The Green Kingdom - The North Wind and the Sun (2017)

Extremely limited vinyl LP pressing. The Green Kingdom's The North Wind and the Sun is like a cool breeze on a heated summer day. Perhaps music this gentle feels out of place, even glutinous, given the currently harsh climate of the world, yet the truth may be that we need it now more than ever. Music like this offers an opportunity to pause, to regain our center, to shift focus towards bettering our surroundings versus cursing them. With over a decade of creating albums of the dusted-down ambient electronic variety, The Green Kingdom has finely honed his abilities to express these concepts of transformation in a non-verbal way, utilizing a deft blend of majestic post-rock style guitar, rolling bass and an unusual palette of acoustic instrumentation weaving them into a wide variety of electronic gear and synths. On a mission to find the right dose of aural sanity, Michigan native, Michael Cottone (AKA The Green Kingdom) has experimented with a wide variety of electronic styles from dub to drone, yet his strongest efforts were perhaps born of his electro-acoustic works. His greatest strengths center around his ability to write some of the most ear pleasing melodies imaginable. Of course, here at headquarters we pondered what would happen if Cottone abandoned the majority of his electronic equipment and limited his arsenal to nearly all acoustic instrumentation? Asking Cottone kindly, he obliged. After a number of months of trial and error TGK delivered us this experiment, titled The North Wind and The Sun. We were floored, not only is the music still undeniably that of The Green Kingdom, it seems to exude a new sense of wonder and confidence.

Tracklist:

01. The Green Kingdom - Signs and Wonders
02. The Green Kingdom - The Singing River
03. The Green Kingdom - Rusted Relic I
04. The Green Kingdom - Virescent
05. The Green Kingdom - Unnamed Lands
06. The Green Kingdom - Aventurine
07. The Green Kingdom - The Beacon Tree
08. The Green Kingdom - Rusted Relic II
09. The Green Kingdom - Silt
10. The Green Kingdom - From the Ashes of Industry
11. The Green Kingdom - Ramshacklet
12. The Green Kingdom - Rusted Relic III
13. The Green Kingdom - Children of Light