NOW - COL VINYL, INDIE VERSION by DAMON LOCKS & BLACK MONUMENT ENSEMBLE

SKU117070
ArtistDAMON LOCKS & BLACK MONUMENT ENSEMBLE
TitleNOW - COL VINYL, INDIE VERSION
LabelINTERNATIONAL ANTHEM RECORDING COMPANY
Catalog #IARC0039LPCB
Tag
ReleaseW 27 - 2021
FormatVinyl - EULP
EAN Barcode789993991297
Import
 € 27,99 incl. VAT, excl. shipping

Tracks

  1. Now (Forever Momentary Space)
    https://objectstore.true.nl/rushhourrecords:files/tracks/i/iarc_0039_now_-_classic_black_vinyl/01-01_damon_locks_black_monument_ensemble_feat._angel_bat_dawid_now_forever_momentary_space_qm84b2039001.mp3
  2. The People vs the Rest of Us
    https://objectstore.true.nl/rushhourrecords:files/tracks/i/iarc_0039_now_-_classic_black_vinyl/01-02_damon_locks_black_monument_ensemble_the_people_vs_the_rest_of_us_qm84b2039002.mp3
  3. Keep Your Mind Free
    https://objectstore.true.nl/rushhourrecords:files/tracks/i/iarc_0039_now_-_classic_black_vinyl/01-03_damon_locks_black_monument_ensemble_feat._ben_lamar_gay_keep_your_mind_free_qm84b2039003.mp3
  4. Barbara Jones-Hogu and Elizabeth Catlett Discuss Liberation
    https://objectstore.true.nl/rushhourrecords:files/tracks/i/iarc_0039_now_-_classic_black_vinyl/01-04_damon_locks_black_monument_ensemble_barbara_jones-hogu_and_elizabeth_catlett_discuss_liberation_qm84b2039004.mp3
  5. Movement and You
    https://objectstore.true.nl/rushhourrecords:files/tracks/i/iarc_0039_now_-_classic_black_vinyl/01-05_damon_locks_black_monument_ensemble_movement_and_you_qm84b2039005.mp3
  6. The Body Is Electric
    https://objectstore.true.nl/rushhourrecords:files/tracks/i/iarc_0039_now_-_classic_black_vinyl/01-06_damon_locks_black_monument_ensemble_feat._angel_bat_dawid_the_body_is_electric_qm84b2039006.mp3

Description

(RH Record of the week review at the bottom of this text)

Locks & BME’s new album NOW was created in the final throes of Summer 2020, following months of pandemic-induced fear & isolation, the explosion of social unrest, struggle & violencein the streets, and as the certain presence of a new reality had fully settled in. Set up safely inthe garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio, the music was recorded in only a fewtakes, 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 aboutproducing an album. In his words: “It was about offering a new thought. It was about resisting thedarkness. It was about expressing possibility. It was about asking the question, ‘Since the futurehas unfolded and taken a new and dangerous shape... what happens NOW?’”

Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage 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. A genuinely multi-generational collective, ages of BME members range from 9 to 52 years old; members include instrumentalists and fellow IARC recording artists Angel Bat Dawid and Ben LaMar Gay. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rush Hour Store Record of the week W27:

‘Now’ is the second album by Chicago visual and sound artist Damon Locks’ Black Momument Ensemble for International Anthem after 2019’s ‘Where Future Unfolds’ and it’s yet another milestone in the Chicago imprint’s increasingly impressive catalogue. 

On ‘Now’ Locks uses samples, loops, spoken word and what sounds like tape experimentation to enhance the improvisational compositions created in the garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio in the summer of 2020 with a band that includes fellow International Anthem recording artists Angel Bat Dawid and Ben LaMar Gay.

Recorded in only a few takes to capture the freshness and spontaneity of the original ideas ‘Now’ has a raw urgency directly reflecting the pandemic-induced fear and isolation and uncertainty and the social turmoil of these crazy times.

There’s plenty of joy and hope on ‘Now’ too, though, making this album a deep statement that basically encompasses all elements of life. The joy of getting together to make music again is obvious here as illustrated by the band’s reactions to the takes that were used that have purposely been left in.

But there’s more to ‘Now’ than Locks and his extended band jamming in a humid garden accompanied by an army of chirping cicades occasionally taking over the band alltogether. At times Locks’ urge to isolate elements from the sessions and loop them into infinity puts him in a different realm escaping everything that’s happening down here, but when It all comes together again it’s a beautiful thing. (RO)

More like this