James Place is Living on Superstition

Umor Rex will release the debut album from the Opal Tapes affiliate later this month.

After several tape releases last month, the first vinyl issue of 2015 from Daniel Castrejón’s Umor Rex finds the Mexico City label welcoming a new name into the fold in the shape of James Place, the music making alias of Styles Upon Styles co-founder Phil Tortoroli (pictured above). The New Yorker first surfaced under the name James Place last year with An Entire Matchbook A Night, a cassette of ghostly minimalist electronics issued by Teeside’s Opal Tapes and will now issue his debut album through Umor Rex.

Due for release later this month, Living on Superstition is described by the label as a “harrowing, meditative record of candle-lit rhythms and frost-laden ambience”. Recorded at night in the artist’s Manhattan high rise, the eight-track album was made using an array of analogue equipment and is said to feature a healthy amount of field recordings taken whilst Tortoroli was walking the streets of New York. Both early Silent Servant and noted US noise musician Robert Turman are offered as possible influences for Living on Superstition with the frosted album track “High Rise (Rainier)” available to stream below offering a good idea of what to expect.

Umor Rex will release Living on Superstition by James Place on February 24.

Tracklisting:

1. Another Mourning In America
2. High Rise (Rainier)
3. Sadie’s Tears
4. Simmered and Brewed
5. Overcast and Burned
6. Sense of an Ending
7. Lyra’s Grin
8. Behind Windows