JOVM mainstay outfit Ghost Funk Orchestra originally started as a one-man recording project, helmed by its creative mastermind, composer and multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum. Since then, the project has evolved into a full-fledged 10 member, powerhouse band that fleshes out Applebaum’s vision — a sonic kaleidoscope that defies genre specifications, but draws deeply from soul, psych rock, psych soul and more.
“Ocotillo” is Ghost Funk Orchestra’s first bit of new, original since the release of 2024’s A Trip to the Moon. Opening with shimmering and strutting Rhodes, “Ocotillo” continues an incredible run of mind-bending yet cinematic soul with the song evoking sultry and stifling heat, dusty blacktop in front of you and in the rearview, rest stops, highway signs, trees and small towns flash by in a blur of dizzying sameness before finally getting a reprieve — through rain or higher altitude or the like.
“The ocotillo is an imposing figure, tall and reminiscent of a torch. I dedicated this song to the desert dwelling plant after a particularly challenging tour that took our band through the southwest,” Ghost Funk Orchestra’s Seth Applebaum explains. “After days of unbearable heat and humidity, reaching New Mexico surprisingly gave us some reprieve. After landing at the venue in Silver City, I took a walk to clear my head and observe the scenery as the mountain climate provided a more manageable atmosphere to exist and reflect in.”
Ghost Funk Orchestra founder, creative mastermind, composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum has always had a latent fascination with space and space travel. Midway through writing the arrangements, which would comprise the material of the band’s fifth album, On a Trip To The Moon, Applebaum became aware that Internet Archive had made the recordings of the Apollo to Mission Control transmissions accessible in the public domain. Once he started listening to those recordings, it gave the Ghost Funk Orchestra mastermind the idea of using the recordings as a narrative binder for the music, which he was working on at the time.
The process was painstaking. The recordings were frequently filled with long silences, punctuated by surprisingly casual commentary on the cosmos. Applebaum’s commitment to the voyage managed to draw him into a sort of historical tourism, in which he studied film, photos, and music from the era. And as he did so, he was struck by the gusto with which new technology was embraced in pop culture of the day, and he honors that tradition by skillfully blending digital recording techniques to cobble together arrangements incorporating 60s and 70s analog keys and guitar sounds that bring early surf bands from the 50s and 60s. The album’s material also nods to 90s surf punk band Man or Astro-man?, who used vintage sound bites in their music, tying together cosmologically themed concept albums together with clips from vintage sci-fi and B movies. This is also informed by Applebaum’s religious listening to Little Steven’s Underground Garage radio show, which also used soundbites from films and TV shows as a container for a body of music.
As the 15 compositions, which comprise the band’s forthcoming fifth album took shape, Applebaum brought the rest of the band, string arrangements from Will Marshal and a talented crew of collaborators including Megan Mancini (vocals), Romi Hanoch(vocals), Stephen Chen (saxophone), Billy Aukstik (trumpet), Mike Sarason (flute), James Kelly (trombone), Stuart Bogie (reeds) into the studio with a newfound confidence acquired by heavy touring to support 2022’s A New Kind of Love. Sonically, A Trip To The Moon is a departure from the clean production of their predecessors, as the the sessions players were allowed to let it rip, breathing life and their personal voices into the material.
Last month, I wrote about A Trip To The Moon‘s first single, the cinematic instrumental track “To The Moon!” Beginning with the transmissions of the Apollo crew to Mission Control, you hear a member of the Apollo crew remark that they’re flying over The Canary Islands before dramatic drumming, a slithering bass line and quivering keys set up a dreamy introduction. At the 45 second mark, a swaggering horn line and funk jazz guitar lines burst into the scene, creating the sense that the listener might be listening to the soundtrack to one of the greatest stories ever told, the creation and the eventual exploration of the cosmos by humankind or an episode of Star Trek. The composition ends with a mind-bending Dark Side of The Moon/Wish You Were Here guitar solo that gently fades out into the ether.
The composition seems to accurately capture a period specific sense of hope that science and technology could solve humanity’s most pressing problems, while doing some incredibly cool stuff. If only it were that easy, right?
A Trip To The Moon‘s second single “Again” is a swooning and uneasy fever dream of bitter heartache, cynicism delivered with a soulful, seemingly lived-in experience. Beginning with Apollo and Mission Control banter, dreamily strummed and twinkling keys quickly build up serving as a dreamy psych soul intro paired with Romi Hanoch’s falsetto crooning and bursts of fluttering flute. Seemingly sounding as though it wouldn’t be out of place on Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here or a James Bond soundtrack, the song turns into a Broadway-meets-psych jazz freakout with an explosive horn line, an expressive sax solo paired with one of the more soulful, powerhouse performances I’ve heard from Hanoch.
A Trip To The Moon is slated for a February 23, 2024 release through Karma Chief Records. Click here to pre-order.
Ghost Funk Orchestra founder, creative mastermind, composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum has always had a latent fascination with space and space travel, Midway through writing the arrangements, which would comprise the material of the band’s fifth album, On a Trip To The Moon, Applebaum became aware that Internet Archive had made the recordings of the Apollo to Mission Control transmissions accessible in the public domain. Once he started listening to those recordings, it gave the Ghost Funk Orchestra mastermind the idea of using the recordings as a narrative binder for the music, which he was working on at the time.
The process was painstaking. The recordings were frequently filled with long silences, punctuated by surprisingly casual commentary on the cosmos. Applebaum’s commitment to the voyage managed to draw him into a sort of historical tourism, in which he studied film, photos, and music from the era. And as he did so, he was struck by the gusto with which new technology was embraced in pop culture of the day, and he honors that tradition by skillfully blending digital recording techniques to cobble together arrangements incorporating 60s and 70s analog keys and guitar sounds that bring early surf bands from the 50s and 60s. The album’s material also nods to 90s surf punk band Man or Astro-man?, who used vintage sound bites in their music, tying together cosmologically themed concept albums together with clips from vintage sci-fi and B movies. This is also informed by Applebaum’s religious listening to Little Steven’s Underground Garage radio show, which also used soundbites from films and TV shows as a container for a body of music.
As the 15 compositions, which comprise the band’s forthcoming fifth album took shape, Applebaum brought the rest of the band, string arrangements from Will Marshal and a talented crew of collaborators including Megan Mancini (vocals), Romi Hanoch (vocals), Stephen Chen (saxophone), Billy Aukstik (trumpet), Mike Sarason (flute), James Kelly (trombone), Stuart Bogie (reeds) into the studio with a newfound confidence acquired by heavy touring to support 2022’s A New Kind of Love. Sonically, A Trip To The Moon is a departure from the clean production of their predecessors, as the the sessions players were allowed to let it rip, breathing life and their personal voices into the material.
A Trip To The Moon‘s first single, the cinematic instrumental track “To The Moon!” begins with the transmissions of the Apollo crew to Mission Control, remarking on the things they’re seeing as they’re orbiting the Earth, 21 minutes into their journey. A voice from Apollo informs Mission Control that they’re flying over The Canary Islands before dramatic drumming and a slithering bass line and quivering keys set a dreamy introduction. At the 45 second mark, a swaggering horn line and funk jazz guitar lines burst into the scene, creating the sense that the listener might be listening to the soundtrack to one of the greatest stories ever told, the creation and the eventual exploration of the cosmos by humankind or an episode of Star Trek. The composition ends with a mind-bending Dark Side of The Moon/Wish You Were Here guitar solo that gently fades out into the ether.
The composition seems to accurately capture a period specific sense of hope that science and technology could solve humanity’s most pressing problems, while doing some incredibly cool stuff. If only it were that easy, right?
A Trip To The Moon is slated for a February 23, 2024 release through Karma Chief Records. Click here to pre-order.
