Buy / Stream: https://ffm.to/takenallthistime-lp

Praise coming in from Groove Armada, Laurent Garnier, Erol Alkan, Crazy P, Louise Chen, DJ Bone, Fred P, ABSOLUTE and Horse Meat Disco.

Prolific disco/house producer James Curd is perhaps one of the undersung heroes of the scene. With hundreds of production credits to his name on every label worth its salt from DFA Records to Classic Music Company to Permanent Vacation to Lumberjacks In Hell — and of course, Exploited — he has serious skin in the game. It’s finally time for his debut album to make its mark on the world, rounding up 14 of his finest moments to date for Exploited and packaging them up into one joyous blend.
“‘Taken All This Time’ is a catalog of music that stays true to my life growing up in my critical formative years in Chicago” he explains. “I used to make tracks from beginning to end on an MPC2000. I had a studio in my room that was set up on a door that was held up by two overturned trash cans. If I was recording on the mic I had to shut my windows because I lived on the third floor above 90/94. Sometimes I would get WGCI bleeding into my speakers while I was trying to work. It was the best of times. I worked at a record store called Supreme most days. Then I would work on music till late and head out to the club. I had a residency with Derrick Carter, Gene Farris and Diz. I made so much music — especially in the brutal winters.”
You wouldn’t know that much of this record was made in the depths of winter, given the warm, balmy vibe that surrounds much of it. With his magical synth wizardry cutting against jazzy keys, disco/funk basslines, and sublime vocals, it’s a beautiful mix of sounds that is at home on the dancefloor as on the home stereo. Each track contains elements built on his MPC, with all keys, vintage synths, guitars and bass played live. “ In a time where so much music is pieced together by sample packs and drum loops this album is created brick by brick.... or beat by beat. Every keyboard sound was played on an actual keyboard in my studio. Guitars and bass were played in.”
The album draws its influences from ‘70s disco, ‘80s boogie and ‘90s deep house in equal measure, serving as a musical document of Curd’s upbringing. Beautiful vocals are provided by a diverse cast of singers and rappers, including Bear Who? Luke Million, Likasto, Natasha Lillith and KE, with other collaborative moments featuring Fred Everything and Karmon.
The prolific producer has previously worked with James Murphy for a release on his DFA Records label, and works on many film, TV and video game score projects, including for the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series and 50 Cent’s show ‘The Oath’. But right now, it’s all about this beautiful collection of tracks, providing a milestone in his career that he will be able to look back on very proudly in years to come.
Single and Album artworks were done by James' friend Cody Hudson who is a Chicago based artist known for his graphic design contributions under the name Struggle Inc. and for the production of clean, multi-dimensional graphics, Cody's design aesthetic is part urban modernism, and part organic visual deconstruction.
His graphic work and paintings have been exhibited throughout the US, Europe and Japan including the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), New Image Art (LA), Rocket Gallery (Tokyo), The Lazy Dog (Paris), & Andrew Rafacz (Chicago).

Artist: James Curd
Release: Taken All This Time
Label: Exploited
Cat: EXPDIGITAL222
LC: 15799 
Publisher: Exploited Ghetto Music Publishing
Releasedate Beatport & Streaming: 24.09.2021
Releasedate Global Download: 08.10.21

Taken All This Time (Album)

Yellow Magic

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James Curd & Luke Million - Yellow Magic I Exploited

grown in Chicago, rooted in Aus

Booking:
James@greens-keepers.com

James Curd began his DJing career in Chicago when he was only fifteen years old. Being underage, Curd was snuck into events to play at raves and clubs he was not legally allowed in. He played along side some of electronic music’s most respected acts and DJs. Through his love of DJing and music Curd began to write and produce for himself. At nineteen Curd released his first track on the globally respected label “Basenotic” out of Paris. From there Curd created “Greenskeepers”, a name to represent himself and the wide range of music he wrote and the artists he collaborated with.

As “Greenskeepers” Curd released an array of music on Classic records. He made his mark on the dance music world by infusing swing music and Chicago house to invent the term G-Swing, being short for Greenskeepers Swing. Curd focused on G-Swing and started a label by that same name to feature this unique sound. Around this same time Curd also owned and operated two other record labels “Igloo” and “Greenskeepers Music”.

Curd has released four full length albums under Greenskeepers, “Ziggy Franklin Radio Show”, “Pleetch”, “Polo Club” and “Live Like You Want To Live”. Curd has also had phenomenal individual success with releases on DFA, Permanent Vacation, Exploited, Eskimo, ETC ETC, Bang Gang, OM, Ministry Of Sound, to name a few. Curd is also highly sought after for his remixes. He has remixed artist such as Juan Maclean, PNAU, Midnight Magic, Poolside, Kaskade, Hercules & Love Affair, Groove Armada, Flight Facilities and more. Curd’s music has also been remixed by great artist like Poolside, Flosstradamus, Juan Maclean, Gigamesh, Treasure Fingers, Pepe Bradock, The Rapture, Dimitri From Paris, Flight Facilities and Derrick Carter.

Four of Curd’s songs have been featured on “Grey’s Anatomy”, while others have appeared on T.V shows such as C.S.I Miami, Point Pleasant, MTV Real World and Keeping Up With The Kardashians. His music can also be found in foreign films as well as main stream movies such as “What Happens In Vegas”,”The Vow” and the hugely successful animation “The Incredibles”. If you listen carefully, you will even find Curd’s work on BBC documentaries and American Airlines inflight radio! His work in T.V. and Film has enabled him to work behind the scenes as a music supervisor. His latest film “Crush” is produced by Intrepid Pictures and features an amazing array of artist from around the world hand picked by Curd to fit each scene perfectly.

Curd has toured the world over, renown for his energy behind the decks and his ability to make a party. Curd has performed at some of the world’s most respected clubs. From Fabric in London, The Avalon in Los Angeles, Home in Sydney to The Arches in Glasgow. Curd has also been part of festivals such as Park Life in Australia, Lollapalooza In Chicago, T In The Park in Scotland and Electric Picnic in Ireland.

Curd continues to consistently release quality new music by pushing his sound while also staying true to his roots. He has started a new band called “Favored Nations” with singer Morgan Phalen who has also worked with Justice and Phenomenal Handclap Band. The third bandmate is Sid Who?, who also plays bass and guitar for Empire Of The Sun. Curd is also putting together a mix CD coming soon on Ministry Of Sound. With Curd anything and everything can be expected. Whether it’s Rockstar Games using his song for the “Grand Theft Auto 4” Ad campaign or his latest EP sitting at number one on Juno, you never know what to expect from the talented Curd or where his music might pop up.

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Exploited Rec promises to strip the wallpaper from the walls of your home stereo.
Shir Khan started Exploited in 2007. Exploited Rec now plays host to some wide-ranging and innovative electronic talent - including Adana Twins, Claptone, Budakid, Joyce Muniz, James Curd, Shir Khan (to name a few) - and its artists have been receiving numerous supportive spins from the likes of Solomun, Pete Tong, Soul Clap, Wolf&Lamb, Azari&III, Jesse Rose, Axel Boman and A-Trak.
This is serious dance music at it's most cutting edge with all the juice to really get you going. It's totally contemporary, innovative and has a chunky dirty feel. "Exploited" take you on an invigorating roller coaster ride back to your youth when you first listened to dance music with all the thrills and spills you so enjoyed about clubbing. It's heavy, exciting and special.
'"Exploited Records" is a seamless melting pot of varied styles that simply can't fail to please even the most discerning ears. Highlights here are plentyful. Not to be missed at any cost.' (Clash)
'Musical hybrids are truly the flavour of today, but few have managed to capture the atmosphere of an unpredictable microcosm of a night out on a recordlabel - until now. Shir Khan's label "Exploited" bottles the zeitgeist's giddy thrills with plenty of style and substance. This is dance music hybridism in all its most glorious forms, and Shir Khan is an expert at making square pegs fit round holes.' (DJ-Mag)
'"Exploited Records" boss Shir Khan has been gaining a lot of acclaim recently, and deservedly so - as he has shown us the high quality, diversity and forward-thinking nature of his label. Engaging, riveting and diverse.' (Data Transmission)