*announcing* Ben Lumsdaine - Murmuration Without End /// Cassette/Digi Album out December 8th /// Plus "A Moment of Discovery" in Tracing the Lines
*announcing* IARC0075
Ben Lumsdaine
Murmuration Without End
Cassette & Digital album out December 8th, 2023
Today we're thrilled to announce an immersive debut work from a new artist on the label – Bloomington, Indiana raised, Los Angeles, California based producer, composer, percussionist & multi-instrumentalist Ben Lumsdaine.
The album is called Murmuration Without End and will be released on cassette & digitally December 8th, 2023. The album's lead single “Dallas” is available now on all digital music platforms
Murmuration Without End is a collection of rhythmic studies that began as meditative synth drones recorded by Lumsdaine when quarantined in the basement studio of his friend’s home. Over time Lumsdaine's work grew into multi-textural, poly-rhythmic sound worlds as he disrupted the meters and pulses implied by the synths’ inherent modulations with each instrumental layer added. He also enlisted guest musicians to help him achieve this, including saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi (Bon Iver, Bill Callahan), trumpeter John Raymond (S. Carey, Sara Bareilles), and guitarist Drake Ritter (Durand Jones, Diane Coffee).
Inspired by the vibrance of Cuban bata rhythms, Lumsdaine set himself to construct music that has a clear pulse but a fairly indiscernible downbeat, and ultimately makes an articulate artistic expression about finding peace within the unknown. The way he achieves this with an uncommon palette is particularly impressive on Murmuration Without End, especially considering that, as a working musician, Lumsdaine’s primary instrument is a traditional drumkit (hear his drum ming on albums by Durand Jones, Chris Schlarb, Anna Butters, and Bex Burch); but in the context of this album, he challenged himself to completely refrain from playing his drums.
Lead Single "Dallas" out on all DSPs today
The album’s lead single “Dallas” perfectly encapsulates the musical approach that Lumsdaine took to the music of Murmuration Without End, as the piece begins with an looping, descending synth line in an off-meter. The pulse is progressively reframed and rephrased with every polyrhythmic instrumental sound added - some textural, some melodic - including voice, saxophone, hand percussions, and bass.
** deluxe cassette tape **
Murmuration Without End is available on a pro-dubbed C64 cassette tape in a Cactus Flower orange shell, housed in a transparent Norelco box with CMYK J-Card. Full album audio on both A+B sides of the cassette. MFG in Canada.
((( photo by Anna Powell Denton )))
<< About Ben Lumsdaine >>
Ben Lumsdaine is a drummer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, mixer and producer. In 2017, Lumsdaine founded Call & Response, a concert series in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. He led the house band in weekly performance, regularly featuring saxophonist Walter Smith III and trumpeter John Raymond. As series curator and promoter, Lumsdaine maintained a concert schedule featuring regional and national acts through 2019.
His work as an audio engineer and mixer includes albums by International Anthem artists Daniel Villarreal, Jeremiah Chiu, and Bex Burch, as well as Edith Judith, Central Heat Exchange, and Mike Adams at His Honest Weight.
His drumming can be heard on hundreds of recordings, including albums by Anna Butterss, Barrie, Wallows, Psychic Temple, and the Blockhouse Country Band — a group Lumsdaine founded alongside longtime Indiana collaborators which has released three volumes of classic country songs to date. As a producer, he has worked with Kevin Krauter, Oreo Jones, Small Forward, Heaven Honey, Steve Marino, Volunteer Department, and Rodeola. Lumsdaine produced, engineered, mixed, and performed on Durand Jones’s 2023 solo debut Wait Til I Get Over.
** Tracing the Lines **
Ben Lumsdaine & Will Miller (of Resavoir) in Conversation
For an upcoming new edition of our label’s zine Tracing the Lines, Lumsdaine went deep into conversation with fellow producer/composer Will Miller, talking about production techniques, creative and musical approaches, and a lot about how those played into Miller’s new Resavoir LP (released last Friday November 3rd). In honor of Lumsdaine’s new album announcement today, and Resavoir’s new album release from last Friday, we’ve published the piece in the online version of Tracing the Lines.
