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085: Wonderful Reflection of the World

by Donny Angel & The New Essentials

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Shrinkwrapped jewel case w/ exclusive art. Laser-disc with 6 unimpeachable tracks.

    Includes unlimited streaming of 085: Wonderful Reflection of the World via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Oh, Sweet Darling! 04:48
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2.
Remember 03:30
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3.
Once In A Blue Moon 02:50
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4.
(intermission) 00:49
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5.
Marigold 04:44
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6.
I Thank You For Love 03:44
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about

About 90 miles inland from Los Angeles is the Inland Empire, and there lies Hemet: a mid-sized California city with a wildly prolific music scene existing in somewhat of a vacuum. From that landlocked pressure cooker comes Donny Angel, who we first started hearing about when our buddy Noah moved home during covid and met local producer Josiah Garcia -- known around town for recording bands in the banquet hall above the downtown music store where they both worked. Josiah had been hard at work since 2018 on the debut from this high school kid who had been interning & taking lessons at the store until it was clear he could probably be teaching them himself. Who was this teenager writing these classic sounding piano ballads, preternaturally gifted with a deft ear, vocal chops, all in the middle of the California desert?

So it goes that Donny Angel left home at 20 years old, following Garcia to Atlanta and quickly assimilating into the local underground pop consortium -- but not before recording most of what would eventually comprise "Wonderful Reflection of the World" with a host of Inland Empire locals back in Hemet. The debut is overflowing with sentiment and melody, sweet songs that don't oversaturate themselves and impeccable arrangements that bely just how effortless & well-crafted Angel's hooks are. Garcia, schooled in the quiet-storm lovers rock & chicano soul of southern California's lowrider culture, brings an understated smoothness to the whole enterprise -- a truly fated writer/producer matchup.

And this is certainly just the beginning; "Marigold" being the first of Josiah & Donny's collaborations from 2019, with standout opener "Oh, Sweet Darling!" being the most recently recorded track, tacked on to the front of the record. Dead center is the knockout track "Once In A Blue Moon", riding a blistering horn arrangement from Victor Gonzalez (of Soboba Reservation based G-Funk collective Luciamary) & a slow-rocking groove that could have soundtracked a last dance in any one of the last 6 decades.

Pocket Stevie Wonder-isms filtered thru a Todd Rundgren soft rock pallette. Organic, bare-all escapism made from fundamental elements. Collect now!

credits

released January 13, 2023

Produced and mixed by Josiah Garcia // Mastered by Christian Paul Phillipi // Recorded in Hemet, California and East Point, Atlanta Georgia in 2021 and 2022** // Written and performed by Donny Angel // Vocals, keys, synth and rhythm guitar - Donny Angel // Bass - Josiah Garcia // Drums - Jimmy Malik // Lead guitar on "Oh, Sweet Darling!" - Billy Tsounis // Horn arrangements on "Once In A Blue Moon" written and performed by Victor Gonzalez // **except “Marigold” Recorded in Hemet, California in 2019 // Cover photo by Christopher Garcia // Cover art by Jimmy Malik

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Marching Banana Atlanta, Georgia

MARCHING BANANA represents a loose coalition of artists based between Atlanta & Athens, Ga. with a tendency to meld outsider pop with a modernized DIY home-recording ethic.

POP & NOISE. FOUNDED IN 2011.

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