Been meaning to write up something on Kool Music 4’s label, Movie Star , for a while now. It’s the sister label of Arbutus Records. That’s the home of Sean Nicholas Savage, Blue Hawaii, and Tonstartssbandht. It was the home of Grimes (is their Grimes release sold out of physical copies?) before she blew up bigger than the Stay Puffed Man and signed to 4AD. So Arbutus does good stuff — then one day they send out an email saying they’re spinning off Movie Star.
To cover what? Why? You know how corporations sometimes spin off little micro companies that do what the first company does, but to focus on it and do it even better? That’s kind of my feel for Movie Star . It seems like the new stomping grounds for more experimental stuff, which Arbutus always did, but with even less emphasis on packaging the material into traditional pop formats & structures.
Kool Music 4’s Living Alone In The City is a good example. Breezy, sleazy Ariel Pinkish meditations that scrape an ambient texture out of the bottom of the fish barrel without warming up to the level of full pop confection. It’s atmospheric music. "Better Get Hit Diane (I Mean You)" is a slowburning analog lounge groover while "Unbelievable Fingers" cranks up the heat a little higher.
One of the other tracks on the album is 26 minutes, so bring snacks & a beverage if you plan to take this trip. Grab the album at the Arbutus site and, if you’re feeling flush, donate a few bucks for an otherwise free download. By the way, I’m kind of confused about the name of the artist. Sometimes I see it listed as Kool Music, Kool 4, and Kool Music 4 — go figure.
"Better Get Hit Diane (I Mean You)"
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"Unbelievable Fingers"
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