King Britt | photo by John Vettese for WXPN
King Britt brings on summer with new music, reissues and gigs
Philly party rocker and futuristic soundscaper King Britt threw down a remarkable DJ set at Spruce Street Harbor Park on Friday night, kicking off what is set to be a strong series of local artists playing free gigs on the waterfront. It also kicked off what’s shaping up to be a productive summer season for King.
On June 16th, he releases AFTER…, the latest from his exploratory project Fhloston Paradigm. In the past, it’s traveled the haunting and spacious paths of electronic minimalism, creating alluring sci-fi tapestries along with vocalist Pia Ercole. For the new record, King and Ercole bring on a stellar team of other Philadelphia-rooted voices and production collaborators, including Ryat, Tim Motzer, Jacqueline Constance, Kate Faust and Moor Mother. The prelude to the set, “…MATH,” is streaming right now on Bandcamp; stream it and check out the track list below, and grab a pre-order of the record here.
1. …MATH 04:32
2. …LIFE feat PIA ERCOLE
3. …THE STORM feat RYAT
4. …GLOW feat JACQUELINE CONSTANCE
5. …THE FACT feat TIM MOTZER
6. …ALL feat MOOR MOTHER
7. …ALL’S SAID AND DONE feat PETRA & STEPHANIE YU
8. …THE HEARTBREAK feat NOSAJTHING & KATE FAUST
9. …TOUCH feat ALEXA BARCHINI
10. …HOURS feat PUERTO RICAN SPACE PROGRAM
King also has a new reissue in his catalog — a special double vinyl 180gm re-release gatefold of his acclaimed 2004 project, King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan. The story behind this is pretty cool — King discovered a record by the New Orleans painter, poet and street evangelist who in 1969 recorded fourteen gospel songs comprised of only her voice, her footstomps and a tambourine. King released his own adapted version of the album in 2004, setting Sister Gertrude’s recordings to beats and electronic backings he crafted. For the reissue, out via Ace Hotel and Vinyl Me Please, King’s re-working will be paired up with Sister Gertrude’s original. It can be ordered here; a track is streaming below, via Ropeadope.
Lastly: gigs. The release party for the Fhloston Paradigm record happens Tuesday, July 25th at Johnny Brenda’s, and the lineup is stacked — King will be joined by Ryat, Pia Ercole, Moor Mother, Jacqueline Constance, Tim Motzer, and Alexa Barchini, effectively recreating a lot of the album’s nuance in real time. Tickets and more information can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.
There was also talk in the wake of King’s Spruce Street Harbor Park DJ set that he’d be back in the summer, to DJ at the Delaware Waterfront’s RiverRink for a rollerskating party on August 20th. And let me tell you, I am SO. THERE. It’s not officially announced yet, but details on the RiverRink’s activities can be found here.