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LP
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BEWITH 110LP
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With Panorama, Frank Maston pays homage to the classic era of library records and Italian soundtracks of the '70s. A blissed-out, grooving collection of filmic cues, it continues the unique brilliance of Tulips (BEWITH 087LP, 2020) and Darkland (BEWITH 096LP, 2021). Elegant and easy, subtle and stylish, breezy and beautiful; this is his Maston-piece. Commissioned by legendary label KPM, Panorama cements Maston as a master of modern classics and the most mesmeric of contemporary composers. In early 2020, Be With suggested to Frank that he should make a KPM record. He wasn't aware that they were still putting out new library records -- but he was super keen. Frank was visiting family in his hometown of LA in March 2020 when the world ground to a halt so the KPM project arrived at a fortuitous moment. Having fantasized about committing to a record with no distractions, with a proper budget, access to his gear and space to work in -- to really dig in and try to write and arrange the best work he could possibly make -- it was a real "be careful what you wish for" moment. He spent seven months on it, working almost every day. Maston had already been making library-influenced music so when KPM outlined the criteria for the tracks it was exactly what he had been doing all along. He thought the best approach would be to make a follow-up to Tulips that had a parallel life as a KPM record. Maston's sleek retro-groove instrumentals emulate the classic KPM "Greensleeve" reel-to-reel recordings that provided mood-setting music for mid-century cinema, television, and radio programs. Apparently in close conversation with the John Cameron-Keith Mansfield KPM pastoral masterclass Voices In Harmony (BEWITH 041LP), Maston's Panorama could be heard as that record's funky follow-up. Another reference point from the hallowed library would be Francis Coppieter's wonderful Piano Viberations. Features vocals by Molly Lewis, Eli Ghersinu of L'éclair, Pedrum of Allah Las/Paint, and more. Mastered by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman, and pressed at Record Industry.
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LP
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BEWITH 096LP
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2023 repress. Maston's Darkland is a breezy collection of the material from the Tulips (BEWITH 087LP) sessions that didn't make it on to the original LP. Originally a digital-only release for those in the know in the autumn of 2018, after re-issuing Tulips in 2020 it made too much sense for Be With to give Darkland a vinyl release. Like Tulips, Darkland was recorded mostly in Hoorn, in the Netherlands, between 2015-2017 during downtime from Frank's touring duties with Jacco Gardner's band. Bits were also done in Los Angeles on some extended trips back home. The collection plays like an alternate view of Maston's instant modern classic Tulips; a companion piece to the LP proper with similar mixture of shorter themes and more full-length tracks. Darkland opens with its ornate 39 second title-track before striding into "Tulips", that full-length title-track that never was. It's a real head-nod, percussive-rich electric piano stunner that would've been a comfortable standout on the album proper. But now this "downlifting" gem is given ample room to shine on this record. The funky organ-led bass and drums workout "Immaculate Conception" will keep your neck gently snapping while MPC fiends go reaching for their sampler. "Love Theme No 3" cuts a breathtakingly stylish vibra-slapped swathe through the middle of the opening side before we're startled by the pronounced bass and twinkling percussion of "The Owl In Daylight". Charming digi-drums underpin the wonky synth (quiet-)banger "Innovative Patterns" which has a lovely melodic switch-up in the final third before the tempo (and hairs on your neck) rise on the faintly creepy yet imminently groovy "Osiris". The gorgeously soft-focus "Groove Experiment No 3" closes out the first half in slo-mo wonderment. The lushly melancholic "Raincloud" ushers in side B before the emotionally-stirring "Phonic" taps at the door, coming on like the long lost sister to Pet Sounds' "Let's Go Away For A While". Next up, the swooning beauty "Love Theme No 2" keenly sways in front of you, growing ever more insistent and hypnotic. The too-short "Italian Summer" conjures the same flirtatious imagery as the title hints at whilst "Endless" is a fascinating "piano-pella" alternative version to "Rain Dance" from Tulips. "Wonder Theme" has a nostalgic, exotic 60s swing and album closer "Willow" is a hushed, campfire folk gem. The gently circular strumming is just magical. Mastered by Simon Francis.
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BEWITH 087LP
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2023 repress. Frank Maston's Tulips is a sample-ready film score to the best '70s movie never made. Originally a super-limited self-release on his Phonoscope label in late 2017. Be With Records were introduced to Maston by mutual friends Aquarium Drunkard and it didn't take long before the label decided this modern classic deserved a reissue. Inspired by the deep-grooving soundtracks of Italian cinema -- think Morricone, Umiliani, and Alessandroni -- Maston conceived the entire Tulips project as a continuation of these revered works. Frank designed the artwork and made two 16mm films to accompany the music. There's a distinct library music feel too, with wiry organ, spacey keyboards and loping '60s guitar hinting at KPM and DeWolfe. Like the best library music, Tulips creates a cinematic universe through sound alone, evoking moving images in the listener's technicolor imagination. Tulips was recorded between 2015 and 2017 in a small studio in a village called Zwaag in Holland, during downtime from Frank's touring duties with Jacco Gardner's band. With some very European influences in mind, Frank wanted to eschew any American influences. But you can still feel the studio wizardry of the likes of Brian Wilson and Harry Nilsson in there somewhere. A psychedelic bedroom-pop song-cycle, full of hypnotic hooks and dusty drums, Tulips manages to sound charmingly homemade yet wholly widescreen. Dreamy opener "Swans" is an exquisite soul instrumental and recalls the soft-psych of Koushik. Tropicalia influences abound in the cool and breezy "New Danger" and the KPM-references are loud and proud on the lush organ pop of "Old Habits". Fast-paced "Chase Theme No. 1" manages to be both tense and laid back, decorated by acid-drenched spaghetti Western guitars. The glorious Gainsbourg-esque melancholia of "Infinite Bliss" is all gauzy flutes and happy-sad vocalizing and the title is almost perfect. Side A closes with "Evening", a subtle bossa nova beat thing. Side B opens with the heat-shimmer guitars of "Rain Dance", evoking an unreleased Byrds or Buffalo Springfield backing track. "Sure Thing" is music to accompany an elevator ride you never want to end, but in a good way! The ornate "Garçon Manqué" is as beautiful as the instrumentals on Pet Sounds and the wistful "Turning In" starts like a stroll in the park before Maston introduces a scorched-Earth guitar solo. "Chase Theme No. 2" is a briefer, more keening counterpart to what is on side A. The head-nod bass-drums-keys funk of "Hues" rounds out this staggeringly assured set. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis. Alternative burnt orange artwork from Maston. 140 gram vinyl; can be played at 33rpm or 45rpm.
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