BEN LAMAR GAY - Downton Castles Can Never Block The Sun (IA11 Edition) - LP - Vinyl [MAR 28]

LP - Classic Black 140g LP inside a heavyweight jacket with 4-page insert booklet (new for IA11, with additional photos and new liner notes written by Gira Dahnee), IARC 2025 obi strip and printed poly-lined printed inner-sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with new lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST. 

Ben LaMar Gay’s de facto debut album, 'Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun', was our attempt to introduce the legendary Chicago composer / improviser / renaissance man to the rest of the world with a compilation of tracks from 7 albums he made over 7 years (though he hadn’t yet made the effort to actually release). The material showcases Gay’s penchant for genre-hopping – from Steve Reich-ian soundscape voyages to Don Cherry-esque polyrhythm treks to Jorge Ben-style vocal-and-string earworms – while keeping his singular musical voice in focus.

In the years since its release, this long OOP collection has become a touchstone, foreshadowing the breadth and scope of Gay’s output since. The songs-between-the-songs warped Soul Americana madness and beauty of 'Open Arms To Open Us', the unhinged long form freedom of 'Certain Reveries' – each fresh mode would defy expectation if without the context established by Downtown Castles. To quote our OG announcement of the album: “to call it ‘eclectic’ would only scratch the surface. This music is everything.”

The IA11 Edition of this LP comes with an IARC2025 obi strip plus a 4-page insert booklet featuring new (old) photos and new liner notes by musician (and longtime BLG friend/collaborator) Gira Dahnee.

Tracklist: 

1. Vitus Labrusca [00:32]
2. Muhal [03:43]
3. Music For 18 Hairdressers: Braids & Fractals [02:25]
4. Jubilee [03:22]
5. A Seasoning Called Primavera [03:51]
6. Miss Nealie Burns [02:48]
7. Me, JayVe & The Big Bee [01:45]
8. Uvas [04:19]
9. Galveston [03:46]
10. Swim Swim [03:22]
11. Kunni [03:47]
12. Melhor Que Tem [03:28]
13. Gator Teeth [01:23]
14. 7th Stanza [00:56]
15. Oh no...not again! [04:53]

Compiled & Sequenced by Scott McNiece & Ben LaMar Gay.
Mastered by David Allen.

Cover Art & Photos by Maren Celest.
IA11 Liner Notes by Gira Dahnee.
Original Layout by Craig Hansen.
IA11 Layout by Aaron Lowell Denton.