{"product_id":"bananagun-why-is-the-colour-of-the-sky","title":"BANANAGUN - Why Is The Colour Of The Sky?","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\" mce-data-marked=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLP - Limited Dinked Edition #310: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 0, 0);\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e Yellow on green splatter vinyl *\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 0, 0);\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e Alternative artwork sleeve *\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 0, 0);\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e A3 collage poster designed by Nick van Bakel *\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 0, 0);\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e Hand-numbered * \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 0, 0);\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e Limited pressing of 300 *\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e* = EXCLUSIVE to Dinked Edition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo say that the intervening 4 years since the arrival of their debut album had been tumultuous for Melbourne\/Naarm’s \u003cstrong\u003eBananagun\u003c\/strong\u003e would be an understatement. Released during the height of lockdown in the summer of 2020, the group were forcibly “scattered” following the release of \u003cem\u003eThe True Story of Bananagun\u003c\/em\u003e. Australia’s ultra-strict lockdown rules - declaring it illegal to travel beyond a 5km radius - made it nigh on impossible for the band to get together at all, with the only rehearsals requiring them to sneak past military checkpoints undetected.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoinciding with this too was a great period of personal change for the band’s guitarist\/vocalist\/flautist, and songwriter \u003cstrong\u003eNick van Bakel\u003c\/strong\u003e.“ \"I had a myriad of mountains to be crossed which was pretty challenging” he explains. “so I just cocooned into lots of spiritual side quests and soul seeking. Band members were travelling etc so it was ages before we got through the stop-start stop-start phase and regained some band momentum…”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis climate of  upheaval does not go unheard on the band’s long-awaited follow-up, ‘\u003cem\u003eWhy is the colour of the Sky?\u003c\/em\u003e’. While it’s by no means a pessimistic work - far from it - it’s an album that departs from the ultra-slick bursts of sunshine-pop and afrobeat that defined ‘\u003cem\u003eTrue Story\u003c\/em\u003e… ‘, and muddies the waters with a heavy blend of incendiary jazz and freak-beat experimentation. It’s Bananagun alright, but braver, bolder and more mysterious than ever…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the only conscious musical dictum being that percussion and groove was brought “to the fore” - and, boy, is this album groovy - the band decamped to a Button Pusher studio Preston, Melbourne with equipment “on par with any 60's studio”, tracking with minimal takes - ‘warts’ n’ all’ -  battling through the temperaments of analogue mixing equipment late into the night under the assertion that these more traditional methods provided “the most, organic pure way to record”. Also imperative was to manipulate the social conditions in which the takes were performed and nail the ‘vibe’ during recording: “It was all “attitude towards life and esoteric stuff, natural law, how energy transfers, sounds, chemistry between people”, explains van Bakel, “trying to foster an environment together where we can make some magic, capture the phenomena of energy and soundwaves interacting with each other in the room. And that was definitely what we wanted it to sound like - pro human”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn many ways, “pro-human” captures the radical quintessence that \u003cem\u003eWhy Is the Colour of the Sky?\u003c\/em\u003e is fulsomely jazz-shuffling towards. For a record that recognises, in it’s every breath and sinew  the humbling, restorative and life-affirming power of collective creative endeavour - it’s also a work that resists an ever more technologically-driven and isolating world that can feel ever more dehumanising in its quests for ‘perfection’. A theme directly addressed in  ‘\u003cem\u003eChildren of the Man\u003c\/em\u003e’ with it’s “Robo-sapien” lyric, it’s a thread that runs across the entire record:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I feel like a lot of human nature and tradition is worth preserving because we've probably evolved to be this way.”, van Bakel notes, “[\u003cem\u003eWhy is the Colour\u003c\/em\u003e…] is all just about not losing your head and being over stimulated by the ‘goggle box’; the need for spirituality and nature; the need to be able to communicate and share ideas and adapt in a rapidly changing world without being judged and profiled. The preservation of human needs, so we don't all get homogenised and isolated and poisoned to stupidity and obedience. ”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd what better way is there to feel human than by laying down a dynamite groove, or nine?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Full Time Hobby","offers":[{"title":"LP - Vinyl - Dinked Edition #310","offer_id":49185566589273,"sku":"SDZ-02711","price":30.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/Bananagun_-_Why_Is_The_Colour_Of_The_Sky__-_Dinked_Edition_310.jpg?v=1724835086","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/bananagun-why-is-the-colour-of-the-sky","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}