Milieu - Sunbather's Pharmacopeia Volume 1 (2019)

This collection is the first of two I've assembled specifically for the Touched catalog, and it focuses on the earlier shapes of the Milieu sound, which began in 2004 and is now almost old enough to buy cigarettes. These are all old tracks, and for me, even older, because as many of you reading this know by now, Milieu moves through records at the speed of light. Many of them were recorded before fidelity was part of the workflow, and before "mastering" was even in my vocabulary. There's also a lot of obvious (to me) influences at play here - see if you can notice them. Martin has been a Milieu fan for almost as long as I've been at it, and this collection exists because of his enthusiasm and invitation. Hopefully, the music does not overstay its welcome, and offers both longtime listeners and newcomers a colorful experience, riding as sleepy passengers through the tropical hues of sunwarmed melodies, stoned funk bass and tape-rusted drums. The tracks presented here have also been selected to augment/expand the Butcher Block Andromeda album, a triple-disc 50-track 10-year anniversary set that already planted a flag in the sand for a "beginner's guide" to Milieu a few years back. There is no overlap with that set, so continue on dear listener! Colorful waves await!
--Brian Grainger, Ohio, 2019