Redinho – 1-800-SUC-CESS
Posted on Jun 16th, 2023
Prolific English multi-instrumentalist Redinho (Sub Pop, Numbers) moved to London’s rough Holloway Road during lockdown. Aside from prompting him to join a boxing club, the neighborhood also influenced a wave of manic, ebullient tracks created on an old Akai S3000XL sampler, a Tascam Portastudio recorder and a small handful of junky machines. The resulting album, 1-800-SUC-CESS, is raw and spontaneous, assembled like a mixtape with tape hiss and surrealist interludes.
He created videos that connect multiple songs, which he described as “a kind of infomercial nightmare. The relentless selling of a material, financial or spiritual fix to the human condition.” He muses: “This projection of intense self-improvement, whether through fitness, finance or psychological and spiritual mastery, seemed propelled by desperation.” And yet there is an undertone of humor and wit that balances out all the paranoia, making 1-800-SUC-CESS and highly entertaining listening experience.