Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun

"There is no one universe for Ben Lamar Gay, he just sonic booms from one sound to another." - NPR MusicBen Lamar Gay's de facto debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun, was our attempt to introduce the legendary Chicago composer / improvisor / renaissance man to the rest of the world with a compilation of tracks from "7 albums he made over 7 years but never made the effort to actually release." The material showcases Gay's penchant for genre-hopping-from Reich-ian soundscape voyages to Don Cherry-esque polyrhythm treks to Jorge Ben-style vocal-and-string earworms-while keeping his singular musical voice in focus.In the years since it's release, this long OOP collection has become a touchstone, foreshadowing the breadth and scope of Ben Lamar Gay's output since. The songs-between-the-songs warped Soul Americana madness and beauty of Open Arms To Open Us, the unhinged long form freedom of Certain Reveries-each fresh mode would defy expectation if without the context established by Downtown Castles. To quote the OG press release, "to call it 'eclectic' would only scratch the surface. This music is everything."LP comes packaged in the deluxe International Anthem style - heavyweight jacket, IARC OBI strip, poly-lined inner-sleeve, insert booklet (new for 2025), and re-cut lacquers, on classic black vinyl.1 Vitis Labrusca2 Muhal3 Music for 18 Hairdressers: Braids & Fractals4 Jubilee5 A Seasoning Called Primavera6 Miss Nealie Burns7 Me, Jayve & The Big Bee8 Uvas- side split - 9 Galveston10 Swim Swim11 Kunni12 Melhor Que Tem13 Gator Teeth14 7th Stanza15 Oh no... not again!