Ken Brown (aka Bundy K. Brown) is a storied producer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and professional food enthusiast. In a musical history that spans nearly four decades, he was a member of noise-rock trio Bastro (along with David Grubbs and John McEntire) and a founding member of that group’s evolution into Gastr del Sol – whom he left after forming the iconic Chicago band, Tortoise. In 1995 Brown departed Tortoise to pursue a number of projects, including remixes for Yo La Tengo, The Sea and Cake, Coldcut, and Calexico. He also formed a new trio with Codeine/Rex/June of 44 drummer, Doug Scharin and guitarist James Warden, which they called Directions. After releasing one album on Thrill Jockey, the band went inactive, with Brown completing one final Directions release on his own before retiring the moniker. That record – a scarcely limited 12” on the influential UK imprint, Soul Static Sound – would prove to resonate long after it disappeared from shops. It influenced a diverse array of artists and producers, most notably Kieran Hebden, who would call Echoes “the blueprint for the Four Tet thing,” explaining to prominent UK broadcaster Gilles Peterson, “it’s basically where I got the idea for everything from…it changed my life, this record.”
Available for the first time since its original release in 1997, Echoes – Anniversary Edition includes the two original side-long tracks, and has been expanded to also feature the nascent 1995 demo of “Echoes” (recorded on equipment borrowed from Tortoise’s John Herndon just after Brown had left the group), as well as a brand new remix by Deadly Dragons – the 1990s Chicago DJ crew whose members included Brown, Herndon, Casey Rice, and Daniel Givens, among others. Briefly reunited during COVID lockdown specifically to craft this new Directions remix, Deadly Dragons separately but collectively contributed a new 9-minute pastiche of spiritual jazz, hip-hop, and dub. The newly expanded album Echoes – Anniversary Edition was remastered from the original master tapes by Heba Kadry, and the vinyl was cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service. The records were pressed at RTI, and are housed in all-new artwork created by Ken Brown’s longtime friend and collaborator, Rob Mazurek.
Available for the first time since its original release in 1997, Echoes – Anniversary Edition includes the two original side-long tracks, and has been expanded to also feature the nascent 1995 demo of “Echoes” (recorded on equipment borrowed from Tortoise’s John Herndon just after Brown had left the group), as well as a brand new remix by Deadly Dragons – the 1990s Chicago DJ crew whose members included Brown, Herndon, Casey Rice, and Daniel Givens, among others. Briefly reunited during COVID lockdown specifically to craft this new Directions remix, Deadly Dragons separately but collectively contributed a new 9-minute pastiche of spiritual jazz, hip-hop, and dub. The newly expanded album Echoes – Anniversary Edition was remastered from the original master tapes by Heba Kadry, and the vinyl was cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service. The records were pressed at RTI, and are housed in all-new artwork created by Ken Brown’s longtime friend and collaborator, Rob Mazurek.
