This record is a story of universal synergy. In 2009, the Wax Poetics Records label, an off-shoot of the renowned music magazine, deviated from its mission to reissue “rare, overlooked, and long-lost albums from the past” by reissuing a jazz-fusion album released just months prior in Japan. 9dw’s self-titled 2xLP, a stunning blend of uptempo drum breaks, funky keys, sharp guitar melodies, and cosmic synthesizer textures, was exceedingly well received by Pittsburgh indie record shop 720 Records and its customers, including the members of the fresh new post-rock and jaz fusion band, Smooth Tutors. For the Smooth Tutors, 9dw’s album represented a shining example of the sound they were in pursuit of, a modern synthesis of styles delivering the endorphin rush of a driving backbeat without sacrificing the sentimentality of a delicate melody. Perhaps part of the reason the sound resonated so heavily is that 9dw (Nine Days Wonder) had also grown out of the hardcore/ indie-rock scene, beginning over a decade prior as a band that sounded more akin to Dag Nasty or Fugazi, releasing albums on the US label Dim Mak, and touring & playing with bands such as No Knife, The Locust, Engine Down, and Burning Airlines. Throughout multiple line-up changes and expanding musical interests, 9dw as always anchored by multi-instrumentalist, Kensuke Saito, who now carries on the banner, steadily recording & releasing 9dw material on his own celebrated independent label, Catune Records. The Smooth Tutors hungrily devoured those releases as well, including an awe-inspiring split EP with Boris, showcasing 9dw’s increasingly dance-oriented sound, and took inspiration from the balance of precision and swing when they recorded their own powerful and funky 2-song 7inch EP for The Harmony Society. It was fate then that, in 2011, Smooth Tutors member, Luke Starcher, while studying abroad in Germany, cut off from America’s usual diet of over-stimulation, would strike up a conversation with Kensuke Saito through the internet music site Soundcloud, and form a fast friendship based on a mutual excitement for the boundless possibilities of music. This record, born out of chance conversation, is a testament to the beautifully complex & mysterious machinations of our strange universe.
Originally released on The Harmony Society Records, these songs are available for the first time digitally since their exclusive vinyl release, now out-of-print.
The Harmony Society is a vinyl record label from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The label was begun to promote and expand on the legacy of quality music and the physical medium of vinyl records.
Other Harmony Society releases include:
HSOC-01 - Buscrates 16 Bit Ensemble - 2-Song 7" EP
HSOC-02 - Smooth Tutors - 2-Song 7" EP
HSOC-03 - Nice Rec - Not Real 7" EP
HSOC-05 - Pittsburgh Track Authority - Now's Tomorrow 12" EP
credits
released March 1, 2013
Written By Matt Brinson, Zachary Curl, Luke Starcher, Tim Vernon
Trumpet On Groove Jam Performed By Oskar Percival Karst
Recorded By Jason Kirker, Preslav Lefterov & Joe Bartolotta at Machine Age Studios in March 2012
Mixed By Zlatan Omeragic Over 2012
Pittsburgh, USA
Thanks to Kensuke Saito, Andrew Burger, Joe V. and Andrew G.
Four killer instrumental funk tracks make up the latest EP from Renegades Of Jazz, deep grooves and crackling beats. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 13, 2023