Khruangbin Announce Late Night Tales Mix, Out December 4th, and Share Kool & The Gang Cover
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Late Night Tales is pleased to announce its latest installment to its long-running artist-curated mix series, this time curated by Khruangbin, the trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums). Having first come to prominence in 2013 when producer and D.J. Bonobo included Khruangbin’s “A Calf Born in Winter” in his own collection of songs for the series, the little known Houston trio had yet to release an album, but have since gone on to become international superstars forming their own exotic, individual sound. Most recently, they released Mordechai, “a nostalgic LP that explores human memory” (The New York Times). “Late Night Tales is such a special thing to be a part of, because we wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for Bonobo’s Late Night Tales,” says Khruangbin. “Because that’s how we got into the LNT family – and got a break.”
In conjunction with the announcement, Khruangbin share their horizontally brilliant cover of Kool & The Gang’s “Summer Madness,” exclusive to their mix, as is Late Night Tales tradition.
“‘Summer Madness’ became a staple in this medley that we play,” says Johnson. “Specifically, one of my favourite things about it is the tone of the bass, which really reminds me a lot of Laura Lee’s bass which has this chunky, peanut butter, rich tone. It was always a special moment, getting to that song because, it just did something to the room, everywhere.” Laura Lee continues: “‘Summer Madness’ was paying homage to Kool & The Gang, a band we aspire to be like and also we’ve played it a hundred times but never in full.”
With a mind-blowing selection of tracks that cross borders and cultures, Khruangbin’s deep love of global grooves – from Asian pop to Nigerian reggae – Japanese mellow groove to Latina flavas – are steeped in eclecticism; Nazia Hassan’s Hindi-disco “Khushi,” produced by British-Indian legend Biddu, South Korean rock band Sanullim who contribute “Don’t Go,” a pair of African bangers from Nigerian Maxwell Udoh and Roha Band, from Ethiopia; a diversion to Belarus for Песняры and thence to Madrid for the strident vocal performance of Paloma San Basilio with “Contigo” before hightailing back to Texas.
Elsewhere, the Lone Star state reps proudly, with David Marez and Kelly Doyle, while the mix concludes with an exclusive, Khruangbin-produced spoken word piece by Tierney Malone, accompanied by fellow Houstonian Geoffrey Muller’s atmospheric banjo rendering of Erik Satie’s “Gnossienne.”
“We definitely wanted to cover as much global territory as possible,” says Khruangbin of their Late Night Tales mix. “So it was the globe and then home. We wanted to show the treasures from our hometown, or people from our hometown that the rest of the world probably doesn’t know. Then these gems from across the world, showcasing them in the same way. That’s what makes Khruangbin Khruangbin. The stubbornness about being so hometown-centric. But what makes Houston is this constant international influence; that’s the gulf stream, bringing it right into the city.”
The Late Night Tales series was established back in 2001 with Fila Brazilia taking to the controls and mixing up the first of what would continue to be the first choice of music connoisseurs worldwide. Since then, the series has seen releases from the likes of The Flaming Lips, Hot Chip, Floating Points, David Holmes, Bonobo, Jon Hopkins, Röyksopp and many more.