Culture Court

Jan 2004

Audio Features 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Jon Gagan, John Celona, Ottmar Liebert, Paul Green, The Quantum Brothers, Rick Ojo McGrath, DNA, Lawrence Russell

Culture Court mp3 preview: 2 from Transit, written & recorded by Jon Gagan, 2003. JG: bass & synth |Tim Gagan: steel guitar |Ottmar Liebert: flamenco guitar |Chris Allen: vibraphone |Davo Bryant: percussion |Bert Dalton: Rhodes | Kanoa Kaluhiwa: sax |jazz instrumental

Check out these fabulous preview tracks from Transit, the forthcoming SSRI release by Jon Gagan, master of the fretless bass & ghost glissandi. Cool like bossa nova, warm like Afro-Cuban funk.

Mali. Bluesy groove behind the African pipes & the jungle river vibraphone. Dig the sweet octave bass and the roxy tone Rhodes... and down in the layer, the occasional snarl of the hot tube steel guitar. JG has the "woman tone" here, like warm oil on a Rousseau painting.

more Jon Gagan tracks
at SSRI »

Desert Return. Funk & flamenco hybrid with amazing, unexpected movements. The desert nocturne atmosphere makes this v. reminiscent of JG's finest work with Ottmar Liebert... not surprising as OL plays some dyna duende guitar in here. Nice sax lines by Kanoa Kaluhiwa. A tango for the damned? Could be.

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2 in Transit: 2 mp3 files available for download [broadband users]

1. Mali [3:57]
2. Desert Return [4:37]

Transit©Jon Gagan & Spiral Subwave Records International 2003/04

Culture Court retrospective: Primitive Cool. Written by John Celona, 1987. Performed by John Celona [computer soundtracks] and Salvador Ferreras [percussion, voice]. Recorded at Mushroom Studios, Vancouver. B.C. Engineered by Rob Porter. Classical funk/electronic-acoustic.

more John Celona at
Blue City »

Primitive Cool. The post-electronic minimalism is absolutely ahead of its time, anticipating much of what the current electro-dance scene is all about. Lock & load, baby.

"The jungle is alive with the chicka chicka pulse of the cicadas, the chatter of the spider monkeys and the hypnotic tapping of the beautiful jacamar bird... hence the jungle creates its own samba....

"The existential hipster is wired by sonar cups to the concrete pylons of a soaring freeway ramp, dialling in the magic rhythm of Detroit and I.B.M...."

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Run with Victoria composer & jazzer John Celona in this leading edge exploration of the concrete jungle. Roots funk & computer alchemy.

Primitive Cool Suite: 4 mp3 files for download [broadband users]

1. Primitive Cool [3:04]
2. Spatial Triangles [1:19]
3. Imaging East [3:57]
4. To Drive in L.A. [3:22]

Primitive Cool©John Celona 1987/2004