About this item

Goatherder is the seventh album from underground London producer Kristian Craig Robinson, AKA Capitol K. Along with everything from Chinese pop to the marching band music of the United Arab Emirates in his early musical vocabulary, the influence of rave, new wave, grunge, and noise-core would collide to create a bold new sound. His early studio experiments gave birth to his debut, "Sounds of the Empire" (Planet Mu, 1999) built upon a heady balance of samples and live sources that placed Capitol K at the forefront of the UK's electronic scene. The follow-up, 2002's "Island Row", was released via XL Records, with lead single "Pillow" becoming a daytime Radio 1 crossover. "Nomad Junk" (2005) combined Asian field recordings into a vibrant psychedelic collage, while "Notes From: Life On The Wire With A Wrecking Ball" (2008) paid homage to London’s squats and free anarchistic artistic spaces of which K was a part for many years. "Andean Dub" (2012) was an exploratory South American-influenced album of heavy synth laden cumbia sound system tracks.

This latest work was developed and recorded in his native Malta, where he built a studio in a cave (a former goat stable). K gathered bamboo instruments collected around the world, including an ancient Quecha reeded pipe (his new-found lead instrument), and various resonating vessels and percussive objects including dry fennel storks collected from Punic troglodyte sites, and atonal flutes built from fresh cut farmland reed. Ritualistic improvisations took place over a series of seasonal visits, awakening genetic memory and plant communication. Back in London the tracks were interfaced and expanded with post-industrial machine beat and bass guitar lock down. Homage is paid to New Age synthscapes, while a spirit jazz overtone arrives from K's recent years as the sonic muscle behind a plethora of luminous albums born in his Total Refreshment Studio. Goatherder follows on from the 2016 collaborative incarnation "Loose Meat" and sonically abridges 2012's Capitol K album "Andean Dub". 

TRACK LISTING

1. Goatherder 3:34
2. Landlocked 4:00
3. Building Fire 4:27
4. Swirling Torrents 3:15
5. Fennel Dance 2:45
6. Field Walk 3:04
7. Island Is Ransacked 2:16
8. Sunset 2:29
9. Plant Communication 3:51
10. Collective Farming 4:09
11. Lament 2:09