
Willaris. K at Shangri-La
Photo: courtesy of artist
Record Store Recs: Willaris. K Finds The Experimental Beats In Melbourne
With the unprecedented global disruption of 2020, it's important to support the music community however we can. With our series Record Store Recs, GRAMMY.com checks in with vinyl-loving artists to learn more about their favorite record stores and the gems they've found there.
Australian ambient house/techno DJ/producer Willaris. K (born Jack McAllister) has a sound that is ever-morphing and hard to define, but is firmly planted in the electronic underground. With his unrelenting four-track EP Full Noise, dropped in July on dance giant Astralwerks, he brought a speaker-rattling warehouse party straight to our living rooms.
The banger was already his second EP of 2020, preceded by LUSTRE, a moody six-track journey moving through deep house, ambient, experimental electronica and more. Both come just two years since he made waves in the Melbourne electronic scene and beyond with his 2018 debut album, Alchemy.
In June, he delivered a trippy, clubby remix of (GRAMMY-winnner) Flume and Toro y Moi's huge (it was featured in an Apple Air Pods ad!) single, "The Difference," adding more grooves into the fellow Aussie's already textured, colorful production.
Today, "Chapel," the driving Full Noise track (written in Rick Rubin's famous Shangri-La studios) featuring Virginia rapper/sound designer WaveIQ, gets the remix treatment from GRAMMY-nominated German industrial house DJ/producer/master remixer Boys Noize. That living room rave just got louder.
For the latest Record Store Recs, McAllister gives us a look into some of the alternative electronic/ambient music that inspires him to produce, as well as some great spots to find these sorts of records in his home of Melbourne.
The Last Record Store Recs: Chicago House Hero Marshall Jefferson On Representation In Dance Music
Please pick three to five records stores you love.
Skydiver in Melbourne, Aus.
Hub 301 in Melbourne
Plug Seven Records in Melbourne
Why do you love these shops and what kind of goodies have you found there?
All three shops are within walking distance from my house in Melbourne which is a bonus. Unfortunately, with the current lockdown in Victoria, I think they're all closed but doing online orders. At these stores, I've found inspiring music I'd never heard before, especially ambient stuff, which I find always makes me want to make music.
Modern Bliss by Roza Terenzi
More Ambient Gems: Record Store Recs: Öona Dahl Tells Us Her Favorite Places To Find Vinyl In L.A. And Berlin
For at least one of your favorite shops, share a recent record or two (or more!) you bought there, and what you love about the record/artist.
I'm currently not at my house in Melbourne due to the lockdown so I don't have access to my records, but my most recent purchase was Modern Bliss by [Australian producer] Roza Terenzi [2020] which is amazing. Really tight production and an interesting approach to dance music. Also Yeo-Neun by [experimental South Korean cellist/composer] Okkyung Lee [2020] is a special ambient record that I bought a few months back. It's one of those that inspires me to want to make music.
What's an upcoming/recent release you have your eyes on picking up & why?
I'm keen to hear the new Rival Consoles' album [Articulation, released July 31]. His production and songwriting are always so unique.
More Record Store Recs: Simón Mejía Of Bomba Estéreo Takes Us To Colombia
When crate-digging, how do you pick out records? For example, is it the cover that grabs you, or do you shop for specific artists?
With music being so readily available in 2020, I'm usually looking for things I haven't heard before because it's a small pocket that exists where you can't get it anywhere else sometimes.
GRAMMY U’s “Music & Activism: Enacting Real Change” Envisions Industry’s Equitable Future