Just when I started thinking that 3D's Battle Box project had quietly been abandoned since it's inaugural 12" single last November, he's just gone a sprung the new track from it on us, in what promises to be an ongoing series of new material.
Jupiter Bokonjdi, the Congolese musician remixed for Robert Del Naja's Battle Box project.
The new Battle Box track is "3D on Jupiter" (better referred to just as Jupiter). Owing to the track's origins (see the below quote from 3D), the track has a driving African style rhythm to it and a great persuasive energy to it, similar in a way to the first Battle Box single with Guy Garvey.
This is hopefully a big indicator that the Battle Box live shows with Massive Attack and special guests, which were promised to held in Bristol nearly a year ago will be happening sometime in 2014. I assume with the Adam Curtis shows this year taking up too much time, the Battle Box shows in Bristol had to postponed. You can read more about what was originally planned for the Battle Box live shows in this blog post I wrote late last year.
3D himself hinted in a recent interview, that the Battle Box project, including the proposed live shows was finally going to get back under way.
We also have remix of Jupiter on the flip side of the 12", which Massive Attack have kindly made available on the Battle Box Soundcloud profile. It is a slower and more melodic take on the same track, offering a nice contrast to the A-Side, much like with the Battle Box 001 12".
“In 2007 I went to the Congo with Africa Express. I was lucky to hang out and listen to some pretty amazing musicians, Jupiter among them. This track is built with an unknown modular synth from Munich, a Moog and a Vermona drum machine, with help from Euan Dickinson and Tim Goldsworthy. And mixes by Bruno Ellingham. I wanted to mirror the energy and message in the song without complicating it. The b-side is a more relaxed and melodic using a Prophet 5 and a jupiter 8.”
From today, Jupiter is available as an exclusive 12" single from the Vinyl Factory, in a super limited edition of 300 copies at £25. For sure that price is going to rise once it hits EBay and the like.
The first Battle Box single featuring Guy Garvey, has also been reissued by Vinyl Factory simultaneously alongside Battle Box 002. Same price and same restricted number of copies each. They also both have exclusive sleeve work from graffiti artist Paul Insect. Bit of a first I think, that 3D let someone else doodle on his music, but nice for a change.
And just thinking ahead here, I'm hoping that this new track will not be the same one as advertised in the deluxe edition of "The Art Of Massive Attack" book due out in the next couple of weeks. After personally shelling out the big bucks for that, it better be an unreleased track as stated.
Click the images of the sleeves below to purchase either release. More than likely though, by the time you read this both will be long sold out however...
Click the image to order Battle Box 001 from Vinyl Factory. Limited to only 300 copies and priced at £25.
Click the image to order Battle Box 002 from Vinyl Factory. Limited to only 300 copies and priced at £25.
Jupiter is also accompanied by a video, in what is also a similar style to the video for the first Battle Box single. That one was directed by Dusan Reljin, so I'm going to assume this new one is too. Enjoy the pretty pictures and mesmerizing beats!
Following on from the first two EP's (Ritual Spirit and The Spoils) Massive Attack have released so far this year, we have two more brand new tracks on separate releases on the same day today. Both of these tracks can be previewed as one minute samples in this post.
We're roughly halfway through Massive Attack's 2016 tour, which has just finished its UK leg before hitting the rest of Europe, so its about time for a news update post covering all that's been going on in the last couple of weeks.
First announced in September 2013, the hardback edition of "3D and the Art of Massive Attack" finally hit bookshelves this week. Originally slated to come out in late October 2013, it has been delayed more than a few times in the interim.