• Limited Edition
• Repress
• Clear Vinyl
• Clear vinyl pressing limited to 300 copies
• Includes Obi-strip
• Pressed at Optimal in Germany
• Plunderphonic composition sourced from over 100 Grateful Dead Dark Star performances (1968-1993)
   

John Oswald's Grayfolded emerged in 1994 as a radical act of plunderphonics applied to the Grateful Dead's vast archive. Drawing from over 100 performances of "Dark Star" spanning decades, Oswald constructed an entirely new composition through granular manipulation, time-stretching, and recombination—transforming the Dead's improvisational sprawl into a dense, sculptural meditation on form and repetition. Within Oswald's catalog of transformative works, Grayfolded stands as his most ambitious archival intervention, treating source material not as sacred text but as malleable substance to be reimagined.

The album unfolds across three sides of evolving sonic density. Tracks like "Novature (Formless Nights Fall)" and "Pouring Velvet" establish a murky, amorphous territory where recognizable Grateful Dead DNA dissolves into textural abstraction—Garcia's guitar work fractured into crystalline fragments, harmonies stretched into unrecognizable sustains. "In Revolving" and "Ash Light" introduce subtle rhythmic structure without surrendering the work's fundamental drift, while "Clouds Cast" deepens the immersion in processed space. The overarching effect is hypnotic rather than confrontational; Oswald's scissors-and-tape methodology reveals hidden harmonic relationships and creates unexpected continuities across performances separated by years.

This 2025 repress via Important Records marks the Kickstarter exclusive release on clear vinyl, limited to 300 copies and manufactured at Optimal in Germany. The three-LP set includes an obi-strip and restores access to a work that has circulated primarily through bootleg channels and the original CD release. For collectors of experimental music, Dead scholarship, and plunderphonics practice, this pressing represents the album in its intended three-sided form with significantly improved pressing quality and proper packaging—a substantial upgrade over previous iterations.

Title: Grayfolded
Artist: John Oswald
Label: Important Records (2)
Style: Electronic, Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Experimental, Prog Rock
Product Type: 3×Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition, Repress, Stereo, Clear Vinyl, Kickstarter exclusive edition
Country: US
Release Year: 2025
Barcode: 7 93447 53991 1

Tracklist:

A1. Novature (Formless Nights Fall)
A2. Pouring Velvet
A3. In Revolving
B1. Ash Light
B2. Clouds Cast
B3. Throu...
C1. ...ough
C2. Fault Forces
C3. The Phil Zone
C4. La Estrella
D1. Oscura
D2. Recedes (While We Can)
D3. Transilience
D4. 73rd Star Bridge Sonata
E1. Cease Tone Beam
E2. Foldback Time
F1. Dark Matter Problem / Every Leaf Is Turning
F2. The Speed Of Space