Build Something Beautiful For Me

The latest album from celebrated London producer Loraine James is a breathtaking homage to late legendary composer Julius Eastman, reinterpreting, reimagining and responding to key compositions.

Phantom Limb are long-term fans of both Eastman and Loraine James. Using their fortuitous connection with Julius’ surviving brother Gerry, the label began this new project in summer 2021, hoping to continue the current tide of efforts to reinstate Eastman’s rightful place in 20th-century composition. Loraine was offered a zip drive of Eastman originals (courtesy of Gerry Eastman), Renee Levine-Packer & Mary Jane Leach’s illuminating biography Gay Guerilla (University of Rochester Press, 2015), and transcribed MIDI stems (courtesy of Phantom Limb), and this resulting album carries the Eastman torch with finesse and sensitivity. Loraine employs samples, melodic motifs, themes and imagery, and inspiration from Eastman’s canon, slicing, editing, pulling apart and playing samples like instruments to craft a stunning album that venerates Eastman’s genius while adhering to her own. ***all copies have very slight corner dings

“A map of James’ own complicated emotional terrain, one in which signposts of Eastman’s work reappear like symbols in a dream.” – Pitchfork