Vulfpeck - The Beautiful Game (2016)

Vulfpeck is a primarily instrumental, Los Angeles-based band inspired by the classic R&B rhythms recorded by the Funk Brothers, the Meters, and quite possibly Booker T. & the MG's. The founding members — bassist Joe Dart, keyboardist Woody Goss, former My Dear Disco guitarist Theo Katzman, and keyboardist/drummer Jack Stratton — attended the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor and aligned in 2011. They released their debut EP, the six-track Mit Peck, by the end of the year, and went on to issue several EPs of similar length through 2014. In March 2014, they also conceived Sleepify, a shrewd and samey set that featured tracks like "Z," "Zzzzz," and the finale "Zzzzzzzzzz." The royalties they earned from mostly nocturnal streams of the release — ten half-minute tracks that consisted of nothing but silence — funded a short, admission-free U.S. tour that September. "Christmas in L.A.," featuring session giant David T. Walker on guitar, was out as a single three months later. In 2015, the band released their first album, Thrill of the Arts.