Bombay Lunatic Asylum

Featuring: Louise Landes Levi, Bart De Paepe, Koen Vandenhoudt

Oaken Palace Records is excited to present its 20th release, a sonic journey to the roots of drone music, performed by Bombay Lunatic Asylum. The musicians behind this name are no others than Louise Landes Levi and Bart De Paepe, who already played together on Ikiru (OAK-013), our fastest selling release so far. On Mad Song, they are joined by Koen Vandenhoudt, who also recorded the album. De Paepe’s harmonium and Vandenhoudt’s shruti box form the perfect backdrop for Levi’s melancholic, haunting sarangi melodies, slowly evolving and meandering over the album’s thirty- five minutes. On Mad Song’s last track, Levi replaces the sarangi with her no less impressive voice and finishes the album with a beautiful rendition of Blake’s poem of the same title.

Right from the start, it was clear for all involved artists that this release should be dedicated to the Masai giraffe, which has recently been added to the IUCN redlist of endangered species, after a population decline of over 50% due to poaching and habitat loss. All profits from selling this release will be donated towards the Masai giraffe’s conservation. Oaken Palace Records is a registered UK charity, raising money for environmental causes through releasing drone records dedicated to endangered species. Since 2012 the label has donated almost £17,000 to conservation organisations around the world.