TAKE A TRIP… TO THE MOON!

The enigmatic and eclectic GHOST FUNK ORCHESTRA is the  brainchild of composer/multi-instrumentalist SETH APPLEBAUM. At the last count GFO numbered ten and Mr A is steadfast in refusing to put the collective  into a pigeon hole. If you know their last album, ‘A New Kind Of Love’  you’ll know that the band  deliver all kind of everything – soul, psych rock, salsa, funk, soundtracks, jazz and beyond.

Hear that and a whole lot more on GFO’s latest long player ‘A Trip To The Moon’. I  guess we could call  the set a “concept album” in as much as it (kind of) describes, yes, a trip to the moon.

Putting the album together has been a  labour of love for Applebaum who has composed, produced and arranged the whole mission. He’s always had a fascination with space and space travel so making an album on that theme was always on the cards. Midway through penning the instrumentals which would become the backbone of the album though, Seth  became aware that Internet Archive had made the sound footage of the historic  Apollo to Mission Control transmissions accessible in the public domain.  Thus, he ambitiously  decided to use that narrative as a binder/linkage for the music on the album and those authentic sound bites pepper and give a real unity to the 15 tracker. Then, to add even more authenticity, he blended his knowledge of digital recording techniques with orchestrations incorporating  60s & 70s analogue keyboards and the guitar sounds reminiscent of early surf bands from the 50s and 60s.  You  can imagine he’s created quite a cocktail!

This one (like those heroic Apollo Missions) isn’t for the faint hearted but if you have adventurous you may want to investigate! It’s a real a psych odyssey and good to go via Colemine Records on  February 23rd.

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