BLOCKHEAD – Luminous Rubble – LP – Vinyl

LP – Black Vinyl.

Its a producers dream: Being given access to a vast library of material to construct something completely new and exciting out of all of itand when Blockheads at the controls, the results are a listeners paradise, too. The New York City-based hip-hop production legends latest album, Luminous Rubble, is also the fifth release in the London-based label Def Presss KPM Crate Diggers series, which hands the keys to the KPM Librarys storied collectionhome to over 70 years of music and sound designs made for television, film, and radioto some of the best behind the boards. The results are like witnessing a kid unleashed in a candy shop, as Blockhead unleashes his boundless creative mind on the KPM Librarys limitless potentialpure inspiration and joy, for your listening pleasure.

Luminous Rubble is the latest missive in a particularly busy period for underground hip-hop veteran Tony Simon, whos spent the last decades lending his considerable talents to work from artists like Armand Hammer, billy woods, Murs, and Open Mike Eagle; in 2021, he released the critically acclaimed collab LP Garbology with rap legend and longtime collaborator Aesop Rock, just last year he unleashed his twelfth solo album, The Aux. Luminous Rubble had its origins in a chance meeting after a Hamburg show between Simon and a KPM rep, who explained the Crate Diggers conceit to him.

For me, as a producer who uses samples, theres nothing better than free rein, Simon recalls. I was like, Are there any rules? And he said, Just make whatever you want. That was so exciting for me. I dont get that on my own releases, but in this case every sample is cleared and its all good.

As is the case with many sample excavators, Simon already had a deep history with what the KPM library had to offer him as wellto the point where, while digging through the crates in the making of Luminous Rubble, he even came across records hed sampled from in the past. Their vault is the one Im most familiar with, he says with a laugh. Back when I used to go record shopping a lot, I would pretty much buy any KPM record on sight. They were always a huge find at record stores. So to be able to tap into these records with no limitations was really nice.

The challenge for me was trying to boil down what I wanted to do, Simon continues while discussing the genesis of Luminous Rubble, which came together over the course of 2022. I thought about making an album of super-long songs, but it wouldve been a whole different undertaking. So I just went with what I knew, because its a foolproof approach to me. Of course, Simons track record as Blockhead meant that the familiar path was tried and truebut as Luminous Rubbles ten tracks prove, its foolish to assume that would mean any laurel-resting on his part.

My music is always very quirky and melody-driven, Simon states while talking about how he stretched his creative wings in the studio. I took chances more than usual when it came to samples and how I used them for foundation. Indeed, Luminous Rubble finds Simon using the KPM librarys vastness to craft new and engagingly twisted beat-driven shapes; Dork Crystal radiates a sinister ominousness, with streaks of strings rubbing against stabbing guitar chords, while a delightfully scuzzy horn line dances around a hi-hat shuffle in Scumlord. Theres something dirty about the horn sample, Simon explains while discussing the tracks title. It reminds you of oil-slicked streets in an alley. I wanted to embrace that feeling.

Glittering bells and a woozy gait to Serious About My Fitness makes the tune sound as if youre sweating it out on the Stairmaster (in a good way), while theres a distinct thousand-karat shine to Oh You Fancy, which nearly resembles a glitzed-out haunted house in its gilded spookiness. It just sounds like royalty, Simon exclaims, before going into greater detail about how the creative parameters of the Crate Diggers series proved its own inspiration.

Ive always appreciated working within limitations, he says. Having no boundaries can be overwhelming when it comes to the creative process. Working with these samples forced me to find middle ground in cases where Id typically just walk away and look elsewhere. After hearing Luminous Rubble, youll be happy he stuck around.

Tracklist:

Tracklist, sample list, info.

1. Badabing
Samples ‘Dingueries II’ by Claude Maurice Lucien Perraudin, PWLP14-10 / ‘Uncharted Space’ by Douglas A Wood, EALP116-16 / ‘Solo Blues’ by Tony Tape, BMLP173-5

2. Scumlord
Samples ‘Whaling Blues’ by Ron Aspery, TIMLP1041-23 / ‘Stillness’ by Les Hurdle, Frank Ricotti, TIMLP1032-8 / ‘Enterprise’ by Brian Adams Morris, OMLP114-3 / ‘Electroscope 7’ by Sam Sklair, BMLP80-17

3. Oh You Fancy
Samples ‘Drame Medival’ by Jacques Loussier, PWLP31-6 / ‘Holiday-Dream’ by Claude Larson, Manuel Landy, SELLPS122-3 / ‘What A Regal Aspect’ by Francy Boland, KPMINT3-9 / ‘Look To The Future’ by David McAllister, OMLP110-12 / ‘Space Face’ by Eric Vann, CSLP16-3

4. Move Witch
Samples ‘On The Move, Part 2’ by Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller Key, SELLPS127-8 / ‘Wintergarden’ by Guenter J Platzek, Joachim Bendorff, SELLPS120-1 / ‘Episode’ by Ladi Geisler, Karl Heinz Hanne, Heinz Ulrich, SELLP9070-10 / ‘How High?’ by Douglas A Wood, OMLP105-5 / ‘Fly With Me’ by Hartmut Kiesewetter, SELLP9049-3

5. Dork Crystal
Samples ‘Sea of Tranquility’ by David Glyn Vorhaus, KPMLP1243-7 / ‘Ready for action’ by Syd Dale, KPMLPB37-9 / ‘High Tension’ by Ronald Smith, Derek Nelson, BM427-1 / ‘The Anguished Mind’ by Johnny Pearson, KPMLPB35-9

6. Homeward Browned Out
Samples ‘Mirage’ by Ian Page, TIMLP1016-31 / ‘Bulletin’ by Douglas A Wood, OMLP114-11 / ‘In Space’ by Jean-Pierre Goussaud, SELLPS114-11 / ‘Blue Trombone’ by Hans Dieter Erlinger, BMLP173-23 / ‘Angel Of The Morning’ by Jacek Zbigniew Malinowski, SELLPS115-10

7. Serious About My Fitness
Samples ‘Behind The Stars’ by Wolfgang Muermann, SELLP9082-3 / ‘Electronic Sidewalk’ by Gerhard Trede, SELLP9031-3 / ‘Chopin’s Piano’ by Douglas A Wood, EALP114-17 / ‘Crystal Cascade’ by Alan Parker, Alan Hawkshaw, TIMLP1027-8

8. Zoomies
Samples ‘Summer Girl’ by Delle Haensch, Hans Conzelmann, SELLP9021-2 / ‘Electroscope 17’ by Sam Sklair, BMLP80-27 / ‘Moondust’ by Dick Walter, BMLP99-6 / ‘Trombone Walk’ by Tony Tape, BMLP173-37 / ‘Romantic Theme’ by Art Heatlie, BMLP144-12

9. Fake Badge
Samples ‘Country Roadster’ by Konrad Plaickner, Mike Frajria, SELLP9089-10 / ‘Harmony’ by Robert A Palladino, OMLP108-9 / ‘Scene and Heard’ by Reg Reginald Owen, Alan Lewis, BMLP70-2 / ‘Foottapper’ by Lionel Baron, BMLP29-1 / ‘Panorama’ by Claude Larson, Manuel Landy, SELLPS125-1

10. Chill Pill
Samples ‘Promenade Au Bois’ by Jacques Lacome, PWLP25-6 / ‘Daily Blue’ by Aleksander Maliszewski, SELLPS115-12 / ‘High Voltage’ by Douglas A Wood, OMLP113-8 / ‘The Monks’ Chant’ by Douglas A Wood, EALP114-24 / ‘Themes and Variations:Into Movement’ by Sam Sklair, BMLP74-2 / ‘Electroscope 16’ by Sam Sklair, BMLP80-26