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.