The NYC purveyors of space-age disco share notes on their 20-track debut album—”a comic book universe of sorts that’s a blend of Ram Daas and Frank Herbert”
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Got your popcorn? Perfect…
I wish I could take credit for that superb scene-setting, but alas, I did not write the intro above. (I did google “star wars intro maker” to make the video, though!) (The internet really does have everything.)
Instead, the prologue, set to the song “Womp”, is courtesy of NYC’s Gold Casio, who dreamed up and delivered the tale above to serve as the conceptual backdrop for their debut LP Disco Hits Radio (Or, The Ecstasy of Ego Death), the album destined to be the soundtrack to the galactic-glam dance party of your electric dreams—out everywhere TODAY!
In making this album, the band didn’t just write songs but worked to build a world, weaving together inspirations, influences and ideas of the written, sonic and spiritual variety to create what they describe as “a comic book universe of sorts that’s a blend of Ram Dass and Frank Herbert, a mantra and methodology for structuring the band’s creation, and an in-universe fiction by which the listener can interpret and play with the project’s artistic outputs.”
Rather than a Big Bang, the existing entity that is Gold Casio is a culmination of years of creative work, and this recod—recorded in Brooklyn and in a galaxy far, far away (their hometown of Portland, Oregon)—is the most significant piece to emerge from its starry skies.
Ahead of the release, the band, along with the previous prose, shared a bit about the process of making the ambitious album, explaining their artistic approach and how they discovered and developed an idea with which to tie together the 20 tracks.
“When we began putting together the album we were drawing inspiration from a lot of pretty disparate places, and the songs were leaning in a lot of different sonic directions; it was a pretty diverse batch. We started thinking about how to connect the dots and draw it together into a cohesive work, and we began imagining the idea of creating this cosmic mixtape, or an inter-dimensional pop radio station. We realized an underlying theme was pop song-writing approached from many different production standpoints, and imagined that the connectivity and flow between songs could be a uniting factor. That spawned the idea that grew into the broader album concept, which we then worked into putting the album together as a whole, connecting songs in continuous flow and creating transitions to make it feel like not just an album but a cohesive whole artistic work. At the same time we were getting into the idea of music as a psychedelic or spiritual experience, and that wove itself into the fabric of the album as well. Hence, Disco Hits Radio (Or, The Ecstasy of Ego Death).”
The band also kindly shared some thoughts on each of the tracks, which range from the weird, the wild and the woo-woo to the familiar, the relatable and, in one or two cases, the very, very Brooklyn. From a cult invite to coffee-shop commentary, a powerful protective spell to a song with which to serenade your nemesis, DHR truly has something for every occasion. And the best news is that you can probably dance to it.
DISCO HITS RADIO (OR, THE ECSTASY OF EGO DEATH)—TRACK BY TRACK:
“The Ecstasy of Ego Death Part 1”
“The invocation of the aural astral transmission.”
“$$”
“An excessive funk song about excess and disparity.“
“The Transmission”
“Intergalactic shock jock announcing the incoming transmission.”
“Champagne Kisses”
“Exploring the celebration and devastation of unconditional love.”
“The Ecstasy of Ego Death Part 2”
“The evolution of healing the most broken parts of oneself by practicing self-forgiveness as a survival tactic, and surrendering past grief in the face of new beginnings.”
“Revolver”
“A pop duet dedicated to the cyclical nature of creation and destruction.”
“Osaka Nights”
“You and I, bathing in the neon moonlight.”
“Womp”
“A protective spell to ward off predacious entity with the creative power of the divine feminine.”
“This Is Your True Origin”
“Notes on the meaning of existence from the bookstore of a Neo-Egyptian Religion headquartered in Bushwick, NY.”
“Centerfold”
“Diving fearlessly into the unknown in the name of passion and romance.”
“Black Water and the Finest Wine”
“Is anybody else harboring judgment for the regulars at the local coffee shop?“
“Triangular Lights”
“Grandpa Siris saw UFOs in WWII.”
“No Traveler”
“A Shakespearean descent into madness.”
“Love You Bad”
“The honest confession of an attachment-avoidant lover.”
“Moon Lady”
“A love song to the Moon.”
“Seven Sermons To The Dead”
“A Jungian dream of higher spiritual realms and an invitation to join our cult.”
“ANAGRAMMA”
“A riddle that has as of yet remained unsolved.”
“Fake Friends”
“Squiggly synths and ethereal melodies to play for all of your enemies.”
“Final Meditation”
“The message ends in the form of a faded meditation tape recorded in Dead Head Craig’s weird garage outside of Redding, California.”
“Thieves In The Temple”
“An opening and a closing, a transmission received – a magician never gives away their secrets.”
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The bottom line: Disco Hits Radio isn’t just a record, but a journey into the hearts and minds of four artists (and maybe, who knows, our collective consciousness or something, too?).
Hop in your spaceship, turn the music up and cruise down the cosmic highway with your windows dowwwwn, baby. In this dimension and beyond, Gold Casio has got you covered.
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Follow Gold Casio at @goldcasio , buy music on Bandcamp and add the songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the band.