| Channel the Spirits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 April 2016 | |||
| Genre | Nu jazz, electronic rock, neo-psychedelia, space rock | |||
| Label | The Leaf Label | |||
| Producer | Danalogue The Conqueror/Betamax Killer | |||
| The Comet Is Coming chronology | ||||
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Channel the Spirits is the first full-length album by London-based band The Comet Is Coming. It was released on 1 April 2016 by The Leaf Label.
Described as a "prophetic document" and "the beginning of the end" by The Leaf Label, Channel the Spirits draws on the same influences of jazz, electronica, psychedelia and sci-fi references as the previous release from The Comet Is Coming, Prophecy . [1] [2] The first single, "Space Carnival", was premiered on The Quietus, who described the track as a demonstration of "the group refining their cosmic jazz stylings". [3]
In an interview with M magazine, band member Betamax Killer said of the album:
Channel The Spirits was meant to be a soundtrack to planet Earth’s doom. To stare death in the face and explore a symphony of human emotions. Panic, hope, defiance, fear, brotherhood and a release from cultural restrictions. We hoped to discover the underlying human power beneath the mundane day-to-day routines of modern life. Through the process of making the record we have been on a journey together through the distant realms of our collective mind. It feels like we have become creative space explorers. [4]
Bearded magazine wrote that "this is a debut album that will leave you dumbfounded, reeling, exhausted and inspired". [5] The Quietus praised the "sense of perspiring, physical energy that pulses through almost everything" and the "outrageous, head-snapping riff and hip-snapping beat[s]" as well as the "echoes...of Space Invaders, 70s sci-fi films, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, post-punk, Fela Kuti, and 80s dance and electronica as well as...Sun Ra, Parliament, and Funkadelic". [6] Penny Black Music called the album "engaging, atmospheric and intoxicating...one of the more forward-thinking and groundbreaking albums you will hear this year...not to be missed". [7]
In August 2016, the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. [8] [9]
| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mojo | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 48 | |
| The Quietus | Albums of the Year 2016 | 2016 | 60 | |
| Uncut | Top 75 albums of the year | 2016 | 71 | |
| Time Out New York | Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 21 | |
| The Line of Best Fit | The Best Fit Fifty Essential Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 44 | |
| Fopp | the best albums of 2016 | 2016 | 89 |
All tracks written by The Comet Is Coming
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Polar Bear is a British experimental jazz band led by drummer Seb Rochford with Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart on tenor saxophone, Tom Herbert on double bass and Leafcutter John on electronics and occasionally guitar or mandolin.
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Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
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Keeley Forsyth is an English actress and musician. She has released the albums Debris (2020) and Limbs (2022).
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Grasscut are a musical group featuring composer/producer Andrew Phillips and musician/writer Marcus O'Dair. Phillips writes and produces all Grasscut music; he also sings and plays various instruments including guitar and keyboards. O'Dair manages the act and contributes keyboards and double bass. They are based in Brighton, England.
The Comet Is Coming was a London-based band who incorporate elements of jazz, electronica, funk and psychedelic rock.
Prophecy is the first release from London-based band The Comet Is Coming. It was released by the Leaf Label digitally and as a 12" vinyl EP on 20 November 2015.
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Varmints is the debut studio album by the Scottish composer and electronica musician Anna Meredith, released on 4 March 2016 on Moshi Moshi. The album won Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2016.
Death to the Planet is an EP by British jazz/electronica trio The Comet Is Coming. It was released by The Leaf Label as part of Record Store Day 2017.
Shabaka Hutchings is a British jazz musician, composer and bandleader. He leads the band Shabaka and the Ancestors, and used to lead Sons of Kemet before its dissolution in 2022. He is also a member of The Comet Is Coming, performing under the stage name King Shabaka. Hutchings has played saxophone with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Floating Points, Mulatu Astatke, Polar Bear, Melt Yourself Down, Heliocentrics, London Brew and Zed-U.
Promises is a 2021 studio album by the British electronic musician Floating Points, the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra. It was released on 26 March 2021 through the New York label Luaka Bop. It consists of a single 46-minute composition noted for its "dreamlike" quality. The album has received acclaim from music critics, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Mercury Prize. Promises was the final album Sanders released before his death in 2022.
