NOW AVAILABLE! Rah Zen "Upon the Apex" Blue Translucent 180g Vinyl
Light of Day Records Exclusive Limited Edition Press of 500 on 180g Blue Translucent Vinyl with the Bonus Track "1992"!
“A collection of the most innovative beat music to emerge from Boston. Darkness broken into pockets of light; eerie, otherworldly melodies grounded in earthy textures.”
Max Bell, Bandcamp
- Best Beat Tapes on Bandcamp, 2019
- WBUR The ARTery 15 Best Albums Out of Boston 2019
- XLR&R Best Releases of 2019
Available on vinyl for the first time, Upon the Apex maps out Rah Zen’s travels & experiences over a fast paced, transformative period of his life.
Samples lace the entire record, slicing in film interludes, vocal chops, instrument loops & more. It's a perfect reflection of the expansive nature of the music, intertwined into the experiences of being on the road & what led to the final shaping of the record. Through the bulk of the album, Rah Zen navigates a burning hunger for a higher sense of self and explores these corridors of life through '90s era east coast instrumentalism & west coast futurism - his sound is soaked in that resonance.
Upon the Apex ambles with intent, slowing time & radiating through its intense detail. It’s bare & triumphant in the way that the cover art is: Rah Zen gazing out over an expanse of shrubby New Mexico dune, the San Andres Mountains clipping the horizon. The beats swagger & stagger, sometimes through drunken strings, other times through leering bass. Rah Zen renders distinctly human sounds — crinkling paper, jangling keys, the voice of Alfred Hitchcock — otherworldly, yielding songs that feel deeply spiritual. A beat-making polymath at the vanguard of Boston’s burgeoning beat scene, Rah Zen’s relationship with music feels innate, pulsing through his bloodline in an easily traceable way, but also readily apparent in his thought process. He was a listener well before he became a maker.**
** Description compiled from excerpts of writing by Max Bell, Mano Sundaresan and Erik Otis