Castaways Vol. 2 Pre-order + Flower Shower EP

Now available!

Welcome back to The Flowering Jungle. I’m excited to officially announce the release of my new EP, Flower Shower, streaming everywhere today!

In celebration of the release of my new EP, I’ve created a new vinyl-only compilation, Castaways Vol. 2 which includes Flower Shower along with several other EPs, tracks and unreleased rarities that have never before been pressed to vinyl.

You can pre-order the vinyl below. There’s also an edition of 10 test pressings with original artwork and a new Castaways tee available too.

The Castaways Collection

Jungle Chameleon Splatter - 200 records

Blue Raspberry Kiwi - 300 records

+ Test Pressings with Original Art - 10 records

Today I wanted to take a deeper dive into the Castaways Vol. 2 tracklist and talk a bit about all the tracks you’ll hear on the vinyl and my new EP.

Side A - Flower Shower EP

As I mentioned in my May newsletter, Flower Shower is a collection of some of my mellowest spring and summer vibes songs, meant to be listened to while watching the rain roll in. As the weather started to get warmer I found myself inspired by our backyard and it’s transformation. This year we’re attempting a wildflower garden and the process of mixing the seeds, sprinkling and watering has been really meditative. I wanted to make music that expresses the feeling of relaxed but hopeful anticipation you have in the spring and Flower Shower is that.

The full EP is streaming everywhere today. Thanks to everyone who’s tuned into the singles so far.

Check it out here:

Side B - Escape to the Cloud Forest and more

Escape to the Cloud Forest was a release that I felt like never really got it’s due. Coming out in early May 2020 amid pandemic craziness, I think it got lost in the shuffle, so I wanted to make sure I shared it on this record. This is a two part journey that crosses over various landscapes and was mainly inspired by my time traveling in Peru in a beautiful cloud forest. Also on the B-side are four other tracks that I felt fit well on this journey: Capt. Koyake, Submersible, Ginger on the wind (Feat. Mira Cook) and Grand Poobah.

Side C - Deep Sea EP

To be fair, this is the only EP from this collection that has already had a vinyl release. Deep Sea came out in 2011 while I was still in college as a very small 7” release. I created the artwork, screenprinted and glued all the jackets myself. This has been sold out for so long and I often get people asking me to repress it, so this seemed like the perfect time. Also included on this side is an unreleased track from this era called “Kelley’s Island” which has always been one of my favorites.

Check out some pictures of the original process of printing and gluing the jackets below.

Side D - MR EP and Strange Creeper

MR EP was the very first release by Monster Rally. Created on the floor of my college bedroom, this EP pretty much changed my life.

where I made the MR EP

After putting together some weird songs I sent it off to a handful of blogs I admired and was lucky enough to have the music featured on many of them, something for which I’ll always be grateful. This EP holds a special place in my heart and probably has the truest representation of the original Monster Rally concept. It has one of my first and favorite songs I’ve ever made (“The Wolf”) and I’ve been waiting a long time to get it on vinyl.

Also on the D-side is my song Strange Creeper, an homage to a particularly creeper neighbor I had when I was living in Columbus.

Thanks for reading all the way down to here. I’m psyched to have this newsletter community to be able to share more about the releases and projects than I would normally be able to via social media. I appreciate you!

Check out the whole Castaways Vol. 2 collection below and grab yourself a record before they sell out.

See you next month in The Flowering Jungle!

Ted