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Badge: La Premi​è​re Époque (2017​-​2021)

by Badge Époque Ensemble

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    5 Disc box set (4 CDs + 1 Blu-Ray) featuring BÉE's catalogue to date, 2017-2021. CD material includes all albums from the period, plus several additional live recordings, unreleased studio recordings and other bonus items. Blu-Ray material includes a full multi-camera concert film of BÉE's performance at Union Pool NYC - which comes with download. Included in set and download are extensive liner notes with complete recording session history, gigography and interview with producer/mixers Maximilian 'Twig' Turnbull, Steve Chahley & Tony Price. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Digital price set to reflect the emphasis on this being a physical commodity. Please DL individual albums from their respective pages on the Telephone Explosion / BÉE BC pages.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $70 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Jewel case box set containing 4 audio compact discs & 1 blu ray. Extensive liner notes booklet, and obi strip. Edition of 100.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Badge: La Première Époque (2017-2021) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 100 

      $43 USD or more 

     

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Badge Theme 14:40
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Lujon 02:51
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Andrew Void 03:48
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Cloud 00:50
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Partition 03:05
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Milk (Live) 06:18
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about

"Max Turnbull (bandleader of the Badge Époque Ensemble), and I have been talking about releasing something together since his days as Slim Twig. Although in a previous life I was a vinyl enthusiast (in fact this label was started as a vehicle for ultra-limited vinyl releases), these days I am very much a proponent of the compact disc. It seemed a shame that the Badge stuff wasn’t coming out on CD, especially for me as that meant that I couldn’t add it to my collection.

In February 2020, Max was in New York City playing with U.S. Girls and I took the day off work to hang. We went to Academy Records on 18th Street, then I took him out to lunch. We discussed the idea of a “career” retrospective for Badge, which seemed like a funny thing to do for a band only a few years into their career.

A year or so later (give or take), Max and I decided it was time to actually start working on this thing. I love a deluxe reissue with bonus tracks: demos, live versions, etc. Drawing inspiration from releases on the Cherry Red (UK), Repertoire (Germany) and Belle Antique (Japan) labels, I suggested we visit his archives and compile everything released as Badge Époque Ensemble thus far. To make it complete, we also needed to dig out as many relevant “nuggets” from the vault as possible. “The Remy Tape” (an audio verite bootleg live recording committed straight to cassette by Meg Remy, the leader of 4AD recording artists U.S. Girls who is also somewhat coincidentally married to Max) was unearthed, amongst other items of interest.

Now it is another year or so later, and the collection has been willed into existence. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I agreed to this (even though I actually was the one who suggested it), and I don’t think Max did either. 4 CDs and a Blu-ray, featuring all the group’s work previously released on the Toronto-based Telephone Explosion label as well as quite a bit of bonus material. The Blu-ray includes all their music videos in addition to a concert film that I shot and edited, taken from Badge’s performance at Union Pool — their only NYC gig to date (I would say US gig but they played Chicago a few days later, a fact documented on their gigography which is included in the set). I have to say both having been there and seen the film, this document is about as close as you can get to having been there (for those that weren’t, or those who were and would like to relive the experience) and I recommend that all fans of the band take a moment to watch it as there is nothing else like it out there. I say that as both the director and as a fan of the band. Not to brag, but I’ve probably watched this particular video more than anyone else ever will…

Is this collection for the casual fan? I’m not going to tell anyone how to listen to music. It’s not for me to say whether you will enjoy listening to “The Remy Tape” in its entirety the way that I did (I even gave Max some mastering notes on it which he disagreed with and thus ignored). Is a casual fan going to listen to over 5 hours of Badge music? Probably not. But I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you aren’t a casual fan. Maybe you want to hear the unreleased demos and experiments, or watch the “Extinct Rhodes” video which is exclusive to this set. No Blu-ray player? No problem! They still sell them, for now…

Do you need me to describe the sound of Badge Époque Ensemble? I believe that is expected from one of these promotional sheets. When people ask me, I say “progressive/fusion with flute”. They don’t have a dedicated vocalist, relying on different guests to sing and usually performing live as an instrumental group. Max can hold it down on the Rhodes (or Clavinet, or whatever you need him to play really) and his group is a “veritable who’s who of Toronto musicians” (I know that’s gauche which is why I had to put it in quotes). I don’t see a lot of groups with a conga player these days either…

In fact, I don’t see a lot of groups like Badge Époque Ensemble these days full stop. I’m excited to work with Max and the group, and with Meg who did the layout for the booklet (although she did take a quick break to give birth to twins, which Max is of course also a bit distracted with these days), and Lauren Martin who did all the illustrations and lettering for the cover, and Tony Price who conducted the interview for the liner notes, and all the musicians who played on this collection, and even Patrick Benny who translated the text into Japanese for the obi. I’m not sure if any of this is making you want to buy (or listen, if you somehow received a promotional copy) to this, but I hope that you do. Start at the beginning and make your way to the end. Or listen to it on shuffle. Or bury it in the backyard (if you have one). However you like to enjoy music (or whatever), feel free to do that. Not that you need me to tell you…" - BJ Rubin, NYC, January '22.



Badge Époque Ensemble is a collection of Toronto musicians formed by bandleader Maximilian ‘Twig’ Turnbull (b. 1988) to perform original works. Collectively members have collaborated with some of Canada’s most notable musical exports including U.S. Girls, Andy Shauf, and Leslie Feist. They have released two full length albums, an EP and a collection on Toronto’s Telephone Explosion Records label, with their most recent album Self Help garnering acclaimed international coverage. Their sound draws influence from disparate sources such as 70’s jazz-funk, Tropicalia, prog rock and film music (fittingly, as Turnbull has also moonlighted as a composer for film — including extensive musical contributions to 2 documentary features by Oscar nominated director Hubert Sauper) to create an era-ambiguous woozy, narcotic funk atmosphere all their own. Exclaim! Magazine hailed their self-titled debut record as an ‘instant stone cold classic’, and it was later long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Aquarium Drunkard has routinely featured the group and described their sound as ‘dusted funk moves drawing inspiration from library music records, electric Miles, and the spaced out hip-hop productions of Madlib, Dilla & Edan’, and in 2020 the revered music site released a commissioned session of cover material from the group. In 2018 after having only released one song, the group was selected by Bill Callahan to open his cross Canadian tour. Following the release of their s/t debut, they also performed dates in the United States with U.S. Girls, and have become a live favorite in their native Toronto. 2022 will see the release of their complete archives-to-date on Dick Move Records, and a new album later in the year, again on Telephone Explosion.
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This release (4CD/BD w/ obi, pre-orders starting 28 February and officially available 15 April 2022) is strictly limited to 100 copies.

Badge Époque Ensemble:
Jay Anderson – Drums
Chris Bezant – Guitar
Alia O’Brien – Flute
Karen Ng – Saxophone
Gio Rosati – Bass
Ed Squires – Congas, Percussion
Maximilian ‘Twig’ Turnbull - Keyboards


Some press quotes for people that enjoy that sort of thing:

“Music that demands your full attention” - Pitchfork

“[Badge Époque Ensemble] sounds like a dusty dollar bin record with grooves scorching hot enough to melt unsuspecting minds” - Bandcamp

“Packed with psychedelically tinged textures and grooves that are enticing for your mind” - Exclaim

“It's heartening to hear a Toronto band like Badge Époque Ensemble cutting an album that's just an instant stone cold classic.” 9/10 review Exclaim

“Whereas Max’s past projects might have been more easily categorizable, the sprawling six songs avoid any genre orthodoxy, while drawing on influences including electric jazz, Brazilian tropicália and library music.” - Redbull

“On Badge’s self-titled debut LP, available from Hogtown’s Telephone Explosion, they drift through dusted funk moves drawing inspiration from library music records, electric Miles, and the spaced-out hip-hop productions of Madlib, Dilla, and Edan.” - Aquarium Drunkard

“Badge Époque Ensemble are seeking higher ground with respect to the psychedelic fringe of funk and the lysergic lilt of soul.” - Raven Sings The Blues

“Groove oriented wah wah odysseys — instrumentals that push you and pull you, that chip away at the walls we put up, that urge your primal soul to dance like no one could film you for their social feeds.” - Dominionated

“The set of seasoned improvisers glide gracefully on the murky waters of an almost instrumental album.“ - Le Devoir

© 2022 Dick Move Records

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released April 15, 2022

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