In the nu-Balearic/nu-disco scene, few records are quite as coveted as the Laughing Light of Plenty’s eponymous 2010 debut full-length. Recorded in 2007 in Los Angeles and New York by Rub & Tug Man Thomas Bullock and Eddie ‘Secret Circuit’ Ruscha, the album was originally slated for release in 2008 on cult label, Whatever We Want Records. Of course, for reasons still not wholly explained, that release never materialized, and it eventually surfaced two years later – in absurdly limited quantities – in Japan.
In recent press photos, Eddie Ruscha has looked every bit the West Coast acid casualty that his vivid, kaleidoscopic productions have suggested. Surrounded by his colourful, out-there paintings and dressed head to toe in “tropical psychedelic” clothes – a distinctive concoction of rainbow-coloured scarves, baggy jewellery, strange masks and eye-popping patterned sweaters – he projects himself as the apotheosis of the 21st century digital hippy. Given the hazy look in his eyes, you’d never accuse him of putting it on; clearly, he’s more out-there and artistically inspired than your average electronic producer.