MC Masta ace teams up w/ analog players society
“I was trying to avoid writing songs for my album during 2020 because I knew my emotions and strong feelings about the political climate in this country would unavoidably come out in the music. The opportunity to collaborate with Analog Players Society gave me an outlet to voice some of my angst and give a sound to my thoughts from the past year.” - MASTA ACE
Listen the single now here.
You can also catch it as the theme song on the '“Reparations: The Big Payback” Podcast!
Soundtrack for a
Nonexistent Film
Analog Players Society is proud to announce Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film is a nod to the classic, sample-heavy production of Hip-Hop’s Golden Age. Producers Amon Drum and Ben Rubin (aka Benny Cha Cha) went back to the lab to slice and dice the original jazz session, which featured jazz luminaries tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin (David Bowie’s last bandleader on Blackstar), pianist Orrin Evans (the Bad Plus), and bassist Dezron Douglas (Ravi Coltrane) and drummer Eric McPherson (Fred Hersch Trio). The resulting songs reflect the producers’ own takes on this moment. Amon expresses, “Soundtrack” is an emotional, sample-based expression of right fucking now.”
Chase (feat. amon drum)
Analog Players Society is proud to announce “Chase (feat. Amon Drum),” the first single from their upcoming “Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film”. This full record is an instrumental, cinematic, set sampled from the original recording session that birthed TILTED. Since its August release, TILTED was included in Bandcamp’s “best jazz releases” and garnered strong support from Jazziz, Medium, Postgenre.org, NY Music Daily, and The Vinyl District and released November 13 (Nov. 6 on Bandcamp). “Chase” is also accompanied by a music video, Directed by Jude Goergen.
“TILTED” OUT NOW: LISTEN
“TILTED” captures a single live acoustic jazz session that was transformed into the cinematic, loop-based, instrumental, beat-driven fractal art that is the forthcoming “Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film” (releasing on Oct 30, 2020). The albums stand side-by-side to the classic, sample-heavy production of Hip-Hop’s Golden Age. The live jazz recordings put you in the club with the musicians and the remixes put you on the street, deep in our new reality. TILTED features Donny McCaslin (David Bowie’s last bandleader on Blackstar), pianist Orrin Evans (the Bad Plus), the in-demand rhythm section of bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Eric McPherson, and produced by Ben Rubin and Amon Drum.
APS Returns
Analog Players Society was reborn during a live jazz session produced by Ben Rubin (aka Benny Cha Cha) and Amon Drum (aka Amon aka J. Amon) at The Bridge Studio, the hyped, new large-format recording studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn designed and owned by Amon. Ben gathered four of the best jazz musicians in New York City for the occasion: tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin (David Bowie’s last bandleader on Blackstar), pianist Orrin Evans (the Bad Plus), and the in-demand rhythm section of bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Eric McPherson. The result? TILTED, out August 28 2020.
The quest was simple: Play two jazz standards, Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “One Note Samba,” with “E-Mac” (Eric McPherson) keeping “some dirty, boom-bap” in mind whenever possible. The producers’ quest? Capture this session of heavy hitters and then take it back to the lab to slice, dice, loop, dub, and create something totally new for APS’ upcoming release “Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film”. The songs captured in that session ‘written’ in real time, and even resulted in the spontaneous third original, “
Freedom is, but a Fraction of Humanity!”
As Amon puts it, “We relied on what we called, ‘real f’ing jazz,’ where the musicians are only reacting to each other. These are long takes, with no cuts, and no overdubs. One could call them live.”
The session prompted the crew to release the magic that came out of that session, “TILTED”, as a precursor to”Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film”.
APS was founded by producer and recording / mix engineer Amon Drum within his first studio, The Hook. At this hidden gem in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Amon treasured and harnessed the whopping talent and intellect of extraordinary session players from the late Ethan White (Tortured Soul), Will Jones, and Dave Smith (TV On The Radio) John Natchez (The War on Drugs), Jonathan Powell (Eddie Palmieri ), to Cecilia Stalin (Koop) who frequented The Hook for various sessions and hangs. What resulted was a supergroup, which launched with an initial string of sold-out 7” releases, featuring 80’s covers that KCRW broke on the airwaves, stating, “it really is paradise as they take on two 80’s classics and give them a funky makeover. They turn Wang Chung’s “Dancehall Days” into a reggae jam and get extra groovy on Nu Shooz’ “I Can’t Wait”. APS’ follow-up album in 2012, “Hurricane Season in Brooklyn” followed by the West African inspired EP, CYK to JFK, won over DJs, jazz aficionados and frequented dance floors all over the world and resulted in remixes and further collaborations with Soul Clap, J Kriv, and others. Landing 1st on iTunes World charts and hailed and played by countless DJs, Analog Players Society became known for their original one-liner that still holds true today: “State of the art 1970’s technology…Nasty horns...Big drums…Sweaty dance floors...Paradise.”
APS took a brief hiatus when The Hook Studio’s landlord sold the building, forcing Amon to contemplate the trials and tribulations of opening a new recording studio in a challenging NYC real estate landscape. Sure enough, he officially put his stake into the Brooklyn recording studio renaissance by designing, building, and opening one of the city’s rarified big-room recording facilities, The Bridge Studio, in Williamsburg, which has been seen on shows including The Untold Stories of Hip Hop and the Daily Show, and welcomed artists from YEBBA, Mark Ronson, Norah Jones, Parquet Courts, Booker T, Trippie Redd and countless classical, jazz, film, and Broadway projects.