- I suspect that "Mark," the enigmatic Kurtz figure behind the Uruguay-based label International Feel, is less cosmic sage than he'd have us believe. I'm not talking about his taste in music—that's pretty much as out there as the truth—but rather his ascent from geographically-challenged never-heard-of-you (or have we?) to hyped must-have merchant in just less than a year following an alleged telepathic tete-a-tete with beach-dwelling disco shaman, Harvey Bassett. Not that persuading the revered Beard to wake from his studio slumber wasn't a galactic coup, but experience and marketing savvy are more likely explanations for a roll-call that also already includes Matt Edwards, Ashley Beedle, Greg Wilson and Daniele Baldelli.
The latest ploy in this remarkable rise is a new sub-label that will issue a series of limited edition (500 copies worldwide), 180-gram, vinyl-only records produced in the oceanic idyll of Punta Del Este—International Feel's studio base. The first offering, "The Coptic Sun," is a predictably far-out affair. Grandiose and leisurely, its kaleidoscopic guitar solos and cinematic score evoke dreams of the ancient mysticism hinted at in the title. Whether it's "Mark" or one of his celebrated cohorts behind the track remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that a whole lot of beach, beard and bhang have gone into it.
Tracklist A1. The Coptic Sun