ROMAN ANGELOS AND SCOTT SOLTER “SWIMMING THROUGH THE AISLES (TEEMING MIX)”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
Today we venture into territory that straddles that sweet divide between chill and lounge music, although the song we have the pleasure of introducing you to today also has a distinct retro-futuristic elements to it and, a very aquatic sensation that runs throughout. While an easy listen, it’s somewhat harder to describe this music in words. Like mercury running along an angle, it’s nature and the words to encapsulate its sound, remain somewhat elusive, impossible to capture.
NYC-based electronic artist Roman Angelos and producer / engineer Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Maps & Atlases, Spoon, Superchunk, The Mountain Goats) have teamed up with London-based label Happy Robots Records to release the album Supermarkets, Underwater album This announcement brings reason for celebration among fans of such artists as AIR, Burt Bacharach, Stereolab, Brian Eno, Sven Libaek, Michael Brook and Vangelis.
We present the far-from-ordinary lead track “Swimming Through The Aisles (Teeming Mix)”, a delightful nostalgia-inducing instrumental exploration of movement and fluidity that is highly memorable and grounding and even achieves sonic harmony between the different instruments used and the upbeat ticker-type sound added by Solter in this rework on the original track, found on Roman Angelos’ 2022 sophomore album Music For Underwater Supermarkets.
This 9-track collection comes one year after that album’s release, which combines electronica and exotica, painting a sonic dreamscape transposing the mundane act of grocery shopping to an aquatic utopian landscaping.
Exploring Roman’s obsession with the library and soundtrack music, with unfashionable sonic influences from Burt Bacharach to Vangelis, this record was brilliantly received with Electronic Sound Magazine describing it as “an album of splendid vibes”.
Roman Angelos is the nom de plume of Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Rich Bennett, developed as a vehicle to explore his obsession with library recordings of the 60’s and 70s, muzak and exotica. Exotic, dreamy, and wistful, this is the sound of a jazz sextet as channeled through synths and drum machines, creating a spacey feel.
Supermarkets, Underwater is a fully reimagined remix of the original album from producer/engineer Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Maps & Atlases, Spoon, Superchunk, The Mountain Goats). Flipping the script, Solter takes the bouncy and upbeat material of the original album, creating a darker and more ambient landscape. Weaving in noise and shifting electronic percussion, it’s an entirely new record. Listeners dive deeper into unknown waters, no longer shopping alongside the friendly fish.
The original recordings were produced by Rich Bennett at Acme Hall Studios in Brooklyn and were recorded live to tape, all together in one room, by Colin Marston (Jarboe, Sailors With Wax Wings).
Beyond the world of library electronica, Rich Bennett has been involved in a diverse group of musical projects, including the newly reunited outsider / 60s proto-punk group The Shaggs, dream pop outfit Mahogany, and Brazilian funk group Limoncello, in addition to production work with Stereolab’s Morgane Lhote (aka Hologram Teen).
Roman’s previous releases for Happy Robots have gained praise from Electronic Sound Magazine, Hi-Fi World, Shindig! Magazine, The Electricity Club, Freq and The Haunted Generation, as well as BBC6 Music radio play from Gideon Coe, Cerys Matthews and Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone, plus Bob Fisher (BBC Tees).
On April 26, “Swimming Through The Aisles (Teeming Mix)” will be available everywhere digitally, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The Supermarkets, Underwater album will be released on May 19 via Happy Robots Records with distribution by Cargo Records. The CD version will be available exclusively from https://happyrobotsrecords.bandcamp.com
In June 2023, Roman Angelos will be touring select UK cities with Happy Robots labelmate Rodney Cromwell, performing in London, Coventry, Reading and Todmorden. Tickets may be obtained at www.happyrobots.co.uk/tickets.
Credits
All remixes by Scott Solter
Written by Rich Bennett and Scott Solter
Produced by Rich Bennett at Acme Hall Studios, Brooklyn
Original recordings by Colin Marston
Released by Happy Robots Records (Catalogue No. Bot39a)
Distribution by Cargo Records
Cover artwork by Martin J Langthorne
Photography and video by Ammo d’Or
Also enjoy Roman Angelos’ previous (and equally great) album:
Roman Angelos
[Single]
(Happy Robots Records)
Release Date: April 26, 2023
Supermarkets, Underwater Track Listing
1. Foghorns (Low Order Mix)
2. Entrance (Solution Dilution Mix)
3. The Looking Glass (Agile Peer Mix)
4. Swimming Through The Aisles (Teeming Mix)
5. Dreaming in the Lake (Palsied Mirror Mix)
6. Abyssal Plain (Backmasking Mix)
7. The Aimless Aquanaut (Riptide and Rumble Mix)
8. Le Plongeur (Pearlescent Pulses Mix)
9. Underwater Supermarkets (Thierry de Mer Mix)
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Michael Bennett
SPILL EP PREMIERE: RODNEY CROMWELL – MEMORY BOX (REMIXES)
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: MOOD TAEG – EXOPHORA
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: ALICE HUBBLE – “KICK THE HABIT”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: ARTHUR & MARTHA – “ULTRA-ALLIANCE”
