Pol Maló - Right Into The Sun

Pol Maló
Right Into The Sun
Stern Records
Japan/USA, 1999/2026
2LP

Stern Records unearths a work of mad-scientist-level genius by Pol Maló, originally released on CD-R by Cha-Bashira Records Tokyo in 1999 under the name “Orange Head.”

The album was “Recorded using 3-6 portable record players, plus one MD player on tracks 2 and 4. All records used were melted, warped or broken by briefly placing them on a gas heater. The records were randomly altered this way to allow the styluses to find and stay in their own loops themselves on the wavy record surfaces. No samplers or editing - live aleatoric playback recordings only.”

Based solely on the concept, you might imagine “my kid could do that” results—more fun to think about than listen to. What’s baffling are the lopsided grooves Maló coaxes out of chance, error, and chaos. He comes off like a sexy, Cheshire-grinning version of The Caretaker, ditching those depressing ballroom ‘78s in favor of a few heady world music, exotica, and spoken word crates.

FROM THE LABEL:

Originally released on CD-R in 1999 by Cha-Bashira Records Tokyo under the alias “Orange Head,” this new 2xLP edition features fully remastered audio and new cover art by Pol. This release also includes a special risograph print edition of the original artwork.