Ronald Langestraat’s 1984 Masterpiece ‘Searching’ Finally Released on Vinyl
Recorded over 30 years ago, Ronald Langestraat’s 1984 soulful leftfield masterpiece Searching has finally been released on vinyl for the first time. The Amsterdam-based multi-instrumentalist recorded the entire recording by himself on a 4-track tape recorder in his living room.
Frustrated with the “high brow jazz” scene at the time, he became inspired to make an intimate album that explored a wide array of musical influences from across the globe including Latin America, African, and Eastern Europe rhythms mixed with lo-fi pop vocals, jazz instrumentation, heavily layered textures and melodies. Langestraat often described his music as “space jazz.”
On this brilliant seven-track album, the Dutch native played a wide variety of instruments including acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Farfisa organ, saxophone, as well as clarinet, organ bass, Micro Moog, and drums among others.
Reissued on the Amsterdam-based South of North label, this incredible album has been rediscovered 34 years after it was originally recorded. Originally only made available on CD without any label support or distribution, this new reissue is by far one of the best of 2018.
Highly recommended for fans of Arthur Russell, Ned Doheny, James Mason, and Steely Dan!
› Also see review of Ronald Langestraat’s ‘Apollo’
