A collection of live material resurfaces from Ronald Langestraat on ‘Apollo’
Following last year’s highly acclaimed breakthrough debut vinyl release of Ronald Langestraat’s 1984 home studio full-length album Searching, the South of North label has followed that up with a brilliant compilation featuring a collection of live recordings from the multi-instrumentalist.
Recorded over numerous sessions in 1991 during a five-night-of-the-week residency in the lounge of Amsterdam’s Apollo Hotel, this eight-track album, simply titled Apollo, features Langestraat on a wide range of instruments and programming tools including a number of synths, sequencers, drum machines, soprano saxophone, clarinet, and vocals. In the same vein as Searching, this recording has a soulful leftfield vibe that blends lo-fi pop vocals with jazz-influenced instrumentation, programmed beats, spacey synth melodies and layered textures. The recording also features a few covers including great “space jazz” renditions of Boz Scaggs’ “Lowdown” and Carlos Santana’s “Give And Take”.
Originally intended to be shared within a small group of family and friends, it’s great to see this collection of music receive an official release. The fascinating story of Ronald Langestraat continues to uncover itself with each and every release.
Ronald Langestraat — ‘Apollo’
(South of North)
1. Yearning to this music
2. Space train
3. Music from outer space
4. Lowdown
5. Give and take
6. A fast drive through the universe
7. Worldwide clarinet
8. Orpheus
