Here's a fascinating little label that has totally passed me by until now. The intriguingly named Breadminster County Council has dropped 4 releases to date, all seemingly masterminded by the even more intriguingly named Elijah Minnelli. 'Slats' is the fourth, and it has me eagerly digging into their back catalogue to make up for the lost time.

There's some fascinating world-building going on here. The County Council is clearly about its pagan dubwise business. As per the press release:

"As a native resident of Breadminster, the new single’s foundation naturally stems from the theological roots of the area itself. It’s often said colloquially “Dig in the ground and you’ll find crumbs”. This local idiom has its foundation in reality - historically mill workers of medieval Breadminster (Panemisteron) would bury a portion of freshly milled wheat into the earth as an offering to the gods. This Hellenic-esque ritual proved fruitful as the amylase enzyme within the wheat enriched the soil of the land and led to Breadminster’s great “Larder era”.

The music matches the high concept - this is an earthy, rootsy mutation on the reggae gene, owing as much to folk and Cumbia as it does to dub. The a-side's bass-heavy bedrock is topped by accordion, humming, and pleasingly woody percussion. Flip the record over and you get a proper dub take that allows all the same organic elements the space to float and breathe around the stereo field.

Highly recommended new music!

Slats is out now