From time to time a mysterious package will arrive here at the Nostalgia King offices that we have to sign for and that we weren’t expecting. Before signing we typically like to ask who sent the package and the origin city or country. After all, signing your name on the dotted line means that you are liable for whatever has been delivered. Reading an international address, we knew it had to be something good arriving in a record mailer but what could it be? A swift opening revealed something that I knew that I need to drop the needle on ASAP especially with titles like “Delicatessen” and “The Bodega”. After dropping the needle, something sounded familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Who were the players on this double-sided slice of goodness known as East Side Supply?
Tag teaming up like champions of the National Wrestling Alliance, East Side Supply marks the coming together of two of our favorite producer/multi-instrumentalists here at Nostalgia King, Bay Area’s Chris Lujan (Life Of Grime) and Reno’s Alexander Korostinsky (Whatitdo Archive Group). Known for their genre-bending aesthetics and analog production styles, the two gathered at Korostinsky’s Archive Group Studios where they wrote and rolled tape on two songs worth their weight in gold.
Lujan and Korostisky found common ground in their mutual love of New York’s bustling Upper East Side 1980s-era culinary scene, diving headfirst into the art of the delicatessen. The sounds that emanated out of the studio could easily be the music wafting through the aisles of a New York bodega. Sonically influenced by classic East Coast hip-hop, East Side Supply blends in their sample-ready beats with their long-standing connection with library music a’la Sandro Brugnolini, Rino De Filippi, and other library heavyweights.
The A-side, “Delicatessen” starts off with a heavy drum break complete with electric bongos. A drifty Casiotone keyboard and 12-string electric guitar lead an off-kilter melody while thick bass and fuzz guitar then take center stage for an ear-bending trip. A crunchy, jazz flute solo takes the song to another level.
“The Bodega” opens with Lujan’s guitar Harpsichord and flute enter together with a refreshing melody line floating atop Korostinsky’s bass line. Axelrod-esque hits bring the heavy head nod that you might find in Davide Sorrenti’s 1990s ‘Heroin chic’ photography that was so popular at the time. Finally, fuzzy drums wrap up the groove.