Our featured artist of the month is Jim Petty. Jim is an electronic musician based in Astoria, Queens with a heavy focus on modular synthesis. He has released several albums under the moniker Crew Called Self crossing a variety of styles, mostly leaning towards a electro/techno aesthetic. He also released two volumes of instrumental modular synth interpretations of sea shanties, actually recorded live atsea, entitled Modular on the Sea.
His newest project, under the name Petty Noise, entitled, "Folktronic: Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent" is an instrumental collection of traditional folk songs, again all crafted with modular synthesizers. These are songs of struggle, spirituals, some of which came directly from the Little Red Songbook, of which the album shares its subtitle. These are songs used by the Industrial Workers of the World(I.W.W) to help build morale, promote solidarity, and lift the spirits of the working-class during the Labor Movement of the early 1900's.
Jim became interested in these tunes over the course of COVID lock-down where the entire entertainment industry, which he has been employed for over a decade, collapsed along with the rest of the world. Since then the industry has faced several major strikes and struggles among workers. Jim felt that these songs are just as relevant now as they were 100 years ago and hopes that they will resonant with today's workers.
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You can purchase Folktronic on Beatport.
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