INTERNATIONALLY AVAILABLE

Available for Purchase and Audio Samples at

IndieRhythm.com * (featured artist)
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.jp
Amazon.de
Amazon.fr
iTunes
Top Music Japan, "Artist Shop" *
(this site is in Japanese only, for Japanese fans, in Japanese Yen. Nihongo dake)
CD Baby *
Bandcamp
Demand Records (Focusing primarily on the UK and EU) *
DigiStation
Reverb Nation Store
RhythmQwest.com
My Second Website
Jango Radio
allmusic.com
purevolume.com
audimated.com
BoostIndependentMusic.com
IndieDial Radio
Vibe Deck

* Can purchase physical CD as well as downloads



Press Quotes

"Hearing this artist's expertly produced work is to experience a vision aimed beyond the realm of pop.  ...Negin never offers the same sound twice, employing singers as ensemble instruments and working with sounds in a way that reminds us at times of Brian Eno, Aphex Twin and Wendy Carlos."

- Music Connection Magazine, April 2011



A great interview in the February 16 issue of The Peverett Phile, an excellent Blog (link)

By aaamusic on Feb 13, 2011 in Albums, Reviews

(LINK)

Lee Negin is an eccentric genius. Not content with just (!) being a university professor and a globe-trotting life – Negin has lived in Japan, India, Poland and, currently, South Korea, since leaving America 21 years ago – he has spent over three decades producing experimental music to the point of (near) perfection. His new album ‘Hungry Ghosts’ – released February 7th – is a mad masterpiece.

Considered by many as a pioneer in the new-wave era of the 80s – he is listed as an influential artist in ‘The International Discography of the New Wave’ – his musical voyage began with the 1979 release of his single ‘Wired for Sound’. Negin’s music is entirely his own – an extended part of his person – and has been from the start; he handles all aspects of writing, production, instrumentation, engineering and, occasionally, the vocals.

‘Hungry Ghosts’ is the first of two albums – the second being ‘We Wei’ – Lee Negin plans to release this year through his own label Passing Phase Records. Thirteen atmospheric, leftfield compositions ranging from electronica and rock to world music, all fused with a unique ambience. It’s so unconventional that according to Negin’s website NME declined to review the album, claiming it was “a bit too off the wall” for them.

After kicking off with an intro consisting of disturbing noise, ‘The Saga of Cheeze’ introduces the listener to the Lee Negin’s fantastical musical landscape – an erratic, grumbling funk number. The album features an eclectic mix of styles – there’s the minimalist 80s vibe of ‘Let Go’, the haunting Indian instrumentation of ‘Not Knowing Mind’, and the operatic vocals and understated orchestration on ‘Siddhartha’s Smile’.  The two tracks featuring vocalist Sulene Fleming – ‘Pas De Deux’ and ‘Mahayana’ – are arguably two of the more accessible tracks available, but they come with their fair share of quirk, particularly the latter – a song that shifts from pop ballad, to electro rock, to what can only be described as noise.

There are a few heavier moments on the album, such as the robotic electronica of ‘One & Only True Manhood’ and the pumping German techno of ‘Cheeze Takes On The NAN ites’, complete with yelping Japanese girls. ‘The Dance’ is an electro club-banger with a middle-eastern guitar sample intertwined throughout. There’s even a hint of Massive Attack on the trip-hop laden title track, which closes the album menacingly with nightmarish whispers. The standout is perhaps the boundary-pushing ‘Masks’, where hypnotic, industrial metal meets an oriental mid-section – think Trent Reznor’s instrumental work Nine Inch Nails mixed with Asian instruments.

‘Hungry Ghosts,’ however, is not an album that’s designed to be split up into different components. The majority of the tracks don’t really work as individual songs – it’s only when they are listened to in the broader context of the whole, sonically layered album that their ingenuity is comprehendible. Negin’s production and engineering skills are faultless, but the one area that could be improved on is his singing – his vocals aren’t all that inspiring, and he really doesn’t add anything to the few tracks he lends his voice to.

In his press release Negin stated “This is new world music”. Although that’s a rather pompous assertion, he may be onto something. Despite NME’s dismissal, ‘Hungry Ghosts’ isn’t an inaccessible record. Negin’s trick is to lull you into comfort with one genre then shock you by changing the tone and tempo. It may all be a bit chaotic and uneven, but his experimentalism is never unlistenable or frustrating. Quite the opposite – it’s addictive and blissful.

Author: Clive Rozario, AAA Music



Video Interview on You Tube

Feature article/review/interview in Buzz Magazine from Chicago (February 3, 2011)

http://www.buzznews.net/music/music-news/item/3057-hungry-ghosts-will-feed-your-soul

Great Interview on January 31 on Music World Radio (UK)

https://sites.google.com/site/demandrecordsbanbury/home/new-releases

From LA Talk Radio DJ, Sheena Metal (during an interview with Lee on January 14, 2011) (link)

"Lee Negin is an amazing musician. He is fabulously talented." 

After listening to "The Saga of Cheeze:"
"I loved it. It reminded me of...I'm riding into space on an alien spaceship, sitting in the bar with a bunch of hipster cats from the 1940's...and old jazz greats are sitting in with the great alien band."

After listening to "Hungry Ghosts:"

"Lee...it's another artistic masterpiece. What can I say...I've been spiritually rewired forever."

On Lee Negin's Music:

"That's what I love about your music. It mixes the future with the past in a very cool, avant-garde way."

From "Pumpkin Magazine," UK (January 2011)

"I really like Lee Negin's "Hungry Ghosts," a lot of effort has gone into the tracks and they are all well produced and mixed. The music kind of sends you to a bizarre Electronica world that keeps you listening throughout. "The Saga of Cheeze" is a very long track but is constantly changing throughout, and "Pas de Deux" is a very strange but cool one. "Hungry Ghosts" is quite creepy and hypnotic with a twist of emotion and passion. The ambience of the tracks is of very high quality , although it delves into the unknown, somewhat. Maybe people won't be ready for this kind of music yet, only time will tell. The release date is February 7th 2011 on Passing Phase Records, so keep your eyes and your ears open for this one."   -Amy Baker, Pumpkin Magazine, 2011

From Buzz Magazine, 14 January, 2011

"Lee Negin is a spiritual person. He left Amercia over 20 years ago.
Climbing mountains and living in places like Japan and Poland, Lee is now
a professor in Seoul Korea. He is also in the tops of music charts around the world for his digital orchestrations. Lee sees something we don’t.
A music label asked to re-release some of Lee’s music from when he first made a mark on the electronic music scene, and now...in a time
where mental health is on everyone’s minds, the legacy of Lee’s thought-provoking sounds and the provacative artwork of Red Hawk SODA serve
as high-art templates for concentration and focus. Created to evoke concentration. His new record HUNGRY GHOSTS is coming out this February. Considered ultra-art, or future art, the digital journeys of Lee’s music have been recognized the world over. He is listed in The International Discography of the New Wave."


The "John Shelton Ivany Top Twenty-One" newsletter, which is distributed to over 200 national (USA) newspapers, chose "Hungry Ghosts" as one of the top new CD releases in Issue 399 (11 January, 2011):

"It's poetry set to the soundscape of 1980s science fiction. Spaceships whiz by Frank Zappa and P-Funk, who are standing not far away. A pair of turntables spin with the B-52s dancing atop them. Smoke and acid storm around until you see monsters and angels floating out of the mouths of gurus. Lee Negin is trying to tell us something with this music, and with the help of a careful listen to the masses of abstract and changing noises, along with the slightly more cohesive vocals and samples, you just may get the message.

From the instruments of India to the atmosphere of Antarctica, Hungry Ghosts will give you sounds that are all over the map. It's electronic, but it's not something you're going to dance to unless you are doing some kooky performance art. Still, it's a stimulating listen. So take some time to ponder intellectual relativity and the space aliens living in your inner ear."

Purchase from Amazon Download from iTunes

Paul ED's (DJ on Music World Radio 1, UK) Review of "Hungry Ghosts":

"This is an experience, not an album. From his previous works ambient and pop,  i thought i knew what to expect from an album when it was released. There is big difference between listening to separate tunes and an album.  This is what a whole album sounds like.  For you sound system or headphones and like a head trip, be prepared for a psychedelic one.  Your going to hear something different each time you hear the music. Full of sounds, shapes, layers of sound that represents the ring of saturn.  From the opening, The Sound of no Sound, which resembles an earthquake erupting. One hell of a kicking bassline, which pierces your speakers like a railroad spike.  Then kicks into the 80s pop, The Saga of Cheeze which sounds like a rambling Korean trader.That is the opening first 7 minutes, it never lets up. The whole album is a floating trip of sounds and vocals that takes you to another place.  This will remind of the orb early days, which was a mixture of experimental sounds, pop and vocals.If you miss the whole album ambient experience, taking you on a trip, don't despare, its here. If you like The Orb, Talking Heads, Future Sound of London, then this is for you."
-Paul, ED. 11 January, 2011


After listening to my new CD, "Hungry Ghosts," Paul Readman (aka, Paul ED), DJ on Music World Radio 1 from Oxford, UK wrote this:

"Mixture of ambient and electro pop. Very much a mind-bending trip of sounds. Outstanding  album which I never expected, great on loud systems."

-Paul ED, 07 January, 2011

 NME


"Whilst admirable to produce left field / off the wall music , this is a bit too far off the wall for us"

 Regards

 Emily (Reviews Ed)

a review rejection from the highly regarded UK music magazine, NME. "...too far off the wall for us." Very cool!! I am honored!!



 Pro Mobile Magazine

 Review:

  "Lee Negin : – ‘Hungry Ghosts’ mp3      Passing Phase        7th Feb

You could say ‘Off-the-wall’ but it’s more like ‘Off-the-richter’ with weirdness and a bohemian approach set deep in its roots. If you can fathom what it’s all about, then you probably missed what actually just happened. It’s halfway between an instant quip by Edmund Blackadder and a short speech from Marvin on why 42 is the answer to meaning of life and everything (HHGTTG), and it makes for pure entertainment and a mastermind chair for the convenience. Listen… no I mean it, because if you need to ask, you could be abducted by aliens…."

-Pro Mobile Magazine, UK 06 January, 2011



"Let me be honest here. When we found out that Lee Negin signed up with SonicTribe we were blown away and a bit nervous. Lee is one hell of a musician that has been in the electronic scene for a long time. He is one of those musicians that have a real knack for consistently putting the right pieces together to create damn original music. So, it is no surprise to find Lee once again blowing up. From multiple press releases, serge of over 50,000 friends on Myspace, his latest video Piercing the Veil getting rave reviews on YouTube, several songs charting on the international scene and BuzzTV doing a feature on his work, Lee Negin is hitting what seems to be yet another apex in his music career."
- Chris Constantino
Founder, SonicTribe Network
01 January, 2011



In a recent preview of the album track "The Dance" on the Sheena Metal Experience program on LATalkRadio, Ms. Metal said "Sometimes people who have had near-death experiences say that they are taken to a place where their entire life flashes before their eyes, and in 'The Dance,' that's what I felt. I feel like I'm lying down, maybe I've been abducted by aliens, and everything I've ever thought about or felt is flashing before my eyes."
-Sheena Metal, 05 November 2010