KRAZY KARL by NNAMDÏ
“Sounds like Saturday morning cartoons on Acid”
NYLON
“It’s almost entirely instrumental, a series of surreal, jazzy, cartoonish twists and turns… It’s another sensory overload from an artist too inventive to be ignored”
STEREOGUM
“Elevated with a healthy dose of chaos and confusion”
HYPEBEAST
“the music’s whimsical, quasi-symphonic mishmash of math rock, postpunk, and jazz reflects the animated energy of Stalling’s anything-goes cartoon music”
CHICAGO READER
At the beginning of 2020, NNAMDÏ was preparing to release his BRAT LP and subsequently undertake extensive touring through the remainder of the year. A global pandemic brought all of that to a halt. NNAMDÏ would still go on to release BRAT in April 2020 to much critical acclaim, but thereafter used the unplanned down time to make more music as a response to the unpredictable seismic changes of the time. What resulted was a series of unplanned releases that would see NNAMDÏ release 2 LPs, an EP and a handful of singles throughout the year. He released his acclaimed EP Black Plight on Juneteenth, having written and recorded the whole thing in 3 days in response to the racial justice protests that roiled the summer months. He raised over $12,500.00 for racial and social justice causes in the process. With additional time and no opportunities to tour, NNAMDÏ immediately set to work finishing an ambitious project that had sat dormant in his mind and hard drive for a few years: Krazy Karl, his largely instrumental LP length rock-orchestral project inspired by the late Looney Tunes composer, Carl Stalling. The first pressing of Krazy Karl was limited to 325 copies, and sold out in less than 48 hours. The album is unavailable on streaming. In the years since its release, Krazy Karl has gained a kind of cult following amongst NNAMDÏ-heads as something like his definitive composer album. In 2020 NNAMDÏ described the album as “untethered…. deranged modern compositions… when your brain tries to leave your skull, but you keep mashing it back into your nose.” NNAMDÏ commissioned fellow Midwest artist Zelooperz to paint the album cover.
The initial pressing of Krazy Karl included 25 handmade copies from Cleveland’s internationally collected and recognized master artisans of the handmade vinyl record, Wax Mage Records, as well as a series of hand drawn test presses, and 300 hand numbered copies on bottle glass green vinyl. All 325 sold out in a few days, and those first pressings have become bona fide collectors items on Discogs today.
To commemorate the 5-year anniversary of this seminal record in NNAMDÏ’s catalog, NNAMDÏ is doing his first ever re-press of Krazy Karl including a historic co-release between NNAMDÏ's own Sooper Records and Cleveland’s Wax Mage Records. The pressing includes 25 limited edition Wax Mage handmade records ("Metallic Space Cake Design" with foil inlay). Krazy Karl has the distinct honor of being the first co-release with Wax Mage Records. The co-release set includes 100 handpoured Starburst vinyl, and 6 sets of 25 handmade custom designs via Wax Mage. The co-release variants are adorned with a B-Side label featuring the Wax Mage and Sooper Records logos. All records are for sale through NNAMDÏ's Bandcamp and Wax Mage's website while supplies last.
Krazy Karl is also being made available for the first time on black vinyl via NNAMDÏ's Bandcamp. Black copies are also available to record stores for the first time.
Tracklist
Credits
Composed, Performed and Recorded by Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
Album Art By ZelooperZ
Mastered By Steve Marek
Track 1 & 7: Harp by Yomi
Track 2, 3, 5: Lead Violin by Mallory Linehan
Lead Cello by Joe Starita. Both bridge vocals on track 5.
