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LL 049LP
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"Linear Labs releases today a soundtrack album for the drama Run This Town. The album features the film's original score composed by Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge (Luke Cage, Black Dynamite). Run This Town is written and directed by Ricky Tollman and stars Ben Platt, Mena Massoud, Nina Dobrev, Scott Speedman, Jennifer Ehle and Damian Lewis. The movie revolves around a young journalist and a young political aide who become entangled in a larger-than-life political scandal as they struggle to navigate adult life. The drama premiered at last year's SXSW Film Festival and is being released in select theaters and on VOD by Oscilloscope and Quiver Distribution."
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LL 038LP
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"The Midnight Hour is Black excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, alongside a tight rhythm section and a full orchestra. Adrian and Ali began working on this album back in 2013, but put the project aside as they would score the hit Netflix series Marvel's Luke Cage. The Midnight Hour is a soul/jazz/hip hop album which continues the conversations started by yesterday's jazz and funk pioneers; those that created the bedrock of samples for hip hop producers in the 80s/90s. The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip hop that fans will enjoy, capturing their jazz rhythm section, and full orchestra, to analog tape. The Midnight Hour is now available as full instrumentals on vinyl."
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LL 036LP
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"In the great and ongoing culture war between high and low, raw and refined, the real versus popular, certain territories have been ceded: styles considered mainstream get to be pretty, lovely and optimistic. Styles originating underground are presumed to be gritty, burly and practical. So it's a subversion of a kind, and definitely an intellectual challenge, to bathe a foreboding bass line in a lilt. To make gloomy shine. Adrian Younge's Voices Of Gemma embodies the potential of the hybrid. By just saying no to the borders a label like underground might impose on a creativity like his, he's able to fashion a sound that elbows its way past your defenses, whatever they are. You don't want to hear anything grim today? Had enough of that on the news, thanks? Younge has a couple of angels on hand to waft a hard truth over so that when it hits it feels like a kiss. Sick of the saccharine piped over aisle 4 at Walgreens? Younge's palming you a melody fit for impending doom. Voices Of Gemma comes from Younge's refusal to accept the premise. His stance is there in every artist's job description -- the determination to suction up sounds and flavors and phrases from all over the past and present and imagined and documented, and then splice and dissolve what he finds into more possibilities and new ways of seeing, something fresh. On this project his songs are precise, the set ups delivered with a satiny finish and, in the low end, just a hint of louche. Care has been given to every detail, and the old way of doing a thing (bring in an orchestra, record to tape) is the way it's done; it's like listening to a five-star hotel. Voices Of Gemma is luxurious, a style that we forgot could be present day, as accustomed as we are to sampled and thrice-removed versions of it. This is high-class signified, a world-class realization."
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LL 037CD
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"The Midnight Hour is Black excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, alongside a tight rhythm section and a full orchestra. The album has features from CeeLo Green, Raphael Saadiq, Masha Ambrosius, Bilal, Eryn Allen Kane, Karolina and more. Adrian and Ali began working on this album back in 2013, but put the project aside as they would score the hit Netflix series Marvel's Luke Cage (the two even perform in an episode of the upcoming second season). The Midnight Hour is a soul/jazz/hip hop album which continues the conversations started by yesterday's jazz and funk pioneers; those that created the bedrock of samples for hip hop producers in the 80s/90s. The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip hop that fans will enjoy, capturing their jazz rhythm section, and a full orchestra, to analog tape. One of the seminal compositions, 'Questions' originally began as an unfinished Midnight Hour demo with Cee-Lo Green. However, Kendrick Lamar heard the track and wanted to sample portions for his GRAMMY-winning album To Pimp a Butterfly (the song ultimately made it to Kendrick's 2016 compilation Untitled Unmastered as 'Untitled 06 | 06.30.2014.'). The full, completed version of 'Questions' is now the lead single on The Midnight Hour. 'So Amazing' is a reimagining of Luther Vandross' 1986 single. Ali and Adrian took Luther's original vocal stems and composed new music, as if they were in the room with Luther originally. This transcendental recording is something that really makes The Midnight Hour special."
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LL 035LP
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"In the great and ongoing culture war between high and low, raw and refined, the real versus popular, certain territories have been ceded: styles considered mainstream get to be pretty, lovely and optimistic. Styles originating underground are presumed to be gritty, burly and practical. So it's a subversion of a kind, and definitely an intellectual challenge, to bathe a foreboding bass line in a lilt. To make gloomy shine. To trojan horse some heavy feelings in a delicate vocal. Adrian Younge's Voices of Gemma embodies the potential of the hybrid. By just saying no to the borders a label like underground might impose on a creativity like his, he's able to fashion a sound that elbows its way past your defenses, whatever they are. You don't want to hear anything grim today? Had enough of that on the news, thanks? Younge has a couple of angels on hand to waft a hard truth over so that when it hits it feels like a kiss. Sick of the saccharine piped over aisle 4 at Walgreens? Younge's palming you a melody fit for impending doom. Voices of Gemma comes from Younge's refusal to accept the premise. His stance is there in every artist's job description ? the determination to suction up sounds and flavors and phrases from all over the past and present and imagined and documented, and then splice and dissolve what he finds into more possibilities and new ways of seeing, something fresh. On this project his songs are precise, the set ups delivered with a satiny finish and, in the low end, just a hint of louche. His characters are lyrically poised, but when it comes to their emotional lives, as portrayed melodically, it's one cliffhanger after another. Younge's female leads take up residence in their upper register, a fairytale landscape pierced only once by a man's voice. The dreamy, internal feeling singers Brooke deRosa and Rebecca Engelhardt conjure up is tethered to the earth by music that's filmic and deeply intelligent. Here there are easter eggs left in accent notes and fills. Care has has been given to every detail, and the old way of doing a thing (bring in an orchestra, record to tape) is the way its done; it's like listening to a five-star hotel. Voices of Gemma is luxurious, a style that we forgot could be present day, as accustomed as we are to sampled and thrice-removed versions of it. This is high-class signified, a world-class realization."
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2LP
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LL 037LP
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"The Midnight Hour is Black excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, alongside a tight rhythm section and a full orchestra. The album has features from CeeLo Green, Raphael Saadiq, Masha Ambrosius, Bilal, Eryn Allen Kane, Karolina and more. Adrian and Ali began working on this album back in 2013, but put the project aside as they would score the hit Netflix series Marvel's Luke Cage (the two even perform in an episode of the upcoming second season). The Midnight Hour is a soul/jazz/hip hop album which continues the conversations started by yesterday's jazz and funk pioneers; those that created the bedrock of samples for hip hop producers in the 80s/90s. The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip hop that fans will enjoy, capturing their jazz rhythm section, and a full orchestra, to analog tape. One of the seminal compositions, 'Questions' originally began as an unfinished Midnight Hour demo with Cee-Lo Green. However, Kendrick Lamar heard the track and wanted to sample portions for his GRAMMY-winning album To Pimp a Butterfly (the song ultimately made it to Kendrick's 2016 compilation Untitled Unmastered as 'Untitled 06 | 06.30.2014.'). The full, completed version of 'Questions' is now the lead single on The Midnight Hour. 'So Amazing' is a reimagining of Luther Vandross' 1986 single. Ali and Adrian took Luther's original vocal stems and composed new music, as if they were in the room with Luther originally. This transcendental recording is something that really makes The Midnight Hour special."
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LP
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LL 016LP
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"Tracks from Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics have been sampled by Schoolboy Q, DJ Premier (and many more) and have been heard in Netflix monster hit Marvel's Luke Cage! The Delfonics is the quintessential sweet-soul group. Hailing from Philadelphia, the crew formed in the mid-'60s, with the definitive original lineup as lead vocalist and songwriter William Hart, his brother Wilbert Hart, and mutual high-school friend Randy Cain (later replaced by Major Harris). With the help of producer/arranger Thom Bell -- and with William's signature falsetto -- the Delfonics set the tone for all other sweet-soul groups that would follow. Between 1968 and 1974, the Delfonics had twenty charting singles and won a Grammy for their massive hit 'Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time).' Out of their twenty hits, William Hart wrote or co-wrote eighteen of them, thirteen with collaborator Thom Bell, like 'La-La Means I Love You,' 'He Don't Really Love You,' and 'Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love).' After five albums, the Delfonics would break up for good in 1975. Brothers William and Wilbert parted ways and over the years often toured separately with different forms of the group. But over forty years after writing his first hit, lead singer and songwriter William Hart has put his unmistakable falsetto back on analog tape and reinvented the Delfonics brand for a new generation. Los Angeles producer/composer Adrian Younge envisioned a modern-day Delfonics album and pitched the idea to William Hart, who hopped a plane from Philly to L.A. and began work on a new album. Younge helped to reshape the Delfonics by bringing on board two excellent young vocalists, Loren Oden and Saudia Mills -- as well as Om'Mas Keith on the single 'Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)' -- to work alongside William. Adrian Younge is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who traded in his MPC sampler for a carefully curated studio of authentic gear. Younge rocketed to international recognition after composing the original score for the film Black Dynamite and has since release ground-breaking projects including The Souls of Mischief's There Is Only Now and Ghostface Killah's Twelve Reasons to Die concept albums. Younge brings a unique perspective on modern rhythm and blues. 'I was studying Delfonics stuff for years,' Younge reveals. 'I studied Delfonics to do the Black Dynamite stuff. I've been a fan, and I've just studied their music for so long that when I got the opportunity to do this, it just really blew my mind.' From the very beginning, it was Younge's intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective. There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. 'I want people to expect something classic but not expect to hear the same thing rehashed,' Younge says. 'I want to push it forward. William and I strived to push this forward. Younge now makes this breath-taking musical outing available in a never before issued instrumental edition on his own Linear Labs imprint."
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LL 015LP
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"The Delfonics is the quintessential sweet-soul group. Hailing from Philadelphia, the crew formed in the mid-60s, with the definitive original lineup as lead vocalist and songwriter William Hart, his brother Wilbert Hart, and mutual high-school friend Randy Cain (later replaced by Major Harris). With the help of producer/arranger Thom Bell -- and with William's signature falsetto -- the Delfonics set the tone for all other sweet-soul groups that would follow. Between 1968 and 1974, the Delfonics had twenty charting singles and won a Grammy for their massive hit 'Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time).' Out of their twenty hits, William Hart wrote or co-wrote eighteen of them, thirteen with collaborator Thom Bell, like 'La-La Means I Love You,' 'He Don't Really Love You,' and 'Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love).'After five albums, the Delfonics would break up for good in 1975. Brothers William and Wilbert parted ways and over the years often toured separately with different forms of the group. But over forty years after writing his first hit, lead singer and songwriter William Hart has put his unmistakable falsetto back on analog tape and reinvented the Delfonics brand for a new generation. Los Angeles producer/composer Adrian Younge envisioned a modern-day Delfonics album and pitched the idea to William Hart, who hopped a plane from Philly to L.A. and began work on a new album. Younge helped to reshape the Delfonics by bringing on board two excellent young vocalists, Loren Oden and Saudia Mills -- as well as Om'Mas Keith on the single 'Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)' -- to work alongside William. Adrian Younge is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who traded in his MPC sampler for a carefully curated studio of authentic gear. Younge rocketed to international recognition after composing the original score for the film Black Dynamite (2009) and has since release ground-breaking projects including The Souls of Mischief's There Is Only Now (2014) and Ghostface Killah's Twelve Reasons To Die (2013) concept albums. Younge brings a unique perspective on modern rhythm and blues. 'I was studying Delfonics stuff for years,' Younge reveals. 'I studied Delfonics to do the Black Dynamite stuff. I've been a fan, and I've just studied their music for so long that when I got the opportunity to do this, it just really blew my mind.' From the very beginning, it was Younge's intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective. There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. 'I want people to expect something classic but not expect to hear the same thing rehashed,' Younge says. 'I want to push it forward. William and I strived to push this forward. Younge now makes this breath-taking musical outing available once again on his own Linear Labs imprint."
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LP
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LL 034LP
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"Adrian Younge calls The Electronique Void an academic album, by which he means it is both instructional and informational. The science of love, its formulas and if-then constraints, causal relationships and observable properties, is best taught experientially, but learning it hurts so, so bad. Music, especially electronic music, reliant as it is on abstraction and unrepentant as it is about hijacking your physiological responses to tempo and rhythm and dynamics, is a way to get there without going through it. Electronic music as practiced and developed by pioneers like Dick Hyman and Raymond Scott and Wendy Carlos is precise and intentional. In making his first electronic album, Younge took his cues from them, reminding a contemporary audience what a synthesizer, deep in its heart, really could be. This study of how music crafted with synthesizers can tap into raw human emotion is sure to excite long-time fans of Younge as well as devotees of electronic music. Adrian Younge now presents what is sure to be one of his most sought after instrumental releases, The Electronique Void: Black Noise Instrumentals."
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LL 033CD
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"This, too, is a story about control. It's a manual, maybe half Rosetta Stone, half bird guide. It was made the way they made electronic music in the good old days, all analog everything, right after synthesizers shrunk to a manageable size and you didn't have to trek down to a university to use one anymore. Hard-earned. Tastes different. Our parents' electronic. And its subject is staying together, that thing we thought was their province. It's about trying to fix what hurts. It's about knowing better. Black Noise is men talking to men about women; Lemonade is a woman talking to women about men, and they both orbit around a failure we take for granted like the sun: loving you is complicated. It's a skill; we forgot. Adrian Younge calls The Electronique Void an academic album, by which he means it is both instructional and informational. There's a problem at the heart of it, a woman who's been told that she's loved, but she doesn't recognize that, can't feel it, may have heard it all before, may be worrying about the wrong things. Jack Waterson, long a guitarist in Younge's band, plays the role of narrator, sounding professorial and rather superior as he lays out for the woman where she's erred. That vocoder you hear is Adrian, talking to her on a subterranean level, the way an artist must. There's a strong sense of rules here, a prescription and a presumption that there is an agreed upon way to do it, and there is also a wrong way, or at least a way that won't work. And the fact is, as didactic as that sounds, it might be the truth. Maybe everybody who's alone can be cured. The discourse on the album is the kind of thing that happens when you go blonde and then you can't keep 'em off you. These truths are cold and hard, and our hero begrudges the well-meaning advice being rained down upon her as any independent woman would. The science of love, its formulas and if-then constraints, causal relationships and observable properties, is best taught experientially, but learning it hurts so, so bad. Music, especially electronic music, reliant as it is on abstraction and unrepentant as it is about hijacking your physiological responses to tempo and rhythm and dynamics, is a way to get there without going through it. Electronic music as practiced and developed by pioneers like Dick Hyman and Raymond Scott and Wendy Carlos is precise and intentional. In making his first electronic album, Younge took his cues from them, reminding a contemporary audience what a synthesizer, deep in its heart, really could be. The lady of The Electronique Void, only ever seen through a man's eyes, who's being told what to do by him, sounds trapped by her history and by her position, her ancestors' trauma echoing through her lineage and booming out of her as a phobia, distrust, misapprehension, rational response to a fucked up situation. Waterson's text here seems to say that if his character could go back in time, catch her before the damage was done, she would be able to love. And that's reasonable. Don't get hooked. Don't do wifey shit for a fuck boy. Don't let it go to your head, no. It's also possible he has no idea what he's talking about. The lessons for men in The Electronique Void are unspoken but plain as day. This music is an urgent tutorial. Adrian Younge looks at us and sees the front line of a crisis, something we only have time to triage right now. This isn't romantic and it isn't about settling down. This is the fight of our lives: how to love."
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LP
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LL 033LP
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LP version. "This, too, is a story about control. It's a manual, maybe half Rosetta Stone, half bird guide. It was made the way they made electronic music in the good old days, all analog everything, right after synthesizers shrunk to a manageable size and you didn't have to trek down to a university to use one anymore. Hard-earned. Tastes different. Our parents' electronic. And its subject is staying together, that thing we thought was their province. It's about trying to fix what hurts. It's about knowing better. Black Noise is men talking to men about women; Lemonade is a woman talking to women about men, and they both orbit around a failure we take for granted like the sun: loving you is complicated. It's a skill; we forgot. Adrian Younge calls The Electronique Void an academic album, by which he means it is both instructional and informational. There's a problem at the heart of it, a woman who's been told that she's loved, but she doesn't recognize that, can't feel it, may have heard it all before, may be worrying about the wrong things. Jack Waterson, long a guitarist in Younge's band, plays the role of narrator, sounding professorial and rather superior as he lays out for the woman where she's erred. That vocoder you hear is Adrian, talking to her on a subterranean level, the way an artist must. There's a strong sense of rules here, a prescription and a presumption that there is an agreed upon way to do it, and there is also a wrong way, or at least a way that won't work. And the fact is, as didactic as that sounds, it might be the truth. Maybe everybody who's alone can be cured. The discourse on the album is the kind of thing that happens when you go blonde and then you can't keep 'em off you. These truths are cold and hard, and our hero begrudges the well-meaning advice being rained down upon her as any independent woman would. The science of love, its formulas and if-then constraints, causal relationships and observable properties, is best taught experientially, but learning it hurts so, so bad. Music, especially electronic music, reliant as it is on abstraction and unrepentant as it is about hijacking your physiological responses to tempo and rhythm and dynamics, is a way to get there without going through it. Electronic music as practiced and developed by pioneers like Dick Hyman and Raymond Scott and Wendy Carlos is precise and intentional. In making his first electronic album, Younge took his cues from them, reminding a contemporary audience what a synthesizer, deep in its heart, really could be. The lady of The Electronique Void, only ever seen through a man's eyes, who's being told what to do by him, sounds trapped by her history and by her position, her ancestors' trauma echoing through her lineage and booming out of her as a phobia, distrust, misapprehension, rational response to a fucked up situation. Waterson's text here seems to say that if his character could go back in time, catch her before the damage was done, she would be able to love. And that's reasonable. Don't get hooked. Don't do wifey shit for a fuck boy. Don't let it go to your head, no. It's also possible he has no idea what he's talking about. The lessons for men in The Electronique Void are unspoken but plain as day. This music is an urgent tutorial. Adrian Younge looks at us and sees the front line of a crisis, something we only have time to triage right now. This isn't romantic and it isn't about settling down. This is the fight of our lives: how to love."
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LP
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LL 031LP
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"In the years since the release of Adrian Younge's Something About April, he has been coined America's black genius: the evocation of analog vestige in a digital era. His majestic music has garnered him reverence, likened to Ennio Morricone's best work and the Beatles' tenacity to create new sounds. Fortuitously, Something About April has made an indelible impression on modern vinyl heads and producers alike, being sampled by DJ Premier, Jay-Z, Common, 50 Cent and more. The Something About April brand is an axiom to the modern 'Breakbeat' and Linear Labs is happy to announce its successor: Something About April II. As with Something About April -- Something About April II is the sort of recording that is more than deserving of an all instrumental treatment. Recorded with Younge's collection of rare instruments, Something About April II advances his musical paradigm with enterprising concepts and grander compositions -- it synthesizes the boundaries between dark American soul and classic European cinema. Younge is the experimental spirit of the modernist vanguard, looking at the past to create the future. What this album extrapolates, from vinyl culture, will become further magnified by its sampling down the line. Something About April II will replace the former as a holy grail for producers and collectors alike."
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7"
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LL 028-7
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"In 2015 Adrian Younge provided Ghostface Killah with a sonic backdrop equal parts hip hop and Italian horror, as much Ennio Morricone as sweet boom bap. Select singles from the project will now be available, presented here Blackout b/w Resurrection Morning/Life's A Rebirth in a full color jacket. 12 Reasons To Die II is vividly brought to life with the help of Younge's never-endingly evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic soul. The music -- on which Younge himself plays upwards of 10 instruments -- was recorded strictly on analog tape, to bring out the true grit of the '70s era that provides the Twelve Reasons backdrop. Younge's work of course sounds great -- as presented here, it looks as good as it sounds with the Italian horror inspired graphics splattered all over the full color jacket."
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7"
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LL 027-7
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"In 2015 Adrian Younge provided Ghostface Killah with a sonic backdrop equal parts hip hop and Italian horror, as much Ennio Morricone as sweet boom bap. Select singles from the project will now be available, presented here 'Death's Invitation b/w Let The Record Spin' in a full color jacket. 12 Reasons To Die II is vividly brought to life with the help of Younge's never-endingly evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic soul. The music -- on which Younge himself plays upwards of 10 instruments -- was recorded strictly on analog tape, to bring out the true grit of the '70s era that provides the Twelve Reasons backdrop. Younge's work of course sounds great -- as presented here, it looks as good as it sounds with the Italian horror inspired graphics splattered all over the full color jacket."
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7"
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LL 025-7
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"In 2015 Adrian Younge provided Ghostface Killah with a sonic backdrop equal parts hip hop and Italian horror, as much Ennio Morricone as sweet boom bap. Select singles from the project will now be available, presented here 'Rise Up b/w Daily News' in a full color jacket. 12 Reasons To Die II is vividly brought to life with the help of Younge's never-endingly evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic soul. The music -- on which Younge himself plays upwards of 10 instruments -- was recorded strictly on analog tape, to bring out the true grit of the '70s era that provides the Twelve Reasons backdrop. Younge's work of course sounds great -- as presented here, it looks as good as it sounds with the Italian horror inspired graphics splattered all over the full color jacket."
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7"
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LL 024-7
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"In 2014 Adrian Younge provided Ghostface Killah with a sonic backdrop equal parts hip hop and Italian horror, as much Ennio Morricone as sweet boom bap. Select singles from the project will now be available, presented here Return of The Savage b/w King Of New York in a full color jacket. 12 Reasons To Die II is vividly brought to life with the help of Younge's never-endingly evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic soul. The music -- on which Younge himself plays upwards of 10 instruments -- was recorded strictly on analog tape, to bring out the true grit of the '70s era that provides the Twelve Reasons backdrop. Younge's work of course sounds great -- as presented here, it looks as good as it sounds with the Italian horror inspired graphics splattered all over the full color jacket."
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LP
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LL 030LP
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2018 repress. "In the years since the release of Adrian Younge's Something About April, he has been coined America's black genius: the evocation of analog vestige in a digital era. His majestic music has garnered him reverence, likened to Ennio Morricone's best work and the Beatles' tenacity to create new sounds. Fortuitously, Something About April has made an indelible impression on modern vinyl heads and producers alike, being sampled by DJ Premier, Jay-Z, Common, 50 Cent and more. The Something About April brand is an axiom to the modern 'Breakbeat' and Linear Labs is happy to announce its successor: Something About April II. Recorded with Younge's collection of rare instruments, Something About April II advances his musical paradigm with enterprising concepts and grander compositions -- it synthesizes the boundaries between dark American soul and classic European cinema. With effervescent conviction, Younge executes with an array of entrancing vocalists: Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) and Bilal perform duets on 'Step Beyond' and 'La Ballade,' reminiscent of Serge Gainsborg and Jane Birkin; Raphael Saadiq blends 'Black Jazz' vocals with psychedelic soul on 'Magic Music;' Israeli star, Karolina, delivers haunting chants over concertos like 'Hear my love' and 'Winter is Here;' Loren Oden croons as if the apparent ghost of Donnie Hathaway created one last love song, 'Sandrine.' Younge is the experimental spirit of the modernist vanguard, looking at the past to create the future. What this album extrapolates, from vinyl culture, will become further magnified by its sampling down the line. Something About April II will replace the former as a holy grail for producers and collectors alike."
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2X7"
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LLBOX 002-7
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"The Serato Picture Disc Double Pack is exactly what you'd think -- two full color picture discs, both in full color jackets, both with Serato control tones for the DJ. 12 Reasons To Die II is vividly brought to life with the help of Younge's never-endingly evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic soul. The music -- on which Younge himself plays upwards of 10 instruments -- was recorded strictly on analog tape, to bring out the true grit of the '70s era that provides the Twelve Reasons backdrop. Younge's work of course sounds great -- as presented here, it looks as good as it sounds with the Italian horror inspired graphics splattered all over the full color sleeves and the vinyl itself."
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6x7" BOX
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LLBOX 001-7
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"Adrian Younge and Ghostface Killah's latest collaboration, 12 Reasons To Die II, is now available as a deluxe 7 inch box set! The set includes six singles in full color jackets with two of the singles being both picture discs and Serato controllers!"
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LP
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LL 019LP
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Instrumental versions, originally released in 2013, now reissued on the Linear Labs label. "The sounds of classic 36 Chambers-era RZA meld with Portishead and the Italian film music of Ennio Morricone on 12 Reasons To Die, the first ever collaboration between Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge. A daring, full-length Crime/Horror concept album, 12 Reasons' executive producer and Ghostface's longtime Wu-Tang Clan collaborator The RZA, referred to the album as 'groundbreaking' in the hip-hop genre. Ghostface Killah's prominence in hip hop has grown steadily over his 20-plus year career -- including high-profile appearances on Kanye West's Cruel Summer, RZA's The Man With the Iron Fists soundtrack and 36 Seasons, his recent collaboration with The Revelations -- 12 Reasons catches the gifted MC at the height of his lyrical prowess. Composer/producer/instrumentalist Adrian Younge represents the next generation of black music producers. His aim is an organic re-appropriation of hip-hop circa the mid-90s. His previous releases, the Black Dynamite soundtrack album (2009) Something About April (2011), and There Is Only Now, his collaboration with Souls Of Mischief (2012), touched on psychedelia, blaxploitation, and the cinematic soul of the 1970s. 12 Reasons was Adrian's first project in which he's immersed himself in the world of hip-hop."
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LL 018LP
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"Adrian Younge's acclaimed collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah, re-issued for the first time on Linear Labs! The sounds of classic 36 Chambers-era RZA meld with Portishead and the Italian film music of Ennio Morricone on 12 Reasons To Die, the first ever collaboration between Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge. A daring, full-length Crime/Horror concept album, 12 Reasons' executive producer and Ghostface's longtime Wu-Tang Clan collaborator The RZA, referred to the album as 'groundbreaking' in the hip-hop genre. Ghostface Killah's prominence in hip hop has grown steadily over his 20-plus year career -- including high-profile appearances on Kanye West's Cruel Summer, RZA's The Man With the Iron Fists soundtrack and 36 Seasons, his recent collaboration with The Revelations -- 12 Reasons catches the gifted MC at the height of his lyrical prowess. Composer/producer/instrumentalist Adrian Younge represents the next generation of black music producers. His aim is an organic re-appropriation of hip-hop circa the mid-90s. His previous releases, the Black Dynamite soundtrack album (2009) Something About April (2011), and There Is Only Now, his collaboration with Souls Of Mischief (2012), touched on psychedelia, blaxploitation, and the cinematic soul of the 1970s. 12 Reasons was Adrian's first project in which he's immersed himself in the world of hip-hop."
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"Fans who have been waiting for the past two years can finally rejoice: Adrian Younge's and Ghostface Killah's Twelve Reasons To Die II is coming soon. To up the ante this time around, Ghostface has added a very important lyrical companion to the mix: Raekwon. The chemistry that was cemented two decades ago on Rae's classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is as strong as ever, clearly heard on five out of the album's 13 songs. And on the topic of chemistry, executive producer and Wu-Tang patriarch The RZA returns to Part II as the story's narrator. Where the first installment of Twelve Reasons To Die was based in 1960s Italy -- detailing the machinations of the feared DeLuca crime family -- Part II inhabits the grimy streets of mid-1970s New York City. Descendants of the DeLucas are running the city, but a powerful, younger crime syndicate is percolating, commanded by black gangster Lester Kane (personified by Raekwon). As Kane's power grows, he takes on the DeLucas and a bloodbath ensues. Kane has always known the legend of Tony Starks, who was killed by the DeLucas in Italy and whose remains were partially used to create twelve vinyl records. When played back in the 'old world,' the Ghostface Killer rose and destroyed the Italian faction. This plays into the story's conclusion at the end of Part II. The storyline for Part II is vividly brought to life with the help of Younge's never-endingly evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic soul. The music -- on which Younge himself plays upwards of 10 instruments on certain songs -- was recorded strictly on analog tape, to bring out the true grit of the '70s era that provides the Twelve Reasons backdrop. Twelve Reasons To Die II is another heavy feather in the caps of all involved, especially Younge and Ghost, who again poured their skills and intellect into this dramatic and engaging tale. It all fits perfectly into the Wu-Tang family tree as well as Younge's always-expanding musical universe, which now proudly relies on Linear Labs to house it."
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"Adrian Younge announces the release of the instrumentals from Twelve Reasons to Die II. Younge's evocative and unique brand of cinematic, psychedelic Soul makes an instrumental vinyl issue a must have."
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"In less than a year's time, Adrian Younge's Linear Labs imprint has made a very firm impression on fans of forward-thinking, analog-based music from multiple genres. One notable fan, among many, is DJ Premier, who produced his late-2014 PRhyme album exclusively using samples drawn from Younge's catalog. To give fans a chance to revel in Younge's range and -- just as importantly -- give followers a sneak-peek at four impressive 2015 albums, Younge is proud to release the compilation album Los Angeles. On Los Angeles, many hip-hop fanatics will impatiently skip forward to the graceful, galloping, and appropriately dramatic 'Return of the Savage,' from the upcoming Younge-helmed Twelve Reasons to Die II. The song features Ghostface Killah alongside Raekwon and RZA. But track-skippers will soon head back to the album's opener, the dusky, baroque soul of 'Memories of War,' from Something About April II, with vocals by Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. Also a track from the Adrian Younge/Ali Shaheed Muhammad concept album The Midnight Hour, titled 'Feel Alive,' with silky vocals by Karolina, alongside longtime Younge collaborator Loren Oden."
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Instrumental version. "In the four years since Adrian Younge's Something About April album first appeared, the Los Angeles-based producer and multi-instrumentalist has become his own musical cottage industry. Not only has he collaborated with musical legends ranging from The Delfonics to Ghostface Killah, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and The Souls of Mischief; his work has also been sampled by such rap giants as 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Common. In an equally impressive twist, DJ Premier produced an entire album with Younge's work as his only source material (including multiple samples from April, of course): 2014's PRhyme, with MC Royce Da 5'9". Something About April is an album that flaunts all of the trademarks that have made Younge an in-demand name as a composer and sample source-point. His work oozes raw, analog soul and the primal sonic edge of psychedelic rock, sitting nicely alongside Ennio Morricone's best soundtrack work, Pink Floyd's early catalog, and Parliament's Osmium. Younge's songwriting is what truly makes this album unique and keeps ears engaged. While many of his tunes are initially vamp-driven, there are changes and aural twists that lurk around every corner."
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