Niño, Carlos & Friends: Placenta (Vinyl 2xLP)

Placenta is the fourth collection of broadly imaginative and highly collaborative Carlos Niño & Friends music released on International Anthem in the last four years. It is also the first new music to be released by Carlos Niño & Friends following the November 2023 release of André 3000’s New Blue Sun – an album which Carlos produced alongside André, while co-writing, co-creating/playing, and co-mixing every song.

Placenta is announced on April 11th, 2024, a date chosen because it is the 1st solar return of Moss Niño (a new being in human form, who Carlos and his partner Annelise are Earth parents of). Their experience of pregnancy, labour and delivery were all profoundly impactful for Carlos. Becoming a father again (a whole 24 years after the birth of> Azul Niño, who has become a regular artistic collaborator with Carlos) he felt total Inspiration for this set of recordings, and hence it is perhaps the most conceptually-grounded Carlos Niño & Friends album we've yet to present – fully connected to the spirit of family, birth, and "how we get here." 

In Niño’s words, Placenta is “dedicated to Mothers, Children, Babies, Aunties, Doulas, Midwives, Birthworkers...,” and a short list of track titles includes: "Love To All Doulas!", "Some Rest For The Midwives", "Real Vital Organs", and "Generous Pelvis". The centrepiece of the album, the sprawling "Placenta, Nourishment, New Home, The Galaxy", is an unbelievably vivid immersion in the sonic architecture of Niño's memory-scape... like being present in his energy field... or being present in a birthing room, or maybe even being born yourself. And it just might be the most powerful, unique piece of music Niño has ever created.

Featured artists on Placenta, in order of their entry on the album, include: Nate Mercereau, Jamire Williams, Sam Gendel, Jamael Dean, Dexter Story, Brandon Eugene Owens, Maia, André 3000, Jesse Peterson, Ariel Kalma, Surya Botofasina, Annelise, Haize Hawke, Aaron Shaw, Devin Daniels, Tiffany de Leon, Michael Bolger, Michael Alvidrez, Moss, Iasos, Photay, Deantoni Parks, Adam Rudolph, Andres Renteria, and Cavana Lee.

Produced, Mixed, Edited, and Arranged by Carlos Niño

Black vinyl version.

1. Love To All Doulas!
   
2. Some Rest For The Midwives . . .
   
3. Real Vital Organs
   
4. Surges, Expansions
   
5. In Appreciation of Chico Hamilton's Vast Influence on the West Coast Sound
   
6. Birthworkers Magic, and how we get hear . . .
   
7. This "I" was not
   
8. Placenta, Nourishment, New Home, The Galaxy
   
9. Carla's Beads
   
10. Moonlight Watsu in Dub
    
11. Generous Pelvis
    
12. Bi-Location
13. "Play Kerri Chandler's RAIN"