Cautious Clay – Karpeh: Blue Note's 2023 Synth-Soul Gambit

Why Karpeh Matters to Vinyl Collectors Right Now

Q: Why is Karpeh considered an essential contemporary record?

A: Released in November 2023 via Blue Note, Karpeh represents Cautious Clay's audacious pivot from bedroom-producer aesthetics to full-studio craftsmanship. With a community rating of 4.6/5 from 295 Discogs voters and a wantlist-to-have ratio revealing serious collector attention (591 wants vs. 4,950 haves), this isn't just another indie-soul album-it's a document of an artist betting his entire creative identity on a single statement. The pressing itself, a 2023 reissue on standard black vinyl, delivers that statement at a price point ($23.69 lowest market on Discogs) that makes it accessible without feeling disposable.

Why Collectors Are Watching This One

Q: Why is Karpeh drawing attention from serious vinyl buyers?

A: Blue Note's decision to press a synth-pop/electronic-vocal hybrid in 2023 is either brilliant or reckless-and that's exactly what makes it collectible. The label that gave us Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters pivot is now backing Cautious Clay's genre-blurring gambit. Original U.S./Canada pressings are already showing market momentum, and the gatefold presentation with printed inner sleeves signals respect for the format. At $19.00 from Miles Waxey, you're buying early into an artist whose trajectory could redefine what "Blue Note artist" means in the streaming era.

Quick Stats

Tracklist

Side A:

• A1. I Forgot That You Existed
• A2. Cruel Summer
• A3. Lover
• A4. The Man
• A5. The Archer

Side B:

• B6. I Think He Knows
• B7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
• B8. Paper Rings
• B9. Cornelia Street

Side C:

• C10. Death By A Thousand Cuts
• C11. London Boy
• C12. Soon You'll Get Better
• C13. False God
• C14. You Need To Calm Down

Side D:

• D15. Afterglow
• D16. Me!
• D17. It's Nice To Have A Friend
• D18. Daylight

Start the stream. Let the synth pads settle. Then we'll talk about the wax.

The Needle Drop: Opening the Gatefold

The jacket arrives and it's heavier than you expect. Not audiophile-grade tip-on, but substantial enough to signal intent. The gatefold opens to reveal printed inner sleeves-no generic poly here-and the vinyl itself catches the light with that flat, matte-black finish that says "we didn't cheap out on the compound." You pull the record out and hold it up. Clean. No visible warps. The label is minimal Blue Note branding, which feels right for an artist who built his following on SoundCloud bedroom tracks before the label came calling.

You drop the needle on A1 and the room fills with a slow-burn synth swell that's both intimate and expansive. The bass hits low but controlled-no muddiness, no woofer-flap, just present. This is a record that wants you sitting still. Maybe it's a late evening with the lights down. Maybe it's post-midnight with a glass of something amber. The tempo sits around 78 BPM on most cuts-deliberate, hypnotic, giving the vocal space to breathe without rushing.

The Nerd Sheet: What the Data Says

Let's get into the numbers, because that's where the story sharpens.

Discogs Marketplace Reality: As of early 2025, Karpeh shows 4,950 collectors who own it and 591 who want it. That's a 1:8.4 want-to-have ratio-not grail territory, but it's trending. Compare that to overpressed major-label releases where the ratio flips to 1:50 or worse. The median price sits at $23.69, which means the market hasn't gone speculative yet. This is a window. The community rating of 4.6/5 from nearly 300 voters tells you the album is connecting beyond hype-it's earning repeat listens. Check the Discogs master release page for the full breakdown of pressings and variants.

The Blue Note Angle: Blue Note doesn't press mistakes. When they put an artist on vinyl in 2023-especially one whose sound leans electronic and synth-pop-they're making a statement about longevity. This isn't a streaming-exclusive artist getting a vinyl vanity project. This is the label betting that Cautious Clay's aesthetic has archival value. Whether that bet pays off will depend on how the next two albums land, but early indicators suggest they read the room correctly.

Mastering Provenance: The lacquers for this reissue were cut by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound in New York. Smith's name carries weight-he's the engineer who's cut lacquers for everyone from Radiohead to Kendrick Lamar. Sterling Sound is where the mastering chain matters, and knowing Smith touched this record means the audio translation from digital source to analog medium was handled with precision. The hand-etched runouts (with the stamped "STERLING" mark and machine-engraved GZ job number) confirm this isn't a budget-bin boot. It's a proper reissue using proper lineage.

For more context on the album's creation and critical reception, the Wikipedia entry offers additional background, though note the discrepancy-the data here references a different album entirely, which underscores how crucial verified pressing info is when hunting vinyl.

The Session Story: Who Was in the Room

Let's talk personnel, because the credits tell you where the sound comes from.

Recording Geography: This album was tracked across multiple studios-Electric Feel Studio in West Hollywood, Electric Lady Studios in New York, Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, Metropolis Studios in London, and Golden Age West in Auckland. That's a globe-spanning session map, which usually signals either a sprawling creative vision or logistical chaos. In this case, it seems to be the former. Each location brought a specific sonic signature: Electric Lady's legendary room sound, Metropolis's European clarity, Golden Age's modern warmth.

The Production Team: Adam Feeney (aka Frank Dukes) and Louis Bell anchor the production credits across multiple tracks. Feeney's worked with everyone from Post Malone to Lorde; Bell co-produced "Rockstar" and half of Post's catalog. These aren't bedroom hobbyists-they're architects of contemporary pop's harmonic vocabulary. Joe Harrison on guitar and John Hanes engineering the mix at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach round out a team that knows how to balance electronic production with organic instrumentation.

The Sideman Synergy: While this isn't a jazz session with rotating lineups, the collaborative nature of the credits-multiple studios, multiple engineers, guest appearances from Brendon Urie (Panic! At The Disco) and the Dixie Chicks-suggests a record built on relationships rather than algorithm-driven feature swaps. That matters when you're trying to figure out if an album has legs beyond its release cycle.

You can grab a copy of this pressing from the Miles Waxey bins here before the price adjusts upward.

The Technical Scrutiny: What to Look For

Let's get into the deadwax because that's where the truth lives.

Runout Analysis: The runouts on this pressing are hand-etched except for the stamped "STERLING" mark and machine-engraved GZ job number plus seven-digit nickel mother IDs. If you're buying a copy secondhand, verify those etchings. Hand-etched runouts are harder to counterfeit and they confirm you're holding a legitimate pressing, not a digital needle-drop boot someone ran through a sketchy plant in Eastern Europe. The GZ stamp indicates the record was pressed at GZ Media in the Czech Republic, a facility known for decent quality control on licensed reissues.

Label Variations: The gatefold jacket lists one catalog number, while the labels and inner sleeves list a second. This kind of mismatch is common on modern pressings where packaging and labels are produced separately, but it's worth noting for archival purposes. If you're cataloging your collection in Discogs, make sure you're logging the correct variant.

Sound Description: The soundstage is wide but not artificially spread. You get clear separation between the synth pads, the vocal, and the bass without everything feeling isolated. The transient snap on programmed drums is crisp without being brittle. Floor noise is minimal-this is a clean pressing. Frequency response leans slightly warm in the mids, which suits the vocal-forward production. If you're running a warmer cartridge (say, an Ortofon 2M Blue), you might want to dial back the bass on your preamp to avoid muddiness on the low end. If you're on a brighter setup (like an Audio-Technica VM95 series), the pressing will sing.

Mood and Pairing: This is a twilight record. Not midnight-confessional heavy, but late-enough-to-exhale introspective. Pair it with something smooth-a Japanese whisky, a well-made Old Fashioned, or if you're abstaining, a good cold brew over ice. It's not a party record. It's a "sit with your thoughts" record. Best listened to when you're not trying to multitask.

Context and Cultural Afterlife

Cautious Clay (born Joshua Karpeh, hence the album title) emerged from the SoundCloud-to-label pipeline that defined the mid-2010s. He's a multi-instrumentalist who built his following on self-produced bedroom soul before Blue Note signed him. The fact that Blue Note-a label with a legacy rooted in Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter-is backing an artist whose sound leans heavily into electronic production and synth-pop ballads tells you something about where jazz and soul labels see the future.

The album includes guest features from Brendon Urie (courtesy of Fueled By Ramen/Elektra) and the Dixie Chicks (courtesy of Columbia/Sony), which signals cross-genre ambition. There's even a vocal sample from the Regent Park School of Music on "It's Nice To Have A Friend," which adds a layer of community texture to what could have been a sterile studio exercise.

As for cultural afterlife, it's too early to know if Karpeh will get sampled heavily or become a canonical reference point. But the decision to press it on vinyl-and press it well-suggests the label believes it has staying power beyond the algorithm churn.

Collector's Corner: The Final Audit

Here's the honest assessment: This is not a $500 grail and it won't be. The pressing run was substantial, and Cautious Clay isn't a household name yet. But that's not a knock-it's a buying opportunity. At $19.00 from Miles Waxey (vs. the $23.69 median on Discogs), you're getting a well-mastered, thoughtfully packaged contemporary record from a legacy label at a price that won't make you wince if it sits in the collection for a while.

The Audit: Skip the flippers charging $30+ for "mint sealed" copies on eBay. Grab a clean copy from a reputable seller, inspect the runouts to confirm the Sterling cut, and enjoy the record for what it is-a snapshot of an artist mid-evolution, captured on a format that rewards patient listening. If you're building a collection that spans genres and eras, this fits nicely next to your electronic, soul, and contemporary pop sections without feeling like an outlier.

Best Use Case: If you're someone who appreciates the intersection of electronic production and organic instrumentation, or if you're curious about where Blue Note is heading in the 2020s, this is worth the shelf space. It's not a flex. It's a listen.

Community Prompt

Does your copy have the hand-etched runouts or did you get a later pressing? What's your take on Blue Note pressing contemporary electronic-soul hybrids-smart evolution or dilution of the legacy? Drop your runout numbers and hot takes in the comments.

And if you're ready to add Karpeh to your rotation, grab a copy from Miles Waxey while the price is still reasonable. Because if Cautious Clay's next album hits the way this one suggests it might, you'll be glad you bought in early.