SCQ Vinyl 'Further Back than the Beginning'

Add to basket£20.00Collectable vinyl edition of the debut release from Speakers Corner Quartet. Only 40 on the shelves! 100% of revenue generated by vinyl sales will go towards building a self-sufficient housing c-op in London!


PAST

Speakers corner quartet started as the house band at the infamous hip hop/spoken word open mic night “speakers’ corner” in Brixton, London. In the beginning the prerequisite of the quartet was to deliver beats to emcees/lyricists at the all night open mic sessions. Imperceptibly the quartet started writing their autochthonous compositions. It was instantaneously envisaged that the quartet had an extended aptitude that transcended backing lyricists. The anomalous line-up (cello, flute, contrabass and drums) required an aberrant approach to composition, using single lines en masse to create chord structures, rather than utilizing a committed harmony instrument. With influences from Zakir Hussain, Olivier Messiaen, Sun Ra, MF Doom to name but a few, the unique sound of the Speakers Corner Quartet is almost impossible to pigeon-hole. An amalgam of Asian-classical-jazz-hiphop, this is true mulatto music.

PRESENT

Further back than the beginning is the incipient E.P from the Speakers Corner Quartet. This E.P is the anterior project for the quartet, a precursor to the album for prospective release later in the year. The product was recorded and mixed by Ahmad Dayes and Jesal Padia in a contemporary home grown savoir-faire and elucidates the philosophy of the quartet and 12tone C.I.C. “Angkor vat” set’s the scene, composed in 5/4 it is a true east and west fusion, with rotund grooves it moves with omnipotence, the cello creates a foundation for the affecting flute to work over, the bass then brings solidity to the composition. “Chichen itza” is another amalgamation the world over with echoes deep in Asia, there is a certain hip hop feel to the groove despite being in 7/8. “King” is the hiatus of the E.P a welcome break from the two previous hard hitters, King grows from the beginning to the end dynamically, a nice half way point to the album. “9/8” is j dilla influenced Saharan swinger in the time signature of 9/8, after the initial hip hop groove it drops into a ride groove with an expeditious descending flute line, the composition then breaks down into a chord based breakdown which finally mushrooms into a solo frenzy at the end. “Simply put” was originally written to support the legendary “Herbie Hancock” at the royal festival hall, one of the most distinguished venues in the capital, a highly melodic piece with strong concept, a palpitating rhythm section breakdown, which then flows into another ebullient solo section, the track was fundamentally composed around a “Herbie Hancock” sample which was then abandoned for copyright purposes, although the name of the piece came from this sample “Simply Put”. This E.P is a taster of things to come, the genesis of something astronomical.

FUTURE:

This ensemble is playing music to help people. Music is a public service and they are firm believers in the mental, physical and spiritual power of the idiom. The main aim of the quartet is to relay truth, wisdom and energy to the listener and allow inspiration to flower. Speakers’ Corner Quartet trusts that through expression, universal transcendence can and will take place.
Add to basket£20.00

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