Luna by The Reluctant Cosmonaut

The fourth album of musical misadventures of a man lost in space with a collection of percussion instruments, synthesizers and a digital delay.

The Reluctant Cosmonaut is the ambient alter ego of award winning percussionist Jim Casson (Dark Orchard, Davis Hall & The Green Lanterns, Downchild Blues Band). It allows him an avenue to explore a genre near and dear to his heart as well as to experiment with some of the exotic percussion instruments in his vast collection. “Luna” is the fourth album in The Reluctant Cosmonaut series.

Manipulation of sound has become a tool that Casson has grown to embrace on this album. By recording percussion parts, whether they be acoustic or electronic, and then altering those sounds with digital effects to create new sonic landscapes that perform in concert with each other, he has created a rich palette of sounds. He also uses this method on field recordings to re-imagine sounds as diverse as sea lions, boat horns and a gravel plate compactor that he recorded when his neighbour was getting a new driveway. His imagination is his only limit on what can be used to make music.

As on previous albums, all of the song titles are the first names of actual cosmonauts, including “Belka & Strelka” that were two dogs that spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 on August 19, 1960 before safely returning to Earth. They are the first higher living organisms to survive a trip to outer space.

This album is yet another step in the evolution of the sound of The Reluctant Cosmonaut.

Tracklist

1.	Aleksandr	4:16

2.	Oleg	3:23

3.	Belka Strelka	3:52

4.	Grigori	4:06

5.	Vladislav	2:57

6.	Pyotr	4:45

7.	Yevgeny	4:23

Credits

released March 8, 2023

All songs written and performed by Jim Casson

Jim Casson: Xylophone, Gamelan Strips, Wave Drum, Gongs, Bells, Synthesizer, Fender Bass, Field Recordings

thereluctantcosmonaut.com

License