Out this Friday: LA quintet SML's debut LP 'Small Medium Large'
IARC0085
SML
Small Medium Large
LP / CD / DD
out this Friday June 28th, 2024
(( full album will be available on streaming platforms July 9th ))
Releasing worldwide on vinyl LP, compact disc, and digital download this Friday, June 28th: Small Medium Large by SML, a new quintet stacked with luminaries from Los Angeles’s jazz, improvised, indie and modern music scenes: bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann.
"One of the Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2024" - Pitchfork
"...like Sonic Youth jamming with Parliament/Funkadelic" - If Its Too Loud
"...fertile, relentless improvisation" - NY Times
"SML are obviously feeling the funk.” - Stereogum
"...acidic fusion with icy synth pulses, guitar skronk, and staticky ambience" - Broadway World
((( photo courtesy of Family Store Records and Gallery, Brighton UK )))
!!! Buy it IRL !!!
Small Medium Large is available in record stores across the globe this Friday. Please consider showing your friendly neighborhood small business some love, head out and grab a copy from an independent record shop this weekend!
If you don't know where to go, below (and here on our site) is a list of places we've confirmed have stocked the album in their stores this weekend.
Amsterdam, NL - Rush Hour Records
Asheville, NC - Harvest Records
Atlanta, GA - Criminal Records
Austin, TX - End of An Ear
Baltimore, MD - Sound Garden
Berkeley, CA - Amoeba Music
Berlin, DE - Morr Music
Berlin, DE - HHV
Berlin, DE - Rough Trade
Berlin, DE - Dussmann
Bochum, DE - Bahlo Records
Biarritz, France - Aberdeen Records
Brest, France - Bad Seeds Record Shop
Brighton, UK - Family Store Records
Brisbane, AU - Quiet Storm Records
Bristol, UK Rough Trade
Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade
Calgary, Alberta - Blackbyrd Myoozik
Chalon-sur-Saône, France - Sympathy for the Vinyl
Charlotte, NC - Lunchbox Records
Chattanooga, TN - Yellow Racket Records
Cheltenham, UK - Badlands Records
Chemnitz, DE - Underworld Records
Chicago, IL - 606 Records
Chicago, IL - Laurie's Planet of Sound
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records (Belmont)
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records (Loop)
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records (Wicker Park)
Cincinnati, OH - Shake It
Cologne, DE - Hauptsache Musik
Cologne, DE - Parallel Schallplatten
Davenport, IA - Ragged Records
Dearborn, MI - Dearborn Music
Denver, CO - Twist & Shout
Denver, CO - Wax Trax
Dublin, Ireland - Freebird Records
Dublin, Ireland - Tower Records
Durham, NC - Carolina Soul Records
Düsseldorf, DE - A&O Medien
Edmonton, AB - Listen Records
Encinitas, CA - Lou's Records
Éragny, France - Le Grand Cercle
Freiburg, DE - Flight 13 Records
Fulda, DE - Marleen Schallplatten
Georgsmarienhütte, DE - JPC
Glasgow, UK - Monorail Music
Glasgow, UK - Some Great Reward
Grand Rapids, MI - Vertigo Music
Guadalajara, Mexico - Tea Recs
Hamburg, DE - Michelle Records
Hillsborough, NC - Volume Hillsborough
Houston, TX - Cactus Music
Iowa City, IA - Record Collector
Jerome, AZ - Puscifer
Kansas City, MO - Mills Record Company
Kingston, ON - Something Else Records
Lawrence, KS - Love Garden Sounds
Le Mans, France - Unik Music
Lille, France - Besides Records
Little Canada, MN - Cheapo Discs
Little Rock, AR - Control
Liverpool, UK - Rough Trade
London, UK - Level Crossing Records
London, UK - Phonica Records
London, UK - Sounds of the Universe
London, UK - Stranger Than Paraside
London, UK - World of Echo
Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Music
Lyon, France - Sofa Records
Madison, WI - B-Side Records
Madison, WI - Strictly Discs
Manchester, UK - Piccadilly Records
Medford, OR - Biscuits & Vinyl
Milwaukee, WI - Lilliput Records
Milan, IT - Serendeepity
Minneapolis, MN - Electric Fetus
Montpellier, France - Le Discopathe
Montreal, QC - Atom Heart
Montreal, QC - Phonopolis
Montréal, QC - Sonorama Disques
Montreal, Quebec - Le Vacarme
Mulhouse, France - Le DéTour
Munich, DE - Echt Optimal! Schallplatten
Nashville, TN - Grimey's
New London, CT - The Telegraph
Norridge, IL - Rolling Stones Record Store
Nottingham, UK - Rough Trade
Nuremberg, DE - mono-Ton
Oak Park, MI - Street Corner Music
Olympia, WA - Rainy Day Records
Orlando, FL - Park Ave. CD's
Ottawa, Ontario - Birdman Sound
Parchim, DE - Decks Records
Paris, France - Bar Italia Records
Paris, France - FNAC Forum des Halles
Paris, France - Gibert Joseph
Paris, France - Le Silence de la Rue
Paris, France - Pop Culture Shop
Phoenix, AZ - Stinkweeds
Phoenix, AZ - Zia Records
Pittsburgh, PA - The Government Center
Portland, OR - Everyday Music
Portland, OR - Music Millennium
Portland, OR - Speck's Records & Tapes
Princeton, NJ - Princeton Record Exchange
Rennes, France - Blind Spot
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC - Le Noise
San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Music
San Francisco, CA - Stranded Music
San Luis Obispo, CA - Boo Boo Records
Scottsdale, AZ - Passenger Seat Records
Seattle, WA - Silver Platters
Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom Records
St. Louis, MO - Euclid Records
Tokyo, JP - rana musica
Toronto, ON - Sonic Boom
Totnes, UK - Drift Records
Troy, NY - Sound House Records
Utrecht, NL - Dig It! Records
Vancouver, BC - Audiopile Records
Ventura, CA - Salzer's
Vienna, AT - Schall & Rausch Tonträger
Wallingford, CT - Redscroll Records
West Lafayette, IN - Von's Records
Wheeling, WV - Nail City Record
Whitstable, UK - Gatefield Sounds
Wilmington, NC - Yellow Dog Discs
Winooski, VT - Autumn Records
(Virtual) Album Listening Party
on Bandcamp
This Friday, June 28, 2024
10am Los Angeles, 12pm Chicago, 6pm London
We’re celebrating the release of 𝙎𝙈𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙈𝙀𝘿𝙄𝙐𝙈 𝙇𝘼𝙍𝙂𝙀 with a virtual party on our Bandcamp page. We'll listen to the album in its entirety, with members of 𝗦𝗠𝗟 attending live in the chat.
LA Release Shows
July 8th & 9th at Zebulon
!!! 𝗦𝗠𝗟 𝗶𝗻 𝗟os Angeles !!! keeping with the band’s tradition of only ever doing two night stands + two sets each night... they’ll be doing just that, July 8th & 9th, to celebrate the impending release of their new LP. To make it even more special, they’ll be setting up *in the round*, and night one will also feature DJ sets by our big brother Jeff Parker, with night two featuring DJ sets by founder/owner of our beloved bygone ETA, Ryan Julio. Both shows are 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 — although RSVPs are encouraged, as the list is filling up already...
Warm Love, Cool Dreams
BIG show in Chicago
Sept 29th @ The Salt Shed
SML is part of an incredible new festival happening at the Salt Shed in Chicago, featuring a ton of heavy hitters including Floating Points, Kelela, and the legendary Jesus Lizard. On Sunday September 29th, SML will do their Chicago debut AND they will also perform as the backing band for dub/reggae queen Sister Nancy (!!!)
((( Photo by Joyce Kim )))
About SML
SML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann.
Their debut album Small Medium Large began as a collection of long form improvisations recorded by the group during two separate two-night stands at beloved Highland Park, Los Angeles venue ETA. Unfortunately, this major development site for the burgeoning new West Coast jazz & improvised music sound closed its doors permanently at the end of 2023. The venue, perhaps best known outside of LA for Jeff Parker's 2022 album Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, was the perfect location for the start of SML, especially given that both bassist Anna Butterss and saxophonist Josh Johnson are part of Parker's quartet that held down a regular gig at ETA since the venue's early days (and hence thoroughly documented, heard on Parker's album).
Small Medium Large was engineered and recorded in stereo direct to Nagra by Bryce Gonzales and compiled, arranged, and edited with additional production, recording, and studio composition by SML across their various home studios. While editing, chopping, and rearranging stereo mixed improvisations is hardly a new idea (for a modern and relevant example we can look to Makaya McCraven's output on IARC) these results are a stunning expansion of the Teo Macero / Miles Davis editing concept explored on classics like In a Silent Way, On The Corner, and Get Up With It. Stylistically though, these recordings have more in common with the proto-trance repetitions of Harmonia, and with Holgar Czukay's re-assembly technique used in his work with Can. Throw in a supremely intuitive utilization of polyrhythmic floating patterns (a la Susumu Yokota), and the result is a truly innovative take on time-clocked electronic rhythms augmented with live instrumentation that never loses that elusive human sway.
It's a sublime assemblage of circulatory grooves and textural anomalies bewitched by swirls of modular synthesis, at different moments recalling the the jagged dance-punk of Essential Logic, the rhythmic revelry of Fela Kuti, the low-end elasticity of Parliament/Funkadelic, or the glitchy dub techno of Pole. Taken in totality, the album captures a euphoric creative synchronicity between some of today's most exciting musicians.
Purchase Small Medium Large as part of the
Summer Mini Mondo Bundle
For the fervent, faithful collector of our output.
Due to the popularity of our last two MONDO bundles, we’ve decided to keep the seasonal bundle series rolling. This new 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝙀𝙍 𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙄 𝙈𝙊𝙉𝘿𝙊 contains all three of our albums to-be-announced across Summer 2024... with a couple BIG extras this time: (𝟭) 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 *𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗪𝗜𝗗𝗘, and (𝟮) 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝗨 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲, in addition to the US & UK warehouses, which will help to minimize VAT tax etc !!!
All items with ship together in one package around August 1st, 2024, just in time for the worldwide street date of album #2. Note, this means that you will indeed receive album #1 ~four weeks after the street date, BUT it also means that you will receive album #3 ~four weeks BEFORE its street date. Bandcamp downloads will be sent via email for all the releases by or before the ship date.
Order the Summer Mini Mondo on limited edition color vinyl here.
Order the Summer Mini Mondo on classic black vinyl here.
(No CD bundle this time, sorry...)
*re: FREE SHIPPING, due to a technical nuance that’s not worth describing here, we had to charge atleast .50 cents, so please don’t be alarmed : )
*Deluxe Vinyl Package*
Sedimentary Orange color vinyl
Small Medium Large comes on 140-gram vinyl (pressed by Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST) inside a heavyweight reverse board jacket, with our IARC obi strip and poly-lined dome patterned innersleeve.
We also have a limited edition color vinyl option, for the first pressing only, with 444 copies of *Sedimentary Orange* color vinyl available via our Bandcamp page.
Distribution via RedEye for US, Canada, North & South America
This album will also be available on CD, Cassette, and Classic Black Vinyl (same package specs as listed above).
Retailers in the United States or Canada or anywhere else inside of North, South and Central America... Please reach out to your sales rep at RedEye Worldwide if you are interested in making wholesale purchases of this album, or any other album in our catalog. Don't yet have a RedEye rep? Please just reach out to us and we'll get you hooked up!
Distribution via !K7 for Europe, UK, Australia, and ROW
This album will be distributed by our good friends at !K7 and their various territory partners in Europe, UK, Australia, and everywhere else in the world outside of North & South America.
If you are a retailer or store with questions about wholesale or are just looking to get some of our records... we'd like to make things as easy for you as possible, please do not hesitate to reach out!!!
((( Photo by Brian Guido )))
