Close/Far Recordings, a St Louis based label dedicated to championing the city’s sonic experimentalists, has announced a new compilation after a couple of years of silence. Afrofuturism St Louis presents itself as a derivation of the iconic Rhizomatic experimental compilation series by the same label. It was thought out in 2019, but was inevitably delayed due to the difficulties Covid19 eventually presented until now.
This new release features a wide array of St. Louis experimental musicians under the umbrella of Afrofuturism: the pressing ambience of Nadir Smith (also credited for the tape’s 5 panel artwork), the otherworldly flows of Ra Child (covered in long form by STLMR here), the percussive hypnosis of Virgil Work Jr., the electronic accelerations of Parisian, the brutalist abrasion of 18andCounting, and many more sonic palettes all come together to assemble a remarkably promising track list. The digital release is already available for streaming via Close/Far’s Bandcamp.
The cassette tape release is set to coincide with New Music Circle’s premiere of a virtual live performance by Nadir Smith and Virgil Work, Jr. this coming Monday, November 8th, complete with a special introduction by Parisian. The presentation was filmed at St Louis’ iconic skate church Sk8 Liborious on a very hot July afternoon. Watch a promotional video for this virtual concert via New Music Circle’s Instagram, and catch the concert on Monday on NMC’s Youtube channel.
Pre-order the Afrofuturism St Louis cassette via Close/Far here.
Follow New Music Circle on Instagram here.
Listen to Afrofuturism St Louis via Bandcamp below:
The St Louis Music Report 