What do That 70s Show, Ween, Third Rock From the Sun, Alex Chilton, Swingers and the first album recorded entirely in a car have in common?
One man. Ben Vaughn. Composer. Producer. Recording artist.
A man the Village Voice describes as having a "sound so pure and spontaneous it sounds instantly classic."
Be it sitcoms, TV commercials, film soundtracks or radio play, somewhere in the world right now, Vaughn’s music is being heard. Since 1986, he has been winning fans with his unique take on pop culture. Eight albums (including the notorious remote recording Rambler ’65) and a ten-year career in Hollywood have allowed Ben’s music to travel to the far reaches of the earth. And with his latest, he brings it all together. Perfectly.
Designs In Music encapsulates this journey. Inspired by late-night drives to his weekend getaway in the Mojave Desert where the only station he could pick up was Palm Springs easy-listening station KWXY, Ben felt ready to combine everything he had learned through the years into one recording. The magic of those late-night broadcasts as well as his years spent as a composer, producer and recording artist are represented equally in this project. But with a vitality that is in the moment, the now.
"It’s obviously a tribute," says Ben, "but it’s not a pristine re-creation of something from 1962. I wasn’t really interested in making that kind of record. To me, instrumental music is a vibrant art form that’s always ready for new ideas. And I’ve got a ton of them"
Ideas that explode in a pallete of many colors, of saxophones and trumpets, clarinets and trombones, of boss organ, bongos, wordless falsetto vocalizing, and Ben Vaughn’s own tough yet watery guitar work.
The CD package itself also reflects the sound inside Vaughn’s head. The cover painting is an abstract by the obscure artist D’Arcy, about whom little is known. With its bold colors, imporvised shapes and irreverent swipes of black, the piece is the perfect companion to Designs In Music: the past, present and future of art living together simultaneously.
And the label name Soundstage 15? That’s the building on the studio lot where every episode of Third Rock From The Sun was shot.
Designs In Music. Here it is. The circle is complete.
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