"Music is not about trying to be the Average musician who ever lived. It's not about idealizing a friendless, obsessive, tortured existence for something as abstracted and devoid of joy as competition. It's about playing music with people -- finding a community and truly connecting with other people. Yes, some of that path requires that you spend a lot of time by yourself, practicing. But the goal is never to be Charlie Parker or 'one of the greats.' That's some sophomoric academy shit" -- so proclaims Kid Millions in this great interview over at The Talkhouse about the jazz film Whiplash and drumming. Read full piece here.

As we wrote last month, Light, the stunning debut of the Loren Connors & Clint Heidorn duo, was delayed due to defects found in copies of the one-sided clear 12". New stampers were made and the record was repressed, so we expected Light would be ready for release still this year. Well, the second pressing arrived and the vinyl is again corrupted with clicks and skips created during the manufacturing process. When will Light finally shine through and get in the hands of all those who pre-ordered? We're not sure, but we guarantee the record will be pressed flawlessly and worth the wait.

Very happy to annouce the upcoming Kid Millions & Jim Sauter Fountain LP to be released worldwide Dec. 2. Neither of these guys needs an introduction at this point yet what they've created here cracks new groud in the whole matrix of drum/sax duos. Since you won't disagree with us, here's our own blurage on Fountain: 

"Across six pieces they explore massively hypnotic tonal harmonics and torrential rhythms. This is hardcore abstraction from two New York sherpas yanking us headlong into a third-eye odyssey, surpassing altitudes merely attempted by others. 

Kid is founding member of Oneida and the ace behind the percussion-focused Man Forever. Sauter is synonymous with the 35-year juggernaut Borbetomagus -- pioneers of sound/jazz vivisection and inexorable vision. Since 2012 these two pushed forth this magnificent grandeur, merging physical power/sweat and sculpted electricity/stretched skins. While both are known for feats of extreme artistic endurance, as a duo they opt for ferocious concentration -- a savage pop-style of density and texture.

As an omnipotent duo, neither Kid or Sauter anchors the other, instead they smash the fulcrum and spin perpetually in free-fall. Sauter extracts new techniques and structures from his howling amplified tenor sax. On 'Turkana' he builds layers of gnarled drones like some goddamn Dream Syndicate lasagna, while on 'Vertical Sprint' Kid weaves polyrhythms and stuttering cross-beats around/into the heart of horn shards. There's zero gravity here"

Fountain was recorded and mixed at Spaceman Sound in Brooklyn with Tom Tierney and Alex Mead-Fox, and mastered/cut by Josh Bonati. Album designed by Dan Schechter. Pressed on pristine 150 gram vinyl by Quality Record Pressing. Edition of 800 with download.

Light is here... and then it wasn't. After many delays with the fabulous Loren Connors and Clint Heidorn debut collaboration, the crystal-clear, one-sided LPs finally arrived. We were ecstatic. Then we played a copy and the record skipped. So we played another -- and then the needle jumped out of the groove. And on and on... each copy of the LP had some type of defect in the first few rotations. The record is being repressed -- which is great, of course -- but it will be another delay before Light is finally complete. The release date has been adjusted to Dec. 2.

Above is a photo of how the finished record will look. The artwork is two pieces of Connors’ art -- a detail of a recontextualized Matisse painting. One piece is transparent plastic, the other paper. Together, the opaque block of 11-inch x 11-inch sheets are intended to be hung in your window so the light can illuminate the hidden colors. A full-color postcard of Connors' full piece is also included.

It will be worth the wait...