Deafhaven "Infinite Granite (Sargent House)"
From Sargent House Records:
“Everything works perfectly here. Like, perfectly. These are clearly the tightest and most deliberately constructed songs ever written by Deafheaven; the progressions and patterns rise, fall, and rise anew as steadily and naturally as the ocean tides. It’s a glowing, sad, beautiful album. But it’s so fucking powerful, too. It’s physically powerful. These dudes are a goddamn machine. They are a force.”
Ginger Root "City Slicker"
From Ginger Root:
Editing films, videos, and other multimedia by day, and making music under the name Ginger Root by night, Cameron Lew fronts a sounds that can be described as:
“Aggressive Elevator Soul”.
Combining elements from contemporaries like Toro Y Moi, Vulfpeck, Metronomy, and Kero Kero Bonito, with the influences of Japanese City Pop and the days of Stax and Philly Soul, Ginger Root offers a fresh take on the ever evolving Bedroom Pop scene.
Kool & The Gang "Perfect Union (Omnivore)"
From Omnivore Recordings:
Formed in 1964, The Jazziacs would play with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Saunders, and other jazz greats. They would change their name to Kool & The Gang in 1969, sign with De-Lite Records and release their self-titled debut the following year. 1973’s Wild And Peaceful featured the Gold singles “Jungle Boogie” and “Hollywood Swinging.” The end of that decade and beginning of the next saw them collaborating with producer Eumir Deodato for a string of Platinum albums—Ladies Night, Celebrate!, and Something Special. They continued through the 80s with more Platinum albums, including Emergency, which featured four Top 20 singles.
The use of “Jungle Boogie” in 1994’s Pulp Fiction brought a new generation of fans to the group, and David Lee Roth invited them to open for Van Halen’s A Different Kind Of Truth tour in 2012, after catching their set at Glastonbury. 2016’s Kool & The Gang And Friends! had them collaborating with artists including Sean Paul, Angie Stone, Redman, Jamiroquai, Lisa Stansfield, and more. Kool & The Gang have won multiple Grammy® and American Music Awards, have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and have sold over 70 million records worldwide!
Over five decades since their formation, Kool & The Gang returns with their 25th studio album—Perfect Union. Produced by Ronald Khalis Bell (a founding member of the group who passed away in 2020), this CD / Digital release contains 10 tracks including the new single “Pursuit Of Happiness” and “Sexy (Where’d You Get Yours),” which hit #16 on the Adult R&B charts and a rap version of “Pursuit Of Happiness.”
Lowlight "Lowlight (Mint 400)"
From Mint 400 Records:
Lowlight’s most recent show was Feb 28th 2020, at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. As always, it was a great time full of friends and music. We ended up canceling our next show in Brooklyn. Like many, our lives had changed practically overnight. Just when we were getting the littlest bit of traction, it was a major blow. It became clear that If we were going to push this band forward, we needed to make a sharp left turn.
I remember talking to Rey (bass, MPC) over the phone, and he was told me, “I have this thing I’ve been working on… I’m not sure if it’s ‘on-brand’, but I’ll send it anyway…” That thing was later dubbed “Quarantino”—a convenient mashup of Tarantino the circumstance we were in. We had always written songs in rehearsal, but in the spirit of experimentation, we started tracking remotely over Rey’s foundation of drums, samples, and bass. Renee (vocal, guitar) was living with us at the time. We sat on zoom meetings by day and nights were spent working our way through the song… keys, guitars, lyrics/vocals. Five distinct sections emerged, and we began treating them as such, giving each movement its own unique character. Inspiration got thrown around… Tom Waits, Roxy Music, J Dilla, Bernie Worrell… a somewhat disjointed cluster of influences. This was definitely our “let’s do that thing we always wanted to try” –song. Multi-gong percussion, mega-arpeggiator synth for no reason, 808s, what we felt (at the time) was an indulgent Gilmore guitar riff… all in the name of art and not much else, really. Everything felt uncertain, which left us free to do what we wanted, as if we had just started the band and literally had nothing to lose by experimenting.
Through a combination of in-person and remote recording, the song took shape. We planned to release the single on its own, but we were struck by the inspiration we found in this new scenario. Another six songs flew by with the same process. The world was quiet and tense while Lowlight was buzzing with an explosion of new work, huddled in our secluded sanctuary. Our efforts eventually blossomed into a full length album, Strange Light, which will be released on August 13th 2021 with Mint 400 Records.
Living through this pandemic has had it’s strikes and gutters, to say the least. Loved ones were lost, friendships strained, and we were put under stress like none of us have ever experienced before. Through it all, we had to keep creating. It was the only thing that kept us relatively sane. The pandemic no doubt has a huge impact on the sound of the song. Quarantino. A sardonic name for an earnest work. We kept it so in years to come, it’ll be a reminder of everything that was 2020. Many things we’d rather forget, but the growth is indisputable. Quarantino is definitely part of that story.
