{"title":"Fort Romeau","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"fort-romeau-beings-of-light-silver-vinyl","title":"Fort Romeau - Beings of Light [Silver Vinyl]","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"aec-body\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"aec-main\" class=\"col-md-10\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"aec-product-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"aec-product-description\" class=\"col-md-12 col-sm-12 col-xs-12\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"aec-desc-review collapse\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter a run of critically-acclaimed singles and EPs, British producer Michael Greene, aka Fort Romeau, returns to the full-length format with Beings of Light, the long-awaited follow-up to 2015's Insides and his second LP on Ghostly International. While a prolific DJ who orients many of his productions for the dancefloor, Greene still sees the album as the ultimate statement of intent, \"a space to stretch out, to speak in full paragraphs rather than stunted sentences.\" He has explored several stylistic fragments in recent years (including the summer 2018 anthem \"Pablo,\" hailed a Best New Track by Pitchfork), but when faced with the extended pause to the dance community in 2020, Greene felt compelled to focus on a larger body of work. Embracing a back-to-basics mentality, he amassed over a dozen hours of sounds, asking himself throughout the sessions: \"Does the music move you? Is it honest?\" He came out the other end with Beings of Light, an expressive collection traversing rainy day ambient, moonlit disco, and dream-like techno in pursuit of the power found within our subconscious. \u003cspan\u003eLike previous Fort Romeau records, Greene's foundational inspiration for Beings of Light is imagery. Specifically a work by Steven Arnold, a Dalí protégé known for constructing otherworldly, tableau vivant set designs from found objects until his death in 1994 amid the AIDS crisis. Arnold's 1984 photograph Power of Grace (featured as the album art and lending a title to one of it's tracks) spoke to Greene immediately: \"It's transcendent in the most potent and direct manner, imagination untethered by material, elegance without riches. For me it represents, among other things, a radical class politics. Imagination always wins over resource.\" The visual, as well as the surrealist idea that dreams allow us to create a better reality, led Greene to shape his most ambitious and complete record to date, a love letter to dance music coded with a message of hope. The album title comes from his belief that people can facilitate change by first imagining the way we want things to be, and not letting cynicism block that light. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe urgency is felt right away, as album opener \"Untitled IV\" ushers in a sprinting tempo in it's exploration of the human voice, a recurring device in the Fort Romeau project. Greene uses it as a compositional layer, disembodied with it's context often opaque or reduced to a single phrase. Here the voice is scattered in percussive twitches, colliding with a kick drum to induce a near state of hypnosis as horns sound off in the distance. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePropulsive standout \"Spotlights' is Greene's ode to the romanticised New York City that lives in our hearts, nocturnal and carefree. A vocal snippet repeats the title with a breezy poise, reminiscent of classic house cuts. \"Ramona' honors the beloved Robert Johnson club in Offenbach, Germany. Hazy, spacious, and sustained, Greene designed the beat with their system in mind, \"also with a strong nod to the more modern lineage of exceptional minimal house music from Frankfurt,\" he says. Two ambient pieces surround the track, \"(In The) Rain\" sets the scene and \"Porta Coeli\" (a Latin phrase which loosely translates to \"heaven's gate\") soundtracks the comedown. It's these sequential choices that reflect Greene's desire to reach beyond the formulaic demands of the dance floor for something less tangible, a middle space. \"One that relates to the immediacy of precision frequency soundsystem music but also connects to us with the complication and ambiguity that is required of human emotion,\" he explains. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNo better example than the album's closer, the title track. An arc constructed with atmospheric textures, euphoric swings of percussion, and a well-placed piano refrain, \"Beings of Light\" is adaptive; one could imagine it reverberating from a club, scoring the emotional apex of a film, or radiating through the realm of dreams. That is where Greene sees us having real impact. \"The dream world is our most potent weapon against the status quo - realities cannot exist without first being imagined. It is the job of power to limit the scope of the imagination. We must resist it always and fully.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFormat \/ \u003cb\u003eLP\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eReleased \/ \u003cb\u003e0\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e2\/11\/2022\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eCatalogue \/ \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGHOS-387\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBarcode \/ \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e804297838731\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eArtist \/ \u003cstrong\u003eFort Romeau\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLabel \/ \u003cstrong\u003eGhostly Int'l\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eGenre \/ \u003cb\u003eElectronic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Secretly Canadian","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39717796479037,"sku":"ELE-F-804297838731","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1487\/4550\/products\/4040354-2785506.jpg?v=1644360634"},{"product_id":"fort-romeau-beings-of-light-22116214","title":"Fort Romeau - Beings Of Light on Ghostly International - Clear Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVINYL CONDITION: VG+\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCOVER CONDITION: VG+\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNOTES: 2022 pressing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecords are graded using the Goldmine system, shown below for reference:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eSealed\u003c\/span\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eJacket sealed in shrink wrap or other original packaging. The vinyl in this case is sold as-is or not graded.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eNM (Near Mint)\u003c\/span\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eNo visible defects. No writing, stickers, spindle marks, or any other imperfections on label. Appears unplayed and unhandled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVG++\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e: May have some light wear including sleeve scuffs or other superficial marks that will not affect play.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVG+\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e: Will have some light wear that may include sleeve scuffs, very light scratches, or other superficial marks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVG\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e: Similar imperfections to a VG+ record, but they're either more pronounced, or there is a higher number of imperfections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVG-\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e: Many light scratches or scuffs. Any record with an isolated defect such as a single scratch that can be felt with a fingernail will have a VG- grade or lower. The record will not skip but some noise is expected.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" data-mce-style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eG\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e: Many imperfections, including but not limited to scratches that can be felt with a fingernail. A lot of background noise, clicks, and pops should be expected with this grade.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Used","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41409083473981,"sku":"PLAID446654","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1487\/4550\/files\/MBL_5640_e3e274b2-1c71-49a3-b289-7a2165483a8a.jpg?v=1721311850"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.plaidroomrecords.com\/collections\/artist-fort-romeau.oembed","provider":"Plaid Room Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}