Love this, though were a few months late on it which lately means we practically missed it. Famous Moon King is the name of an unknown artist (at least unknown to general public and the label pushing the release) who’s gotten his music to us through Tesla Tapes.
As the story goes, Paddy from Gnod turned up a CDR of the tracks from a box of merchandise being unpacked after a tour. No info except for ‘Famous Moon King’ scribbled across it, which makes the press release either a nightmare or a blessing depending which way you look at it. Thankfully Paddy’s ears are spot on, and after not much deliberation he stuck it on a tape to share with the world.
As it turns out Famous Moon King is the title of a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting from the mid-80s, which is a nice bit of trivia that brings us absolutely no closer to finding out who’s behind these workings. Five tracks of undanceable washed-out techno, produced with what we like to call ‘organic-machinery’ in mind.
The tracks trundle along unrushed, with the bare minimum drums or basslines structure keeping them on the rails as an array of computer logic and distortion bleeping and squelching around them. Imagine being on a train track by yourself, moving at a steady pace through a city built from the artificial intelligence of 1980s sci-fi movies. At no point are you threatened or interacting with it but just an unseen observer. This is what the field recordings from that journey would sound like.
The vibe that Famous Moon King has captured, and one that we absolutely love. Who knows where the sounds came from, but they turn in to voices shouting at each other as breaks in their mechanical owners monotonous lives. Frankly, it’s fucking beautiful.
Head to the bandcamp page here to purchase the digital release for a measly £1, or email Paddy to grab one of fifty cassettes.
via Tesla Tapes
Got back from a Gnod UK tour this year to discover a cdr entitled Famous Moon King in the Tesla merch box, After some investigation nobody claimed it as theirs and could find no info online or on the grapevine about the Famous Moon King.
Spent some time with the music from this cdr and decided that this had to go to tape. Its such a cheeky, pulsating emotive collection of grooves that it would be just downright selfish not to share it with folk.
Thank you Famous Moon King who ever you are…