John Paul Jones’ New Project to Release Debut Album
Former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones has announced his latest project, Minibus Pimps, a collaboration with Norwegian ambient artist Deathprod (real name Helge Sten), FACT reports.
The pair will release their debut record, Close to Ground, on March 3rd. Partly composed and partly improvised, the album will feature tracks recorded at live shows, with the pair feeding various instruments, electronics and samplers through the processors of a Kyma sound design computer system. The resulting effect is an overwhelming cloud of drones; the album’s title track is described as a “monstrous duet for icicles and cathedral organ.”
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The name Minibus Pimps comes from a song by the group Beijing Sound Unit, which appears on the 2003 Chinese experimental compilation The Sonic Avant Garde. According to the group’s Facebook page, they’ve played just a handful of events, including sets at London’s Café Oto in 2012 and the Nattjazz Festival in Bergen, Norway in May, where Close to Ground was recorded.
Minibus Pimps follows up Jones’ previous collaborative project, Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup with Foo Fighters‘ frontman Dave Grohl and Queens of the Stone Age honcho Josh Homme. Along with playing a slew of live dates, that trio released their debut album, Them Crooked Vultures, in 2009.