a v—I am ready.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross the first half of the record, when the sax comes in short phrases, it feels like a highlighter over lines in DePlume’s poetry book. Other times, it plays out like an extension of his voice. “Playing the saxophone feels like singing,” he said. A transfixing run of instrumentals on the second half of the record includes “Prayer for My Sovereign Dignity,” an anthem for self-possession. “Believing in yourself feels ridiculous,” he says. “It's ridiculous, but that's what it takes. That's what's required. To stand for yourself is absurd. Let us do the absurd that is standing for ourselves. There is this prayer going on in the background—you can't quite tell what the words are, but it's basically, I'm praying for my sovereign dignity but I don't need to pray for it. It's not going to be given to me. I already have it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhere DePlume’s previous material was drawn from collective sessions, improvisation, and editing, A Blade was tightly composed, arranged and produced by DePlume himself. From there, he brought his compositions to a cast of players and co-arrangers, including Macie Stewart (strings), Donna Thompson (backing vocals), and Momoko Gill (strings and backing vocals), for sessions at the collective arts space Total Refreshment Centre, where he has long been involved.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn Gus Fairbairn, DePlume is a man of many past lives. He played “rock band type music” as a teenager, and started playing improvised music around 2008. He is compelled by how improvising allows him to “put faith in others.” He taught himself the saxophone around the time that he became employed as a support worker assisting men with mental disabilities; he once called playing music with them “one of the best breakthroughs for me as an artist.” His debut as Alabaster DePlume came in May 2012, while he was still living in Manchester. He moved to London in 2015 and took up residency at Total Refreshment Centre, where he was encouraged to put on a monthly concert, leading to the series Peach, releasing a namesake album that year, too. His music, from the start, has been imbued with his politics and values; he was maybe arrested once during a protest with the environmental group Extinction Rebellion. His proper international breakthrough came in 2020 with 'To Cy \u0026amp; Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1', after nearly a decade of steadily releasing records.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a phone call in the fall of 2024, we barely speak about any of this though. For at least an hour, we mostly just speak about his recent trip to Palestine, and how could we not? DePlume had traveled to Bethlehem in the spring for a conference hosted by a local Lutheran pastor, before meeting up with musicians from a community arts space, the Wonder Cabinet, and the independent radio station, Radio Alhara. “Palestine is a place where people make records,” he says. “I want to normalize the dignity of that. It's not like, oh, I'm going to make a thing about Palestine. I am just there, and I'm making a thing.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the end of 2024, DePlume prefaced A Blade with a collection of recent works: the poetry book and a three-track EP partially recorded in Bethlehem, and in collaboration with Palestinian musicians. There’s “Honeycomb” and “Cremisan,” both recorded during his “Sounds of Places” residency at Wonder Cabinet; “Cremisan” documents the conclusion of a daylong performance presented by Wonder Cabinet and Radio alHara, June 1, 2024, described as “a cry from the Cremisan Valley (Bethlehem, Palestine) to Rafah (Gaza).” The EP’s final recording, “Gifts of Olive,” references the soul-wrenching poem “If I Must Die” by Refaat Alareer, professor of English literature at the Islamic University in Gaza, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2023.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo suggest that dignity is a human right we are all entitled to is to say: by nature of being alive, every human life has worth. Contemplating the very concept of human dignity also raises the daily indignities that are so normalized in a world of suffering. The lack of access to clean water, air, housing, healthcare. Without the basic necessities of life, we cannot know dignity. And how can people know dignity if they are living under a constant state of military attack, if they are living as the target of a genocide?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The album was written before the genocide started, but I had Palestine on my mind all the time,” DePlume explains. “This question of dignity, sovereignty, and the work of healing. It has a relevance in what's being perpetrated there by the Israeli state, and taking responsibility for my place in that. I pay my taxes here in the United Kingdom—I am contributing to, as a white Englishman, the country that brought the Balfour Declaration, that brought the Sykes-Picot Agreement, that supports and enables the colonization and the settler-colonial project in Palestine. It is my issue, and I have a position where I can speak about it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Dignity” has roots in the Latin dignitatem: worthiness. And instilling the plain truth of every human life’s worth has been a recurring commitment in DePlume’s work. “They can’t use us on one another if we don’t forget we’re precious,” he sang in 2022, summing the emotional core of his 2022 album 'GOLD', concerns of shared humanity that play out into the new works as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We make stories in our lives,” DePlume says. “Oh, I need my story. Oh, something bad happened, and I need to heal upon that. Then I will be healed and all will be good, happily ever after. But no, it is work that needs doing all the time. We all are wounded in our many different ways. And there are degrees of healed, or wounded. Basically, we are either doing one thing or we're doing the other. How do I know I am not destroying myself? I only know that when I am working on healing.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 7, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlabaster DePlume – voice, tenor and baritone sax, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, synths\u003cbr\u003eConrad Singh – electric guitar\u003cbr\u003eDonna Thompson – drums, voice, vocal arrangement for Invincibility\u003cbr\u003eHannah Miller – cello\u003cbr\u003eJohn Ellis – piano\u003cbr\u003eMacie Stewart – violin, string arrangements\u003cbr\u003eMikey Kenney – violin, voice\u003cbr\u003eMomoko Gill – voice, drums, string arrangement for Form a V\u003cbr\u003eRozi Plain – bass\u003cbr\u003eRuth Goller – bass, voice\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComposed and Produced by Alabaster DePlume, except Salty Road Dogs Victory Anthem, co-composed with Conrad Singh, Momoko Gill and Rozi Plain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded to analogue tape at Total Refreshment Centre\u003cbr\u003eEngineered \u0026amp; recorded by Kristian Craig Robinson, except Invincibility, Kuzushi and Too True engineered \u0026amp; recorded by Alabaster DePlume\u003cbr\u003eStrings engineered by Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Dilip Harris\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen\u003cbr\u003eArtwork by Rebecca Salvadori\u003cbr\u003ePortrait photo by Chris Almeida\u003cbr\u003eDesign \u0026amp; Layout by Aaron Lowell Denton\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0090 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51044684333330,"sku":"IARC0090LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0090 Limited Edition ''That Was My Garden'' Color Vinyl LP","offer_id":52115723223314,"sku":"IARC0090LPI","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0090 CD - Compact disc","offer_id":52115723256082,"sku":"IARC0090CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0090 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998215954,"sku":"IARC0090","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2823532332_10.jpg?v=1773342050"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-list-of-demands-by-damon-locks","title":"Damon Locks - List of Demands","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eWho can see the shapes and colors as they are?\u003cbr\u003e(“Isn’t It Beautiful”)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Demands, Damon Locks’s first foray into creating an entire album from spoken and text-based work, finds the Chicago-based musician and educator collecting cultural abstractions and reorganizing them into a firm truth. The album lays out a vision of Black liberation and transmits it outward as a song cycle of bite-sized Nikki Giovanni-meets-MF DOOM-style rhythm experiments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sample-based constructions are steeped in a lifetime of not only keen cultural observation, but direct communal participation in the culture. Locks’s decades-long resume connects the dots between experimental improvisation, sample based hip hop, punk, and poetry – each done at the highest level and with a list of collaborators that could spin the head of even the most jaded listener. And that seems to be the point. To jump-start the entire personality spectrum into action. Ecstatic positivity examined via his nuanced grasp of reality, all working toward that ever-evasive concept of what could be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Demands was set in motion when Locks was asked to present new sound work by Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Photography inside an exhibition\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecalled Beautiful Diaspora \/ You Are Not the Lesser Part. He also contributed visual work, portions of which can be seen in List of Demands' album art. The pieces were guided by prompts from the exhibition’s curator, Asha Iman Veal, who aimed to “encourage deep thinking about parallel experiences and relationships between global artists of color and diverse Black artists.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the show, ESS chief engineer Alex Inglizian encouraged Locks to expand upon and record the material, and volunteered to operate the controls for the occasion. This new phase brought in a number of Locks’s go-to collaborators to bring depth and balance to the project: cornetist Ben LaMar Gay, violinist Macie Stewart, poet Krista Franklin, and turntablist \/ drummer Ralph Darden (aka DJ Major Taylor). The results, though, are distinctly Damon Locks. On top of that, the results are distinctly new for Damon Locks. Sure, there have been hints of List of Demands strewn throughout his catalog – the dense rhythms of his Black Monument Ensemble, the chaotic 404 cut-and-mix of New Future City Radio, the lysergic sci-fi deejay toasting of Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, the dub-inflected post-punk of The Eternals – but this is a focused cross-section of its entirety. Arguably the most \"Damon Locks\" Damon Locks record to date.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis depth of experience as a mic controller is certainly on display here, but his signature vocal rhythms seem to permeate the sample choices as well. Locks’s always notable great taste, informed by years of digging in the crates, certainly brings with it a penchant for top-notch sample construction. The unsung crate-digging heroes, though, are the ones whose knowledge extends to the unclassifiable sections. The bins below the bins. These are the people who leave the shop with a stack of sermons, obscure radio broadcasts from now-defunct stations, crumbling documents of a past which remains relevant, disappearing voices for those with ears to hear. Locks has those ears, no doubt, and he definitely has those records. List of Demands utilizes samples of these Black voices of the past in a strikingly rhythmic way, often yielding much of the meter to overlapping human vocal patterns rather than entirely filling that space with traditionally “musical” sounds. The result is a sort of multifaceted, groove-focused body music executed with enough finesse to make a complicated concept seem easy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is our list of demands: Beauty, Form, Destiny, Love, Time, Future, and Light\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe title, List of Demands, is influenced by Locks’s work in Stateville Correctional Center with the Prison + Neighborhood Arts\/Education Project. “In the summer of 2023 I taught a class where we developed a document that stated the desires of the incarcerated artists in the group,” he says. The group spent a summer session creating what would become the Artist Constitution, a document in which their beliefs, aspirations, and demands could be compiled, which would in turn be distributed outside the prison walls. A poster of that document is included in the vinyl edition of List of Demands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“List of Demands is not just my list,” says Locks. “The list is in conveyance, in response, and in honor of all of those great Black speakers that turned a phrase to generate movement and change. It owes as much to Rammellzee, Fred Moten and Sun Ra’s oratory excellence as it does to Kwame Ture\/Stokely Carmichael, and Angela Davis, to Michael Smith and Linton Kwesi Johnson (across the pond), to Ruby Dee’s spoken recordings, and to others too numerous to mention.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased January 31, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll songs\/lyrics by DAMON LOCKS\u003cbr\u003eexcept \"High Priestess\" lyrics by KRISTA FRANKLIN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eplayers:\u003cbr\u003eDAMON LOCKS - voice \u0026amp; electronics\u003cbr\u003eKRISTA FRANKLIN - voice on \"High Priestess\"\u003cbr\u003eRALPH DARDEN - drums on \"Isn't It Beautiful\" \u0026amp; turntables on \"Meteors of Fear\"\u003cbr\u003eBEN LAMAR GAY - cornet on \"Holding the Dawn in Place\" \u0026amp; melodica on \"Click\"\u003cbr\u003eMACIE STEWART - violin on \"Distance\" \u0026amp; \"Isn't It Beautiful\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by:\u003cbr\u003eALEX INGLIZIAN at Experimental Sound Studio\u003cbr\u003eand DAVE VETTRAINO at International Anthem Studios\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixed by:\u003cbr\u003eDAVE VETTRAINO at International Anthem Studios\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMastered by:\u003cbr\u003eDAVID ALLEN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by:\u003cbr\u003eDAMON LOCKS\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0092 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51055486533906,"sku":"IARC0092LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0092 Limited Edition *Hot Signal Red* Color Vinyl LP","offer_id":52121000378642,"sku":"IARC0092LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0092 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000411410,"sku":"IARC0092","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0092 - List of Demands - Test Pressing","offer_id":52121000444178,"sku":"IARC0092LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0158991114_10.jpg?v=1773342043"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-when-the-distance-is-blue-by-macie-stewart","title":"Macie Stewart - When the Distance is Blue","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e'When the Distance is Blue' is Macie Stewart’s International Anthem debut. The Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser describes the collection as “a love letter to the moments we spend in-between”—a letter realized via an intentional return to piano, her first instrument and the origin of her creative expression. Here Stewart creates a striking and cinematic work through collages of prepared piano, field recordings, and string quartet compositions, one that gives shape to a transient universe all its own while tracing the line of her musical past, full circle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong-heralded in musician circles for her versatility, Stewart stands as a distinguished, go-to collaborator across genre and style, with a collaborative CV that reads like a dream year-end list—performing strings for Makaya McCraven or Japanese Breakfast; singing harmonies with Tweedy; arranging for Alabaster DePlume, Resavoir, Mannequin Pussy, or SZA; co-leading the jagged art-rock experimentation of Finom, her duo with songwriter Sima Cunningham. This varied-yet-distinct sound has led to a name recognition that goes beyond the devoted liner note enthusiast.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Macie Stewart has had a hand in making some of the best\u003cbr\u003etracks of the past five years transcendent.”\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(Pitchfork)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'When the Distance is Blue' finds her gathering those threads and focusing those sensibilities into an 8-piece song cycle. The first sessions were recorded with IARC house engineer Dave Vettraino at Chicago’s Palisade Studios in early 2023. The piano was prepared with coins and contact mics, creating harmonically and texturally rich sounds to explore and improvise alongside.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThose improvisations eventually became nestled within a growing collection of Stewart’s field recordings. 2023 was a year marked with extensive touring, during which she collected dozens of aural snapshots from airports, stairwells, and crowded markets, effectively compiling an audio journal of her travels. Weaving their way throughout the record, those recordings form a collage of sound, movement, and memory.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I wanted to recontextualize these recordings and evoke a nostalgia for something I wasn’t able to name,” says Stewart. That recontextualization was deepened by further performances and improvisations by Lia Kohl, Whitney Johnson (Matchesse), and Zach Moore, all recorded at Comfort Station in Chicago. It’s fitting for such a fervent collaborator that these collaborations began to bring the musical scope of 'When The Distance is Blue' into focus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Spring Becomes You, Spring Becomes New” begins with a series of unmetered and searching prepared piano repetitions before blooming into a rhythmically pulsing waltz of ennui à la Margaret Leng Tan’s approach to the material of Cage or Crumb. Electronically enhanced sustaining notes merge with droning violins in a dense teapot upper register, then are slowly paired away to reveal the inner layer of consonance and comfort, as the metallic rhythms of the prepared piano are co-opted by pizzicato plucked strings. When the sound of the piano re-enters it’s in its natural, unprepared state and in service of a simple melody—a slow-moving earworm, the final repetition, carrying the dynamic piece to its end. “This piece reminds me of a cross country train ride through different sceneries and landscapes,” says Stewart. It’s the feeling when you’re witnessing everything pass outside your window, knowing you may never set foot there.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat’s more, this conceptual train ride is one that touches on many of the themes throughout the record—traveling through pieces like “Tsukiji”, which consists of field recordings taken during a walk through the crowded Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, or “Stairwell (Before and After)”, a serendipitous collage of piano improvisations overlaid with vocal improvisations recorded in a beautifully reverberant stairwell in Paris, France.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the album’s final piece, “Disintegration,” Stewart’s through-composed quartet arrangement bends and contorts in a microtonal descent. Raw harmonics scrape and pull, whistling flute-like across desolate valleys, as strings spiral into an unknown beyond. From this stripped, warped place, we face the inevitability of transformation, and embrace the possibilities of change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'When The Distance is Blue' is a companion piece for moving through life. A source of solace when we are unsure where we will land. The album draws its title from Rebecca Solnit’s book of essays, 'A Field Guide to Getting Lost'. Stewart, too, contends with the longing for all that lies out of reach, and gives shape to that longing throughout this contemplative collection with a musical lexicon which lands somewhere between Alvin Curran’s 'Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden' and Claire Rousay’s 'A Softer Focus'.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 21, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll compositions by Macie Stewart\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMacie Stewart - piano, prepared piano, violin, voice, field recordings\u003cbr\u003eLia Kohl - cello\u003cbr\u003eWhitney Johnson - viola\u003cbr\u003eZach Moore - double bass\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrepared piano with dimes, contact microphones, and guitar amp, recorded at Palisade Studios, Chicago, IL | April 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrepared piano with felt recorded at International Anthem Studios, Chicago, IL | Feb 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eString improvisations and compositions played by Lia Kohl, Whitney Johnson, Zach Moore, and Macie Stewart at Comfort Station, Chicago, IL | January 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eField recording for Tsukiji recorded at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan | March 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eField recording of vocal improvisation for Stairwell (Before and After) recorded in a stairwell at the Philharmonie de Paris in Paris, France | June 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eField recording for Disintegration recorded at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan | March 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngineered and Mixed by Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBio contributions by Audrey Steiner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum Art \u0026amp; Design by Zander Raymond\u003cbr\u003eAdditional Layout Design by Aaron Denton\u003cbr\u003eInsert Photo (top) by Macie Stewart\u003cbr\u003eInsert Photo (middle) by Shannon Marks\u003cbr\u003eInsert Photo (bottom) by Dave Vettraino\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0093 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51055496921362,"sku":"IARC0093LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0093 Limited Edition ''Glacial Blue'' Color Vinyl","offer_id":52121005654290,"sku":"IARC0093LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0093 CD","offer_id":52121005687058,"sku":"IARC0093CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0093 Digital Download","offer_id":52121005719826,"sku":"IARC0093","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0093 - When the Distance is Blue - Test Pressing","offer_id":52121005752594,"sku":"IARC0093LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2784680489_10.jpg?v=1773342009"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-uhlmann-johnson-wilkes-by-gregory-uhlmann-josh-johnson-sam-wilkes","title":"Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes - Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e'Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes' is the debut album from Gregory Uhlmann (SML, Anna Butterss, Duffy x Uhlmann, Perfume Genius), Josh Johnson (SML, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet \u0026amp; New Breed, Meshell Ndegeocello, Anna Butterss, Leon Bridges), and Sam Wilkes (Sam Gendel, Louis Cole, Chaka Khan). The three improviser\/arranger\/producers’ impressive individual credits encompass such a wide stylistic pendulum swing that a collection of group music from the trio could mine any number of musical territories with masterful results. In these 11 instrumental songs, the trio explores a spacious lyrical curiosity that could be described as a jazz-informed take on progressive electro-acoustic chamber music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConceived during two live shows at ETA and a session at Uhlmann’s house in Los Angeles, the album maintains a focus on beauty, melody, and movement as the pieces unfold, with the trio pushing their instruments and highly-dialed effects to sculpt otherworldly sounds with the collective sensibility of a rhythm section. The ethos of these instant compositions is arrangement-minded improvisation that showcases the mournful beauty of Uhlmann’s fingerpicked electric guitar, the hybrid rhythm-lead of Wilkes’ bass chording, and the textural harmonic worldbuilding of Johnson’s effect\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e-laden alto saxophone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe trio’s explorations are rooted in more than just musicality, though. The arc of the group’s story is one of friendship and mutual admiration. Uhlmann and Johnson have known each other since their formative days as teenagers studying jazz. Shortly after first meeting in an educational setting, they would connect for nascent musical probing via low-stakes get-togethers back home in Chicago. They didn’t even know at the time that they had both taken lessons from a mutual guiding light – legendary guitarist\/composer Jeff Parker.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter high school, they headed in separate directions – Johnson to Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana; Uhlmann to Cal Arts in Santa Clarita, California – but reconnected quickly upon migrating to LA, where shared opportunities for studio work as well as revolving-cast free improvisation at small clubs around the city naturally cemented their loose partnership. Uhlmann was both playing and programming, creating platforms for collaboration at the Bootleg Theater, while Johnson’s transition from student-of to collaborator-with Jeff Parker was well underway via their weekly gig at Highland Park’s ETA. In the immediate periphery of all of this was bassist Sam Wilkes, a serial collaborator well known in the LA creative music scene’s cross-pollination trenches.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I was playing with some musicians who went to Cal Arts,” says Wilkes. “I started going up there regularly, and Greg had this great band called Fell Runner. A group I was in split a bill with them at the old Bootleg Theater and it really solidified my appreciation and deep respect for the band and for Greg’s playing. They were doing things that were completely unique. We’ve been friends ever since.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilkes and Johnson’s first collaboration came after years of knowing one another in LA, but the musical connection and respect was similarly instantaneous. “It was a session for Louis Cole Big Band,” recalls Wilkes. “Everyone went around on this one tune and took 4 bars, and Josh took this really, really unique 4-bar solo that really stood out. After the session, Louis looked at me and said ‘Josh Johnson!’ and I was like ‘I know!’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 2021, even before Uhlmann and Johnson began working on what would become SML, Wilkes and Uhlmann played together on an album by Miya Folick, which left them feeling like there was more music to be made together. Uhlmann suggested booking a live date as a trio with Johnson at ETA. With engineer Bryce Gonzales at the controls, the group worked through a short list of prepared material, augmented with passages of improvisation. “We all agreed that it was important to have a nice melodic repertoire to use as a starting point to freely improvise,” says Wilkes. “Landing zones, essentially, while we’re out in the field.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThose landing zones include a stunning cover of “The Fool On The Hill,” perhaps the eeriest McCartney ballad in The Beatles’ songbook. Johnson’s tender rendering of the classic vocal melody unites the raindrop-leslie-plonk of Uhlmann’s electric guitar and the quietly grooving drone thump of Wilkes’ bass so comfortably that any move could feel natural by the time the trio opens it up for improvisation at the two-minute mark. What follows is a sublime take on the purring consonance only occasionally found in the best moments of the ECM or Windham Hill catalogs. Even more incredible is the fact that this particular recording of the tune documents the first piece of music this trio played together, from the opening moments of their first performance at ETA.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat instantaneous cualidad simpático is what makes this trio special. What we’re hearing is a friendship between high-level improvisers translated into musical moments and executed with such curious precision that the lines between supposed opposites – composition and improvisation, jazz and chamber music, ennui and contentment – are delightfully blurred.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Frica” is, perhaps, the track on which that blur is most evident. The tune incorporates the staccato stutters and repetitions heard throughout the album, but doubles down with a subtly disorienting post-production chop by Johnson, which accentuates the trio’s live trance by introducing a floating phrase cut-and-mix. The fact that these concepts are employed intuitively, pre-edit, throughout Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes is precisely what makes the post-production shine. It can be difficult to discern what is a slip of the sampler and what is live, turn-on-a-dime action, and it’s exactly that mystery which draws us in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Marvis,\" the album opener, makes that clear from the jump. This fresh spin on a tune from Johnson’s solo album 'Unusual Object' checks many of the same boxes as “Frica” on the production level, but it’s all in service of a truly demented low-key groove. The trio is in lock step here, but it’s unclear how many legs are doing the stepping and just whose legs are taking which steps.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConversely, the Uhlmann composition “Arpy” is a slow-paced, descending four chord meditation teeming with the life provided by the guitarist’s causally precise reverberated triplet repetitions and held down by Wilkes’ sturdy bass chording, which occasionally wanders into flamboyant high register flourishes. Johnson’s soft alto treatment morphs in tonality throughout, eventually settling into something more aurally reminiscent of an Ondes Martenot or some gently twisted echo of Clara Rockmore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll told, 'Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes' is a beautiful snapshot of three endlessly interesting players at the top of their game, rendered in such a skilled manner that its inherent mastery flows effortlessly, making passive atmospheric immersion as pleasant and stimulating as deep focused listening.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 14, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJosh Johnson: saxophone + effects\u003cbr\u003eSam Wilkes: bass + effects\u003cbr\u003eGregory Uhlmann: guitar + effects\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Marvis” by Josh Johnson; “Unsure” by Sam Wilkes; “Arpy” by Gregory Uhlmann; “The Fool on the Hill” by Paul McCartney and John Lennon; all other songs by Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes, and Gregory Uhlmann\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Frica” and “Rewinded” arranged by Josh Johnson; “Hoedown” arranged by Sam Wilkes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 engineered by Bryce Gonzalez at ETA (10\/25\/21 and 3\/6\/23)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks 5, 6, 7, 9 engineered by Gregory Uhlmann (9\/12\/23 and 9\/13\/23)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes, and Gregory Uhlmann\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Dave Cooley\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArt and layout by Sam Farzin\u003cbr\u003eAdditional layout by Aaron Lowell Denton\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0095 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51056695509266,"sku":"IARC0095LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0095 Limited Edition ''Concord Grape'' Color Vinyl LP","offer_id":52121001820434,"sku":"IARC0095LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0095 CD","offer_id":52121001853202,"sku":"IARC0095CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0095 Cassette","offer_id":52121001885970,"sku":"IARC0095CS","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0095 Digital Download","offer_id":52121001918738,"sku":"IARC0095","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0095 - Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes - Test Pressing","offer_id":52121001951506,"sku":"IARC0095LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3549527477_10.jpg?v=1773341998"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-alternate-moon-cycles-ia11-edition-by-rob-mazurek","title":"Rob Mazurek - Alternate Moon Cycles (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eRob Mazurek’s 'Alternate Moon Cycles' was International Anthem's first release. The incredibly spare single-note-centered cornet, bass and organ chant was recorded to tape at pint-sized Chicago bar Curio as part of a performance series that predates any notion of our label’s existence. Documenting this performance – highly unique even within the depths of Mazurek’s vast catalog – stirred those notions, and soon talks began of releasing the recording on a fresh imprint.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePerformed by Mazurek with Matthew Lux and Mikel Patrick Avery, the music unfolds glacially amongst the gentle creaks, clinks, whispers, and scuffles of the active room. It’s difficult to imagine a more honest rendering of the two sidelong pieces of organic minimal music, and nearly impossible to separate the sounds from their performance context.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow this long-gone gem of supernatural frequency excavation is back in print, wrapped in our IARC 2025 obi strip, with a new 4-page insert booklet featuring additional session photos and fresh liner notes by Mikel Patrick Avery.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 28, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRob Mazurek - cornet\u003cbr\u003eMatt Lux - electric bass\u003cbr\u003eMikel Patrick Avery - organ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded December 17th, 2012, at Curio, Chicago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Scott McNiece\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by David Allen\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Shelly Steffens\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaintings by Rob Mazurek\u003cbr\u003eOriginal Design by Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Design by Aaron Lowell Denton\u003cbr\u003ePhotos by Kari Skaflen\u003cbr\u003eOriginal Liner Notes by Joe Darling\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Liner Notes by Mikel Patrick Avery\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial Thanks to Brittany Mazurek, Dave Vettraino, Brendan Sodikoff, and the Gilt Bar family.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0001LP11 - Classic Black Vinyl LP (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52133244600594,"sku":"IARC0001LP11","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0001DD11 - Digital Download (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52121236635922,"sku":"IARC0001DD11","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0098276373_10.jpg?v=1773341988"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-edit-navigation-bar-downtown-castles-can-never-block-the-sun-ia11-edition-by-ben-lamar-gay","title":"Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eBen LaMar Gay’s de facto debut album, 'Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun', was our attempt to introduce the legendary Chicago composer \/ improviser \/ renaissance man to the rest of the world with a compilation of tracks from 7 albums he made over 7 years (though he hadn’t yet made the effort to actually release). The material showcases Gay’s penchant for genre-hopping – from Steve Reich-ian soundscape voyages to Don Cherry-esque polyrhythm treks to Jorge Ben-style vocal-and-string earworms – while keeping his singular musical voice in focus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the years since its release, this long OOP collection has become a touchstone, foreshadowing the breadth and scope of Gay’s output since. The songs-between-the-songs warped Soul Americana madness and beauty of 'Open Arms To Open Us', the unhinged long form freedom of 'Certain Reveries' – each fresh mode would defy expectation if without the context established by Downtown Castles. To quote our OG announcement of the album: “to call it ‘eclectic’ would only scratch the surface. This music is everything.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe IA11 Edition of this LP comes with an IARC2025 obi strip plus a 4-page insert booklet featuring new (old) photos and new liner notes by musician (and longtime BLG friend\/collaborator) Gira Dahnee.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased March 28, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCompiled \u0026amp; Sequenced by Scott McNiece \u0026amp; Ben LaMar Gay.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art \u0026amp; Photos by Maren Celest.\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Liner Notes by Gira Dahnee.\u003cbr\u003eOriginal Layout by Craig Hansen.\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Layout by Aaron Lowell Denton.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"info license\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eAll rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0017 Classic Black vinyl LP (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":51056811049234,"sku":"IARC0017LP11","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0017 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999330066,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1176881511_10.jpg?v=1773341926"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-oganesson-remixes-by-tortoise","title":"Tortoise - Oganesson Remixes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eThe Oganesson Remixes EP follows the March 2025 release of the “Oganesson” digital single, which was the first new music released by Tortoise since 2016. The EP includes the original version of “Oganesson” alongside five new remixes of the track created by collaborators and friends of the band, including poet and activist Saul Williams, prolific mastering engineer Heba Kadry, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, indie music icons Broken Social Scene, and International Anthem labelmate Makaya McCraven. The Oganesson Remixes EP comes ahead of a new album by Tortoise, which will be released this fall via International Anthem and Nonesuch Records.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased June 24, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCOG99 Limited Edition 12\" Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51667806748946,"sku":"IARCOG99LP","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARCOG99 Digital Download","offer_id":52121010110738,"sku":"IARCOG99","price":6.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARCOG99 - Oganesson Remixes 12'' - Test Pressing","offer_id":52121010143506,"sku":"IARCOG99LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0262338788_10.jpg?v=1773341915"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-touch-by-tortoise","title":"Tortoise - Touch","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eThe songs on Touch, the first new Tortoise music in nine years, are dramas without words. They’re elaborately appointed and carefully mixed to enhance a familiar feeling — a distinctly cinematic uneasiness. Close your eyes and you might see cars swerving around unlit rural roads, or cityscapes at night with bells clanging in the distance, or some abandoned warehouse where spies chase each other between towering stacks of boxes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe making of Touch is an entirely different kind of film — a heartwarming story of musicians adapting to life circumstances.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTortoise operates as a collective; the five multi-instrumentalists make records by committee, seeking input on creative decisions large and small. All ideas are considered, and for most of the band’s influential three-decade run, the process has been straightforward: Each musician brings in songs or sketches, and as the group absorbs them, the players exchange ideas about the structure, instrumentation, different grooves or (more frequently, because they’re Tortoise) odd metric divisions that might stretch the initial conception of the song.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese discussions have always happened in real time, face to face. Until Touch. As guitarist and keyboardist Jeff Parker\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eexplains, over the last decade, the members of Tortoise scattered geographically, making the pre-production rehearsal sessions if not impossible, at least more complicated.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It’s the first record we’ve done where everything wasn’t based in Chicago,” says Parker. “Two of us are in Chicago. Two of us are here in Los Angeles and John [McEntire] is in Portland, OR. We recorded in several different places. But the strange thing is, in a way it’s kind of the most cohesive session that we’ve done.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMcEntire, who plays drums, percussion, and keyboards and serves as mixing engineer, had little doubt that the actual recording would be fine. His apprehension was about those more open-ended development sessions leading up to the recording, which, he says, have been known to yield moments of peak Tortoise inspiration. “We don't work remotely, unfortunately. We kind of all have to be in the room together. For me the trial-and-error stage is very important. I didn’t want to lose that.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe percussionist and multi-instrumentalist John Herndon explains one reason why: The path to a “final” version of a Tortoise tune is not a straight line. “It becomes writing and arranging and editing and orchestrating and sort of getting things into a sonic space that feels good, all at the same time.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was consensus about that; each of the musicians has a story about songs being transformed by the collaborative dynamic. Percussionist and keyboardist Dan Bitney recalls a session when they were working on one of his tunes. He wasn’t happy with it and promised to come up with a countermelody. “Right away somebody just asked “Does it need a melody? Like, why does this need a melody? And I’m like, “Yeah!” That’s the kind of thinking that can open your eyes.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the initial planning for the new record, the band arrived at what seemed like a reasonable geographic compromise: They’d set up shop at studios in three different areas — Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago. They scheduled sessions with sometimes months in between, so that everyone could sit with the material and refine it further. The plan: To shift some of the wild idea-chasing of those development sessions from group work to individual work, building on Tortoise’s deep and iconoclastic lexicon of sounds — and on the trust between musicians that’s accrued over decades of music-making.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It’s like, humans adapt,” Herndon says flatly. In order to keep making music as a group, he explains, everyone needed to be flexible then and remain so now. “If you’re used to doing something one way, and then it flips, well, you have to adapt to another way of working. I think that that's what we all were aspiring to do with this, endeavoring to kick in our adaptation skills.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStill, it wasn’t smooth sailing. “I’m going to be honest, I think that we had some doubts” after the first set of sessions, McEntire recalls. Noting that four years elapsed from the beginning of Touch to its completion, he adds that “it took a long, long time for the music to coalesce. There was some ‘what are we doing?’ questioning going on along the way.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDouglas McCombs, who plays guitar, bass, and the deep-voiced bass VI guitar that adds a noir luster to “Night Gang” and other Touch songs, believes that questioning would have happened regardless of the geographical challenges. “In the best circumstance, there’s a flow when we’re working on a tune. Everyone’s sparking ideas and inspired. It’s not work.” He adds, “In the worst moments, when we just absolutely don’t know what to do with something, it’s torturous.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHerdon points to the early versions of “Vexations,” which became the new album’s opening track, as one such slow-torture situation. “We were confounded as to figuring out an arrangement, and things were just stuck,” he recalls. During one of the long lulls between the studio sessions, Herndon says, he got an idea for the tune. “I asked John if I could have the stems [the individual track files] for the song, and then I kind of did a reworking in the garage. Re-did the drums completely and made a breakdown section in the middle. I sent it and was like, ‘I don't know if this is anything, but here.’ And those guys seemed really excited about it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHerndon quickly adds that every Tortoise record has benefitted from similar experimentation. In fact, it’s the key thing, a defining characteristic: “Sometimes doing an edit will leave a space open for something else, and we’re all into that idea of, ‘What happens next?’ It’s this attitude of ‘Let’s make some music together and see what happens.’ We're all comfortable with the not knowing, with letting an idea go through many permutations.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlong with that is the knowledge that this open-ended exploring can be time-consuming. And might possibly end in futility. McCombs says that though the band’s approach changed with Touch, the players still needed the mindset they’d used in those brainstorming rehearsals. “When I get frustrated or when we seem like we're stalling out a little bit, I just have to remember that patience is one of the things that makes this band work.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAsked to recall a moment that required patience, McCombs doesn’t hesitate. “It seems to happen a lot with the drummers,” McCombs says. “Somebody will be like, ‘Hey John [McEntire] why don’t you play this?’ And he’ll be like, ‘I don’t wanna play it cause I hear Herndon here.’ It’s like McEntire hears Herdon and Herndon hears Bitney… That happens a lot, and then they’ll come to a consensus. Sometimes half the song will be one drummer and half the song will be another drummer. That’s kind of the way it works.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt must be said: When things click into place, Tortoise is a rare force. Whether cranking out a foursquare rock backbeat or chopping time into polyrhythmic shards that defy counting (and logic), the band challenges accepted notions of what rock music can be, what moods it can evoke — that’s part of the reason the band is revered so widely, among musicians working in many genres.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTortoise’s indescribable sonic arrays have grown more intense — and more influential — over time. Early works — the 1993 debut and the 1996 Millions Now Living Will Never Die, which opens with a twenty-one-minute suite — contrast the thick harmonic schemes of Krautrock with the similarly impenetrable densities of musique concrete, adding jarring spears of electric guitar as spice accents. The commercial breakthroughs that followed, TNT (1998) and Standards (2001) found Tortoise further expanding its toolkit: Rather than orient each piece around declarative single-line melodies, the musicians let the vast, lush, inviting scenes become a hypnotic wordless narrative, built from overlapping layers and interlocking rhythms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEach step in the discography underscores a truth about Tortoise: The questions about arrangement and orchestration are foundational, defining the scope of the canvas and the density of the band’s exactingly precise soundscapes. There can, as McCombs notes, be multiple drummers on a track, and their beats can be supported by acoustic percussion or random electronic blippage. Likewise, on any given track, there can be multiple mallet parts, sometimes sustaining gorgeous washes of color, at other times pounding out intricate Steve Reich-style interlocked grids of harmony. There can be multiple guitars, each with its own earthshaking effects profile. (Parker laughs when he says “I’m kind of like the straight man with the guitar sounds.”) There can be multiple synthesizers — darting squiggles of lead lines crashing into asymmetrical arpeggios, or bliss-toned drones hovering in the upper-middle register like a cloud in a landscape painting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd there can be noise, all kinds of it: While the working method of Touch meant Tortoise sacrificed some spontaneous sparks, it encouraged the musicians to explore the thickening textural possibilities of different flavors of noise (white, pink, etc). The band recently issued a set of remixes for the single “Oganesson.” The more austere, stripped-down interpretations offer telling insights about the deployment of noise as well as the track-by-track assembly process, the ways Tortoise uses open space, textural layers, and dissonances to create drama.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMcEntire believes those little devices are essential to the sound. “Because we don't have a singer, we have to have a different vocabulary for creating interest. So we use all the little things, like dynamics, texture, orchestration.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGiven the intricacy of the music, McEntire explains, every little sound starts as a decision in the recording studio, and then, subsequently, becomes a logistical decision for live performance — after all, the many parts have to be executed by the five players.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased October 24, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music written and performed by Tortoise\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTortoise is Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, Jeff Parker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eViola on “Promenade à deux” - Marta Sofia Honer\u003cbr\u003eCello on “Promenade à deux” - Skip VonKuske\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eField Recordings on “Works and Days” - Tucker Martine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded at Flora Recording and Playback, Portland OR; 64 Sound, Los Angeles CA; Electrical Audio, Chicago IL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixed at Soma Electronic Music Studios, Gladstone OR\u003cbr\u003eRecorded and Mixed by John McEntire\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters, Los Angeles CA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScorpion Photography - Heather Cantrell\u003cbr\u003eScorpion Sculpture - Martin McEntire\u003cbr\u003eCollage Image - øjeRum\u003cbr\u003eLayout and Design - Jeremiah Chiu\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"info license\" id=\"license\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0099 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51667841384722,"sku":"IARC0099LP","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0099 Limited Edition *Axial Seamount* color vinyl LP","offer_id":52059179221266,"sku":"IARC0099LPI","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0099 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52059101856018,"sku":"IARC0099CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0099 Digital Download","offer_id":52108289442066,"sku":"IARC0099DD","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2905449829_10.jpg?v=1773282196"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-off-the-record-by-makaya-mccraven","title":"Makaya McCraven - Off the Record","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"preFade fadeIn\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOFF THE RECORD\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e compiles \u003cstrong\u003eMakaya McCraven's\u003c\/strong\u003e four EPs released October 2025 \u003cstrong\u003e(\u003cem\u003eTechno Logic, The People's Mixtape, Hidden Out!\u003c\/em\u003e, and\u003cem\u003e PopUp Shop\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/strong\u003e into a single physical package.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"preFade fadeIn\"\u003eTogether, the four EPs (and \u003cem\u003eOff the Record\u003c\/em\u003e compilation) mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/intlanthem.us9.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=bdf63ba201aac3a40783dd64e\u0026amp;id=37bcdb2f61\u0026amp;e=902961715e\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn These Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, and a return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/intlanthem.us9.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=bdf63ba201aac3a40783dd64e\u0026amp;id=be5dec8dcb\u0026amp;e=902961715e\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn The Moment\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e and further developed on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/intlanthem.us9.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=bdf63ba201aac3a40783dd64e\u0026amp;id=88f5d8d9da\u0026amp;e=902961715e\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eHighly Rare\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (2017), \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/intlanthem.us9.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=bdf63ba201aac3a40783dd64e\u0026amp;id=68d03ba881\u0026amp;e=902961715e\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhere We Come From\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (2018), and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/intlanthem.us9.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=bdf63ba201aac3a40783dd64e\u0026amp;id=90df120c73\u0026amp;e=902961715e\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eUniversal Beings\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (2018).\u003c\/p\u003e\nOut October 17, 2025 \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"info license\" id=\"license\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0103 Classic Black vinyl 2xLP","offer_id":51667948241170,"sku":"IARC0103LP","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0103 Limited Edition White vinyl 2xLP","offer_id":52043718918418,"sku":"IARC0103LPI","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0103 Compact Disc 2xCD","offer_id":52043724783890,"sku":"IARC0103CD","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1027861878_10.jpg?v=1773341895"},{"product_id":"vinyl-record-how-you-been-by-sml","title":"SML - How You Been","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eSML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Their second album, How You Been, finds the supergroup of prolific composer\/producers pushing ever further into the hyperrealist, collectivist approach to music creation nascently explored on their debut Small Medium Large, which was lauded as “awe-inspiring” by Glide, “exuberant” by the Los Angeles Times, and “an exciting milestone” by Pitchfork.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow You Been represents a breakthrough in the musical language of the group. This new work was crafted via extensive post-production of recordings from a handful of shows in a similar fashion to their debut, but whereas Small Medium Large was constructed from analog tapes of the band’s very first (and very modest) shows at bygone Highland Park LA venue ETA, How You Been was built with a higher level of self-awareness and a far deeper pool of source material.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBehind the thrust of the first album’s success, the band approached every performance in late 2024 and early 2025 as a generative opportunity to hone their sound and document their expansion across a new landscape of audiences, venues, and cities\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e. Despite the premeditation driving their commitment to record every moment, the band started every show without musical direction, improvising intuitively, completely. Within every performance is an impressive display of the band’s total trust in one another and confidence in their own instincts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs SML has evolved and spread out in space-time, their fluencies, both as an improvising unit in performance and as a production team in the studio, have sharpened. At inception the band inspired disparate but distinctive artist comparisons like Essential Logic, Oval, Herbie Hancock’s Sextant, and electric Miles Davis, as well as assorted genre touchpoints like Afrobeat, kosmiche, proto-techno and new-jazz. With How You Been their work manages to both collapse and explode such derivatives, displaying a new, high resolution version of SML, fully-flowered into a new strain of sound, bound to incite its own copycats in due time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“SML might signal a new iteration of jazz, or it might not be jazz at all, or it might not matter.” - Pitchfork\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s important to note that SML’s sound wasn’t created in a vacuum. The band is part of an extensive community of creative musicians who collaborate in a multitude of ways, and that community has proven to be essential to a growing family tree of innovative, genre-expanding music. Los Angeles in the 2020s is a musical Petri dish in the same way that Cologne \u0026amp; Dusseldorf were for the birth of Krautrock; Canterbury for progressive rock in the late 60s; NYC for No Wave \u0026amp; the Downtown sound in the late 70s and 80s; Chicago for genreless, Tortoise-adjacent sounds in the 90s. The musicians of SML represent the core of a new school within the Los Angeles jazz and improvised music scene that seems to breed infinitely overlapping combinations, including Jeff Parker’s ETA IVtet and Expansion Trio, the Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes trio, Anna Butterss’s own band (as heard on 2024’s Mighty Vertebrate), and various other solo and ensemble projects encompassing every single member of the SML, respectively.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn How You Been the curatorial challenge of the capture-cut production employed by SML is met by the delightful happenstance of each member being a seasoned producer on their own merit. Accordingly, SML’s perspective on what is a moment to expand upon with the post-producer’s knife and glue is five-strong. Each member’s proclivities, penchants, and predelections get their chance to filter the always-evolving elements of the group concept.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Chicago Four” uses a live recording from treasured Chicago haunt The Empty Bottle as its foundation. It begins with interlocking synth and percussion loops before the entry of Uhlmann’s wobble-effected electric guitar melody and Butterss’s picked bass counterpoint. Stardrum’s swinging traps slide in, catching up to a couple of added percussion layers, before Johnson adds distorted chordal hits that sound like hard horn samples from a golden era Bomb Squad or Rakim beat. It all intertwines perfectly and makes an otherworldly vehicle for Johnson and Chiu’s cascading keyed melody, which soars above and between, complimenting either side of a hypnotically shifting, infectiously repeating modulation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Brood Board SHROOM” is a temporary touchdown on an alien planet where rhythm moves in timeless, breath-like undulations, with repetitions cut from a very different cloth than the lock-step polyrhythmic grooves of “Chicago Four.” The track’s opening lines evoke the soft throbs of the beloved ambient works of Aphex Twin (or perhaps a Robitussen-drenched take on Steve Reich’s Different Trains), before frothy curtains of textured sound drape into the mix, overlaying like distant, minimalist symphonies in a gentle, synthetic recreation of free time — slackening and accelerating as each layer of tonal pulses hovers to front-and-center or retreats into the distance. It’s a gut feeling rather than an academic exercise, and it’s all in the service of forward motion. “Plankton” occupies a similar space albeit in bite-sized form, centering Buterss’s low end melodicism and high-string visitations surrounded by skittering tonal chatter from their bandmates.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf course, SML’s experiments with this kind of pulsating freedom are heavily balanced by muscular turns and body mechanics fit for the dancefloor. “Taking Out the Trash” is a perfect pace-setter for How You Been, a punchy nugget encapsulating the essence of SML. Chiu’s percussion synth establishes the groove before Stardrum and Butterss drop in on a heavy breakbeat. Uhlmann comes in with a searing, plucked staccato funk line on his guitar that would give Glenn Branca and Larry Coryell something to high five about. Things eventually trip into a total breakdown, with only the perc synth still looping. When the band explodes back in, the key has changed, and Johnson is letting loose on a wailing, distorted saxophone solo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Is there a way to dim the lights a little more?” Chiu asks at the start of the album’s closer “Mouth Words.” Moments later SML takes us out with a mid-tempo 4\/4 groover dressed in swelling glissandos and punctuated by insistent, rapid-fire phrases from Johnson’s alto. As the final tune dissolves into a layer of arpeggiated chirps and sampled crowd sounds, Chiu’s voice is back again to say what we’re all thinking: “Very good. Thank you.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eOut November 7, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSML is:\u003cbr\u003eAnna Butterss - Electric Bass\u003cbr\u003eJeremiah Chiu - Modular Synthesizer, Live-sampling, Percussion,Synthesizers\u003cbr\u003eJosh Johnson - Saxophone, Electronics,Synthesizers\u003cbr\u003eBooker Stardrum - Drums, Percussion\u003cbr\u003eGregory Uhlmann - Guitar, Effects, Sampler, Electronics\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngineered and Recorded Live:\u003cbr\u003eZebulon, Los Angeles (July 8 \u0026amp; 9, 2024) by Bryce Gonzales\u003cbr\u003eThe High Low, Los Angeles (November 11, 2024) by Bryce Gonzales\u003cbr\u003ePublic Records, New York City (December 3, 2024) by Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eEmpty Bottle, Chicago (March 3, 2025) by Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eTractor Tavern, Seattle (March 20, 2025) by Dr. Jon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComposed, compiled, edited, and overdubbed by SML (2025)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by SML\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Josh Johnson, SML, Bryce Gonzales, and Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eSequence by SML and Scott McNiece\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover art by Sonnenzimmer\u003cbr\u003ePhoto by David Haskell\u003cbr\u003eDesign by Jeremiah Chiu\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eAll rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0105 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51701149401362,"sku":"IARC0105LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0105 Limited Edition *Plankton* color vinyl LP","offer_id":52110661583122,"sku":"IARC0105LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0105 CD - Compact disc","offer_id":52110661091602,"sku":"IARC0105CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0105 Digital Download","offer_id":52121009258770,"sku":"IARC0105","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0105 - How You Been - Test Pressing","offer_id":52121009291538,"sku":"IARC0105LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/HowYouBeen-SML.jpg?v=1773341468"},{"product_id":"alabaster-deplume-to-cy-lee-instrumentals-vol-1-ia11-edition","title":"Alabaster DePlume - To Cy \u0026 Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eTo Cy and Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 is a collection of Mancunian poet, singer, saxophonist and composer Alabaster DePlume’s simple and serenely intimate wordless adventures in melodic ennui. The collection properly introduced the world to a previously under-exposed, undeniably deep dimension of DePlume who, at the time of the its release, was most known to his followers for his music with words, his poetry, and his prowess as an impassioned orator. His performances (especially those that were part of his monthly Peach residency at Total Refreshment Centre in London) were becoming legendary for blurring the boundaries between secular sermon, theatrical monologue and song, as he turned audiences into experimental large ensembles and lead full-throated shout-alongs to tunes like “Is It Enough” and “Be Nice To People” (both from his 2019 Lost Map album The Corner of a Sphere). The instrumental pieces that quietly buffered the big vocal moments of his recorded catalog, to that point, had mostly lived, quietly, in those buffers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe’re not really sure what inspired DePlume to gather all of his recorded instrumentals, add a couple new ones, and invite International Anthem to collaborate on the campaign (we had only recently been getting to know him a little deeper, after our\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esecond trip to Total Refreshment Centre in the fall of 2018 when we recorded jaimie branch’s FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise). But what we do know is, not long after To Cy \u0026amp; Lee’s February 2020 release and the subsequent arrival of a global pandemic, those recordings went very far, very fast, taking on a new life as stay-at-home hits — the quiet catharsis we didn’t know we needed in the face of rapidly unfolding confusion, fear, and isolation. As the people of the world found themselves inside their small rooms, they began to search for smaller, more intentional sounds to fill them. These instrumentals carried the healing qualities we were after then, and still seek now. As we cite on the obi strip, the music is an antidote with seemingly ancient sonic characteristics, and a unique ability to embrace the core of our very being.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo Cy \u0026amp; Lee was also the first document of an ongoing collaboration between DePlume and International Anthem, which has already yielded the albums GOLD (2022), Come With Fierce Grace (2023), and A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole (2025), in addition to sundry singles and EPs. The depth of partnership between DePlume and our crew that has developed since To Cy \u0026amp; Lee, coupled with the endlessly quenching spiritual comforts the album continues to provide, makes it an absolute essential of the International Anthem catalog and a proud choice for the final three of the IA11 series.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased November 13, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComposed by Alabaster DePlume.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePerformed by Alabaster DePlume – vocal, tenor sax, guitar; Ríoghnach Connolly – voice, flute; Jess Connor – voice; Ellis Davies – electric guitar; John Ellis – pianette, clavinette, piano; Jessica Macdonald – cello; Hannah Miller – cello; Bi Roxby – voice; Paddy Steer – percussion, bass pedals; Leon Boydon – acoustic guitar; Daniel Inzani – piano; Beth Porter – cello; Lorenzo Prati – tenor sax; Dan Truen – drums; Will Calderbank – cello; Lorien Edwards – bass guitar; Philip Howley – drums, percussion; Mikey Kenney – violin; Pascal Makonese – m’bira; Kirsty McGee – bass flute; Tim Vincent Smith – violin; Rick Weedon – drums, percussion; Chestnutt – synth; Danalogue – piano, voice; James Howard – electric guitar; Sarathy Korwar – drums; Donna Thompson – voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArranged by Alabaster DePlume, with Bi Roxby (track 3), Ellis Davies (track 11), and Danalogue (track 7).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks 1, 3, 8 \u0026amp; 11 from \"Copernicus\" (2012) recorded at Limefield Studios and Madwaltz; produced \u0026amp; engineered by Paddy Steer and John Ellis; mixed by Paddy Steer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTrack 9 from \"The Jester\" (2013) recorded in Bristol; produced by Alabaster DePlume and Daniel Inzani with Mark Dressler; mixed \u0026amp; engineered by Mark Dressler.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks 4, 5, 6 \u0026amp; 10 from \"Peach\" (2015) recorded at Limefield Studios, Madwaltz, Antwerp Mansion and Total Refreshment Centre; produced by Alabaster DePlume; engineered by Paddy Steer, John Ellis and Karl Sveinsson; mixed by Paddy Steer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks 2 \u0026amp; 7 (2019) recorded at Total Refreshment Centre; produced by Alabaster DePlume; mixed \u0026amp; engineered by Kristian Craig Robinson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracks 12 \u0026amp; 13 (digital-only bonus tracks) produced, performed and recorded by Alabaster DePlume, circa 2013.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum Mastered by David Allen (based on original tape masters of \"Copernicus\" by George Atkins at 80 Hertz).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art, Design \u0026amp; Layout by Raimund Wong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhotography by Christina Almeida.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Design by Aaron Lowell Denton.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0030 Classic Black vinyl LP (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52109135577362,"sku":"IARC0030LP11","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0030 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998379794,"sku":"IARC0030","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a4093398098_10.jpg?v=1773343771"},{"product_id":"jeff-parker-eta-ivtet-the-way-out-of-easy","title":"Jeff Parker ETA IVtet - The Way Out of Easy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eJanuary 2nd, 2023. Aside from being the second of a new year, it was a pretty ordinary night at ETA in Los Angeles, where guitarist Jeff Parker - alongside his ETA IVtet with saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose - had been holding down a regular Monday gig since 2016. At the time, nobody knew it was the first gig of the last year that ETA would be open for business.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver seven years of holding down that residency, Parker’s ETA ensemble evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form (sometimes stretching out for 45 minutes or more) journeys into innovative, often uncharted territories of groove-oriented, painterly, polyrhythmic, minimalist and mantric improvised music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith that musical growth, the crowds for Parker and his band at ETA grew across the years too. What started as a sparse gathering of weeknight drinkers, friends, family, and Chicago expats (coming to get a shot of nostalgia for the atmospheres Parker used to create at Rodan across the ‘00s and early ‘10s) grew into a Los Angeles nightlife staple with a packed house and a line down the block for every show.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy January 2023 interest in Parker’s music was\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003estronger than ever, coming off successes with the December 2021 International Anthem\/Nonesuch release of Forfolks – a collection of solo guitar works – and the October 2022 Eremite release of Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, a double LP chronicling the ETA IVtet’s distinct, expansive approach to improvisation across four side-length tracks recorded and mixed live by engineer Bryce Gonzales.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMondays introduced the world to the ETA IVtet’s signature sound with a gathering of unnamed recordings from dates between 2019 and 2021. Parker’s new ETA IVtet offering stays true to that formula in some ways – as he returns to Gonzales’s archive of analog captures to gather four long recordings totalling around 80 minutes – while zooming in on a more particular moment in his journey. The Way Out of Easy provides us a macro-lens view of the ever-refining, infinite organic essence of the ensemble as they stretch out across a single night of soundmaking on January 2nd, 2023.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe engineer Gonzales is well known for the high-end audio gear he builds as Highland Dynamics, and even designed a custom mixer to be able to record the ETA IVtet, specifically, while only taking up a single space at the bar. In his liner notes for The Way Out of Easy, he colors his process and approach: “There are many different ways to make recordings and they all have their place. But for this band, the most important thing to consider is: not doing anything to get in the way of what they are saying to each other.” He refers to the simple schematic he used for capturing these performances – “basically only 4 level controls for one microphone per player” – which allows us an incredibly pure, honest, transparent and transporting experience of the music as it unfolds and is created in real time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe set begins with an extended take on Parker’s composition “Freakadelic” – a tune he originally recorded for his 2012 Delmark release Bright Light in Winter. The B-side piece “Late Autumn” finds Parker swaying in alliterative, arpeggiating cycles, using just a few plucked notes as he lays the compositional foundation. At first it almost sounds like an echo of the humble tunes he wrote alone with his guitar on Forfolks, but in this space his ensemble joins him to help build a beautifully multi-textured, gently-shifting four-dimensional construction out of a simple idea. On “Easy Way Out,” Butterss’s bobbing bass line leads, paddling the ensemble into a placid expanse of tender psychedelia while Bellerose dusts off the drums like an archaeologist unearthing ancient artifacts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt had become customary for the IVtet to end their shows every week with a standard or a tune – a practice that Parker embraced for wanting to give the audience something warm and familiar to take home after a long night of taking them out on creative limbs. Some of Parker’s more common calls were “This Guy’s In Love With You” by Burt Bacharach, “1974 Blues” by Eddie Harris, or “Peace” by Horace Silver. In this set, the IVtet closes not with a familiar song, but a familiar sound in the form of a dub\/reggae groove (given the name “Chrome Dome” by Parker in post), developing spontaneously out of lyrical ad libs by Johnson on solo saxophone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn early December of 2023, ETA co-owner Ryan Julio was forced to make a sudden announcement that the venue would permanently shutter at the end of the year. On December 23rd, Parker and the band played at ETA for the last time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn July 22nd, 2024, the ETA IVtet gathered to perform together for the first time since then, playing for a sold-out crowd of several hundred listeners – a smiling Ryan Julio among them – at Zebulon in Los Angeles. Gonzales was there, recording with his compact analog setup just behind the band on stage. The space may be gone but its spirit lives and the music moves forward into new vessels.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0089 Classic Black Gatefold 2xLP","offer_id":52109135872274,"sku":"ROW IARC0089LP","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0089 Limited Edition 'Harvest Maroon' Gatefold 2xLP","offer_id":52110815691026,"sku":"ROW IARC0089LPI","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0089 CD - Compact disc","offer_id":52110816608530,"sku":"ROW IARC0089CD","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0089 Digital Download","offer_id":52121004474642,"sku":"IARC0089","price":11.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0089 Test Pressing","offer_id":52121004507410,"sku":"IARC0089LP-TP","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2139666555_10.jpg?v=1773343513"},{"product_id":"makaya-mccraven-in-the-moment-ia11-edition","title":"Makaya McCraven - In the Moment (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"customHeaderWrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"band-navbar-wrapper flex\"\u003e\n\u003col id=\"band-navbar\"\u003e\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"trackView leftMiddleColumns has-art\" data-tooltips='{\"tooltips\":[],\"dash_seen\":false}'\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfo\" class=\"leftColumn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfoInner\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfo\" class=\"leftColumn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfoInner\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eMakaya McCraven’s International Anthem debut 'In The Moment' is the album that properly introduced the then-burgeoning drummer\/producer to the world. In many ways, it also laid the groundwork for a working method that both McCraven and the label have returned to again and again over the years: nearly 48 hours of live improvised performance recorded by IARC house engineer Dave Vettraino at 1 venue over 12 months and 28 shows - culled, cut, rendered, and remixed into 19 potent pieces of organic beat music by McCraven.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis early exploration of the concept is based in the nightlife—in relaxed and unostentatious gatherings of prodigious Chicago musicians letting loose one moment at a time. That the individual stature of the musicians involved has risen dramatically in the years since is only proof positive that these sessions in a renovated bank vault were a casually high-level convention of some of the city’s best.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe IA11 Edition LP features our IARC 2025 obi strip, plus additional photos and new liner notes by engineer Dave Vettraino in a 4-page insert booklet.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 28, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMakaya McCraven: drums, beats, loops \u0026amp; overdubs\u003cbr\u003eMatt Ulery: double bass \u0026amp; bass guitar\u003cbr\u003eMarquis Hill: trumpet\u003cbr\u003eJunius Paul: double bass \u0026amp; bass guitar\u003cbr\u003eJustefan: vibraphone\u003cbr\u003eJeff Parker: guitar\u003cbr\u003eJoshua Abrams: double bass\u003cbr\u003eDe'Sean Jones: tenor saxophone\u003cbr\u003eTony Barba: tenor saxophone \u0026amp; electronics\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExecutive Producers: Scott McNiece \u0026amp; David Allen\u003cbr\u003eProducer: Makaya McCraven\u003cbr\u003eEngineer: Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eMixing: Dave Vettraino \u0026amp; Makaya McCraven\u003cbr\u003eMastering: Shelly Steffens\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Design: Craig Hansen \u0026amp; Leah Ball\u003cbr\u003eCover Photo: Nathan Michael\u003cbr\u003eOriginal Liner Design: Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Insert Design: Aaron Lowell Denton\u003cbr\u003eInsert Photos: Marcus Mader\u003cbr\u003eOriginal Liner Notes: Joe Darling \u0026amp; Scott McNiece\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Liner Notes: Dave Vettraino\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0003LP11 Classic Black Vinyl 2xLP (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52121236472082,"sku":"IARC0003LP11","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0003DD11 Digital Download (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52121236504850,"sku":"IARC0003DD11","price":11.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2450526560_10_26252849-98eb-41bd-8284-c333c5574620.jpg?v=1773341873"},{"product_id":"makaya-mccraven-universal-beings-ia11-edition","title":"Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"customHeaderWrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"band-navbar-wrapper flex\"\u003e\n\u003col id=\"band-navbar\"\u003e\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-tooltips='{\"tooltips\":[],\"dash_seen\":false}' class=\"trackView leftMiddleColumns has-art\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"leftColumn\" id=\"trackInfo\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfoInner\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eThe 2018 release of Universal Beings, in many ways, feels like the moment that the gates swung open for both Makaya McCraven and International Anthem. On one hand, it's a four-sided communal showcase of the inter-city exchange that had started to develop in the “new jazz” hubs, collecting group improvisations from New York, London, Chicago, and Los Angeles. On the other, it is an editing and post-production masterclass – the MVP of McCraven’s “organic beat music” concept – and a landmark moment where his cut-splice-reassembly chops shine as brightly as the players themselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe musicians on the album were a combined who’s-who and who’s-gonna-be-who of their respective scenes: Brandee Younger (harp), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Tomeka Reid (cello), Dezron Douglas (double bass), Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone), Junius Paul (double bass), Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano), Daniel Casimir (double bass), Josh Johnson (alto saxophone), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin), Jeff Parker (guitar), Anna Butterss (double bass), and Carlos Niño (percussion). In our original press release, we called it “an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018.” In our off-the-record conversations at the time, we said ‘it’s like Dr\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e. Dre’s The Chronic, but for jazz’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUniversal Beings earned rave reviews across the board. It was a consensus year-end favorite (as seen in NPR Music, WIRE Magazine, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Rolling Stone, Vice, Stereogum, the list goes on…) that cemented McCraven as a must-buy album producer and a must-see live performer, and brought enough energy to our “plucky Chicago indie label” that we were able to move out of a closet and into an actual office.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased December 4, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNew York Side:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded August 29th, 2017, at H0l0 in Ridgewood, Queens, New York.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrandee Younger – harp; Tomeka Reid – cello; Joel Ross – vibraphone; Dezron Douglas – double bass; Makaya McCraven – drums\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks: Joe Jeffers, Malik Abdul-Rahmaan, Alejandro Ayala, Elliot Ross and Hank Shocklee.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChicago Side:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded September 2nd, 2017, at Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShabaka Hutchings – tenor saxophone;Tomeka Reid – cello; Junius Paul – double bass, percussion; Makaya McCraven – drums\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks: Andy Dane, Rachel Millar, David Passick, Alejandro Ayala, Angel Bat Dawid, Alexander Hawkins, Ingrid Laubrock, Neil Gainer, David Chavez, Ed Marszewski, Jamie Trecker and Shanna Van Volt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLondon Side:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded October 19th, 2017, at Total Refreshment Studios in Stoke Newington, London, UK.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNubya Garcia – tenor saxophone; Ashley Henry – rhodes piano; Daniel Casimir – double bass; Makaya McCraven – drums\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks: Kristian ‘Capitol K’ Robinson, Alexis Blondel, Tina Edwards, Will Savery, Mark Pallman and David Burkhart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLos Angeles Side:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded January 30th, 2018, at Jeff Parker’s house in Altadena, California.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJosh Johnson – alto saxophone; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – violin; Jeff Parker – guitar; Anna Butterss – double bass; Carlos Niño – percussion; Makaya McCraven – drums\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks: Lee Ann Schmitt and Ezra Lou ParkerSchmitt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUNIVERSAL BEINGS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by David Allen \u0026amp; Dave Vettraino.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by Damon Locks.\u003cbr\u003eDesign by Aaron Lowell Denton.\u003cbr\u003eInsert Cover Photo by Fabrice Bourgelle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Makaya McCraven.\u003cbr\u003eExecutive Production by Scott McNiece.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"info license\" id=\"license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0022 Classic black vinyl 2xLP (IA11 edition)","offer_id":52110791704850,"sku":"IARC0022LP11","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0022 Digital Download","offer_id":52121006768402,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3622200608_10.jpg?v=1773343168"},{"product_id":"gregory-uhlmann-extra-stars","title":"Gregory Uhlmann - Extra Stars","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"customHeaderWrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"band-navbar-wrapper flex\"\u003e\n\u003col id=\"band-navbar\"\u003e\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"trackView leftMiddleColumns has-art\" data-tooltips='{\"tooltips\":[],\"dash_seen\":false}'\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfo\" class=\"leftColumn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfoInner\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eExtra Stars is a deeply beautiful expression of Gregory Uhlmann’s ever-evolving sound world, and comes at a pivotal juncture in the LA-based composer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist’s musical journey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollowing a long run of supporting work with artists like Perfume Genius, Tasha, and Hand Habits, alongside an eponymous recorded output largely focused on his more singer-songwriter oriented music, Uhlmann has spent the better part of the last couple years trotting out album after album of groundbreaking instrumental modern music. From the sparse melodies and hushed ambient soundscapes of Small Day, to his much-lauded duo outing Doubles with Meg Duffy, to his perhaps lesser-known but no-less-brilliant duo record Water Map with Dustin Wong, to the lush chamber-jazz interplay of his trio recording with saxophonist Josh Johnson and bassist Sam Wilkes, to the two genre-breaking albums he released as a co-leader of synth-laced trance-jazz quintet SML (2024’s Small Medium Large and 2025’s How You Been), Uhlmann has subtly, if not quietly, established himself as an essential presence in some of the most progressive recordings of our time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExtra Stars encompasses all he’s learned through all\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe above. A radiant sidereal serenade, the album’s fourteen miniature infinities swirl serendipitous synthesis and measured, melody-rich song into a panoramic menagerie of sound. For a record that seldom incorporates percussion instruments, the music is distinctly rhythm-forward, while Uhlmann also leans heavily into swaths of pastoral beauty. Extra care was clearly poured into the kind of harmonic depth that’s often missing from vibe-only “ambient” music, making for a delightfully refreshing take on the electronic, processing-heavy 'quiet' sound.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe compositions and production techniques here reflect Uhlmann’s musicality perfectly, surely the result of him being as much a seasoned practitioner as he is an avid listener. If there is a middle ground between Cluster \u0026amp; Eno, Terry Riley’s Shri Camel, and Yo La Tengo’s There’s a Riot Going On, it’s somewhere nearby. Lofty comparisons aside, Extra Stars seems to look beyond reference or imitation. Even the album’s title indicates as much—inspired by a trip to California’s Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, where the reality of the night sky’s starry expanse stretches beyond the boundaries of belief.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe can feel Uhlmann’s gaze past the horizon line from the jump. Album opener “Pocket Snail” kicks off with a slow-ambling synth bass line before opening up into a richly processed, reverberating cacophony of beautiful sliding melodies. Eyes wide open, the small world of the pocket snail begins to burst with new color after a fresh injection of sunlight, but the tonality is more akin to something of a simple torch ballad. It’s an immense clash of big and small, and sets the stage nicely for the delightful vantage point shifting to come throughout the record.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Lucia” is named after a quaint lodge nestled amongst the cliffside drama of Big Sur, and the tune’s musical rendering of an intimate yet expansive perspective perfectly fits its namesake. The steady thump and chime of Uhlmann’s guitar repetitions sit atop a field recording of the distant, heavy-winded ocean crash of the Cabrillo Highway coast, held even steadier by harbor bell metallic clank percussion and a firm yet pillowy cluster of electric organ chords and mellotron-like leads. Enter saxophonist Alabaster DePlume, the track's lone feature, with his signature breathy reed work. Here DePlume’s vibrato-heavy tenor sax wandering adds a secret-among-friends intimacy to a sonic scene that could go for miles. DePlume hums low in multitrack as Uhlmann leads the steady pulse on, encountering syncopated harmonic pings, fluttering recorder flourishes, and the little bustling sounds of the rural Pacific shoreline. Earworms must live in the ocean air, because it’s tough to get any element of “Lucia” unstuck once it’s in, and the whole thing is all tied up in a bow in just under three and a half minutes. Equally playful and introspective, “Lucia” is the potential soundtrack to a close reading or a thousand yard stare. If Jim Henson dreamt Link’s Awakening this would be the sound he heard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Burnt Toast” is an essential example of Uhlmann’s penchant for using the guitar to make non-guitar sounds. That’s not to say that what is occurring here is a simple act of processing. Rather, Uhlmann has a distinct and instantly recognizable ability to play the instrument itself in a way that lends to drastic and realtime tonal transformation. Clocking in at a lean 1:25, it’s a quick and lively skip through a blend of complimentary and warring syncopations—another hallmark of Uhlmann’s style—topped with synthetic glissandos and stereo-image warbles placed just so. What really makes it gel, though, is the harmonic simplicity that the transformative madness is serving. At the end of the day, the basic structure of “Burnt Toast” is an uncomplicated chord progression.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat essential simplicity, leaning into tonal expressions of quiet joy and deep longing, could be the most relevant throughline in Uhlmann’s work. On Extra Stars it’s likely best exemplified on “Days,” a serene 7+ minute track born in the nerve shattering confusion of 2020. “It was made in my old apartment and felt like a way of self soothing by playing the same chords over and over again,” says Uhlmann. The result is a wisping, languid, near free-time drift through a progression that manages to maintain its directness despite its slow-building reverberated accompaniment. Like a Harold Budd take on the somber fingerpicked elegance of Frantz Casseus, “Days” wanders through the speakers with an almost nostalgic air. A grandmotherly wall organ melody sings around dancing piano notes as chattering synthesis renders itself percussive amongst the steel string comfort of Uhlmann’s electric guitar. It’s the kind of recording that could go on forever and maybe, somewhere, it’s doing just that. On Extra Stars, though, it acts as a spiritual centerpiece, rejuvenating the listener as it fades out slowly, cleansing and leaving us ready for more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Back Scratch” is collage-cut from a series of piano improvisations and post-composed with pitch-shifted percussion contributions from Uhlmann’s SML bandmate Booker Stardrum. Uneven loops syncopate in chance mode while the barrage of high-register notes conflate with Stardrum’s stickwork to cement a rhythm dense enough to nearly become a drone. The impulsive comparison to the intensely rhythmic zither dance of Laraaji would be understandable, but mostly inaccurate. “Back Scratch” is produced in a markedly raw, un-reverberated manner—and it’s precisely that stark wonkiness that separates it from something like Day Of Radiance and makes it more akin to a basement DIY crack at Reich’s Drumming. That said, its brevity and singularity among the wildly diverse Extra Stars tracklist means that it might be (just maybe) more actual fun to listen to than both of those records.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe guitarless moments on Extra Stars shine as brightly as those that highlight Uhlmann’s primary instrument, but even those departures display themselves distinctively, especially when he invites and directs a collaborator. The labcoat synth silliness and percussive b-ball bounce of “Dottie,” for instance, contrasts sharply from the unbridled beeswarm rhythm composite of “Worms Eye” despite the implementation of the same tools and techniques—likely due to the co-production presence of synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (another SML bandmate) on the latter. Regardless, there’s no mistaking an Uhlmann composition and there’s no mistaking when he’s at the helm. For instance, while Chiu’s presence can certainly be felt on “Voice Exchange,” its outlandish rhythm focused take on the pitch-shifted vocals of longtime Uhlmann collaborator Tasha couldn’t be further from the other Chiu co-productions on Extra Stars.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe ability to maintain a recognizable voice across vast stylistic shifts, while employing the talents of those who also possess singularly recognizable voices, is not something that is heard often and it’s Uhlmann’s ability to recognize what makes each collaborator unique that makes it work here. A great example is “Bristlecone,” which finds him directing the powerful low-end command of Anna Butterss’s bass and the multiphonic mystery of Josh Johnson’s processed alto. The composition and arrangement are supported at every turn by Uhlmann’s SML bandmates without the result ever wandering away from something we can hear as distinctly his. Like David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, or Miles Davis, Uhlmann uses collaboration to both support and transform. To reinforce and evolve. With Extra Stars he has delivered such a promising collection of instrumental concepts following an extended period of vast, high-level artistic output. There’s no doubt that it will continue to be a joy to experience that evolution in real time.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 6, 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll pieces composed by Gregory Uhlmann\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGregory Uhlmann - guitar, bass, synths, recorder, percussion, piano\u003cbr\u003eAlabaster Deplume - saxophone and voice on \"Lucia\"\u003cbr\u003eAnna Butterss - bass on \"Bristlecone\"\u003cbr\u003eJosh Johnson - saxophone and effects on \"Bristlecone\"\u003cbr\u003eJeremiah Chiu - synth and modular on \"Voice Exchange\"\u003cbr\u003eBooker Stardrum - percussion on \"Back Scratch\"\u003cbr\u003eVoice sample on \"Voice Exchange\" is Tasha Viets-Vanlear\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Gregory Uhlmann\u003cbr\u003eAdditional Production by Jeremiah Chiu on \"Worms Eye,\" \"Voice Exchange,\" and \"View Below\"\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen\u003cbr\u003eAlbum art and layout by Bucky Boudreau\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thank you to my partner Sam Kaufman for feedback on every little detail\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0107 Classic Black LP","offer_id":52110841577746,"sku":"IARC0107LP","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0107 Limited Edition *Star Dust* Color LP","offer_id":52110849802514,"sku":"IARC0107LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0107 CD - Compact disc","offer_id":52110851309842,"sku":"IARC0107CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0107 Digital Download","offer_id":52121001787666,"sku":"IARC0107","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0100696238_10.jpg?v=1773344385"},{"product_id":"whitney-johnson-lia-kohl-macie-stewart-body-sound","title":"Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart - BODY SOUND","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"customHeaderWrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"band-navbar-wrapper flex\"\u003e\n\u003col id=\"band-navbar\"\u003e\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"trackView leftMiddleColumns has-art\" data-tooltips='{\"tooltips\":[],\"dash_seen\":false}'\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfo\" class=\"leftColumn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"trackInfoInner\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eWhitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart are a trio who utilize string instruments, voices, and manual tape effect processing to craft compositions from alternately tranquil and disquieting improvised music. The three musicians are individually rooted in deep sound exploration, multi-disciplinary composition, and all manner of cross-genre collaboration. The musical ground covered by their solo practices is correspondingly expansive, and their individual recording and performance credits read as a veritable who’s who, ranging from DIY darlings to household names of experimental avant-garde, electronic, indie rock, and more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe trio’s collective sound is based in improvisation—automatic, intuitive composition via their three voices and three string instruments (viola, cello, and violin, respectively). Their influences are vast—dispatched with more playful ease than a trio of string instruments is typically approached with, and just as likely to be found in the cloud-obscured mountains of Donegal, the low-rent cacophony of a midwestern basement, or the revelatory expanse of the Nurse With Wound list as in the storied halls of the academy. Touchstones and areas of interest aside, the main thing that Johnson, Kohl, and Stewart engage with in BODY SOUND is listening and\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ereacting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Improvisation has a special capacity to facilitate a kind of sonic intimacy,” says Kohl. “We're making choices together in the moment. We're creating time together before thought enters the equation. It's an incredibly intimate and intuitive space to share, and feels like the heart center of this music and this practice.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe trio’s approach to improvisation is very much embedded in and informed by their Chicago music community. The city’s ongoing improvised music tradition, which can envelop every genre imaginable, is one where a working musician’s ideas can evolve at a near-constant pace and where anything can be explored in the name of sound. And with sound, there’s always space to consider.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhere will the improvisation take place?\u003cbr\u003eHow will that space shape the sounds being made?\u003cbr\u003eHow will that sound resonate in the dim light of a small neighborhood bar?\u003cbr\u003eHow will it sound in the chromatic refractions of an ornate church?\u003cbr\u003eCan it feel different-yet-equally perfect?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart the answer to the last question is yes, definitely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStewart: Our quest as a crew is to explore space and every iteration of what that can mean, be it physical space, emotional space, sonic space, etc. Space is an instrument.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohnson: It’s more than the acoustic properties of the recording spaces. Our bodies, emotions, and relationships show up in those spaces with affordances and limitations for the music each time. We are vibrating beings, sensitive and expressive, an amoeba of physical and psychic pressures with specific resonances in time and space.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKohl: The space we’re in always feels like a collaborator in this trio more than in other contexts. I can always feel us all responding to where we are and the resonances that live there.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn BODY SOUND, the trio worked with International Anthem engineer and album co-producer Dave Vettraino to translate the sonic specificities of three recording locations: International Anthem studios on Iron Street (Chicago), Shirk Studios (Chicago), and Boyd’s Jig and Reel (Knoxville, TN, as part of Big Ears Festival). Vettraino also brought a deep knowledge of tape manipulation and a willingness to experiment. “All it took was for one of us to say, ‘What if that was a loop?’, and he was already setting up the reel-to-reel,” says Johnson of the album’s post-production, which leaned heavily into their shared love of saturated tape sounds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat trust, it seems, was already there. In addition to the communal criss-cross inherent in sharing their Chicago home base, the trio worked with Vettraino on Stewart’s 2025 solo effort When the Distance Is Blue. It was her debut on International Anthem but far from her first appearance in the label’s catalog as a player. Ditto for Kohl and Johnson, whose collaboration and friendship with the label goes back years. Taken as a whole, we could argue that this most recent collaboration, the tape-manipulated fried beauty documented on BODY SOUND, has been a long time coming.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the context of this work, tape sound is much more than a mixing treatment or a production tactic. Here Johnson, Kohl, and Stewart are using variations on the medium to edit and reshape the pieces themselves, employing multiple analog tape machines to reimagine their improvised material into meticulously crafted compositions (“another layer of improvisation,” says Stewart). It’s all a response to the spaces they were originally engaged with, and the use of a highly physical medium like analog tape deepens the spatial engagement of the trio’s work to striking, playful, and organically psychedelic effect.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe resultant BODY SOUND is deep, melancholy, and triumphant, coming across like a kind of lost or amalgamated folk music. It’s certainly part of an ongoing creative continuum, even boasting track titles adapted from Yoko Ono’s classic book of text scores Grapefruit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album’s opener “dawn | pulse” puts a morning drone at the threshold of their sound world. This undulating slow roller is a free time drift of bowed tonal clusters respiring in long, melodic swells, and unfurling among wordless singing. Despite the time marker in the title, this piece feels suitable for any part of the day—the morning stretch skyward, the afternoon ambling respite, or the late-nite chillout. Both majorly serene and deceptively avant garde, “dawn | pulse” is a perfect entrée into BODY SOUND.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“laundry | blood” begins with a near-waltz percussive tumble created by a tape loop of Kohl’s barrette-prepared cello. Its soft and eerie triplet propels a deep and snarling viola-cello-violin drone forward à la the doomiest moments of the Berlin School canon or the repetitive outsider glory of Tony Conrad \u0026amp; Faust's Outside the Dream Syndicate. It’s a darkly cinematic take on the ambient ideal for the scarcely visible slow-moving night train chug. You can almost see it roll by.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome moments feel intentionally disconnected from the performance, instead tied more closely to the concept of LP format listenership: the disintegrated melodic pumps and clomps of “chewing gum”, the body shaking radiator hiss come-apart of “snow | touch”, the otherworldly bass and sub-bass of “stone | piece”.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross the album’s 11 tracks, each piece manages to keep a foot in both worlds. “burning | counting (sleeping)” begins abruptly with massive bursts of heavily-bowed sawtooth strings looping in real time, creating a near-synthetic feeling. Deep stutter-step freneticism, tape-manipulated and rendered into overlapping moments of dense psychedelia give way to an oncoming long-note tranquility—an improvised cacophony evoking some long dissipated storm-paced Irish folk drone more so than a New Music exercise or a study of Kronos \/ Reich.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd that seems to be the story with all of the material within BODY SOUND. It’s music with inexplicably broad appeal while maintaining a sort of mysterious outsider quality. Johnson, Kohl, and Stewart have created a stunning album—an exquisitely textured, spatially vivid, wordlessly expressive, sonically multitudinous collection—that manages to decode a slew of high level concepts while clearly and directly speaking to the human impulse. BODY SOUND is right.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased March 20, 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhitney Johnson viola, voice\u003cbr\u003eLia Kohl cello, voice\u003cbr\u003eMacie Stewart violin, voice\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTascam 58, Revox A77, Sony TC 580, TEAC 6600, Portastudio 414mkII\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music by Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart, and Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngineered by Dave Vettraino at IARC studios on Iron Street (Chicago), Big Ears Festival 2025 (Knoxville), and Shirk Studios (Chicago)\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArtwork courtesy of Jovencio de la Paz and Chris Sharp Gallery\u003cbr\u003eDesign \u0026amp; layout by Matilde Santiago\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0108 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":52110853865746,"sku":"IARC0108LP","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0108 Limited Edition Grapefruit color vinyl LP","offer_id":52110853898514,"sku":"IARC0108LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0108 CD - Compact disc","offer_id":52110853931282,"sku":"IARC0108CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0108 Digital Download","offer_id":52121010209042,"sku":"IARC0108","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1705246381_10.jpg?v=1773344791"},{"product_id":"ahleuchatistas-arrebato","title":"Ahleuchatistas - Arrebato","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eGuitar + Drum duo make mammoth melodic tectonic movements that raze and reshape conventional sonic terrains.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased October 30, 2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRyan Oslance - drums\u003cbr\u003eShane Parish - guitar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusic by Parish\/Oslance\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by David Allen\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Shelly Steffens\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArtwork by Cody Sarabia\u003cbr\u003eLayout by Craig Hansen\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0006 LP - Classic Black vinyl","offer_id":52115662635282,"sku":"arrebatoLP","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0006 CD - Compact disc","offer_id":52115662668050,"sku":"789397779828","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0006 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998183186,"sku":"IARC0006","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2759159203_10.jpg?v=1773620677"},{"product_id":"angel-bat-dawid-hush-harbor-mixtape-vol-1-doxology","title":"Angel Bat Dawid - Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eDedicated to Saint Escrava Anastacia.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased June 19, 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll instruments, vocalz, and synths performed, produced, recorded, arranged \u0026amp; mixed By Angel Bat Dawid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMastered By Najee-Zaid Searcy.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IMRC0044- Limited Edition Cassette","offer_id":52120908857618,"sku":"IA-IMRC0044","price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IMRC0044 Digital Download","offer_id":52121236144402,"sku":"IMRC0044","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0746670099_10.jpg?v=1773692354"},{"product_id":"angel-bat-dawid-the-oracle","title":"Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eComposer, clarinetist, singer \u0026amp; spiritual jazz soothsayer Angel Bat Dawid descended on Chicago's jazz \u0026amp; improvised music scene just a few years ago. In very short time, the potency, prowess, spirit \u0026amp; charisma of her cosmic musical proselytizing has taken her from relatively unknown improviser to borderline ubiquitous performer in Chicago's avant-garde. On any given night you can find Angel adding aura to ensembles led by Ben LaMar Gay, or Damon Locks, or Jaimie Branch, or Matthew Lux, or even, on a Summer night in 2018, onstage doing a woodwind duo with Roscoe Mitchell. For her recorded debut on International Anthem, The Oracle, we've chosen to release a batch of tracks that Angel created entirely alone – performing, overdubbing \u0026amp; mixing all instruments \u0026amp; voices by her self – recorded using only her cell phone in various locations, from London UK to Cape Town RSA, but primarily from her residency in the attic of the historic Radcliffe Hunter mansion in Bronzeville, Southside, Chicago.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased February 8, 2019\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IMRC0023 - Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":52120908988690,"sku":"IARC0023LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0023 - Crystal Blue Colored Vinyl LP","offer_id":52120909021458,"sku":"oraclecrystalLP","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IMRC0023 - CD","offer_id":52120909054226,"sku":"IARC0023CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0023 - Cassette","offer_id":52120909086994,"sku":"IA-TO-IC","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0023 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998478098,"sku":"IARC0023","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0023 Test Pressing","offer_id":52120909119762,"sku":"IARC0023LP-1","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2808259986_10.jpg?v=1773691494"},{"product_id":"angel-bat-dawid-the-oracle-ia11-edition","title":"Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eAngel Bat Dawid’s International Anthem debut The Oracle introduced her multifaceted voice to the world. The response to its modest, initial cassette\/digital release in January of 2019 was immediate, and immense. Within a month of its announcement, Dawid was being featured on magazine covers and receiving offers from international festivals; and her subsequent activity marked the beginning of an epic run of creative output (including her critically-lauded 2020 LIVE album with Tha Brothahood, the same year's EP Transition East, 2021's Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology, and the sprawling opus Requiem for Jazz, released in 2023) that continues through the present moment (hear: Journey to Nabta Playa, her recently-released collaboration with Naima Nefertari).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe collection of compositions on The Oracle present a deep blend of powerful and emotive songs alongside heavy and free improvisation. In true DIY fashion, with pure presence and a spirit of creative abandon, Dawid recorded and mixed the album using only her cell phone, entirely. \"Angel's fieldnote approach affirms that the everyday remains a legitimate site of creative production,\" says percussionist, collaborator, and IARC labelmate Asher Gamedze in his liner notes for the album's IA11\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eEdition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGamedze – the only other musician to appear on The Oracle besides Dawid, who constructed most of the album's tracks by layering, overdubbing, and arranging lo-fi symphonies of her own voice, wind instruments, percussions, and keyboards – waxes extensively about Dawid's significance in his notes, calling her \"a living exemplar and extension of the spacious sonic horizons opened by the likes of the AACM and their refusal of any limitations on their creative vision and the destruction of the demarcation between composer and improviser.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRevisiting The Oracle, it's abundantly clear that it was Dawid’s artistic vision and compositional skill that pushed the scope of her explorations so far. It’s how, despite their sonic contrast, the layered delay-drenched clarinet improvisations of “Black Family” or “Impepho” sit nicely with the unadorned fly-on-the-wall majesty of “London” or the nearly sidelong freedom of “Capetown” (which documents her first-time meeting with Gamedze, at his home in South Africa). The laid-back minor key gospel-folk of Dawid’s vocal tunes tie The Oracle together and sit similarly comfortable within the sides of the record.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGamedze gets to the essence when he writes: \"The album's profundity perhaps lies in its everydayness. Its beauty is in the worlds and work which are the music's root. What I do know is that it is a joy that this album exists. An instant classic with anthems ancient to the future. A totally idiosyncratic and grounded orientation to technology and production. A refusal of the lines between composition and improvisation. A multi-layered collage of history, struggle, organising and travel, both physical and metaphysical.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe IA11 Edition vinyl LP features our IARC 2025 obi strip, plus a new 8-page 11x11\" insert booklet with unpublished photos and new liner notes by Asher Gamedze.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased September 12, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IMRC0023 Classic Black vinyl LP (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52120909152530,"sku":"IMRC0023LP11","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0023 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998707474,"sku":"IMRC0023","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1500295424_10.jpg?v=1773624379"},{"product_id":"angel-bat-dawid-transition-east","title":"Angel Bat Dawid - Transition East","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\"Transition East\" features two new pieces of music created by Angel Bat Dawid in response to Emma Warren's 2019 book \"Make Some Space\" – i.e. the book that chronicles the history of London DIY music institution Total Refreshment Centre.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid, who first met Emma Warren at Total Refreshment Centre in 2017, composed \u0026amp; recorded \"Transition East\" alone in her space on the Southside of Chicago, originally to be accompaniment for the audiobook version of \"Make Some Space.\" Angel conceptualized \u0026amp; named the song in commemoration of the storied Chicago community center that was a hub for the AACM and icons from the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s, and was recently revived by one of her mentors, Eliel Sherman Storey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No Space Fo Us\" was composed \u0026amp; recorded at a space in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where Angel travelled with a crew of Chicago artists (including IARC label mates Ben LaMar Gay \u0026amp; Damon Locks) on a collaborative mission organzied by Comfort Station, called Close to There (Perto de Lá). The track features Angel with Ben LaMar Gay and new Brazilian friends Edbrass Brasil, Romulo Alexis, Tadeu Mascarenhas, Nancy Viégas \u0026amp; Germano Estacio.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInternational Anthem is proud to present these two\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebeautiful pieces of music on deluxe 45rpm 7\" vinyl inside a picture sleeve designed by Jeremiah Chiu. Available as a standalone item or as part of the MAKE SOME SPACE FOR US bundle – alongside Emma Warren's \"Make Some Space\" paperback and a new \"foreward\" in the form of a screed written by Piotr Orlov (connecting the book \u0026amp; the music into the current context of our spaceless\/timeless struggle) printed on a 17\" x 22\" broadsheet (also designed by Jeremiah Chiu).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased May 12, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IMRC0032 - 7'' vinyl","offer_id":52120909185298,"sku":"IA-IMRC0032","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"MAKE SOME SPACE FOR US vinyl\/book\/poster bundle","offer_id":52120909218066,"sku":"IA-TE-MSSF","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IMRC0032 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998740242,"sku":"IMRC0032","price":3.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1926209949_10.jpg?v=1773624269"},{"product_id":"angel-bat-dawid-tha-brothahood-live","title":"Angel Bat Dawid \u0026 Tha Brothahood - LIVE","description":"\u003cp\u003eLIVE was mostly recorded on November 1st, 2019, at Haus der Berliner Festspiele in Berlin, Germany, during the 2019 edition of JazzFest Berlin. For Angel Bat Dawid and her band Tha Brothahood – which includes Deacon Otis Cooke, Viktor Le Givens, Xristian Espinoza, Norman W. Long, Dr. Adam Zanolini, and Asher Simiso Gamedze – it was the first stop of their first European tour. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForty-eight hours before the show, Angel and members of the band were on their way to the airport in Chicago when they received news that Viktor Le Givens had passed out on the street and subsequently woke up in a hospital with all his personal belongings missing. When they arrived in Berlin, the band’s manager Najee-Zaid Searcy reached out to the production staff of JazzFest Berlin to inform them of the situation. Their initial reply: “if you cannot find a substitute, we will have to reduce your fee.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf the cold, insensitive response to Viktor’s unfortunate situation, Angel recalls: “It really put a whole damper on my spirit to have to deal with this a few hours before performing. How the fuck is this response ever acceptable anywhere?!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngel continues: “I have issues in general about the way artists are treated because I see a difference in how tech folks treat women and artist of color… I’m calling it out. A lot of the racism and things I’m talking about are steeped in microaggressions and are so subtle and can go unnoticed. But all those things happen a lot and it was very evident at the festival… Yes I am hyper sensitive to any infraction I ever see, feel or observe when it comes to racism, and I no longer pass it off as an over sensitivity but an opportunity to blow the whistle on intellectual and structural racism that is still a rampant and ugly beast, especially in the European music world.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngel and her band had a handful of experiences over their two days in Berlin that contributed to her feelings, including an interaction at The Ellington Hotel (a place that’s named \u0026amp; themed in homage to the famous Black American composer), where the band was staying. The moment was recorded by Angel’s bandmate and she chose to include an excerpt at the beginning of the album’s first track, where she shouts repeatedly: “ever since I’ve been here y’all have treated me like shit!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe full story, from Angel: “The morning at the Duke Ellington Hotel was the result of a buildup of things… The insensitive way the festival dealt with Viktor… to mean stares walking down the street with my Brothers… A man came up to all of us and said he was frightened by our group. I went to another shop and they told me ‘don't go to East Berlin because they don’t like Blacks’... Berlin was leaving me feeling very isolated and angry. So the morning we were leaving this hotel, with its homage to Black musicians in every room… They had a piano in their bar area and I decided to play a tune, sing and praise, to leave on a good note. Deacon Otis was filming it as our way of just walking in love, no matter what. As I was singing someone on the staff runs up to me red face and angry saying ‘ma’am please don't do this in the lobby this is not allowed!’ And I just went the fux off. I had had enough of the reprimands... I just couldn't be my genuine Black self anywhere in Berlin without someone reprimanding me…”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother sound that Angel chose to include in the album is an excerpt from a JazzFest Berlin panel discussion she participated in, which was moderated by writer Emma Warren – a friend of Angel’s – and recorded by Searcy. Angel’s powerful declamations from the panel stage are heard on the album’s last track “HELL,” through a dense layering of effects. “The discussion was led by Emma… so I was feeling very much myself and was going to tell the honest truth about how these festivals and music scenes still operate and support intellectual and structural racism, because they are never challenged,” Angel recalls.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite, or perhaps in light of the difficulties Angel and her band faced, they performed a set at Berliner Festspiele that Angel considers to be one of their best ever. “The show was very deep, and really helped me to process all the rage, and uncomfortable things I was feeling... It made me think of all the artists of the past who endured way more than I ever will with this music industry. It was a very freeing and beautiful show… we played our ass off!!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarlem, NY-based journalist Shannon J. Effinger, who had interviewed Angel for Pitchfork earlier in 2019, was in Berlin to cover the festival and witnessed Angel’s performance.  “I had no clue Shannon was there and I was so happy to see her... We had breakfast in the morning together and I was able to vent to her about my frustrations about being in Europe. She shared the same sentiments, because she too was experiencing all the subtle microaggressions that happen over there,” Angel says.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShortly after Angel decided to make the Berlin recording into an album, in Summer 2020 she invited Effinger to write liner notes. In her notes for LIVE, Effinger touches on Angel’s mistreatment; but for the most part her attention is paid to the music that Angel \u0026amp; Tha Brothahood made during their performance. An excerpt: \"On Sun Ra’s “Enlightenment,” Dawid’s arpeggiated chords on keys brought us all to our own hush harbor meeting, a once haven for enslaved Blacks to gather in secret and release their hardships through shout and prayer. As Dawid, Cape Town drummer Asher Gamedze and Adam Zanolini on reeds build into a tense crescendo, it is their attempt, through music, to exorcise the generational pain that has plagued Blacks for far too long.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I feel Shannon really captured the moment I was feeling. The story of my unrest with the racist undertones of the music industry isn’t why I want this album out. I want this album out because the Brothahood kicked ass on the music. Because she was there at the actual show, her notes have the purest, most authentic and accurate take on the situation,” says Angel. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother excerpt from Effinger's notes: \"From the unwavering strength of the “Black Family” as told through her clarinet, strong and resolute, to “We Are Starzz” which allowed the members of the Brothahood to dance and explore in their respective constellations over Zanolini’s walking bassline, Dawid strives to reconcile where Black life in America presently stands today—bestrided by a glorious yet troubled past, the disillusioned promise of our future, and a present that has never truly belonged to us.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngel Bat Dawid: “I hope that this album will uplift and raise awareness to the world that we are still not in a good place when it comes to the relationship between whites other races. Universities, festivals, organizations etc that were built over 50 years ago, even though they have changed outwardly, have not changed internally, and still uphold the principles of their founders, who were racists. We still got a long way to go. And music is a great place to start in repairing this age old, distorted reality.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOut October 31, 2020\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IMRC0037 - BLACK vinyl gatefold double LP","offer_id":52120909250834,"sku":"IMRC0037LP","price":31.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0037 - FIRE \u0026 BRIMSTONE color vinyl gatefold double LP","offer_id":52120909283602,"sku":"IA-L-IFBC","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0037 - CD","offer_id":52120909316370,"sku":"IMRC0037CD","price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0037 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998773010,"sku":"IMRC0037","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IMRC0037 Test Pressing","offer_id":52120909349138,"sku":"IMRC0037LP-1","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0910541570_10.jpg?v=1773693569"},{"product_id":"anna-butterss-mighty-vertebrate","title":"Anna Butterss - Mighty Vertebrate","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e'Mighty Vertebrate' is the International Anthem leader debut from Adelaide, Australia-born bassist and composer Anna Butterss.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eButterss has steadily become a first-call for tour and studio work since moving to Los Angeles (after a stint in Bloomington, Indiana) in 2014. They’ve racked up credits with notables across the indie, jazz, and pop worlds alike – including Makaya McCraven, Phoebe Bridgers, Jason Isbell, Andrew Bird, and Daniel Villarreal – but their most notable contributions to the burgeoning West Coast creative music scene have been as a core member of both Jeff Parker’s ETA IVtet and rising proto-trance supergroup SML, who Pitchfork says “represents the thrilling next phase of a vibrant L.A. community.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir first solo album, 'Activities', was similarly hailed by Pitchfork as \"one of the most exciting, undersung jazz releases of 2022,\" but the improvise-edit-reconstruct method used on that record couldn’t be further from the foundation of 'Mighty Vertebrate', which began amid the very real challenge of threading solo work into the dense calendrical web of an in-demand collaborator.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I had just gotten off of a bunch of touring at the end of 2022 and just wanted to write music,” says Butterss. “The best way for me to do that, I’ve found, is to set myself a discrete and focused\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003etask.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- I’m going to make a song where the bass doesn’t function in the role of a bass.\u003cbr\u003e- I’m going to work on this for an hour and then I’m going to stop.\u003cbr\u003e- I’m going to make a song that uses groups of three-bar phrasing.\u003cbr\u003e- I want to sample something and make it into a song.\u003cbr\u003e- I’m going to start with a drum machine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Every song was like that,” they continue. “Then once I got started I just followed where my mind wanted to go. It was very structured.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe music itself reflects that structure beautifully, with the material being tightly composed and melodically realized by Butterss well in advance of production concerns. They eventually migrated the operation to Chris Schlarb’s Long Beach hideaway BIG EGO to track a selection of full band material. With Schlarb at the controls they reconvene a group of trusted longtime collaborators to bring their compositions to fruition: Josh Johnson (sax), Gregory Uhlmann (guitar), and Ben Lumsdaine (drums, guitar, production).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I am definitely hearing this group when I’m writing the music or thinking of how it’s going to be played live,” Butterss notes. “I’m hearing these specific people. They’re going to understand what this is supposed to feel like. We’re not going to have to talk about it much. It’s just going to feel very natural, which it was.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe results speak to the natural quality of those interactions, and their breadth and scope might have been difficult to achieve otherwise. From the Robbie-Shakespeare-in-groove-mode intro to the album opener “Bishop” to the spacious cinematic doom of “Seeing You”, there is a lot to wrangle into one cohesive concept. It’s the bedrock of the lineup which keeps the circle unbroken. Butterss’ deep rooted musical relationship with the album’s co-producer, multi-instrumentalist and IARC labelmate Ben Lumsdaine, is also an undeniable factor in the cohesion. The duo have played together since meeting as teens in music school, and worked closely with one another on every aspect of the ten tracks that make up 'Mighty Vertebrate'. That comfort level extends the confident and natural feeling of the sessions to post production, granting the internal arc of each piece the same tidy-yet-adventurous quality found in the compositions themselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor instance, “Dance Steve” opens with overlapping samples expanding, contracting, and quickly focusing into a rhythm blended with a lo-fi bedroom beat just before the sonic scope is widened with a tuff-and-crunchy guitar riff over a straight boom bap 808 rhythm. Synth repetitions chirp dizzily while chorused guitars soften the scene and the subtly dense percussive layers build and unbuild. The song’s halfway mark finds the listener cooling down as the melodies retreat and the rhythm settles into ambient-trance mode. It’s only a chance to catch a breath, it turns out, as the last third of the track is the big reveal. Enter Jeff Parker (the album’s lone featured guest) on electric guitar along with Lumsdaine in a deep-pocket tambourine-accompanied groove. All synths, samples, and guitars have brightened and been rendered percussive – a web of tiny pulsing rhythms – and Parker uses the moment to lay down a classic JP solo. Butterss steers the ship with a dubby bass groove threaded between the beats. It’s as if the shades have been thrown open to greet the sun, but most importantly it’s a complete story. A narrative arc in under five minutes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJeff Parker’s impact is hard to miss when discussing any forward-thinking, groove-oriented jazz and experimental music. Perhaps even more accurate in the case of 'Mighty Vertebrate' is the influence of Tortoise, the long running post-genre group of which Parker is a member. Butterss’ “Pokemans” echoes the band’s excellent 2001 album 'Standards' as much as it does Four Tet or any of Junichi Masuda’s 8-bit school bus classics; but this is more than just inspiration, influence, or some detached version of a musical continuum. Butterss has played with Jeff Parker for years; Tortoise’s John Herndon did the cover art for 'Mighty Vertebrate'; these artists exist within the same close-knit community. Here Butterss finds themself firmly in the protégé-to-peer pipeline.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUltimately, each track on 'Mighty Vertebrate' could be excavated and studied or simply taken at face value. It’s a solid, mature, and endlessly fun glimpse into the world of an artist whose potential for growth is seemingly unlimited.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased October 4, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0086 Classic Black vinyl","offer_id":52120909414674,"sku":"IARC0086LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0086 Limited Edition ''Fossilized Chartreuse'' Color Vinyl","offer_id":52120909447442,"sku":"IARC0086LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0086 CD","offer_id":52120909480210,"sku":"IARC0086CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0086 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998904082,"sku":"IARC0086","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3475189898_10.jpg?v=1773624111"},{"product_id":"anteloper-kudu","title":"Anteloper - Kudu","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eANTELOPER is the electric brain child of JAIMIE BRANCH (fly or die, high life) and JASON NAZARY (little women, helado negro, bear in heaven). Branch and Nazary have been playing together as trumpeter and drummer for years, since meeting at the New England Conservatory of Music in 2002, but in this duo both musicians include synthesizers to push further into the spectral space ship ether. With deep rhythmic passages, telepathic improvisations and effortless melodic negotiations, Anteloper pushes forward, swinging its horns all the while.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLiner Notes by Rob Mazurek:\u003cbr\u003eMaking audible what is silent, Branch and Nazary punch clouds into audible spacetime. Perspectives shift in weight and wander, sometimes distilled into perfect shots of mystic rum and sometimes left alone in an overgrown petrified aluminum forest, dripping and seething into utopian oblivion. Shifting sequences, sky ships arriving...Turn on the slow cruise and mess with slo deep sound for a time... let the frequency of who YOU are mingle with the mindfulness fullness that Anteloper IS. Multiple dimensions collide and caress like a wooly tiger, kissing suns and embracing the nothingness, cracking this nothingness into sheets of corrugated dreams. The Sometimes\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis the Always is the Now is the Forever. Backwards, Forwards and Everywhere. Psychotronics in Plus in Minus. The constant sounds hovering just above the peach tree, glistening silver against the dark blue sky evaporate into the orange trunk and feeds us all. Spring is here, and all the stars seem to know. Slow moves to fast... Faster... It feeds itself in a constant tumble and tightrope stagger and roll... and now a handstand... and now the perfect hypnotic pose and shift and wait and hear. Look straight into the eyes. Don’t look away. Listen with eyes closed and don’t move. Simple lines fear nothing. Sound fears nothing. Ecstatic... Electric past, present and future outposts, never in one place only. They build themselves after long years of finding... Always shifting, always still, always in motion whether it happened or not... a moving stillness writhing in its own glorious invisible frame.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased April 20, 2018\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0018 Limousine Black vinyl LP","offer_id":52120909512978,"sku":"IARC0018LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0018 Melted Highlighter Color vinyl LP","offer_id":52120909545746,"sku":"IARC0018LPS","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0018 - Cassette","offer_id":52120909578514,"sku":"IA-K-IC","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0018 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998936850,"sku":"IARC0018","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2913497311_10.jpg?v=1773623952"},{"product_id":"ben-lamar-gay-yowzers","title":"Ben LaMar Gay - Yowzers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eYowzers is a new album by Chicago composer, improvisor, instrumentalist and musical folklorist Ben LaMar Gay. The twelve track collection is a leap forward in the lexicon of Gay’s recorded output, and a veritable masterwork of ancient inner-body rhythms and intuitive melodic storytelling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s worth mentioning that a leap forward for Gay is no small feat. The musical ground he has covered in the last decade, both as a bandleader and collaborator, is immense. His de facto debut album—the 2018 compilation Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun—properly introduced the world to Gay by placing fifteen stylistically diverse tracks from seven then-unreleased albums next to one another, letting the populace outside of Cook County in on an unintentionally best-kept-secret that Chicagoans had already been marveling at for quite some time. That secret has become even more open in the years since, with the full unveiling of those seven previously-unreleased albums, the release of his critically-acclaimed 2021 song cycle Open Arms To Open Us, and the explosive free sonics of 2022’s Certain Reveries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn addition to being featured on a staggering number of International Anthem releases (including albums by Makaya McCraven\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e, jaimie branch, Damon Locks, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti \u0026amp; Frank Rosaly), Gay is one of the most prolific collaborators in creative music today. He makes active contributions to Mike Reed’s Separatist Party, Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society, Theaster Gates’s Black Monks, and many more. He is also a long-time participant in Chicago’s legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Suffice to say, his credentials are astonishing and the scope of his interests and abilities is seemingly limitless, with Yowzers representing the latest redrawing of that ever-expanding creative borderline.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMuch of the music on Yowzers features his working quartet with Tommaso Moretti (drums, percussion, voice), Matthew Davis (tuba, piano, bells, voice), and Will Faber (guitar, ngoni, bells, voice). But the unlisted feature here is Gay’s own ability to summon and unleash the unique strengths of his collaborators. The quartet material leans into a vocabulary that the group has developed over the course of several years together on the road; and the repertoire delivers an arresting cocktail of pulsing and free rhythms that somehow swing alongside a gathering of melodic phrases that sweep the outer-reaches of harmony with nostalgic echoes of family songs from the living room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Building a language, or taking a while to build a language—it’s like every other thing,” says Gay. “These stories are passed around through melody. You write a story and you share the story with individuals, and then you allow their individuality to embellish the story and take it on in another way. That person is a whole universe. It’s about trusting these people—trusting the people you leave something with, just like people trust their kids and their grandkids to carry a thing on. To not give it all away. To keep it in this tightly-knit body and to just keep it going.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s not a new concept for Gay. One uniting factor in his deep, multi-faceted discography is a never-ending commitment to taking the stories of the past and pushing them outward, filtered through a sense of self, to keep that information moving.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInformation moves through Yowzers via the intuitive physicality of Gay’s creative polyrhythmic constructions as he covertly delivers familiar folk tunes and tales. “It’s the most natural thing,” says Gay. “That’s how the world is. There are overlapping rhythms all around us, and so it reminds you of the reality of the world when you hear them. It’s a loop and the loop is always changing.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYowzers is ripe with the fine mash of that loop’s changes and diffusions, recalling the high-minded freedom of Liberation Music Orchestra, the abstract boom-bap balladry of Georgia Anne Muldrow, the unbridled rhythms and sandpaper bellows of Bukka White, the harmolodic cartoon glory of Arthur Blythe’s Illusions, or the oft-copped but rarely distilled patterns of Naná Vasconcelos. More amalgam than pendulum swing; a fresh thought made up of old ideas, like some imaginary Sacred Heart Ensemble led by Elvin Jones and Rashid Ali. It’s all there, filtered through an improvisational approach and a lifetime of stories and secrets embodied. For a man who has inhabited and traveled these continents so extensively, it’s safe to call this work true Americana, despite what that word might mean to the average white person in the United States.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A big part of the language this quartet has developed is spatial,” says Gay. “It’s seeing and hearing it live.” Translating that language to a studio situation is a tough task, even for a seasoned crew. “You’re dealing with a thing that is older than the industry that sells it, and if you’ve never experienced those bodies in a room there can be a disconnect.” Striving to document the magic of those live moments, to great end, Gay chose to track the quartet pieces (“the glorification of small victories,” “there, inside the morning glory,” “I am (bells),” and “cumulus”) for Yowzers live, in real time, seated with his bandmates in a small circle at Palisade Studios in Chicago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe spectrum of the album is widened by a batch of music created via Gay’s highly successful approach to composing in-studio, augmented with contributions from his bandmates, instrumentalist Rob Frye, and a mini-choir comprising vocalists Ayanna Woods, Tramaine Parker, and Ugochi Nwaogwugwu. This straying from the quartet material throughout the course of the record acts as an expansion of detail rather than an interruption of continuity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll together, the pacing and flow of Yowzers is proof-positive of Gay’s practiced grasp on how the album format can traverse such a breadth of atmospheres. The titular album opener “yowzers” is a simple, soulful, three-chord piano and vocal repetition nestled in the hypnotically swelling effect of the Woods\/Parker\/Nwaogwugwu choir. The undecorated lyrics leave ample room for a listener to comprehend references to the binding existential crises of our times. It’s a Blues that everyone in the world should feel in their bones:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAin’t gon snow no more x4\u003cbr\u003eRain gon pour and pour x4\u003cbr\u003eFire don’t stop no more x4\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“for Breezy”, a could-be New Orleans dirge, straddles the deep sigh of a heavy sadness and the sweet lift of a fond look back, echoing the most contemplative moments of Duke Ellington’s small group arrangements. Gay’s clustered synth chording sets the scene while Frye’s breathy flute and Moretti’s delicate brushwork are positioned front-and-center along with a synthetic static—the nagging question of darkness even as beauty blooms. Gay’s flugelhorn enters at the 1:35 mark, maneuvering slowly around Frye and locking the vibe into place. It’s a gorgeous and fitting tribute to an old comrade.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“John, John Henry” begins with doomy oscillations and click-clack electronic rhythm loops hovering atop a contextually disjointed swing beat from Moretti. Enter Gay and his choir, digging into a take on the dusty-yet-timeless tale of man versus machine, an update we didn’t know we needed and an entrance we didn’t know we wanted. The way the group’s vocal rhythms hit here is a classic example of the Gay conundrum: an idea that reads as challenging on paper but sounds simple to the ear and feels intuitive to the body. With spectacles underfoot and charts out the window, the listener sings along, unencumbered by know-how. It’s all in service of Gay’s ongoing exploration and expansion of folklore in his work—arguably the one concept that bridges the gap between all of the disparate elements of his oeuvre.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis bottomless bag of tricks never induces fatigue, instead allowing for breaths and bites as needed—the quick-vibe banana peel windup of “rollerskates”; the endlessly psychedelic metallic rhythm chant of the album’s centerpiece “I am (bells)”; and the triumphant free-folk shouts of “the glorification of small victories,” which is a drastic and collaborative quartet rework of a composition originally recorded for Gay’s album Grapes that serves as further evidence of his steady crew’s interpretive powers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow, though, does Gay end a collection that covers so much ground? The sweetest sendoff is often the one that sounds like a beginning. The album closer “leave some for you”—a balladeer’s kiss as the sun comes up—pairs a deeply disintegrated series of rhythmic loops with a diddley bow shuffle, ushered by the sturdy-yet-understated swing of Moretti’s kit. Gay’s sweetly intoned low-register lilt is front and center with an affirmation delivered as an earworm. The simple melody carries it home:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou look brand new today\u003cbr\u003eNot cause you need it\u003cbr\u003eJust cause you want it\u003cbr\u003eNew\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReleased June 6, 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0097 Classic Black Vinyl","offer_id":52120910397714,"sku":"IARC0097LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0097 Limited Edition ''Ipomoea Jalapa'' Color Vinyl","offer_id":52120910430482,"sku":"IARC0097LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0097 CD","offer_id":52120910463250,"sku":"IARC0097CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0097 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999461138,"sku":"IARC0097","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0097 - Yowzers - Test Pressing","offer_id":52120910496018,"sku":"IARC0097LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2952110613_10.jpg?v=1773695371"},{"product_id":"ben-lumsdaine-murmuration-without-end","title":"Ben Lumsdaine - Murmuration Without End","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eMurmuration Without End is a collection of rhythmic studies by producer, composer, percussionist \u0026amp; multi-instrumentalist Ben Lumsdaine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhereas the tracks began as meditative synth drones recorded by Lumsdaine when quarantined in the basement studio of his friend’s home, over time they became multi-textural, poly-rhythmic sound worlds as he disrupted the meters and pulses implied by the synths’ inherent modulations with each instrumental layer added. He also enlisted guest musicians to help him achieve this, including saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi (Bon Iver, Bill Callahan), trumpeter John Raymond (S. Carey, Sara Bareilles), and guitarist Drake Ritter (Durand Jones, Diane Coffee).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInspired by the vibrance of Cuban bata rhythms, Lumsdaine set himself to construct music that has a clear pulse but a fairly indiscernible downbeat, and ultimately makes an articulate artistic expression about finding peace within the unknown. The way he achieves this with an uncommon palette is particularly impressive on Murmuration Without End, especially considering that, as a working musician, Lumsdaine’s primary instrument is a traditional drumkit (hear his drumming on albums by Durand Jones, Chris Schlarb, Anna Butterss, and Bex Burch); but in the context of this album, he challenged himself to completely refrain from playing his drums.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased December 8, 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music \u0026amp; sound composed, produced,\u003cbr\u003eperformed, recorded \u0026amp; mixed\u003cbr\u003eby Ben Lumsdaine.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0075 Cassette","offer_id":52120910528786,"sku":"IARC0075Cassette","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0075 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999493906,"sku":"IARC0075","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3963084246_10.jpg?v=1773695155"},{"product_id":"bottle-tree-bottle-tree","title":"Bottle Tree - Bottle Tree","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eBottle Tree is a new collaboration conjured from the Southside Chicago storefront chapel of singer\/scholar A.M. Frison and composer\/cornetist Ben Lamar Gay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith Italian expat Tommaso Moretti on traps, the sound-rendered folklore of Bottle Tree embodies a heart beating to West African mutated funk with the spirit of avant-garde jazz and a Motown-molded melodic mind — like a futuristic fantasy of Stevie Wonder backed by Don Cherry and Novos Baianos in the early 1970s.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased April 21, 2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eproduced \u0026amp; arranged by Ben Lamar Gay\u003cbr\u003elyrics \u0026amp; vocals by A.M. Frison\u003cbr\u003edrums by Tommaso Moretti\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emixed by David Allen @ Decade Music Studios in Chicago, IL\u003cbr\u003emastered by Timothy Stollenwerk @ Stereophonic Mastering\u003cbr\u003eartwork by A.M. Frison\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCS010 7\" Black Vinyl","offer_id":52120910594322,"sku":"IA-BT-IOS7","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0010 Limited Edition Cassette","offer_id":52120910627090,"sku":"IA-BT-ILEC","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0010 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999559442,"sku":"IARC0010","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0410234910_10.jpg?v=1773694726"},{"product_id":"bottle-tree-open-secret","title":"Bottle Tree - Open Secret","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\"What one imagines the great Art Ensemble of Chicago would have sounded like if asked to write a 'hit.'\" - Piotr Orlov, AFROPUNK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBottle Tree is a new collaboration conjured from the Southside Chicago storefront chapel of singer\/scholar A.M. Frison and composer\/cornetist Ben Lamar Gay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith Italian expat Tommaso Moretti on traps, the sound-rendered folklore of Bottle Tree embodies a heart beating to West African mutated funk with the spirit of avant-garde jazz and a Motown-molded melodic mind — like a futuristic fantasy of Stevie Wonder backed by Don Cherry and Novos Baianos in the early 1970s.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Open Secret,\" the lead single from their forthcoming full-length album, is an agnostic prayer penned by Frison against false borders between faiths.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased February 20, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCS010 - 7'' vinyl","offer_id":52120910659858,"sku":"664992991243","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARCS010 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999592210,"sku":"IARCS010","price":2.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0849350473_10.jpg?v=1773694572"},{"product_id":"carlos-nino-friends-extra-presence","title":"Carlos Niño \u0026 Friends - EXTRA PRESENCE","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eEXTRA PRESENCE is a 90 minute, 17-track collection showcasing Los Angeles modern music scene pioneer Carlos Niño’s unique, highly developed, self-described “Spiritual, Improvisational, Space Collage” sound, and featuring an incredible cast of collaborators (including Jamael Dean, Nate Mercereau, Shabazz Palaces, Deantoni Parks, Sam Gendel, Laraaji, Jamire Williams, Iasos, and more). It's an expanded edition of a 10-track suite called 'Actual Presence' that Niño self-released exclusively via his Bandcamp page in 2020.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEXTRA PRESENCE liner notes by Marty Sartini Garner:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Carlos Niño is performing with his friends, he is embedded in the present. And from there, it seems like he can see anything: every possible place a song might go, how a sound might evolve, whether or not it will make his listeners and collaborators feel seen and appreciated. He is a maestro of arranging time and space into supportive containers, somehow completely in sync with the moment and beyond all chronology. And over the past couple of years, when the concepts of space and time have dilated and gone sideways for so many of us, Carlos’ attempts to crystallize the moments he and his friends produce and present us with songs ripe with possibility, chance, and the care that radiates naturally among\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateEllipsis\"\u003e...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e  \u003ca\u003emore\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased July 22, 2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced and Mixed by Carlos Niño\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Benjamin Tierney and David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art and Insert by Nep Sidhu\u003cbr\u003eDesign and Layout by Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Devin Daniels - Alto Saxophone, Randy Gloss - Pandeiro,\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Piano and Synth, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson -\u003cbr\u003e5 String Violin and Effects, Carlos Niño - Percussion and Synth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Leroy Downs, Recordist Lee Escobar and\u003cbr\u003ethe Staff of the excellent Just Jazz: Live Concert Series\u003cbr\u003eat Mr Musichead Gallery in Hollywood, California.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2. Same as 1. with additional Collage, Arrangement,\u003cbr\u003eEditing, and Sound Design by Carlos Niño\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. Deantoni Parks - Drums, Jamael Dean - Piano,\u003cbr\u003eNate Mercereau - Guitar Synth and Electric Bass,\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Arrangement, and Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e4. Jamael Dean - Piano and Synth, Carlos Niño - Kalimba,\u003cbr\u003ePercussion, Synth, Arrangement, and Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5. Sam Gendel - Alto Saxophone and Effects,\u003cbr\u003eNate Mercereau - Guitar Synth and Electric Bass,\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Arrangement, and Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6. Jamael Dean aka Jira \u0026gt;\u0026lt; - Beats, Synth and Production,\u003cbr\u003eSharada - Vocals, Carlos Niño - Gong, Percussion and Arrangement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e7. Jamael Dean - Keyboards, Jamire Williams - Drums,\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Luis's Special Shells and Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e8. Jamire Williams - Drums, Josh Johnson - Synth,\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Keyboards and Synth Bass, Sharada - Voice,\u003cbr\u003eNate Mercereau - Guitar Synth, Carlos Niño - Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e9. Jesse Peterson - Guitar and Synth, Carlos Niño - Percussion,\u003cbr\u003eSynth, Soundscapes, and Arrangement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Legendary Waterman Mike Stewart for\u003cbr\u003efinding this song and being inspired to create a\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful Video for it. Sea You out there . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e10. Iasos - Celestial Sounds, Carlos Niño - Soundscape,\u003cbr\u003eSynth and Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e11. Jesse Peterson - Koto and Synth, Carlos Niño - Kalimba,\u003cbr\u003ePercussion, Synth, Arrangement, and Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e12. Shabazz Palaces - Lyrics and Vocals, Sharada - Additional Vocals,\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Beats, Effects, and Keyboards, Carlos Niño - Bells,\u003cbr\u003eChimes, Cymbals, Gong, Shells, and Arrangement,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Andy Kravitz for Recording Ish's Vocals\u003cbr\u003eand to Benjamin Tierney for Mixing Ish's Vocals\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e13. Sharada - Vocals, Jamael Dean - Keyboards,\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Bells, Chimes, Cymbals, Gong,\u003cbr\u003eShells, and Arrangement,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e14. Jamael Dean - Keyboards, Carlos Niño - Luis's Special Shells and Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e15. Laraaji - Zither, Nate Mercereau - Guitar,\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Synth, Soundscape, and Arrangement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e16. Thandi Ntuli - Piano, Nate Mercereau - French Horn,\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Arrangement, and Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Andy Kravitz for Recording Thandi,\u003cbr\u003eand Thandi, Thank You! You are Amazing!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e17. Iasos - Celestial Sounds, Carlos Niño - Soundscape,\u003cbr\u003eSynth and Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarlos would like to Acknowledge: Bandcamp, Bandcamp Fridays, Justin Hansohn, Anandamide, Leaving Records, Black Nile, Dexter Story, Scottie McNiece, International Anthem, Alex Kelman, Third Side Music, Adam Rudolph, Pablo Calogero, Phil Ranelin, Kamau Daaood, Mia Doi Todd, Dwight Trible, The World Stage, Travis Lett, Helen Nishi, Jason Lader, Jada Rose, Be Hussey, Tiffany De Leon, CJ, Cindy Aikman, Amber Lee, Rajni Perera, Todd Westendorp, Josef Leimberg, Kamasi Washington, Don Hernandez, Mark Maxwell, Duval Timothy, Taj Williams, Sassy J, Angel Bat Dawid, Linafornia, Jimetta Rose, The Voices of Creation, Novena Carmel, Louie \u0026amp; Netty Ryan, Alix Fischer, Katalyst, Ken Barrientos, Randal Fisher, Will Logan, Caleb Buchanan, Diego Gaeta, Lionmilk, Pink Siifu, Quelle Chris, Knxwledge, Mndsgn, Teebs, Surya Botofasina, Andre Benjamin, Dntel, The Village, The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, Carla, Claudia and Azul Niño, Poesy, All of my new friends on-line who wrote and shared with me via email and apps during 2020 and 2021, All of the Contributors to this Record, and Annelise Stabenau.\u003cbr\u003eThank You all so much!\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0047 Classic Black vinyl double LP","offer_id":52120910790930,"sku":"IARC0047LP","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0047 'Seventh Energy Moss Center' color vinyl double LP","offer_id":52120910823698,"sku":"IARC0047LPS","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0047 - Cassette","offer_id":52120910856466,"sku":"IARC0047-CASS","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0047 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999657746,"sku":"IARC0047","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a4286540031_10.jpg?v=1773697784"},{"product_id":"carlos-nino-friends-more-energy-fields-current","title":"Carlos Niño \u0026 Friends - More Energy Fields, Current","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e'More Energy Fields, Current' is a definitive new peak in the recorded continuum of prolific producer\/percussionist Carlos Niño. Featuring heavy contributions from many of the most exciting instrumentalists in the creative music constellation of Los Angeles (of which Niño’s has been a central force for over 2 decades), the album collects 10 pristine gems of collaborative communication helmed by the Southern Californian sage, elegantly presented in his unique “Spiritual, Improvisational, Space Collage” style.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStarting with the subtle invitation of “Pleasewakeupalittlefaster, please…” (accompanied by the liner note from Niño: “We’re all in this together. I look forward to living in a much higher, much more conscious, harmonious state, here, with You, on this Magical Planet Earth.”), a gorgeously-keyed canonic infinity by pianist Jamael Dean articulates an Earth-loving, universalist ethos that imbues the entire 44 minute program. While the sonics shift and evolve, gracefully placed in patient order across subsequent track highlights “Nightswimming” (featuring Dean and Dntel on modular synth), “Thanking the Earth” (featuring multi-instrumentalists Sam Gendel and Nate Mercereau, whom Niño has been working and bonding extensively with in recent years), “Salon Winds”\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(featuring Jamire Williams on drums and Aaron Shaw on flute), and “Togetherness” (featuring Dean and Devin Daniels on sax), the naturalist sentiments established in the exposition remain potently present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album is ripe with “ambient” passages that function like open portals between moments of consonance and clarity. But even in the occasional absence of drums, there is a powerful pulse implicit in the program’s frequency of consciousness. It’s a testament to Niño’s foundations as a DJ. His distinct ability to craft kinetic, cinematic sonic experience from dozens of independent, often rhythmically-ambiguous improvisational archive memories is more fluently displayed on 'More Energy Fields, Current' than anything we’ve heard from him to date. It resonates, lucidly, with the way Niño’s mentor Iasos – who is known to the world as an original founder of New Age music – has described his work: \"Real Time Interactive Imagination, Flow Texturization.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn 'More Energy Fields, Current', Niño immerses us in the watery depths of his world, spiriting us like a submarine through exotic nether-leagues of untouched sound. And when we arrive at the final, book-ending piece “Please, Wake Up.” (an extended version of the opening theme with transcendental counterpoint by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings), it’s like a return, safely to shore.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased May 7, 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Pleasewakeupalittlefaster, please...\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Piano and Organ\u003cbr\u003eNate Mercereau - Guitar\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Mixing, Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe’re all in this together. I look forward to living in a much higher, much more conscious, harmonious state, here, with You, on this Magical Planet Earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2. The World Stage, 4321 Degnan Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90008\u003cbr\u003eSam Gendel - Alto Saxophone and Pedals\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Piano\u003cbr\u003eRandy Gloss - Hybrid Drum Set\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded and Mixed by Tomoaki Soto from Sunday, November 24, 2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. Nightswimming\u003cbr\u003eDntel - Modular Synthesizer\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Piano\u003cbr\u003eJira \u0026gt;\u0026lt; - Beats\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Sound Design, Mixing, Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e4. Now the background is the foreground.\u003cbr\u003eAdam Rudolph - Drum Machine, Multi-Instruments and Production\u003cbr\u003eAaron Shaw - Tenor Saxophone\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Yamaha DX7\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Mixing, Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Silvia Bianchi and La Terraza Magnetica \/ Madrid\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5. Thanking The Earth\u003cbr\u003eSam Gendel - Vibraphone\u003cbr\u003eNate Mercereau - Guitar Synth, Multi-Instruments and Production\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Field Recordings, Mixing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Ishmael Butler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6. Salon Winds\u003cbr\u003eJamire Williams - Drums, Painting\u003cbr\u003eNate Mercereau - Guitar Synth World\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Prophet Keyboard\u003cbr\u003eAaron Shaw - Flute and Tenor Saxophone\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Mixing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by Jason Lader on Wednesday, August 26, 2020\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Travis Lett, Mike D and Tamara Davis\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e7. Ripples, Reflection, Loop\u003cbr\u003eLaraaji - Zither and Voice\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Electric Piano\u003cbr\u003eSharada - Voice\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Sound Design, Mixing, Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Alex Kelman of Third Side Music\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e8. Togetherness\u003cbr\u003eDevin Daniels - Alto Saxophone\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Electric Piano\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Synthesizer, Percussion, Mixing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e9. lasos 79 ‘til Infinity\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Synthesizer, Chimes and Collage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInvite them in, say, “Yes, Come.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e10. Please, wake up.\u003cbr\u003eShabaka Hutchings* - Tenor Saxophone\u003cbr\u003eJamael Dean - Piano and Synth\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Percussion, Mixing, Editing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on a Duet by Shabaka and Carlos recorded by Andy Kravitz\u003cbr\u003eat Studio 4 West on Monday, March 11, 2019\u003cbr\u003eThanks to Scottie McNiece\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Shabaka Hutchings appears courtesy of Impulse!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Carlos Niño.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003ePhotos by Todd Weaver.\u003cbr\u003eIndigo by Niki Tsukamoto.\u003cbr\u003eArt Direction by Nep Sidhu.\u003cbr\u003eDesign and Layout by Craig Hansen.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0040 - Cassette","offer_id":52120910889234,"sku":"IA-IARC0040CASS","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0040 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999690514,"sku":"IARC0040","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0914025926_10.jpg?v=1773697585"},{"product_id":"carlos-nino-miguel-atwood-ferguson-chicago-waves","title":"Carlos Niño \u0026 Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Chicago Waves","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eIn late November of 2018, long-time collaborators (\u0026amp; life-long Los Angelenos) Carlos Niño \u0026amp; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson flew to Chicago to participate in the album release performance of Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings. Just 11 months prior, Carlos \u0026amp; Miguel were part of recording the ‘Los Angeles Side’ of Universal Beings at Jeff Parker’s house in Altadena, California, and this performance in Chicago would be the first time that all of the musicians reunited to re-learn and perform the music they’d collectively composed during those sessions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Universal Beings performance and preceding days of rehearsal took place at the iconic South Shore Cultural Center – a historic gilded-era urban club-turned-public facility deep on Chicago’s Southside and right along the reedy shore of Lake Michigan, giving the building’s backdrop an infinitely blue Northern expanse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe night after the performance at South Shore Cultural Center, friend of International Anthem Jeremy Cunningham was scheduled to debut new music (\"The Weather Up There,\" which has since been released on Northern Spy Records) at our HQ, Co-Prosperity Sphere. Since Carlos \u0026amp; Miguel were still in Chicago (before they’d head to New York City for a second Universal Beings performance at\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eLe Poisson Rouge), we invited them to do a Special Guest duo set to open the show.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the conclusion of their 44-minute improvised set that night, Carlos spontaneously dubbed the piece “Chicago Waves.” His proclamation gave us the distinct impression that the previous days spent in South Shore (and the many commutes to-and-from, along Lake Shore Drive) had imprinted the deep blue vastness of early-Winter Lake Michigan into Carlos \u0026amp; Miguel’s respective \u0026amp; collective consciousness, and thus, into the spirit of the luminous music they created that night at Co-Prosperity Sphere. We at IARC are happy to share this recording of Chicago Waves with the world in a time when peace-bringing sound and a sweet memory of live music, sparkling inside the collective breath of community in communal space, has potential to provide the utmost nourishment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...about Carlos Niño \u0026amp; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño – a multidimensional and catalytic producer, arranger, percussionist and DJ – made early in-roads through independent music in 1995, founding Spaceways Radio, the longstanding program for LA’s KPFK station and, shortly thereafter, co-founding non-profit internet radio giant Dublab. Moreover, Niño has been front-and-center in the forging of post-hip hop, contemporary Spiritual Jazz and New Age lexicons in Los Angeles. From community activism at Leimert Park’s The World Stage to kindred allyship within Leaving Records’ all-genre manifestations, his ensemble, Carlos Niño \u0026amp; Friends, is a living collaborative force that has engaged a fountain of inspired players such as Sam Gendel, Jamael Dean, Dexter Story, Jamire Williams, Josh Johnson, Deantoni Parks, Madlib, Kamasi Washington, and of course, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAtwood-Ferguson – an arranger, composer, music director, producer and multi-instrumentalist – rose as a classically trained session musician to what the New York Times would call “a leader of skilled ensembles, a celebrator of repertories and an organizer of legacies.” He has composed string arrangements for everyone from Dr. Dre to Anderson .Paak, Thundercat and Flying Lotus (among many, many others). Suite for Ma Dukes, a towering homage to the late J Dilla, saw Atwood-Ferguson re-interpreting the legendary producer’s work for orchestra while assembling a 60-piece ensemble performance that featured Bilal, Talib Kweli, Karriem Riggins and others. His highly anticipated debut LP, Les Jardins Mystiques, is slated for release in 2021 via Brainfeeder Records.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThough Niño and Atwood-Ferguson initially met some years before, the two lifelong Los Angelenos truly connected as artists and friends in 2005. It was in that year that Atwood-Ferguson joined Niño in the studio to record two different records – With Voices, the final album by Niño’s beatmaking duo Ammoncontact, and Living Room by The Life Force Trio, a group comprised of Niño, Dwight Trible and Dexter Story. That same year, Atwood-Ferguson also joined Niño’s ensemble, Build An Ark. The two became close.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is among my dearest, closest friends and collaborators. He is family,” says Niño. “I enjoy every opportunity that we find \/ create, or invitation that we agree to accept, to communicate with each other psychically.” Atwood-Ferguson says: “Carlos has been one of my greatest friends and teachers ever since 2005. I am joyously eternally indebted to him and can't wait to do as much with him as possible!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBoth prolific independent artists and consummate advocates of creative music in Los Angeles and beyond, Niño and Atwood-Ferguson reunited in 2007 to record their debut album for Alpha Pup, a stirring and plaintive duet entitled Fill the Heart-Shaped Cup. They would go on to play together often over the following decade but it’s not until 2020 that they release another recording as a duet. That recording is Chicago Waves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- bio by Joe Darling\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased June 26, 2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music composed by Carlos Niño (Third Side Music)\u003cbr\u003eand Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Warp Publishing).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded live November 30th, 2018,\u003cbr\u003eat Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño – percussion \u0026amp; soundscapes\u003cbr\u003eMiguel Atwood-Ferguson* – 5-string violin \u0026amp; effects\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by Dave Vettraino.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by Sam Klickner.\u003cbr\u003ePortrait by Kristie Kahns.\u003cbr\u003eLayout \u0026amp; Liner Design by Craig Hansen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Scott McNiece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Miguel Atwood-Ferguson appears courtesy of Brainfeeder Records.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0033 - Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":52120910922002,"sku":"IARC0033LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0033 - Lake Michigan Blue color vinyl LP","offer_id":52120910954770,"sku":"IA-IARC0033LP-COL","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0033 - CD","offer_id":52120910987538,"sku":"IARC0033CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0033 - Cassette","offer_id":52120911020306,"sku":"IA-IARC0033-CASS","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0033 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999887122,"sku":"IARC0033","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0463730313_10.jpg?v=1773697251"},{"product_id":"carlos-nino-miguel-atwood-ferguson-chicago-waves-ia11-edition","title":"Carlos Niño \u0026 Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Chicago Waves (IA11 Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eThe 2018 live performance captured on Carlos Niño \u0026amp; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s 'Chicago Waves' marked a beautiful turning point for International Anthem. The moment was recorded at our then-HQ in Chicago, Co-Prosperity, the day after Niño and Atwood-Ferguson performed as part of Makaya McCraven’s ensemble to celebrate the release of 'Universal Beings' and recreate their contributions to that album's “Los Angeles Side.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe two musicians were keen to use their time in Chicago to not only support Makaya's music but also create and present fresh sounds of their own to a receptive new community. In many ways this set of improvisational, exploratory conversation between Atwood-Ferguson’s violin\/effects and Niño’s percussion\/soundscapes cemented the growing interchange between International Anthem's bases in LA and the Windy City.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 2020 release of this recording as 'Chicago Waves' magnified the unmistakable sound of togetherness audible in its grooves in a way that was uniquely cathartic given the difficulties, restrictions, and widespread social isolation of those times. But as that era fades further into the rearview mirror, 'Chicago Waves' maintains its power. It’s not a mystery—this is what togetherness sounds like.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe IA11 Edition LP features our IARC 2025 obi strip, plus a new 16-page 11x11\" insert booklet with additional photos and extensive new liner notes by IARC co-founder Scott McNiece.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased June 27, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music composed by Carlos Niño (Third Side Music)\u003cbr\u003eand Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Warp Publishing).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded live November 30th, 2018,\u003cbr\u003eat Co-Prosperity in Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño – percussion \u0026amp; soundscapes\u003cbr\u003eMiguel Atwood-Ferguson* – 5-string violin \u0026amp; effects\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by Dave Vettraino.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by Sam Klickner.\u003cbr\u003ePortrait by Kristie Kahns.\u003cbr\u003eOriginal Layout \u0026amp; Liner Design by Craig Hansen.\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Design by Aaron Lowell Denton.\u003cbr\u003eIA11 Liner Notes by Scott McNiece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Scott McNiece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Miguel Atwood-Ferguson appears courtesy of Brainfeeder Records.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**digital-only bonus track \"Wave Reflection\" composed, arranged, recorded, engineered, performed, and mixed by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin, viola, sleigh bells, quartz singing crystal pyramid, keyboard, EFX)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0033 Classic Black vinyl LP (IA11 Edition)","offer_id":52120911053074,"sku":"IARC0033LP11","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0033 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000214802,"sku":"IARC0033","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a4179395146_10.jpg?v=1773697053"},{"product_id":"charles-stepney-step-on-step","title":"Charles Stepney - Step on Step","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eInternational Anthem is proud to present 'Step on Step', a double LP collection of home recordings marking the de-facto eponymous debut album by enigmatic producer, arranger, and composer Charles Stepney (1931-1976). The music that makes up Step on Step was created by Stepney alone, in the basement of his home on the Southside of Chicago, sometime in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before his untimely death in 1976.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Chicago born and bred arranger, producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Stepney is known for his work with Earth, Wind \u0026amp; Fire, Deniece Williams, and Ramsey Lewis, and as a staff producer for Chess Records in the 1960s, where he was an essential creative force behind seminal recordings by Rotary Connection, Minnie Riperton, Marlena Shaw, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Terry Callier, The Dells, The Emotions, and many more. In the decades since his passing, the presence of his name in liner notes and on vinyl labels has become a seal of quality for record collectors, music historians, and aficionados, while his sound has been used by countless samplers in the hip-hop world including Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, MF Doom, and Madlib. But in comparison to the post-mortem renown of his sound, or the music he created and the artists he\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esupported while he was alive, Stepney is a greatly underappreciated figure… a genius relegated to the shadows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the signature elements of his “baroque soul” sound is the epic, expansive, orchestral expression of his horn and string arrangements (in many cases brought to life by members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), as heard on Minnie Riperton’s “Les Fleurs,” or Marlena Shaw’s “California Soul,” or Terry Callier’s “What Color Is Love.” Hence making it even more special that his de-facto debut LP Step on Step, which sees its first wide release nearly five decades after his death, is a collection of stripped-down 4-track tape recordings featuring Stepney, alone, performing all instruments with minimal means. It is, as said by Chicago culture historian (and author of Step on Step liner notes) Ayana Contreras, “the uncut funk,” an unprecedented depiction of an imbued composer imagining and conceiving music (some of which would eventually become massive studio productions) in its primal state.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStep on Step features 23 tracks, most of which are original compositions by Stepney that were never again recorded by him or any other artist. It also features prototypical, seedling-style demos of Stepney compositions for Earth, Wind \u0026amp; Fire, including “That’s The Way of The World,” “Imagination,” and “On Your Face,” as well as the original version of “Black Gold,” which would eventually be recorded by Rotary Connection (as “I Am The Black Gold of The Sun,” with lyrics by Richard Rudolph). And in addition to the wordless croons of Stepney original and early single “Daddy’s Diddies,” Stepney’s actual voice is heard on a couple occasions across the album, testing microphones and inputs on his tape machine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll of the otherwise unrecorded, previously unnamed original compositions contained on Step on Step were given their titles by Stepney’s daughters Eibur, Charlene, and Chanté Stepney, whose voices are also heard throughout the album, telling stories and sharing memories about their father. The Stepney Sisters, who produced this album over many years, have long been engaged in efforts to celebrate their father’s legacy and bring his work into brighter light. They’ve cherished the tape reels left behind by their father in the basement of their home, transferring the audio on multiple occasions, and originally compiling the recordings for an ultra-limited CD on their own DIY label (The Charles Stepney Masters) in the early 2010s. “We always talk about how we were trying to develop this and would go to different people and they would go ‘what is this raw stuff…’ It was just the first level of something that became something really great,” says Chanté. “To get this type of intimate look into an artist’s process is really unknown and unheard of… so I just really appreciate the opportunity to give this. I am very happy for my Dad that we’re able to share this with the world in this way, with this amount of respect.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis new double LP collection on International Anthem presents “a genuine, beautiful, deeply emotional and personal effort by three women to reconnect with their father and validate their own memories of his passion and brilliance,” says label co-founder Scott McNiece. And it’s a long-overdue fulfillment of Stepney’s unsatiated plan to release a solo album – which he once vowed to his daughters that he would do, and that he would name it: “Step on Step.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased September 9, 2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll instruments performed \u0026amp; recorded by Charles Stepney.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced \u0026amp; Narrated by Eibur, Charlene, and Chanté Stepney.\u003cbr\u003eEdited \u0026amp; Sequenced by Scott McNiece.\u003cbr\u003eAdditional Recording, Treatment \u0026amp; Mixing by Dave Vettraino.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhotos by Rubie Stepney.\u003cbr\u003eLiner Notes by Ayana Contreras.\u003cbr\u003eDesign \u0026amp; Layout by Craig Hansen.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"info license\" id=\"license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0055 Classic black vinyl gatefold double LP","offer_id":52120911249682,"sku":"IARC0055LP","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0055 Limited Edition *Certified Gold* color vinyl gatefold double LP","offer_id":52120911282450,"sku":"IARC0055LPI","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0055 - Compact Disc","offer_id":52120911315218,"sku":"IARC0055CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0055 Limited Edition Cassette","offer_id":52120911347986,"sku":"IARC0055-CASS","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0055 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000313106,"sku":"IARC0055","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0055 Test Pressing","offer_id":52120911380754,"sku":"IARC0055LP-1","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2300896001_10.jpg?v=1773696799"},{"product_id":"chicago-underground-duo-hyperglyph","title":"Chicago Underground Duo - Hyperglyph","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eChicago Underground Duo is the long-running collaborative project of composer\/trumpeter\/electronicist Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Isotope 217, New Future City Radio with Damon Locks) and composer\/drummer\/mbiraist Chad Taylor (jaimie branch’s Fly or Die, Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio). Hyperglyph is their first album in 11 years, and 8th in the absolute cabinet of wonders that is the Chicago Underground Duo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe pair have played music together in a multitude of formations over nearly three decades, including their ongoing partnership in Mazurek’s large-format-skyward-expressionism vehicle Exploding Star Orchestra, in the expanded Chicago Underground Trio \u0026amp; Quartet (with guitarist Jeff Parker), and in a plethora of other assemblages. The early albums by the Duo have proven to be embryonic blueprints for the avant-jazz \/ electronic \/ indie rock hybridizations of the time, making them majorly important moments in the articulation of the “jazz” dimensionality of the then-burgeoning \"post rock\" sound. That sound, of course, was being transmitted far and wide due to the success of these groups as well as Mazurek’s Isotope 217 project with Jeff Parker, and the Chicago Underground’s frequent collaborators in\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eTortoise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut the sounds being created by this extended family are and were far from static. Just as most of the still-working artists born of that Chicago era have evolved, reconfigured, and grown, Chicago Underground Duo has undergone a number of musical moltings, with the project always in the background of disparate individual aural investigations — always an option, always an outlet. As the project drops off and picks back up, the concurrent personal evolutions of Mazurek and Taylor make the Duo a true reflection of their own lives and friendship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Rob is my longest collaborator and also one of my best friends,” says Taylor, who first performed with Mazurek at a club in Chicago in 1988, aged 15.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“When it feels right we do it,” says Mazurek of the gaps in duo activity. “We have worked together and have been friends for a long time. This creates a kind of continuity not only in the music, but in our lives.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusically, there are certainly internalized nods here to AACM composers like Wadada Leo Smith, or albums like Don Cherry \u0026amp; Ed Blackwell’s “Mu” and El Corazon, but the songs of Hyperglyph exemplify Mazurek and Taylor’s individualities while also addressing another longtime influence on the Chicago Underground Duo sound — the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of extreme studio editing in jazz-adjacent music, Miles Davis and Teo Macero’s Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, and Get Up With It.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Post production has always been a big part of our process,” says Taylor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Sometimes it just flows and we one-take a thing,” Mazurek elaborates. “Other things take time to ferment. We hit those hard in the post production.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInternational Anthem engineer Dave Vettraino was indispensable as part of this process, recording and mixing the entire album at IARC HQ in Chicago. “We are very open and free in the studio,” says Mazurek. “Working with Dave is a joy because he is so intuitive and open with his approach as well. We can try anything with him. In this way it is more like a trio than a duo.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCouple this trio’s take on the now classic cut-and-recut production techniques of Davis\/Macero with Mazurek and Taylor’s longtime interest in deep electronic sounds (think Bernard Parmegiani, Morton Subotnick, Xenakis, Eliane Radigue, Plux Quba), transformative processing (think Autechre, King Tubby, Mouse On Mars, Carl Craig) and we can finally get close to understanding just where the duo lands in this lineage — this ongoing narrative each individual finds themselves in whether they see it or not. The Chicago Underground Duo, it seems, sees it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile the musical language of Mazurek and Taylor can certainly be clocked in the slew of projects that they participate in together, the sound of a Chicago Underground Duo album is singular among them. Hyperglyph is no exception and could even be considered a distillation of that intuitive yet complex sound. A key can be found in the title of the album itself: highly complex geometric structures which can seem overly complex at first but, when thousands are arrayed in 3D space and with user training and adaptation, can significantly enhance perception and information assimilation and lead to new knowledge and insights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album opener “Click Song” kicks off with a blown-out horn chant from Mazurek, doubled by tuned bells and nestled into a muscular and symmetrical stereo-overdubbed polyrhythm from Taylor. Synthesized bass pulls our ears along cyclically, dropping in and out to almost severe dynamic effect while Mazurek and the subtle-yet-persistent bells elaborate upon the melody before ultimately departing from their repetitive psalm in favor of improvisation. It’s all held together by the steady, deep, chest-thump boom of Taylor’s kick drum pattern.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“There has always been a lot of African influence in the rhythms we play,” says Taylor. “With this record, specifically, we utilize rhythms from Nigeria, Mali, Zimbabwe, and Ghana.” Taken as a whole, spiritually, this introductory three-minute stomper lives somewhere between a Tuareg wedding and the most hypnotic moments of the click songs of Northern Africa.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTitle track “Hyperglyph” follows, and begins with a chromatic moving harmony played by Mazurek on the RMI electric piano, an instrument famously utilized on Miles Davis’ groundbreaking Filles de Kilimanjaro. The vibe here, though, is one of unyielding, trancelike repetition. The trumpet introduces the time, with Taylor's chunky smacking rhythm hitting hard from the get go. Eventually, the tune undergoes a transformation, with the back and forth of melody and rhythm hitting a fever pitch. A pitch-shifted trumpet becomes a New Orleans march baritone. Dennis Bovell-style dub sounds enter (or, maybe, reveal themselves) at the start of the song’s final movement, followed by wordless incantations. Swelling and saturated, the track sounds as if it’s about to tear itself apart. Static pulsing merges and overtakes the recorded percussion to present a new rhythm of hissing electronics — the harnessed wailing of the unleashed ghost in the machine. A spiritual awakening from the bowels of the earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hemiunu”, a Chad Taylor composition, is a waltz based around a simple piano figure repeated throughout. A folk melody from anywhere, the kind that’s been in the air for as long as anyone can remember. One might imagine the melody played clawhammer on an Appalachian afternoon, bowed somberly on the Chinese erhu, or hummed nonchalantly on the factory line. From the jump, Taylor’s percussion threads itself into the sound of a well-worn upright piano as the high register is haunted in wide stereo by that roiling RMI electric piano in octaves, alternately dubby and harplike. Enter Mazurek with another folk-like melodic phrase. Pause. Again. Pause. Leaving room for the now densely waltzing bouquet to bloom before diving deep into laser-sharp Lee Morganesque territory with a wildly vibrating high trumpet cry, but with a tone Mazurek owns completely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe deeper reference for Mazurek’s most untethered emotional playing is his late friend and mentor Bill Dixon, an extraction most apparent in the three-part \"Egyptian Suite.” At the start of part one (“The Architect”) a cyclical pattern from Taylor becomes a bed for Mazurek’s repeating, descending, synthetic-Egyptian scaled theme. This call to action dissolves into the second movement, “Triangulation of Light,” where Taylor’s bowed cymbals set the stage for an exploration of microtonal color with and against the occasional joining and un-joining of tones that stretch the frequencies to their limits from Mazurek's open and half muted trumpet. Like a tornado siren in the distance, breaking through the membrane of storm clouds on the horizon, in search of another siren.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe third and final movement, “Architectonics of Time,” announces itself with free rolling swaths of percussion from Taylor à la Robert Frank Pozar’s mind-bending percussion on The Bill Dixon Orchestra’s classic Intents and Purposes. Here, though, the lineup is limited to two, with no overdubs or post-production. Taylor's singular style and Mazurek's tonal painting coalesce into a maelstrom of intervallic tone and beat before the final repeat of the lead melody from the suite’s first movement. It truly feels like reaching the summit. It’s pure and free duo interaction, the symbiosis of 30 years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Succulent Amber,” the final track on Hyperglyph, could fit just as easily on side two of Autobahn. After a brief modular synth-induced pan-harmonic melody shift, a steady kalimba is joined by the gentle intermittent raindrop-melodicism of the RMI electric piano in this understated final duo performance, unadorned by further studio arrangement. It’s a full-on comedown moment after the intensity of “Egyptian Suite,” though rather than winding down or petering out, here the Chicago Underground Duo still manage to point toward some kind of incoming mystery with four sudden-yet-patient ascending chords on the low-register of the RMI electric piano just before the curtains close. The piano notes end on a leading tone, leaving the resolution to the listener.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce we’ve climbed the mountain, they remind us, we have to deal with what’s on the other side.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased August 15, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChad Taylor - Drum Kit, Percussion, Mbira, Kalimba\u003cbr\u003eRob Mazurek - Trumpet, Piccolo Trumpet, RMI Electric Piano, Modular Synths, Samplers, Voice, Flutes, Bells\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music composed by Rob Mazurek (OLHO, ASCAP) and Chad Taylor (ctorb, ASCAP); except “Plymouth” and “Hemiunu” by Chad Taylor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded May 6th-9th and September 25th-27th, 2024,\u003cbr\u003eat International Anthem Studios, Chicago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngineered \u0026amp; Mixed by Dave Vettraino.\u003cbr\u003eSequenced by Scott McNiece.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFront cover photo by Mikel Patrick Avery.\u003cbr\u003eBack cover photo by Alejandro Ayala.\u003cbr\u003eDesign by Aaron Lowell Denton.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0101 Classic Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":52120911675666,"sku":"IARC0101LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0101 Limited Edition *Succulent Amber* Color vinyl LP","offer_id":52120911708434,"sku":"IARC0101LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0101 CD","offer_id":52120911741202,"sku":"IARC0101CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0101 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000345874,"sku":"IARC0101","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0101 - Hyperglyph - Test Pressing","offer_id":52120911773970,"sku":"IARC0101LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1867604369_10.jpg?v=1773696611"},{"product_id":"alabaster-deplume-cremisan-prologue-to-a-blade","title":"Alabaster DePlume - Cremisan: Prologue To A Blade","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eCremisan: Prologue To A Blade features three deeply personal and evocative new tracks, recorded in locations of profound importance. Each piece serves as a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of place in shaping the artistic process.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe EP’s first two tracks, “Honeycomb” and “Cremisan,” were recorded in the experimental arts, music and architecture space The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem, Palestine, during DePlume’s ‘Sounds Of Places’ residency.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe opening track, the wintry and elegiac “Honeycomb,” is a somber duet recorded with pianist Sami El Enani.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cremisan” — recorded in the final moments of a day-long non-stop performance put on by Radio alHara and Wonder Cabinet on June 1, 2024, that featured a robust array of local artists and musicians — finds DePlume’s wavering saxophone leads playing against featured artist Laith Albandak’s steadfast Qanoun in a call and response that gestures at both grief and resilience. The team planned and delivered this event as “a cry from the Cremisan Valley (Bethlehem, Palestine) to Rafah (Gaza),” and what you hear is its conclusion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe EP concludes with “Gifts Of Olive,” a solemn melody that references Refaat Alareer’s poem “If I\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateEllipsis\"\u003e...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e  \u003ca\u003emore\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003ecredits\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased October 15, 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Honeycomb” written, arranged, and mixed by Angus Fairbairn\u003cbr\u003ePerformed by Alabaster DePlume and Sami El Enani\u003cbr\u003eEngineered by Angus Fairbairn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cremisan” written and arranged by Angus Fairbairn and Laith Ziad Albandak\u003cbr\u003ePerformed by Alabaster DePlume and Laith Albandak\u003cbr\u003eEngineered by Radio Alhara\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gifts of Olive” written, arranged, and mixed by Angus Fairbairn\u003cbr\u003ePerformed by Alabaster DePlume\u003cbr\u003eEngineered by Angus Fairbairn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Honeycomb” recorded in the Wonder Cabinet, Bethlehem, Palestine\u003cbr\u003e“Cremisan” recorded live in the Cremisan Valley, Bethlehem, Palestine\u003cbr\u003e“Gifts of Olive” recorded at Total Refreshment Centre, Dalston, London\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If I must die” from “Gifts of Olive” references the poet Refaat Alareer (1979-2023)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks to Radio Alhara for equipment hire, and to Edward Said Conservatory and Jacob Baboun for saxophone hire\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0082 Digital Download","offer_id":52120998281490,"sku":"IARC0082","price":3.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1184974657_10.jpg?v=1773621971"},{"product_id":"aquiles-navarro-tcheser-holmes-heritage-of-the-invisible-ii","title":"Aquiles Navarro \u0026 Tcheser Holmes - Heritage of the Invisible II","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eTelepathic Afro-Caribbean improvisational trumpet-and-percussion duo Aquiles Navarro \u0026amp; Tcheser Holmes are longtime friends, collaborators, and tireless hustlers on the creative music scenes of New York City.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Heritage of the Invisible II\" follows Navarro and Holmes’s rise to prominence as members of free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements. In March of 2020 in \"The Nation\" writer Marcus J. Moore said \"Irreversible Entanglements’ fearless music takes to task the police, American politics, capitalism, and racism.\" The revolutionary ethos that drives Irreversible Entanglements is no less present in Navarro and Holmes’s duo work, though their duo finds them much more wholeheartedly and jubilantly embracing their Latin and Afro-Caribbean foundations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAquiles Navarro was born in Toronto during a time of great, political upheaval in his family’s native home of Panama. Dangers surrounding the reign of Manuel Noriega and the subsequent U.S. invasion of 1989 prompted the Navarro family’s exit, returning years later to Panama City in 1997. Latin folkloric music was fastened deeply to the family paradigm. After studying with Panamanian trumpeter Victor “Vitin” Paz (Fania All-Stars) and\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ePanamanian-American composer\/saxophonist Carlos Garnett (Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders), Navarro moved to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory (NEC). Before the semester had even begun, a friendship had kindled between him and another incoming new student, Tcheser Holmes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSince a young age, Tcheser Holmes naturally wove into the fabric of a tight-knit Pan-African community in Brooklyn centered around the spiritual organization, Ausar Auset Society, and his family’s dance company, The Bennu Ausar Dancers. From early on, Holmes remembers “playing and viewing music purely as a source of celebration and achievement.” As a teenager he enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege for pre-conservatory training, and eventually made his way toward NEC.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter their tenure at NEC, both musicians relocated to New York City. “In New York, I've been a working musician since day 1,” recalls Navarro. \"Tcheser and I played all over the city, from Uptown to all over Brooklyn, often booking our own gigs.\" Dance clubs and subway platforms, The Bowery Poetry Club, the Latin Jazz Big Band at the Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe, and Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound in the Bronx – the two musicians developed a wide creative range. “We got familiar with a system where the rhythm is quantified,” says Holmes. “But I feel like we always remained ‘children’ in terms of viewing music. Kobe said ‘Be a Kid.’ We never needed to validate the process.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Summer 2014 they traveled to Panama together to perform and record a set of duo improvisations, which they digitally self-released later that year. Back in Brooklyn in 2015, Navarro and Holmes performed as a duo at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event, where they shared the stage with the trio of Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), Keir Neuringer and Luke Stewart. The two groups made fast friends, and shortly after, came together to form the collective quintet Irreversible Entanglements. With Irreversible Entanglements they recorded two critically-lauded albums (\"Irreversible Entanglements\", released 2017, and \"Who Sent You?\", released 2020) across several years of growth and international touring (including performances at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Le Guess Who? in Utrecht, NL, the Barbican in London, and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the Fall of 2019 Navarro and Holmes coalesced around the idea of composing new, expanded duo music, and booked two after-hours sessions at Brooklyn’s S1 Studios. “Each tune has a compositional background to it, but improvisation and the telepathy between us remains the main catalyst,” notes Navarro. From this open map, the duo layered samples and electronic elements from Juno 106 and Moog Grandmother synths over their acoustic improvisations, overdubbed contributions from poets, vocalist and instrumentalist friends, and added field recordings of themselves in conversation. To sculpt the mass of sounds they commissioned ada adhiyatma (aka Madam Data, a Philadelphia-based composer\/electronicist who they’d met through a joint collaboration with Moor Mother) for a final mix. The resulting album – \"Heritage of the Invisible II\" – reveals Navarro and Holmes stepping firmly into the limelight of progressive music-making.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe tracks flash by in a rapturous onslaught, crystalizing in incantations by Spanish poet Marcos de la Fuente (an apocalyptic fever dream on “Initial Meditation”), vocalist Brigitte Zozula (the bliss of bustling nightlife on “A Night in NY”), Navarro’s mentor and collaborator Carlos Garnett (the banality of economics on “$$$ \/\/\/ billete”) and their own musings on friendship and community (the stoned soul picnic of “Plantains”). Of the album’s de facto anthem “Pueblo,” Navarro says “it’s a celebration of life, the coming together of the people, el pueblo, a celebration of who we are, where we come from, it’s our pueblo, our people, a feeling of openness, hope, and a future of unity from el pueblo, the people.” Identifying as active listeners and audience members as well, Navarro and Holmes step back on “M.O.N.K (Most Only Never Knew)” to shine a light on the solo improvisation of pianist\/composer Nick Sanders. On the 8-minute duet “NAVARROHOLMES,” the two players reach a summit as they face off in spirited alliance, conjuring visions of legendary free jazz telepathics – Braxton and Roach, Coltrane and Ali, Cherry and Blackwell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNavarro and Holmes never idle on \"Heritage of the Invisible II,\" choosing instead to ponder their origins in a devout charge of ecstatic cooperation. Meditating on the unseen constructive forces of culture and rhythm as a cadence encoded in one’s heritage, with \"Heritage of the Invisible II\" they share a volume of their story in rich color – a brilliantly imagined testament to generations of memory, creation and existential joy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- bio by Joe Darling\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReleased October 23, 2020\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0035 LP - Classic Black Vinyl","offer_id":52121293979922,"sku":"IARC0035LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0035 LP - \"Fried Plantain\" Color Vinyl","offer_id":52121294176530,"sku":"IA-IARC0035LP-COL","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0035 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52121294078226,"sku":"IARC0035CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0035 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999035154,"sku":"IARC0035","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0743046101_10.jpg?v=1773622944"},{"product_id":"ben-lamar-gay-500-chains","title":"Ben LaMar Gay - 500 Chains","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e500 Chains is a collection of music and storytelling (an \"audiobook\") composed \u0026amp; arranged by Ben LaMar Gay, featuring artwork by A. Martinez.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeven pieces of animated, dynamic \u0026amp; melodic, colorful quartet music that sound, to our ears, like Andre 3000 (the balladeer) backed by a Mardi Gras marching band channeling Chicago style post rock \u0026amp; free jazz...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...featuring Ben LaMar Gay (on cornet, synth, voice \u0026amp; flute), Will Faber (on guitar, ngoni, synth, fretless 12-string guitar \u0026amp; flute), Josh Sirotiak (on tuba \u0026amp; flute), and Tommaso Moretti (on drums \u0026amp; flute)...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...buffered by 8 story stanzas narrated by Ben LaMar Gay that illustrate the \"audiobook\" experience of 500 Chains.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e500 Chains is 1 of 7 previously-unreleased back catalogue albums included in the source material for Ben LaMar Gay's \"Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun\" compilation (IARC0017).\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased September 28, 2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten, Composed \u0026amp; Produced by Ben LaMar Gay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBen LaMar Gay – cornet, synth, voice, narration, flute.\u003cbr\u003eWill Faber – guitar, ngoni, synth, fretless 12-string guitar, flute.\u003cbr\u003eJoshua Sirotiak – tuba, flute.\u003cbr\u003eTommaso Moretti – drums, flute.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by Richard Malstrom.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArt by A. Martinez.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC5C17 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999198994,"sku":"IARC5C17","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2717915005_10.jpg?v=1773696384"},{"product_id":"ben-lamar-gay-benjamim-e-edinho","title":"Ben LaMar Gay - Benjamim e Edinho","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eBenjamim e Edinho is a joint production of Ben LaMar Gay and Brazilian guitar master Edinho Gerber. The two musicians shared friendship \u0026amp; stories across a co-residence in Chicago and time spent in Rio de Janeiro (where Gerber is from, and Gay lived for some time). This album is the product of that friendship and the leisurely music-making that defined their time together between the years of 2011 and 2013. In the diverse spectrum of Gay’s catalogue, Benjamim e Edinho is where he displays his admiration for the experimental folk\/R\u0026amp;B arrangements of Chicago Soul originator Charles Stepney, 1970s Quincy Jones, the work of Moacir Santos and all the storied innovators of Brazilian experimental music. Possibly the most polished of all the (formerly) unreleased recordings in Ben LaMar Gay’s back catalogue, Benjamim e Edinho is a nugget of Pan-Americana that rebirths the revolutionary, psychedelic \u0026amp; sexy sound of classic Tropicalia through a Chicagoan lens.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased December 7, 2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll instruments by Ben LaMar Gay \u0026amp; Edinho Gerber...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...except drums on “Ye Ye” by Marcus Evans, drums on “Swim Swim” by Tommaso Moretti, background vocals on “Empregada” by Bia e Camila, tenor saxophone on “Ye Ye” by Rob Frye, and voices on “Totem” by Equitativa Community Choir conducted by Edu Lopes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by Ben LaMar Gay \u0026amp; Edinho Gerber.\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Alex Inglizian.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum Art by Crystal Zapata.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC BE17 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999231762,"sku":"IARC BE17","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3872781019_10.jpg?v=1773696336"},{"product_id":"ben-lamar-gay-east-of-the-ryan","title":"Ben LaMar Gay - East of the Ryan","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eBen LaMar Gay's sonic recreation of his youthful imagination about what kind of music might be happening inside East of the Ryan - a hotel ballroom near his childhood home on the Southside of Chicago that hosted Steppin' nights and the occasional Player's Ball.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased August 29, 2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComposed by Ben LaMar Gay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded one night in 2014 in the garage of Ruben's Palace by Tommaso Moretti, JayVe Montgomery, Ed Bornstein, and Ben LaMar Gay. \"There was so much gear and so many instruments set up I don't even know where to begin with who played what.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMastered by David Allen.\u003cbr\u003eCover Photo \u0026amp; Design by Jesse Ponkamo.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eAll rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCER17 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999362834,"sku":"IARCER17","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3872621713_10.jpg?v=1773695755"},{"product_id":"ben-lamar-gay-grapes","title":"Ben LaMar Gay - Grapes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eGrapes is a brilliantly eclectic collection of beats, soundscapes, home recordings \u0026amp; field recordings composed \u0026amp; produced by Gay across 2013 \u0026amp; 2014 in Chicago. Of all Gay's back catalogue nuggets, Grapes may be the best overall showcase for his ability to crank out alluring \u0026amp; artful bangers (a la Shabazz Palaces, or Organized Noise outtakes that were too avant-garde to make Outkast albums in the mid-90s). But it's not strictly a low-end exercise.. Among his lyrical endeavors, Grapes is most unique in its vivid sensory depictions of Gay's home zone. Folded inside the context of iPhone voice memos, short snippets from everyday music-making and everyday life with family \u0026amp; friends, are gorgeous cinematic sonic portraits of Bronzeville (the historic Black cultural \u0026amp; intellectual hub of Chicago's Southside). With this in mind it's no surprise to learn that he was highly inspired by the narrative paintings of Kerry James Marshall (the album's last track is a direct homage to his \"7am Sunday Morning\" canvas). And that Gay's intention was to make music that \"sounds like the murals of Bronzeville coming to life.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMore on intentions, in Gay's own words:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Grapes is a love letter to creative movements, works\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e, artists (past, present, future) in Chicago such as the Black Arts Movement of 60's and 70's, Africobra, the AACM, the Southside Community Art Center, Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Burroughs, Charles White, Kerry James Marshall... It's an accumulation of emotions and reflections... created by observing the local happenings through a global lens that was developed as a self-defense mechanism... a global lens dispersing light on the many connections between different folks of different locales thus creating cultural clusters that may resemble a bunch of grapes hanging from a vine pointed towards the earth. If there were a color to describe the music, it would be a deep rich purple like the color of Concord grapes.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrapes is 1 of 7 previously-unreleased back catalogue albums included in the source material for Ben LaMar Gay's \"Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun\" compilation (IARC0017).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003eReleased November 1, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC GR17 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999395602,"sku":"IARC GR17","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3432132675_10.jpg?v=1773695662"},{"product_id":"carlos-nino-surya-botofasina-adam-rudolph-live-at-public-records-12-10-2022","title":"Carlos Niño, Surya Botofasina, Adam Rudolph - Live at Public Records 12\/10\/2022","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eOn December 10th, 2022, Carlos Niño and Photay assembled a beautiful cast of musicians at Brooklyn's Public Records to perform in celebration of their recently-released International Anthem LP 'An Offering' (and the subsequent mixtape of bonus material, 'More Offerings').\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first set of that night featured Niño in trio with keyboardist Surya Botofasina and percussionist Adam Rudolph, as the three musicians immersed the sold out crowd in a soul tribe invitational – calling forth their generational inner illuminations through each element of sound and song, spontaneously composing the music by listening, sharing, and calling upon their creative imaginations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe recording from that first set was originally released exclusively via Qobuz in Summer 2023, along with an additional track from the second set, \"Finite - Infinite,\" featuring Photay, Laraaji, and Will Logan. The music is available now, for the first time, here on Bandcamp and across all other digital music platforms.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased February 22, 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll music collectively composed by Carlos Niño (Third Side US Publishing), Surya Botofasina (Cali Mandir Child Music SESAC), Adam Rudolph (Migration Music BMI); except \"Finite – Infinite\" composed by Photay, Carlos Niño, Laraaji, Surya Botofasina, Adam Rudolph, and Will Logan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarlos Niño - Bells, Cymbals, Percussion\u003cbr\u003eSurya Botofasina - Keyboards \u0026amp; Synthesizers\u003cbr\u003eAdam Rudolph - Handrumset, Electronic Processing and Percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhotay - Buchla, 808 and Keyboard (track 4 only)\u003cbr\u003eLaraaji - Electric Kalimba, iPad and Voice (track 4 only)\u003cbr\u003eWill Logan - Drum Set (track 4 only)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Carlos Niño (except Track 4, Produced by Photay)\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by Lily Wen \u0026amp; James Hartnett\u003cbr\u003eMixed \u0026amp; Mastered by Dave Vettraino\u003cbr\u003eCover Photo by Jada Rose\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCPR04 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000247570,"sku":"IARCPR04","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a1318088401_10.jpg?v=1773696995"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-black-monument-ensemble-now","title":"Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble - NOW","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e“Time is just the difference between knowing now and knowing nothing. Because if you know now fully, it’s past, present, and future.”\u003cbr\u003e— Mattie Humphries, 1968\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks \u0026amp; Black Monument Ensemble’s new album \"NOW\" was created in the final throes of Summer 2020, following months of pandemic-induced fear \u0026amp; isolation, the explosion of social unrest, struggle \u0026amp; violence in the streets, and as the certain presence of a new reality had fully settled in. Set up safely in the garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio, the music was recorded in only a few takes, capturing the first times members of BME had ever played or sang the tunes. For Locks, the impetus was more about getting together to commune and make art than it was about producing an album. In his words: “It was about offering a new thought. It was about resisting the darkness. It was about expressing possibility. It was about asking the question, ‘Since the future has unfolded and taken a new and dangerous shape... what happens NOW?’”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...about Black Monument Ensemble...\u003cbr\u003eOriginally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist\/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecollage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Galvanized by Locks’s conceptualizing, poeticizing, and guiding vision, the contributors come from all facets of the diverse wellspring of Black artistic excellence in Chicago, bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to uplifting, anthemic, and highly animated musical performance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBME is a genuinely multi-generational collective; ages of the members range from 9 to 52 years old. In addition to Locks, current and consistent BME members include: instrumentalists Angel Bat Dawid, Ben LaMar Gay, Dana Hall, and Arif Smith; singers Phillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Rayna Golding, Tramaine Parker, Richie Parks, Erica Rene, and Eric Tre’von; and dancers Raven Lewis, Cheyenne Spencer, Mary Thomas, Bryonna Young, Tiarra Young, and Keisha Janae.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLocks has a stated interest in work that explores “The Black Nod” which, as he explains, is “an unspoken acknowledgment that happens often out in the world – a sort of ‘I see you’ moment exchanged between Black people.” His work with BME attempts to do the same. Fronted by a jubilant choir, the ensemble embraces a kind of civically engaged, artistic approach to activism originally heard in the 1960s from bands like the Voices of East Harlem and on albums like Max Roach’s We Insist; or originally seen in the photography of Kwame Brathwaite and the art of Emory Douglas. Merging influence from the subsequent half-century of artistic \u0026amp; technological evolution, Locks employs a cyber-punk palette of disparate implements (including beatbox, boombox, telephone, and megaphone) to make narrative compositions of mined sound, beats \u0026amp; archival speech (a la Madlib or Supa K) which are brought to life by the ensemble in electric, improvisational performance. It’s a truly multi-dimensional sound that spans mediums, genres, and generations; past, present, \u0026amp; future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...about Damon Locks...\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist, musician, and deejay. Known for decades of varied projects in Chicago’s underground music \u0026amp; art scenes, Locks’ CV starts in the late 1980s with the band Trenchmouth, and is highlighted by work with The Eternals (co-led by Trenchmouth bandmate Wayne Montana), Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, collaborations with Nicole Mitchell, Ben LaMar Gay, and many others. In recent years Locks has traversed almost every media discipline… including sound\/animation work using unheard Sun Ra recordings from Experimental Sound Studio’s archive (with Terri Kapsalis, Wayne Montana, and Rob Shaw); various collaborations with contemporary dancers \u0026amp; choreographers including Onye Ozuzu, Ayesha Jaco (of Move Me Soul), and Anna Martine Whitehead (on presentations \u0026amp; workshops with the Detroit Justice Center); participating in artist residencies at The New Quorum in New Orleans (alongside Nicole Mitchell, Lisa E Harris, Wadada Leo Smith, and others); teaching work with incarcerated artists for the Prison and Neighborhood Arts\/Education Project at Stateville maximum security prison; and producing cover art for dozens of albums, including several International Anthem releases by Makaya McCraven, Hear In Now, Irreversible Entanglements, and more.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased April 9, 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePlayers:\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid – clarinet\u003cbr\u003eBen LaMar Gay – cornet \u0026amp; melodica\u003cbr\u003eDana Hall – drums\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks – samples \u0026amp; electronics\u003cbr\u003eArif Smith – percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingers:\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Armstrong\u003cbr\u003eMonique Golding\u003cbr\u003eTramaine Parker\u003cbr\u003eRichie Parks\u003cbr\u003eErica Rene\u003cbr\u003eEric Tre’von\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics \u0026amp; Compositions by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded August 27th-28th and September 29th, 2020, at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngineered \u0026amp; Mixed by: Alex Inglizian\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum \u0026amp; Insert Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003eInsert Photos by: Brian Ashby\u003cbr\u003eLayout \u0026amp; Insert Design by: Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum art features photos of Raven Lewis and Tiarra Young taken by Kristie Kahns.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0039 LP - Classic Black Vinyl","offer_id":52127452725522,"sku":"IARC0039LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0039 LP - Limited Edition *Shades of Night in Gold* Color Vinyl","offer_id":52127452758290,"sku":"IARC0039LPSG","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0039 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52127452856594,"sku":"IARC0039CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0039 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000476946,"sku":"IARC0039","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3982964827_10.jpg?v=1773717592"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-black-monument-ensemble-where-future-unfolds","title":"Damon Locks - Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eWhere Future Unfolds is a new work spirited by Chicago-based sound \u0026amp; visual artist Damon Locks. Starting as a solo sound collage piece (where Locks pulled samples from Civil Rights era speeches and recordings to create an improvisational pallet for performance on his drum machine), over 4 years the project has blossomed into his 15-piece Black Monument Ensemble – featuring musicians (including Angel Bat Dawid on clarinets and Dana Hall on drums), singers (alumni of the Chicago Children's Choir), and dancers (members of Chicago youth dance company Move Me Soul). Where Future Unfolds is a live capture of the ensemble's epic debut at the Garfield Park Botanical Conservatory on the West Side of Chicago. Recalling the spirits of Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble, Eddie Gale's Black Rhythm Happening, Archie Shepp's Attica Blues, and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, the album presents an inspired, innovative \u0026amp; immediate intersection of gospel, jazz, activism \u0026amp; 808 breaks.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased May 31, 2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusicians:\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid (clarinets), Dana Hall (drums, percussion), Damon Locks (electronics, bells, voice), Arif Smith (percussion).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingers:\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Rayna Golding (on \"Rebuild A Nation\"), Eric McCarter, Tramaine Parker, Lauren Robinson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDancers:\u003cbr\u003eAnna Martine Whitehead, Raven Lewis (Move Me Soul), Cheyenne Spencer (Move Me Soul), Mary Thomas (Move Me Soul), Bryonna Young (Move Me Soul), Tiarra Young (Move Me Soul).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics \u0026amp; Compositions by: Damon Locks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by: Charlie Mammoser.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: Casey Rice \u0026amp; David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCostumes Designed by: Jamie Hayes at Production Mode.\u003cbr\u003ePhotography by: Daris Jasper \u0026amp; Chris Hershman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003eLayout \u0026amp; Liner Design by: Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded Live at Garfield Park Conservatory, as part of Red Bull Music Festival, Chicago, November 15th, 2018.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0025 LP - Classic Black Vinyl","offer_id":52126966251794,"sku":"IARC0025LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0025 LP - Classic Black Vinyl (gold foil)","offer_id":52126965760274,"sku":"IARC0025LP_GOLDFOIL","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0025 LP - Limited Edition *Red in Black* Color Vinyl","offer_id":52126965891346,"sku":"IA-WFU-IRIB","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0025 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52126965924114,"sku":"IARC0025CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0025 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000509714,"sku":"IARC0025","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0773898138_10.jpg?v=1773706097"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-black-monument-ensemble-stay-beautiful","title":"Damon Locks – Black Monument Ensemble - Stay Beautiful","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eA note about this song, from Damon Locks:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An ode to Chicago: In a hospital room, doctors and nurses come in and out, evaluating, recommending, prepping, and testing. But once visiting hours are over the patient is left alone with their thoughts, ruminating on the intimidating lack of agency and loneliness of losing control of their own circumstances. Drifting towards despair, they discover flowers in the room. There is a note attached that expresses what I would say to Chicago in its most precarious condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We see you. We love you. Stay beautiful.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am very happy to be able to share this song at this time. It is a fitting message for this moment we are living through. I hope you all stay safe.\"\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased April 7, 2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusicians:\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid (clarinets), Dana Hall (drums, percussion), Damon Locks (electronics, bells, voice), Arif Smith (percussion).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingers:\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Eric McCarter, Tramaine Parker, Lauren Robinson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDancers:\u003cbr\u003eAnna Martine Whitehead, Raven Lewis (Move Me Soul), Cheyenne Spencer (Move Me Soul), Mary Thomas (Move Me Soul), Bryonna Young (Move Me Soul), Tiarra Young (Move Me Soul).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOutfits by: Jamie Hayes of Production Mode.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdditional Performers:\u003cbr\u003eRayna Golding, Keisha Janae, Anna Martine Whitehead, Erica Rene.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics \u0026amp; Music Composed by: Damon Locks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by: Charlie Mammoser.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: Casey Rice \u0026amp; David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded Live at Garfield Park Conservatory, as part of Red Bull Music Festival, Chicago, November 15th, 2018.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCS025 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000542482,"sku":"IARCS025","price":1.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3685941194_10.jpg?v=1773705775"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.intlanthem.com\/collections\/music.oembed?page=4","provider":"International Anthem","version":"1.0","type":"link"}