MAKAYA MCCRAVEN releases FOUR NEW SINGLES from four upcoming EPs
(( photo by Shannon Marks ))
MAKAYA MCCRAVEN RELEASES FOUR NEW SINGLES
FROM FOUR UPCOMING EPS
Acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven releases four new singles today, one from each of his four upcoming EPs - Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop – that are out on all music platforms October 31st.
The new singles - “Boom Bapped,” “The Beat Up,” “Dark Parks,” and “Los Gatos” - and subsequent EPs are all compiled on a 2xLP and 2xCD physical release titled Off the Record, which is available for preorder now and in stores October 10th via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings.
Listen to the singles from each of the four EPs,
and preorder Off the Record on 2LP/2CD here.
Techno Logic
(featuring Theon Cross & Ben LaMar Gay)
(cover image by Jacob Blickenstaff)
Hidden Out!
(cover image by Scott McNiece)
Listen to new single “Dark Parks”
PopUp Shop
(cover image by Victor Duarte)
Listen to new single “Los Gatos”
The source material for each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves.
Techno Logic features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians. Today’s single, “Boom Bapped,” is an aptly titled piece fit for a golden era Q-Tip verse, built off a loop from the group’s very first session at Worldwide FM’s former North London studio in 2017. With Gay’s ripping cornet lines in the foreground, McCraven filled out the track with keyboard, bass, and vibraphone overdubs recorded in his home studio in 2024.
The People’s Mixtape has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10-year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions. For the occasion, McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill (two musicians who are majorly present on In The Moment), as well as vibraphonist Joel Ross (who has been a regular collaborator of McCraven’s since the 2017 sessions for Universal Beings), and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (marking the first occasion for McCraven to play with the SML co-leader and International Anthem labelmate). Today's single, “The Beat Up,” starts with a percussive polyrhythmic vamp fronted by Paul’s electric bass line over Chiu, Ross, and McCraven’s percussion, before it opens up and Hill’s trumpet lines take the lead for the remainder of the track.
Hidden Out! is built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul, Tortoise member, International Anthem labelmate, composer and guitarist Jeff Parker, and SML co-leader, GRAMMY-award winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson. The new single “Dark Parks” is a textbook McCraven/Paul drum and bass link-up. McCraven’s heavy, no-fuss beat is propelled by Paul’s double bass thrums and incendiary funk skanks from Parker’s guitar.
PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven's Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justin "Justefan" Thomas, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd. The latest from PopUp Shop, "Los Gatos", is an extended and expanded loop from a dreamy moment of the quartet's performance. As McCraven shifts to a downtempo, slightly dragged Dilla-like rim-click rhythm, Shepherd's bass guitar sings with sweetly melodic flourishes, dotted by natural harmonics, as Justefan plays percussively on the pipes beneath his vibraphone, and Parker's frozen electric guitar notes hover over everything.
Listen to the singles from each of the four EPs,
and preorder Off the Record on 2LP/2CD here.
Off The Record
Vinyl 2xLP and 2xCD compilation
The Off the Record vinyl LP and CD compilation (available for preorder here) is not just a collection of these four EPs, but a tactile document celebrating creative, communal, IRL moments of musical gathering.
(photo by Shannon Marks)
Makaya McCraven, who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer” and “beat scientist,” has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music. Profiled in the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss says “is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.”
Makaya McCraven
OFF THE RECORD
TOUR
Thu 9/25 - Minneapolis, MN - Icehouse - tickets
Fri 9/26 - Milwaukee, WI - Vivarium - tickets
Wed 10/1 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall (w/ Tom Skinner) - tickets
Thu 10/2 - Somerville, MA - Arts at the Armory - tickets
Fri 10/3 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater - tickets
Sat 10/4 - Philadelphia, PA - Solar Myth (3 night residency) - early AND late shows tickets
Sun 10/5 - Philadelphia, PA - Solar Myth (3 night residency) - tickets
Mon 10/6 - Philadelphia, PA - Solar Myth (3 night residency) - tickets
Wed 10/8 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge - tickets
Thu 10/9 - Springfield, MA - HOPE Theatre
Fri 10/10 - Ann Arbor, MI - UMS @ Michigan Theater - tickets
Sat 10/18 - San Diego, CA - Artpower at UC San Diego - Price Center East Ballroom - tickets
Tue 10/21 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall - tickets
Wed 10/22 - Los Angeles, CA - Jazz Is Dead @ Lodge Room - tickets
Thu 10/23 - Denver, CO - Dazzle - early tickets / late tickets
Fri 10/24 - Denver, CO - Dazzle - early tickets / late tickets
Sat 10/25 - Portland, OR - The Get Down - tickets
Sun 10/26 - Seattle, WA - Madame Lou's - early tickets / late tickets
Fri 10/31 - Berlin DE - Jazzfest Berlin - tickets
Sat 11/1 - Roma IT - Auditorium Parco della Musica - tickets
Mon 11/3 - Prague CZ - Palác Akropolis - tickets
Tue 11/4 - Brno CZ - Cabaret des Pêchés - tickets
Wed 11/5 - Katowice PL - Ars Camerails / Jazz Club Hipnoza
Thu 11/6 - Mannheim DE - Enjoy Jazz / Alte Feuerwache - tickets
Fri 11/7 - Bremen DE - Theater Bremen - tickets
Sat 11/8 - Groningen NL - Rockit / Oosterport Kleine Zaal - tickets
Mon 11/10 - Utrecht NL - TivoliVredenburg - tickets
Wed 11/12 - Lisboa PT - Teatro Sao Luiz - tickets
Thu 11/13 - Madrid ES - Madrid Jazz Festival / Teatro Fernan Go
Fri 11/14 - Namur BE - Le Delta - tickets
Sat 11/15 - Den Bosch NL - November Music / Willem Twee Poppo - tickets
Mon 11/17 - Lille FR - Aéronef - tickets
Tue 11/18 - Paris FR - New Morning - tickets
Wed 11/19 - London UK - EFG London Jazz Festival / Koko - tickets
Thu 11/20 - Cenon FR - Le Rocher de Palmer - tickets
Sat 11/22 - Athens GR - Gazarte - tickets
Sun 11/23 - Oslo NO - Cosmopolite - tickets
!!! FALL '25 BUNDLE IS HERE !!!
Makaya McCraven's Off the Record is the first of three new physical releases we'll be announcing for the upcoming fall season. And per usual, we're offering a limited quantity of bundles that gather them all, available for purchase now via our Bandcamp page.
The Fall ‘25 Bundle collects a full season of new releases and ships them as a single parcel. Purchase gets you a bundle-exclusive discount of 10% off the LP prices as well as a discounted shipping cost.
Included in the Fall '25 Bundle:
IARC0103 (Makaya McCraven - Off the Record)
IARC0099 (Tortoise - Touch)
IARC0105 (TBA soon)
Bundles will ship from our warehouses in the US, EU, and UK, but don’t wait too long, the quantity available in each warehouse is limited! Early purchase is recommended to ensure the lowest possible shipping, tax, and VAT costs. All items will ship together in one package around October 22nd. Bandcamp downloads will be sent via email for all the releases by, or before, the ship date.
ORDER THE FALL '25 BUNDLE on
limited edition color vinyl here
ORDER THE FALL '25 BUNDLE on
classic black vinyl here
