Joseph Shabason. Photo by Colin Medley.
In 1996, the skate company Toy Machine released a short film titled Welcome To Hell. The 32-minute movie features some of the best skaters of the ’90s, including Elissa Steamer, Brian Anderson, Donny Barley, Jason Acuña (Wee Man), Mike Maldonado, Jamie Thomas, and Toy Machine’s founder, Ed Templeton.
Today (August 22), experimental jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Shabason has announced that his next album will be an alternative score for the seminal video. Its lead single, out today, soundtracks Jamie Thomas’s five-minute clip from the film.
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Named after its featured skater, “Jamie Thomas” builds on restless drums and a relaxed but filthy bass line, creating a palette that’s calm and confident but anxiety-provoking nonetheless. Solo instruments include a vibraphone, microtonal synth keys, and some ethereal scatting that may or may not be automated.
Watch Thomas skate to Shabson’s score and stream to the track on its own below.
