A soundcloud link of ‘How’ caught the ear of DJ and producer Erol Alkan, who promptly signed Ghost Culture to Phantasy off the back of that single track. “I was intrigued by who the person behind this song was. They had written a song which I felt was familiar, yet fused two different musical references. My first thought was that this is what The Strokes would have sounded like, had they been produced by Delia Derbyshire”. The young artist was then invited to join Alkan in the label’s own Phantasy Sound studio, where they would both develop, build and mix the ten songs into this album. A creative journey which lead Erol to state that “This first album is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much amazing music coming out of him.”
His debut release, “Mouth” sold out within a matter of days, garnering praise from DJs and journalists and becoming a sought after commodity amongst record collectors. Dance music institution Mixmag were effusive in their praise, awarding the release their “Tune Of The Month Award” and describing its “atmospheric, moody and emotional” sound as sitting somewhere between “Deetron and Depeche Mode”. Second single “Guidecca” confirmed Ghost Culture’s songwriting talent and production expertise and garnered further rave reviews from the music press. Dubbed “delightfully woozy” by Pitchfork and described by Dummy magazine as a “jerky electro pop earworm that just gets better with every listen”, this sophomore release saw the producer carving out a niche between genres that was all his own. The brooding “Arms” followed, a queasy combination of early electro, dub techno and gloomy synth pop which seduced listeners with its outsider charm and paved the way for Ghost Culture’s debut LP. Alongside these impressive singles, the album boasts quaalude laced lullabies (“How”, “Glaciers”, “Lying”), machine funk shufflers (“Lucky”, “Answer”) and the gorgeous album closer “The Fog”, as the producer leads us on a textured journey from the intensity of the dancefloor to the moonlit intimacy of the bedroom.
“I have always had an itch that needed scratching. Music that needed rather than wanted to come out. I find myself within myself, words rhythm and melody that urges to take up the form of a recording and become something tangible.” – Ghost Culture
Ghost Culture is a bedroom auteur in the lineage of Arthur Russell and Elliot Smith but with Whitey’s record collection and a Korg Mono/Poly as his muse. This winter will see the him head out of his bedroom and into the wider world as he takes a live audio visual experience on the road, sharing his talent and passion with us all.
Ghost Culture is currently signed to Because.
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