Whatitdo Archive Group’s ‘Palace Of A Thousand Sounds’ – Pop Matters’ best library record of 2023 – gets a super limited edition reissue on clear yellow marble vinyl. 300 copies only, instant collector’s item.
By popular demand, Record Kicks presents a reissue of the highly acclaimed album ‘Palace Of A Thousand Sounds‘ by UScinematic outfit Whatitdo Archive Groupon limited edition clear yellow marble vinyl that drops on June 7th. The albumexplores the worlds of Mid-Century Exotica and Library Music and itwas originally released in May 2023. Unanimously praised by critics and library music fans alike, the vinyl rapidly went sold out and it is now once again available in a new clear yellow marble edition limited to only 300 copies worldwide. It’s an instant collector’s item!
From its conception in 2021, ‘Palace Of A Thousand Sounds‘ has sought to carry on a legacy set in motion by the likes of Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Juan García Esquivel. Korostinsky, guitarist Mark Sexton, and drummer Aaron Chiazza recorded the album in marathon sessions from Korostinsky’s Studio “A,” in Reno, Nevada—a mysterious sonic laboratory where the year 1970 has yet to happen, and vintage analog equipment interfaces with modern musical perspectives and experimental recording techniques to produce era-defining sounds.
Drawing from a century of pop and folk sounds from around the world the way only 21st-century crate-diggers can, ‘Palace‘ is rooted in an undercurrent of heavy funk that is decidedly here and now. Whatitdo Archive Group showcase the breadth of their influences with disarming confidence, equally at home behind sweeping harp, loungey vibraphone or Turkish bağlama saz. A lush seventeen-piece orchestra commanded by award-winning composer Louis King (Janelle Monáe, Monophonics) completes the instrumental mélange, enticing listeners to imagine a borderless planet unified by melody and rhythm.
Once the needle drops, W.A.G carefully guides you from room to room, sound to sound within the walls of the album’s sonic palace. Listening becomes an aural journey providing glimpses into different worlds both real and imagined; you are everywhere and nowhere all at once—a guest in the grand halls and hanging gardens of time and sound.
Steeped in obscurity, a cult following of crate-diggers and musical oddity collectors has been brewing over the mysterious releases of the Whatitdo Archive Group. Surfacing in 2009 from the high deserts of Reno, NV USA, this three-piece recording collective (Alexander Korostinsky, Mark Sexton and Aaron Chiazza) focuses solely on curating, performing and preserving esoteric soundtrack, library and deep-groove collections. As an onlooker, it’s hard to tell whether the music they are procuring is actually archival, music of their own creation, or both. Their debut LP ‘The Black Stone Affair‘, the formerly lost soundtrack music of a once-shelved Italian cinematic masterpiece, was released in 2021 and received praise from the likes of Wall Street Journal, Mojo Magazine, Uncut, Shindig, Blues & Soul Magazine, BBC 6, FIP Radio (FR), KCRW (US), JazzFM (UK) and more. Two years later, the Whatitdo Archive Group returned to venture on an exotic journey with their sophomore full-length effort: ‘Palace of a Thousand Sounds‘.
Reviews:
“Unlike its many retro influences ‘Palace Of A Thousand Sounds’ is consistently darkly funky, with a grittiness even glockenspiels and the odd “open sesame” gong won’t shift. Classily kitsch” Uncut Magazine
“This is exemplary library music of the highest order […] Enter their arcane world and prepare to be dazzled. 5 stars” Blues & Soul
“I could go on forever about this wonderful work of art. ‘Palace Of A Thousand Sounds’ is worth a million words. Best Library Record of 2023” Pop Matters
“From the tiki jungle to the freeway to the boudoir, 360 degrees of listening pleasure, 4/5” Mojo Magazine
“The Nevada collective takes us on a new cinematic journey where the Exotica rises on lush orchestrations and an imperial groove. Album of the month/Sélection FIP” FIP Radio France
“It’s a wonderful meshing of styles and compositional nous that works brilliantly on the likes of opener ‘Enter The Palace’, the shimmering ‘Sun Harp’ and the richly-layered funk of ‘Iron Tusk’, to name but three immersive highlights on an album that’s full of them. 4 stars” Shindig Magazine
“Like thick incense smoke obscuring a telescope’s lens ‘Astral-Desia”s regal groove offers a Bohemian soundscape that’s ideal for both narrative voiceover and psychotropic meditations… Song of the Day and one of the best Albums of the Year” KUTX
“A must-hear album” Kalporz
