{"title":"Paul De Jong","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"if-1","title":"IF","description":"\u003cp\u003eDebut solo album from founding member of beloved collage-pop pioneers, The Books. Paul de Jong is best known as the cofounder, cellist and resident found sound savant of the beloved, defunct collage-pop duo, the Books. Five years after that band delivered their final album, The Way Out, to much acclaim, de Jong delivers his first solo album. IF sets the Books' early albums (particularly The Lemon of Pink) as a starting point, and elevates that beguiling sense of wonder and amazement to genuinely transcendent new heights. De Jong's ability to find the musical in the mundane has always been uncanny - it is part of what made the Books so magical - and that gift is what makes IF such a marvelous curiosity, and such a true pleasure to hear. In de Jong's world, everything around him is a potential instrument: his mind-bogglingly vast collection of forgotten private press regional folk records, spoken-word oddities of indeterminate origin unearthed in discarded thrift store piles, and various everyday household utensils that we tend to take for granted. One man's trash is de Jong's tool to craft yet another treasure. Featuring a handful of friends and family as musical guests, IF steers a course from joyously eccentric folkpop to humorously inside-out jazz, resulting in a refreshing piece of outsider art with a replay value that's off the charts.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Temporary Residence Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50493142008139,"sku":"388030","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/10c401be-8f42-4fbb-bed7-1e88fbef9b7c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727695734"},{"product_id":"you-fucken-sucker","title":"You Fucken Sucker","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe new album from acclaimed composer and co-founder of beloved experimental collage-pop duo, The Books. As a society, we know that we are overwhelmed – consumed by hyper-stimulation, and frustrated by what often feels like an exhaustive barrage of external forces. In his new album, \u003ci\u003eYou Fucken Sucker\u003c\/i\u003e, Paul returns to his musical teens in an uncompromising manner, and with an overwhelming statement for the present. De Jong serves us with an uncanny (and sometimes uncomfortable) reflection of our collective mental excess. Presented in the exact sequence in which it was conceived, \u003ci\u003eYou Fucken Sucker\u003c\/i\u003e charts a grueling and complicated time span in de Jong's life. Over the course of its 14 tracks – which range in length from 15 seconds to nearly 10 minutes – we hear complex tapestries of acoustic and electronic instrumentation submit to waves of unhinged screaming; found-sound assemblage seamlessly incorporating subtle R\u0026amp;B rhythms; Freudian funk; lo-fi prog-metal; and vast synth patch orchestration adding unexpected textures and tension to the whole spectacular mess. Like much of Paul de Jong's work, \u003ci\u003eYou Fucken Sucker\u003c\/i\u003e is a genre unto itself, overflowing with innovative exploration of sounds and senses. Unlike his previous work, it is an unvarnished exposition of anger, frustration, misery and confusion. Perhaps most vitally, it is an opportunity for the rest of us to experience the kind of communal emotional purge more typical of his roots; pre-Internet basement punk rock shows – unafraid of being afraid. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Temporary Residence Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50497571520843,"sku":"1033892","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d3209f89-a560-436f-a006-d8f9516a81ca_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727728678"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/paul-de-jong.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}