We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

West Babylon

by ako

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • West Babylon VHS cassette

    *PAL region tapes only - please check your region / players compatibility with PAL before ordering*

    Limited run VHS audio visual version of 'West Babylon', featuring 12 tracks (including collaborations from Me Lost Me, Vigilance State and Kublai Shan / Badger) and 50+ minutes of music videos.

    Recorded onto new VHS tape stock and packaged with re-used plastic clam-shell cases (mixed colours - mostly clear) with professionally printed cover insert and cassette labels.

    Purchase also incudes a digital rip of the VHS tape provided as both a streaming link and downloadable file.

    *International shipping beyond europe can take up to 40 days or longer in some cases*

    Any donations above the minimum donation are greatly appreciated.

    Includes unlimited streaming of West Babylon via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more

    Sold Out

1.
West Babylon 04:21
2.
3.
4.
5.
Liquid Zoo 04:32
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
RebellionTM 04:49

about

www.facebook.com/akonewcastle/
www.instagram.com/akonewcastle/
open.spotify.com/album/1xgKtdbmLdxoPrJes9hZcl

'West Babylon' features collaborations with Me Lost Me, Vigilance State and Kublai Shan and is ako's long awaited debut album. It is also available for cryptocurrency donation from:
www.linebreakrecords.com/ako-westbabylon

West Babylon
'I often use found phrases as titles, interesting snippets taken out of their often mundane context and imbued with new significance as the basis of musical tableau. West Babylon, a suburb in New York state, and namesake of Babylon, a wicked city of excesses and setting of cautionary parables, is used in this context as a comment on western capitalism, and as a reference to the trope of 'Babylon' often found in reggae, dub, punk and related genres. We are all living in a Western Babylon after all.'

Spirit Compass
'A compass using alcohol and water to suspend the needle. Apparently mundane today, but no doubt and invention that has had some profound impact on the world we live in. I can't honestly remember the last time I was physically lost, and yet so many of us are in need of existential and metaphysical guidance, in need of a spirit compass perhaps.'

Bonemill Interchange.
'Bonemill Interchange is a bus station in Washington, Sunderland, UK, and one of the bleakest things I've ever read on the front of a bus. The Bonemill is a representation of the endless churn of existence in a part of the world that lost its purpose with the collapse of British industry and mining and has been looking for a new hope ever since.'

RebellionTM
'A commentary on the notions of pre-packaged rebellion as profitable merchandising ideas. Prefabricated flatpacked revolution, champagne socialists in Che Guevara t-shirts etc.'

Liquid Zoo
'A playful celebration of meme culture and of whoever it was that described an aquarium as a 'liquid zoo'. An exploration of absurdist pleasure in the escapism of virtual spaces that are utterly pointless. The kind which are gradually drying up as the internet continues to be gentrified and commercialised. Yet memes can still transcend this and make subversive ideas transmutable in a way that transcends the algorithmic popularity cult of modern browsing.’

High Altitude Burial
'A song about mortality and those who die in search of immortality. Inspired by musings about those who die and lay forever un-decaying on the slopes of Mount Everest. It must be uncomfortably apparent that there is a fairly good chance of dying, yet they do it anyway in hopes to place themselves amongst a rarefied group or they will die trying, their bodies a deepfrozen testament to the human spirit, and in that way also immortal...'

Carrion Flower
'A carrion flower emits the odour of death to attract the living (insects) that it needs to complete its life cycle. New life in the shadow of death, rebirth steeped in the odour of decay. A strangely visually appealing flower in photographs, where the scent is not an issue...It's strange how decay can appeal to those that do not have to live the experience.'


NIGHTFOREST (again)
'The sensation of walking in the woods alone at night with only your thoughts for company, an exploration of the wilderness within by walking through the darkness without. A sensation of freedom in suspended reality.'

Asbestos Cutter
'A tool from a lost age, a comment on the wonder products that are in so many ways killing us all slowly'

credits

released September 12, 2020

written & produced by Simeon Soden

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

ako Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

ako (Simeon Soden) infuses influences from obscure elements of electronic & dance music, including vaporwave & witchhouse, with experimental IDM. When performing, ako creates AV experiences using VHS, CGI & modified games consoles. He has released music on Sunset grid (Aus.), SPRIX (USA), N-aut, Nothing but, HOT-Q & Kaneda Records and has been played on BBC6 Music.
simeonsoden@aol.com
... more

contact / help

Contact ako

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like ako, you may also like: