Honour - Àlàáfíà

A new album arrives on November 3rd.

Single is 'U&Me (decemberseventeen)'

Album artwork and second preview track

There is also a supposed extremely ltd edition digital of a track called CdG ( a nod to Comme des Garçons? or maybe Cori Dionne Gauff - an American professional tennis player) - it's limited to only 5 copies and cost $364. Gulp. 

  On 10/27/2023 at 6:31 PM, fumi said:

There is also a supposed extremely ltd edition digital of a track

Will be getting this, his previous stuff has been stellar. Bit puzzled that theres no physical release and wonder if theres going to be one down the road cause I'd rather not have to buy it twice if I don't have too. Same with the new Marina Herlop.

The HBK tapes came out on O___o and then PAN handled the vinyl later. The recent Upsammy and Tzusing albums has very very staggered digital to vinyl release schedules,  I assume there are still problems with the pressing plants being booked to capacity but PAN seem to be affected worse than many others (ok, not Skam). You'd think if they planned a physical they might give some sort of time frame but maybe they don't want to get our hopes up.

  On 10/29/2023 at 8:22 AM, Key said:

Will be getting this, his previous stuff has been stellar. Bit puzzled that theres no physical release and wonder if theres going to be one down the road cause I'd rather not have to buy it twice if I don't have too. Same with the new Marina Herlop.

The HBK tapes came out on O___o and then PAN handled the vinyl later. The recent Upsammy and Tzusing albums has very very staggered digital to vinyl release schedules,  I assume there are still problems with the pressing plants being booked to capacity but PAN seem to be affected worse than many others (ok, not Skam). You'd think if they planned a physical they might give some sort of time frame but maybe they don't want to get our hopes up.

What did you think? I wasn't overly interested in a lot of it. Too many pieces felt like discarded demos. Ironically, the individual pieces dropped sporadically over the last twelve months on Bandcamp, I've enjoyed a lot more than what's on this album.

Yeah I pretty much agree, I've only given it one listen and it wasnt bad and there were some nice moments but considering its their first full length release I would say it doesnt really deliver on the hype of the last few years of mixtapes/one off bandcamp drops etc. Its very sparse for long stretches. Will have to spend a bit more time with it to see if it has hidden depths.

ok this is sick, one of the best albums I've found this week browsing through best of the year lists

I love how these tracks really bask in the noise and ambiance. It would be easy to just keep the beats riding but I think the restraint of pulling back and soaking in the atmosphere so often makes for a more engaging listen.

WTF is it with this artist? They list the occasional track, no preview at all and ask hundreds of dollars. Fuck that. Just this week, they list a new piece for 11 dollars, then the bandcamp link page is changed (intentionally) so all the text and links are not visible but clearly listed in the source code - and they up the price by another 100 dollars. Lost total respect for this fool. Whatever drops from now on,  I'm just gonna pirate the shit out of this guy. 

I dunno, guess he is trying to build up some mystique, or make some sort of statement about exclusivity/commerce in art. I don't really get it myself, its like poundshop Dean Blunt.

Maybe Im set in my ways, I tend not to listen to many artists whose release schedule involves a 90 second song on bandcamp like 3 or 4 times a year. I just think, why bother? - (not particularly aiming this at Honour, theyve put out EPs and full albums and stuff). I kinda need something with a little more substantial to get my ears into. Last year Alpha Maid & Mica Levi released a 5 track EP which was 7 minutes long! Is it Gen Z with their shot attention spans or what?

  On 11/14/2024 at 1:48 PM, Key said:

I dunno, guess he is trying to build up some mystique, or make some sort of statement about exclusivity/commerce in art. I don't really get it myself, its like poundshop Dean Blunt.

Maybe Im set in my ways, I tend not to listen to many artists whose release schedule involves a 90 second song on bandcamp like 3 or 4 times a year. I just think, why bother? - (not particularly aiming this at Honour, theyve put out EPs and full albums and stuff). I kinda need something with a little more substantial to get my ears into. Last year Alpha Maid & Mica Levi released a 5 track EP which was 7 minutes long! Is it Gen Z with their shot attention spans or what?

Totally agree with you here. Also think you're onto something regarding building some mystique. Unfortunately, his musical output (at least to me) isn't strong enough to warrant it.

I sent him/her/them an email recently asking if it was possible to buy some stuff that was very briefly put up last year that I missed.

Said I'd gladly pay more than what was originally asked. No reply.

However, within hours of that email another track was posted with a price of $312 (for a 14 minute piece).

https://honour2.bandcamp.com/track/the-clasp-pt-1

I've come to the conclusion that this artist is very little about art, and very much focused on cash grabs.