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LP
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DRAMA 001LP
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High quality weirdo political pop from MB Jones (Jee Jee Band, EM Records/Feeding Tube): sparse, quirky and strange with English and Korean vocals. Recorded in Busan, Republic of Korea by former US special agent MB Jones, ROK Spy documents both his stay in a country on the verge of a nuclear conflict and his mission there (for obvious confidential reasons, the purpose of this mission is only to be referred to in an allusive way). While most of his personal belongings have disappeared (or more likely, been destroyed), Drama is very thankful for the safe receipt of a USB stick containing seven songs recorded in Autumn 2017, alongside a drawing and a few handwritten notes. Drama now shares these with you in the form of a new label. The circumstances under which it was born lead to it being called "Drama". This release is DRAMA1. The content of this LP is a seemingly disparate set of pop-not-pop tunes, flirting with dance music on songs like the apocalyptical disco "Nuclear War" or the bizarre and mind puzzling boogie "Pusan Perimeter". Though it is quite hard to put words on MB Jones's productions (one may accurately call it an "oddball" of a record), his musical testimony may sit somewhere in-between Holger Czukay's most narrative pieces and Arthur Russell's most cheerful moments, sharing with these two brilliant musicians a genuine feeling of intimacy emanating from each second of his songs. The only thing that may be said without a doubt is that these seven songs are the product of someone whose ear has been attentive and receptive to all sorts of contemporary musical genres (from trap to experimental electronic music and EDM). It's still not clear whether the cryptic lyrics evoke situations which already occurred, whether they are oracles, some insider's warnings or whether they are the product of a mind in a hallucinatory state. On "Poison Pill" -- the closing song -- he is particularly ambiguous: "the CIA bought me a trip/I put the tab under my lip/ They want to build a shopping mall/On the DMZ wall". The interpretation is up to you. Edition of 300.
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LP
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FTR 388LP
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"Matt 'MB' Jones has long been kicking back and forth between the Valley and Asia. His recordings with Jee Jee Band have reflected this duality. And this new 'solo' album, recorded mostly in his original backyard with a cast of local hottentots (Conrad Capistran, Tim Sheldon, John Moloney, etc.) continues this vibe, while changing it in many subtle ways. The K-Pop readymades of the Jee Jee Band's Glass Fish LP (EM 1138CD/LP) have continued to drift out of Matt's repertoire. This remodeling began on Jee Jee's Holy Yolk LP (FTR 304, 2017), and by this point the hints are still there if you know where to look for them, but they no longer jump out at you. Matt's basic constructions are still often electronic pop at their base, but the details that get piled on top of that now require a wide closet of costumery. From the multi-tracked vocal glistens of '$200,000 Ticket to Space' (with neo-gamelanic tone highlighting) through to the jaw-harp-riven dolor of 'Going Swimming in the Morning,' the only real common thread the mood of dislocation Jones bakes into many of his lyrics. It's never easy keeping one foot in reality (so-called) while extending your other foot into the vacuum of space, but it's forward trajectory Matt seems to have managed. Perhaps this is why he and Mike Watt have struck up a friendship (the two recently cut a lathe 7"). Just as Watt attempts to codify his personal history, while the statis of the world constantly slides past him on his endless tours, Jones seems bent on writing twin histories of his peregrinations -- one with each hand, while everything spins around his head. It's an epic quest. And one to which you should pay sweet attention." --Byron Coley, 2018 Edition of 250.
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