corto.alto - SOME SMALL FORTUNE

Skittering drums, funky basslines, and sweet soulful vox elevate Liam Shortall’s cool electronic swagger and exhilarating improvisations into dastardly compositions that hit the solar plexus and the heart just as often as they delight the mind. 

Enlisting a dizzying roster of pals, including Oscar Jerome, Jacob Alon, anaiis, Mick Jenkins, Terra Kin, Eriff (just to scratch the surface), Shortall draws exceptional performances from each and every one of these talented musicians, delivering an electronic, classical, pop and indie-influenced record that extends far beyond the confines of its meticulous making.

Cop one of these cracking Dinked editions to acquire SOME SMALL FORTUNE

For Fans Of: Yussef Dayes / Alfa Mist / Moses Yoofee / Nubya Garcia / Masters At Work / Hiatus Kaiyote

For the best part of the last decade, Dumfries-born, Glasgow-raised Liam Shortall AKA corto.alto has been in his home studio in the Southside of the Scottish city, cooking up frenetic improvisations, diligently wonky productions and genre-spanning compositions with a close-knit group of local collaborators.

“SOME SMALL FORTUNE” finds Shortall at his most expansive and unpredictably exciting, working with his widest range of features to date, collaborating with the likes of Mick Jenkins, Vector, anaiis, Oscar Jerome, Jacob Alon (Brit Award winner), BINA., Terra Kin and Eriff alongside his longtime Glaswegian band, drummer Graham Costello, Mercury Prize nominated Fergus McCreadie and saxophonist Mateusz Sobieski to produce an electronic, classical, pop and indie-influenced record that extends far beyond the confines of its meticulous making.

The music he makes as corto.alto is never easily categorised. It leans as much on his formal studies at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, as on his time spent as part of the burgeoning and fertile music scene in Glasgow; incorporating an eclectic mix of influences that draw as much on his affinity with club-culture and all its forms of Electronic Music, or to his love of classic Hip-Hop, Soul and Funk. His 2024 album ‘30/108’ saw him freely blend genre, tempo and instrumentation across 30 tracks – one released each day of the month, drawn from a pool of 108 demos and accompanied by live performance videos – showcasing his flair for fast-thinking creativity, innovation and improvisation over a more rigid studio approach. Exploring the fertile ground between live instrumentation and electronic productions and sound design is also a cornerstone of corto.alto’s blistering live shows that – along with handling bass, synth, trombone and effects – sees him turn band-leader, amongst his crew of hyper-talented musicians; all close friends and frequent collaborators.

It’s this fresh outlook and a hunger to subvert expectations that sets Shortall apart, winning him a new generation of music fans unbeholden to any one scene, alongside champions across radio and media like Gilles Peterson, Sian Eleri, Jamz Supernova, Deb Grant, KCRW and many more.

“If Hiatus Kaiyote and Masters At Work had a child, corto.alto would be it - the future is now!” GILLES PETERSON