LOS
ANGELES (Ubiquity Records) - The maturity and sensitivity of Tru
Thoughts (Quantic) Recording artist Nostalgia 77's music belie his
relatively recent step into beat-making. Influences are wide ranging;
the drums of funk and hip-hop are strong guiding forces, as is the
melody of jazz and the atmosphere of psychedelic rock. 'The Garden'
will be released on Ubiquity simultaneously in select territories -
USA, Canada, Spain, Mexico, and South Africa.
Nostalgia 77 aka
Ben Lamdin first burst onto the scene with his heavy, new funk based
sound. The maturity and sensitivity of Nostalgia 77's music belie his
relatively recent step into beat-making. Influences are wide ranging;
the drums of funk and hip-hop are strong guiding forces, as is the
melody of jazz and the atmosphere of psychedelic rock.
Having consistently refined the quality of his musical selection while
djing for a number of years, the fuller musical expression of actually
making his own music was inevitable. Unleashing some club friendly
tracks on Tru Thoughts' hugely influential 7Sevens imprint in 2002, he
eventually followed up with his seminal debut LP entitled 'Songs For My
Funeral' in February 2004, exploring a more downtempo and jazzier
style. The success of his album encouraged him to progress with this
style for his second album 'The Garden', a style which he describes as
"a combination of soul and jazz composition with computer based
production techniques". Ubiquity Records will be releasing 'The Garden'
in select territories - USA, Canada, Spain, Mexico, and South Africa.
The album will be available on Tru Thoughts in the rest of the world.
"Coming
from producing hip hop style beats I'd always heard snippets of jazz
tracks I loved. This LP was a way of doing some jazz tracks which did
what I wanted from start to finish," says Lamdin.
Nostalgia 77
is aiming for an edgy sound whilst continuing to search for a more
personal expression. The influences include.... free and spiritual jazz
- Sun Ra - Coltrane - AACM - Don Cherry - Ornett Coleman - Archie Shepp
- Mingus - Max Roach, British jazz like Keith Tippet & Graham
Collier, 60's funk & soul and Afro sounds .
Cheney Lane - a
free opening leads in to a heavy hip hop groove in C.Low driving horns
and African flute complete the arrangement. Changes is based on the
track 'Metamorphosis' (taken from Nostalgia 77's 'Songs For My Funeral'
LP). Over a similar groove and chord progression is a new horn
arrangement written by Kelsey Jones. A skipping rhythm and close
controlled harmony best describe the head selection, which grows and
grows with subsequent listens. Solos by KJ and John Shenoy develop the
theme nicely. Green Blades Of Grass - wirey guitar trades phrases with
double bass to open this ramshackle quartet arrangement. Trumpet joins
the groove, but guitar, bass and Rhodes set off on their own journeys,
only to meet again for a closing round of the theme. The Hunger is one
of the more ambitious tracks. Piano bass percussion and drums provide a
bed for a ten-piece horn arrangement. A slow brooding opening fights a
cacophony of trumpets and then passes through an atonal bowed double
bass solo before emerging into the strong searching melody which lies
at the heart of the piece.
You and Me is a simple shuffling jazz
piece with a middle-eastern flavour. Built around a twisting Rhodes
line and rocking double bass if features rich bass clarinet from John
Styles and sensitive alto work by
Tessa Lewin. After Ararat is a tune
built on the back-bone of a thick afro percussion track. Using both 4/4
and 6/8 times signatures creates a tense canvas for insistent horn
melody and dogged double bass. A firey soprano solo from John Styles
takes this track over the hill and all the way. Arguably one of the
LP's most engrossing moments.
Seven Nation Army - This White
Stripes classic is given a New Orleans style work over with Alice
Russell screaming out the vocals with soulful passion. This version is
different to the original Nostalgia 77 single release featuring a
warmer double bass sound to keep it in line with the album sound. The
track was originally recorded to play as a 'special' at the Tru
Thoughts club night 'phonic hoop' in Brighton, UK. But huge demand for
the track led to it's official release. The Garden wraps up this album
- a sweet yet haunting melody letting everybody know that this LP's
over. night night!
