Denver producer and visual artist John T. Hastings aka RUMTUM returns to Bastard Jazz for his second album on the label, “Arcadian Daze”. The album is a contemplative drive down a nostalgic highway, reflecting on a period of his late adolescence growing up in Ohio, spending time at Arcadia Beach on Lake Erie and discovering the likes DJ Shadow, Madlib, Fila Brazilla, early Four Tet, the original Ninja Tune roster and more. Revisiting these coming of age memories, John purchased an older MPC 2000XL and set out to musically capture the excitement of putting his first nascent loops together, inspired by this pivotal era of electronic music that has since birthed movements like such as Lo-Fi/Chillhop, Vaporwave, LA’s mid-2000s Beat Scene / Low End Theory, etc. 

The end result of “Arcadian Daze” is indeed filled with that nostalgic spirit paying homage to those aforementioned sounds, but also presents a forward thinking musical palate that’s very much grounded in RUMTUM’s sensibilities as a producer and time spent learning to program new & vintage outboard gear. The album moves away from the warm, dreamy sounds of last year’s “Isles in Indigo” LP, and touches more into a mystical, pensive vibe with elements of darkness and light.

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RUMTUM - Arcadian Daze LP

RUMTUM returns to Bastard Jazz with the second single from his upcoming LP "Arcadian Daze", due out in Spring of '23. "Echo Drift" shifts RT's production from the dreamy, subaquatic haze of his previous LP into a bit more hard hitting territory, with a sparse drum break, swirling percussion, ghostly vocal samples and lush pads on resting on top. The track is a continuity of progress from this rapidly developing producer to watch.

RUMTUM - Echo Drift

"Arcadian Daze" is the third single from Denver-based producer and visual artist RUMTUM's upcoming LP. Utilizing a breakbeat reminiscent of 2-Step Garage or slowed down drum'n'bass, layered on top of childlike melodies, a deep bassline, and sparkling synth work. The new album "Arcadian Daze" will be out worldwide on March 24th.