RHYS,GRUFF - [DONT]WELCOME THE PLAGUE AS A BLESSING/THE BABELSBERG BASEMENT FILES[RSD 2020] Price: €34.99 Format: LP Availability: Immediate Dispatch

RSD 2020

As usual, one copy per person, only. For fairness sake, we have to prohibit multiple buys of the same release.

“Early in 2016 Ali Chant texted me, asking if I still wanted to record
some stuff at his studio - as property developers were about to knock
it down. Another creative space bulldozed away for capital gain. Politically it was a shit year. The noise building for the Brexit
referendum that would fuck with the future of the young was in full
swing. Bowie died, and on the morning of the first recordings I had
the worst migraine. I left the building and threw up in the street. I
wanted to commit to the lyrics and sing live so I think I was stressed
about getting them ready to sing. ? I had a batch of songs I wanted to record but I didn't have a record
label or any plans of what to do with them. ? I gathered incredible musicians from my square mile in Cardiff in the
van and drove to Bristol. Kliph on drums, Steve on bass and Osian on
piano. ? I sang and played guitar - We recorded live takes for 3 days then I
sat on the songs for almost 2 years. Eventually handing them to
composer Stephen McNeff to work on orchestral arrangements. ? I called the album that was mixed by Samur Kouja; ‘Babelsberg' - and I'm very happy with it. ? This album meanwhile is an exploration of how it came to be - and
the songs in their raw state. A companion piece rather than the
definitive article. Most tracks are similar to the final work except for
‘Selfies in The Sunset' which is pre-duet and much longer. ? At some point it would be great to release the amazing orchestral
elements too. Maybe both records could be played at once. In the
meantime please enjoy the fruits of Kliph Scurlock's mixes and demo
digging for ‘(Don't) Welcome The Plague As A Blessing'. ? I'm very grateful to Lisa Jen and Mirain Haf from the band 9 Bach for
singing the background vocals. Kliph for overseeing this project,
Rough Trade for their enthusiasm and thanks to the designers;
thanks Uno Moralez for agreeing to have his incredible Babelsberg
sleeve illustration carved up, and ace designer Mark James for this
final article. Further thanks to Ali, Steve, Osian and also to Robin
Turner for lending his ear at the time” - Gruff Rhys. ? LP with split coloured black & white vinyl. ? Limited to 1000 copies for the UK and Ireland.

Tracklisting
Frontier Man
The Club
Oh Dear!
Limited Edition Heart
Take That Call
Drones In The City
Negative Vibes
Same Old Song
Architecture Of Amneisa
Selfies In The Sunset