#fourth world

For me, one of the most exciting discoveries of 2020 was RR GEMS, an imprint based in Estonia releasing high quality vinyl pressings of free jazz, psychedelia, and much else besides (who happened to put out one of my favorite LPs of recent memory in Soft Power’s Brink of Extinction). But the discovery was even richer than I imagined, for RR GEMS is also closely related to another label—the esoterically inclined Hidden Harmony Recordings. Debuting last year with C.R. Gillespie’s Concentration Patterns, Hidden Harmony then went on to release Conservatory of Flowers by Maria Teriaeva, and 8 by Morita Vargas—each one of these records a completely singular sonic experience exploring captivating textures closer to the fourth world, with meditative ambient, deviant pop, leftfield dance, new age minimalism, and electro-acoustic experimentation all intermingling. As well, the label has established a unique and visually striking aesthetic, presenting their deluxe pressings in framed outer sleeves, which then encase combinations of hallucinogenic nature photography, portraiture, and graphic design. Of the Hidden Harmony’s releases so far, I was particularly taken aback by the respective works of Teriaeva and Vargas, and I plan to write about each of their albums in the coming weeks, starting with Vargas’ 8.

Morita Vargas is an experimental artist from Buenos Aires, and she has been sowing and growing the seeds of 8 since 2014, when she used a phone to document various vocal snippets while wandering the cityscape. Over the years, these early sketches were enhanced by woodwinds, world percussions, mallet instruments, and a polychromatic palette of keys and synths, with the vocals themselves being treated to myriad manipulations both organic and electronic…mutating, modulating, and pitch-shifting into a psychedelic display of fairy spells, pixie incantations, diva flights, secretive whispers, breathy chants, and hypnotizing turns of phrase. It’s all rendered through mysterious languages of the artists’ own creation, and the performances serve to illuminate themes relating to death, transformation, and rebirth—which further tie into the numerological significance of the title, as the number 8 symbolizes “the transition between heaven and earth, and the illumination of our capacity for various metamorphoses.” The end result is an album of melancholic resonance and joyous warmth; of new age naturalism and tropical fever dreaming; of childlike flights through fantasy forests and forbidden visions of ancient rituals; and of sensual body motions and dances lost to hedonistic ecstasy.

Morita Vargas - 8 (Hidden Harmony Recordings, 2020)
At the start of “Bernisa,” synthesized arpeggios sparkle like gemstones while birds sing in the distance, resulting in a new age lullaby imbued with a certain esoteric spirt. Melodies flow through key changes that portend hope and sorrow at once, with further keyboard layers chiming in counterpoint. As everything reduces, whispering chords pan softly, understated leads constructed from glowing glass drop onto the mix, and after an expanse of mid-bass meditation, the birdcalls return, bringing with them kosmische arps and a cascade of jazzy keyboard solos…with the minimalist structures and mysterious melodies evoking both Steve Reich and Beverly Glenn-Copeland. Massive sub bass motions rattle the soul in “Paitice,” while shakers and woodblocks dance through clouds of reverb. Vargas’ vocals are shrouded in dark layers of smoke as they move through druidic incantations, and the vibe is akin to some shamanic ceremonial. Gothic choirs are lost in the jungle…their minds entranced by strange perfumes from tropical flowers, causing their deep and soulful arias to move towards psycho-activation. The mysterious incantations are tempered by ecstatic whispers and hyperventilating chants that raise the hair on the back of the neck, with the vocals becoming their own sort of percussion that both works for and against the subsonic tribal basslines, and the snapping shakers and tones of tapped wood. The chorale cascades seem to vaporize as the track progresses, becoming ever more distant—as if heard through a thick pearlescent fog—and towards the end, pitch-shifting pixie voices generate a hypnotizing strain of a cappella psychedelia, with looping phrases overtaken by hiss and sibilance, until the whole thing resembles some abstract minimalist sound sculpture.

“XOXOXOXO” begins with mechanized tribal rhythms like robots scoring a shadowy rainforest ritual. Telephonic synths and blasted space electronics pan as ethereal vocals diffuse into the stereo field…these epic waves of oceanic wonderment overlaid by sensual coos and breaths. Further layers of rhythm enter the scene, creative captivating polyrhythms that only enhance the vibe of low slung dancefloor swagger. During a momentary respite, the beats fade, leaving space for desperate vocalizations and spare piano notes to float in the abyss, with long howling decay trails smothered in reverberation. The technoid tribal drums eventually return, as do the ethereal wavefronts of vocal warmth, and everything grows progressively wilder…almost like some feral scream towards the sky. Next comes “Deysa” and its synthesized bubble forms pulsating against counterpoint percolations. Its another expanse of Reich-ian minimalist sorcery that soon gives way to a playfully bouncing sequential ascent…as if the mind is racing up and down some corridor constructed of rainbow light. Amorphous angel voices sing with abandon and at times erupt towards the animalistic, while whispered refrains and sparse idiophone melodies dazzle the mind. The track snaps back toward magical minimalism briefly, before breaking again towards childlike kosmische, with voices growing increasingly adventurous and almost completely abandoning the racing synthesizer sequences, floating instead into a parallel dimension. Suddenly, a fairy chants fantastical spells of mysterious origin, and is soon supported by a stuttering hypno-beat, one where hand drums pound maniacally and only just  hold to a tempo. All the while, the vocals smear into a spectral shriek as the heart races towards ecstasy, and eventually, a burst of bass washes the mix clean. The A-side closes with “Aguila” and its foamy pads stretching out like layers of cotton candy. Space age brass synths sing triumphant songs while mallet instruments sparkle overheard, their melodies and tones eventually reversing in time, creating mirage shimmers and showers of golden glitter. Vargas then abruptly transitions the track into a sequential dream sequence, with softened synth melodies cycling at hyperspeed…almost like a lullaby induction into a world of sleep-induced fantasy.

Opening the B-side is “Gargantsa,” which features angular basslines evoking a pitched down clavinet. Further funky keyboard layers dance aside the mutant bass movements and a four-four kick drum drops, transforming the track into a slab of minimal club euphoria. Vargas chants over it all like some diva of destiny, with sensual coos and whispered secrets threading together, and occasionally shifting down into syrupy sexuality. During certain stretches, the mix reduces to just voice and kick drum, and each and every looped phrased serves to entice the body and spirit deeper into dancefloor delirium. The groove continually shifts and evolves as insectoid fx and feedback tracers track the hypnotizing house beats, and as we move deeper into Vargas’ spell, the vibe is like being transported to some hidden nightclub in the middle of a sweltering rain forest, with roof open to the moon and shadow-shrouded bodies gyrating in ecstasy. “Devonte” comes next, wherein new age piano inactions evoke the movements of celestial oceans. Whispered poetry enters alongside a pounding rhythm, bell trees sparkle like stars on the surface of the sea, and Vargas’ voice grows increasingly strange and desperate as the song spaces further and further out. Droning soul chords underly pitch-shifting babbles while post-punk basslines chug alongside kick drums beneath a blanket of dub reverb. And then suddenly, we return to the mysterious piano ambiance, and to visages of waves washing beneath a canopy of starshine.

Woven webs of acoustic guitar splay out through echo machines in “Oly,” and demonic voices bubble up through mist, with tones rattling all around the periphery. Kalimbas glow and tambourines shake freely before locking into a mesmeric rhythm, which works against pulsating delay patterns. Voices both mysterious and sinister wash across the mix like granular clouds of noise, yet any harshness is tempered by the acoustic guitars, which are as soothing as they are abstract. Whistles emerge to wash away the mix, sparse folk melodies intermingle with field recordings in the distance, and by the end, Vargas’ voice devolves into infantile chatter. In “I feel lost,” dreamscape ivory arpeggios swim up and down the scale as ethereal melodies sing in support…the whole thing not unlike some early Mogwai interlude (think “Radar Maker” from Young Team). A synthesized string sections transforms the vibe towards post-classical fantasia, with harmonious chord strokes working together with fluttering minimalist melodies. At some point the layers of immersive ambiance recede, leaving again the mutating piano conversations, and when Vargas brings in the sighing strings, there are shades of Godspeed You! Black Emeperor—even as subtle jazz leads cluster together. “Ginseng” ends the experience, and sees an electric piano singing alien songs while idiophones play sparsely in support. Electronics like blinding whistle tones filter into the spectrum as the keys mutate towards smoldering drone clouds and through it all, chime trees shine and sparkle. The pianos mostly fade into obscurity, supplying only understated textures of ecclesiastical enchantment as we walk further and further into some tropical jungle, with radiant currents of light bathing the body and reverb kissing every singly sound. Some strange forest drum ceremonial proceeds far away as the trip grows increasingly psychedelic, with Vargas’ musings evoking mystical nature spirits as they enchant the soul deeper and deeper into a lost paradise.

(images from my personal copy)

I’ve been focused of late on an exciting musical collective based around Abstrack Records, which encompasses a range of artists from the Nantes scene, as well as related acts throughout Europe. Since I haven’t had a chance to write yet about Abstrack’s slate of releases, I would like to spend some time doing so here in the introduction. The label debuted with Fréquence Pure Vol. 1, which featured DJ Solange’s broken beats and layers of minimalist club magic, with gleaming IDM metals, hovering angel voices, big blasts of bass, and demented synth riff distortions. As well, there were the desert caravan dance rhythms, world percussion tapestries, marauding basslines, snake charmer guitars, mystical woodwinds, and cosmic trance electronics of Vidock’s the Balek Band, whose Danse PrimitiveonBeauty & The Beat was also a major favorite of mine, though I regrettably never reviewed it. Next came Dreamtown Ethnic Cylinder, another multi-artist mélange featuring Sun Lounge favorites 404 generating an alien paradise of ever morphing exotica rhythms, with mysterious sirens swimming across exo-planetary landscapes, and stoned eruptions of braindance beat hypnotics overlaid by buzzing waves of granular noise. As well, Malcolm delivered body-beating techno drums amidst extraterrestrial synth slides and mutating displays of equatorial metal, with evil acid lines pulsing and breakdowns into ritualistic free jazz drum madness. And closing out Dreamtown Ethnic Cylinder is label main man Vidock, whose anxious breakbeats possess a ritualistic tribal energy that merges rave and rainforest, while also featuring extended world drum freakouts. Lysergic angels serenade the sky, pitch-shifting voices chant strange spells, gemstone hazes sparkle in the sunlight, and in a peak-time climax, jacking acid trance rhythms support a solar choir and their hymns of celestial fantasy and ecstatic wonderment.

Abstrack dropped an edit 12” next, featuring two works from Vidock, and one each from Edits de Nantes and Fanch. And here, balearic beats cruise in the desert moonlight and reed and fuzz leads howl, as idiophones cycle against ethereal pads and an expressive crooner pleads into the night; tribal trance grooves are slowed to a feverish acid chug and psych folk riffs loop through filtering cosmic mists while throat sung mysticisms intersperse with spiritual chants; sassy French prog meets Latin fusion, wherein conga line drums, solar horns, and liquid basslines work the body beneath joyous shouts and piano and steel pan hypnotics; and Afro-Carribean rhythms shuffle aside slapfunk basslines, with tropical electronics, ecstatic singing, and soloing brass all recalling Dementos-era Yasuaki Shimizu. Which brings me at last to Kanot’s Hit & Run, the newest release on Abstrack, and a spellbinding two track/two remix adventure. On the originals, Can-style krautfunk basslines ping, pong, and pulse, over infectious breakbeats or minimalist jazz fusion grooves, while the background swirls with psychotropic shimmers, LSD-glimmers, and refracting webs of echo. Neon-hued synth leads rocket towards universes unknown, and electric and acoustic guitars color the spectrum via heavy doom riffs, liquid fuzz leads, palm-muted echo patterns, and jangling webs of forest folk psychedelia. As for the remixes, Vidock morphs “Turbulens” into a minimal expanse of tribal club drumming and esoteric dub stimulation. Acid lines filter through hazes of fire, basslines rattle the ribcage, and mysterious voices babble into the void, with the track continually breaking down into cold clouds of delirium drone. Then, The Pilotwings’ remix of “Hit & Run” takes the listener on a horizontal rave odyssey awash in mystical magic, wherein ceremonial drums build ever towards ecstasy, futuristic angel voices chop into chill-out trance euphoria, laser light arpeggios fire across parallel dimensions, and spiritual choirs sing hymns of the interstellar abyss.

Kanot - Hit & Run (Abstrack Records, 2021)
Spectral shimmers fade in at the start of “Hit & Run,” like burnished metals reflecting a blinding light. Fairy voices sourced by one or both of Nose and Annsoe intertwine with telephonic tracers while new age pads morph, bend, and swirl…with threads of silver and rainbow intertwining. Crazed tropical slides rain down in the style of Len Leise as bulbous dub funk bass riffs drop onto the mix, pushing so much air as they move through fat bottomed pulses and hammer-on licks, with each vibration rendered in stunning detail. Tight funk beats work the body from ear to ear—the drums seemingly double tracked, or even featuring a dual drummer attack…like Jaki Liebezeit playing against himself—and the Holger Czukay style basslines continue generating a storm of psychotropic groove, as further layers of liquid lysergia are added via palm muting echo licks, and distorted Floyian funk guitars. Gonzo synth leads beam in from alien galaxies, with polychromatic melodies dancing star-to-star and mind-bending runs ascending at hyperspeed through aqueous baths of delay and reverb. Dubwise echoes refract across the mix, sassy voices speak mystical spells, and ethereal angel choirs drone softly through an ethereal haze, with claps cracking and laser light pads climbing towards the heavens. The groove is deeply infectious and unsettled at once, possessing as it does a sort of anxious energy that refuses to ever quite lock in, with Kanot preferring to keep the mind and body ever on the edge of psychedelic explosion. At some point the bassline backs into an understated shadow pulse, leaving space for trippy palm muted guitar percolations and body-moving breakbeats that converse across the stereo field. Spindly synthesizer fx crawl across the surface of the mind and ripping fuzz guitar solo enters the scene, reaching towards those Tony Iommi-levels of stoner psych shred as swaths of star ocean vapor threaten to subsume the mix. Riffs, licks, and melodic phrases from all across the track combine towards the end in progressive rock and 70s groove splendor, with fuzz synths and fuzz guitars spraying LSD vapors, tropical tracers melting down, breathy voices purring sensual mysteries, and summery funk riffs jangling in cloud of overdrive…until it all slowly fades away.

All the way at the other end of the B-side sits The Pilotwings’ remix of “Hit & Run,” which begins with a primordial hum that slowly resolves into a cosmic choir soundbath. Tribal percussions hit and bubbling rave electronics make serpentine motions in the darkness, with cymbals rattling and shakers riding on pulses of thick sub bass smoke. Chopped up trance vocals beam in from the space of dreams…these floating technoid angles singing over rhythmic synthesizers that mimic the songs of frogs and insects. Massive swells of sound repeatedly resolve into a climax of ritualistic drumming that quickly recedes, leaving space for progressive sequences to filter towards psychedelic abstraction. Playful kosmische arpeggios evoke a harp made of laser light and orchestral pads blare like sirens as they skim across some neon ocean surface, with a beat finally forming in the shape of slow methodical pounding…as if tribal trance has been reduced to a pure essence of mystical balearica, and transformed into a sundown ceremonial of shadowy dream magic. Fogs of golden glitter splash off myriad ride cymbals and massive wood drums are seemingly smashed by giants…all as the droning choirs diffuse in before decaying towards infinity. Acid threads colored in dayglo hues wrap around the mind as the immersive bass sculpting generates warming waves that float the body, and as everything cuts away dramatically, spiritual choirs are left to sing their soft songs of esoterica above a bed of chittering insects. Drum fills and cymbal rolls portend a progressive trance explosion that never quite comes, with the Pilotwings steadfastly refusing to drop any sort of structured break or club beat. Instead, they keep the mind locked into an eternal state of ecstatic ritual…the vibe like some futuristic energy glide through forests made of melting light, or some old world ceremonial of ancient and unknowable magic performed by space age druids…their spectral incantations cast across a sky suffused by sonar sequences and sparkling starshine.

“Turbulens” begins with repetitive industrial sound cycles smothered in phaser, before transitioning into a 70s-style jazz fusion and space funk stomp, with bass reducing to a low down throb, and interspersed with heady slapback lizard licks. The vibe is somewhere between early 70s Miles Davis and early 00s Circle, as the snare pops energetically on the beat, hesitant kick drums hit off of it, and splayed shimmer patterns flow across the cymbals…all while a polyrhythmic synth line snakes through the air, bringing with it touches of spy movie exotica. Suddenly, the track transitions towards acid folk and prog rock balladry, as acoustic guitars play to a mysterious moon and liquid metals rain down from stars. Basslines enter to phase and flange as they strut through dark forest undergrowth, with their bending lines smothered in pot smoke. Jazz cymbals splash as majestic chord changes portend visions of epic fantasy, and fuzz guitars are reduced to an ambient howl…the whole thing like the more tripped out and horizontal moments from Mushrooms Project, or like Led Zeppelin wandering through a fourth world daydream. Everything cuts away, leaving fluids to babble through corridors of ice and stone, while funky echo basslines slip-slide into the void…the jam slow, low, and zoned out. Kick and electronic snare hold a skeletal blues beat, hand drums add touches of tropical intensity, and the prog folk guitars reemerge to case shadowy spells of neofolk psychedelia while the stereo field overflows with ghostly moans and hallucinatory vapors. A fuzz guitar solo blazes towards the sky—setting the air aflame with distorted waves of fire—and eventually, basslines resume their liquid stoner strut, resulting in a laid back proto-doom groove, one that again recalls Black Sabbath, or perhaps their ancestors Dead Meadow, only morphed and mutated through the lens of dub, and given an extra dash of balearic magic. As massive tom fills storm across the stereo field, a fuzz riff enters to duel with the basslines, which pushes the vibes of stoner rock and psychedelic doom towards a glorious maximum, while also recalling NorCal acid jam legends Mammatus. Then, moving towards the end, everything seems to bliss out towards peaceful waters…but the flaming guitar solo continues growing in intensity, spitting waves of burning delirium as it screams across the sky.

Vidock’s “Turbulens (Matrix Remix)” begins again with looping industrial fluids, which soon cut away, leaving a doped out dub drum stomp. A trapkit bashes through the void as each hit splashes off layers of black dust and haze, and all through the air, chittering electronics dance around a morphing choir of the cosmic void…their cold and terrifying aria proceeding over chugging subsonic fluids, ricocheting hand percussions, and maniacal trap kit pyrotechnics. The drums cut away at times, leaving the soul to float through chasms of haunted machine hum and frozen ambient abstraction, and each time the rhythms return, the track seems to grow in intensity. Morphing electro patterns reverse and pan, creating some sort of mystical prog trance sequence…only slowed to the pace of an opium den fever vision…while enigmatic voices speak unknowable incantations. The rhythms morph into a lurching groove, with acid tracers firing ear to ear, and the beats cut again, leaving basslines to vibrate violently and snares to crack in a fog of frozen crystal. Later—after a stretch of oscillatory psychoactivation—the tribal ceremonial of tripped out dub dancing returns, with melodic esoterica blowing in on a breath of galactic wind. The percussion bounces and beats with a ritualized energy, and kaleidoscopic panoramas of rimshots and bell taps merge seamlessly with acidic blips and neon-colored IDM atmospherics. Towards the end, drum and bass begin filtering and transforming into corrosive clouds of darkness while acid electronics fire chaotically. Melodic themes of triumph blow through the mix trailing wisps of polychrome light, and as the hypnotizing dance grooves return, ethereal leads shimmer and shine far in the distance…their shape hardly discernible, yet radiating layers of glowing harmonic feedback. Anxious hyperspeed cymbal rolls rustle in the background like uncountable insect wings, and at last, a voice washes the mix clean, leaving behind panning streaks of oceanic ether and choir of crickets greeting a glorious sunset.

(images from my personal copy)

Here is the second part of my 2021 in Review series, which serves to document some of the music that most impressed me from last year. As with the first part, there are 30 releases covered, with each featuring a characteristically meandering word slop of stream-of-consciousness psychedelia that attempts to capture the magic of the sounds. 

Conny Frischauf - Die Drift (Bureau B)
After two completely stunning EPs—Effekt & Emotion on International Major Label, and Affekt & Tradition on Kame House—krautrock, cloud ambient, and synth pop master Conny Frischauf made the jump to the full length format in 2021, working together with Sam Irl to produce one of my favorite records of the year in Die Drift. Metronomic bass sequences and playful poly-arps background cosmic filtrations and multi-tracked vocals from the school of Harmonia… the hook ”Rauf / Rauf / Rauf” repeating in a colorful display amongst myriad other daydream hooks. Funky squelch synths, expressive pixie poems, and tapped metals decaying through galactic vapors lead a slow and low lurch while neon acid squiggles ascend through mirage obscurations, and minimalist panoramas of looped lyricisms birth alien grooves wherein angular basslines and tapped percussions lead to rainbow colored vistas of funk-infused dreampop magic, as heavenly harmonizations intertwine with anodyne raps and space-age pads wash over handclapping boogie beats. Quivering pads slither over tribal downtempo and glassy licks bend in the desert air while malfunctioning squarewave leads cluster and crash onto the mix…the whole thing breaking down into a soulful stretch of sunny balearica that sees Laurel Canyon slide melodies obscuring into otherworldly weirdness.  Further adventures in leftfield boogie and balearic beach funk emerge from strange chordscapes—think Brenda Ray—with slinky synthetic slap bass and heatwave synth bends guiding a solar strut of anxious machine groove, over which Frischauf delivers layers of paradisiacal pop perfection. Echoing sibilance, technoid bass, and squarewave synthetics sit above tick tocking rhythms and white noise bursts, with pads and voice executing dazzling displays of childlike mirth—or otherwise locking into lysergic lullaby loops—and elsewhere, ping pong basslines and effervescent motorik beats snap together for pitch-perfect expanses of early Stereolab-style mesmerism…that same sort of merging of avant-bubblegum exotica and Neu!-indebted hypnotism, with some of the year’s most earworm vocal displays proceeding over psychedelic organ clusters and blasts of radiophonic synth. Stoner basslines jam under polyrhythms of snap, pop, and vocal hum, as bopping machine drums ride a cool and spacious fusion groove…the result a completely entrancing display of downtown jazz funk, replete with blaxploitation horn themes and soloing sax. Idiophones and tribal rhythm boxes lock into a ritualistic shaman ceremonial of exoplanetary dub as synthesized elephants shriek towards the sky, with everything guided by hyperventilating cyborg poetics and malfunctioning breaths of synth bass. And at the end sits soothing ambient seance, wherein Experimental Audio Research-style soundscapes filter and swirl around gentle rhythms, somnambulant vocal spells, and soul-stirring whistle leads.

Museum of No Art - One Night at the Pool EP (Kame House)
Following on from her spellbinding self-titled album on Séance Centre, Museum of No Art released One Night at the Pool EP last year, this time working with Kame House. As the EP opens, insect noise backgrounds sparse tribal drums, bell taps, and harmonizing jazz clarinets, with the vibe slow, spacious, and landing like a fever dream. Swells of seahaze synthesis support modular raga forms and alien percussion panoramas are built from metalloid glitch, click, and cut…these tick tocking polyrhythms guiding the body while synthetic acid whistles bring touches of sky-gazing euphoria. As we slow down to 33rpm on side B, temple bells and rusted gongs tap out layers of droning resonance as cricket chirp orchestrations birth swells of sound that flutter like hummingbird wings, and pitched down drums pound and plod…this bewitching background supporting drunken synths and pastoral clarinet leads…like rays of sunlight glimmering in a stormy miasma. Mutant bass sequences filter and burn as reeds generate moaning breaths and animalistic calls, and in a completely arresting moment of avant-pop magic, wordless vocal patterns loop around each in a narcotizing dream dance. Finally, layers of ambient woodwind trill and soft reed skronk echo across the spectrum as drones rise through birdsong, with something about the vibe reminding me both of Wilson Tanner & Henry Flynt.

Angophora - Together (Music for Dreams) 
Angophora’sScenes LP, released back in 2018 on Ken Oath, quickly became one of my favorite records, mixing as it did pitch perfect and peaceful atmospheres of world music, psych folk, ambient jazz, balearic, and tribal. I have been so eagerly awaiting a follow up, and this was finally delivered in 2021 with Together.Here, Max Santilli and Jacob Fugar continue working in a similar mold as before, though the music has grown ever gentler and more blissed out, with perhaps fewer detours into subtle club dynamics. Across the collection of tracks, the duo weave together shakers, marimbas, and hand drums into a peaceful rhythmic flow, with guitar swells landing like morning mist, silvery chime strands flowing, and ebows singing gently anthemic songs to the sea. Bowed string drones support a riverside drift of fourth world Americana accented by lulling folk rock solos, sky-searching acoustics climb over a propulsive rhythmic rustle while feedback reflects off of random surfaces, and temple bells jangle in a warming breeze while triumphant landings of piano, guitar, and bowed string stoke a sort of fragile sense of hope, in between which bongos, shakers, and guitars work through a sleepy-eyed acid folk float. Jazz-inflected world percussion panoramas bop beneath webs of acoustic guitar mesmerism—including softly epic dueling leads—while shakers move like snaketails through somnambulant swell. Elsewhere, layered kalimbas fall like harmonizing rain over hand percussions both rhythmic and splattered, starbeam pads caress a subtle exotica bass groove, and after a dopamine dream breakdown of spectral ambiance, cosmic synth leads and sun-soaked guitar progressions lead a relaxing groove of prog folk pastoralism. American primitive fantasias drift lazily over shimmering sea swells before electric guitar arpeggios signal a transition towards a shadowy psych jam, and eventually, live drums descend over the mix, guided by booming bass pulses and supporting a stargazing blues solo. Breathtaking sections of cinematic guitar folk are accentuated by hand drums, shakers, and sighing strings, and at the end, an exotic and spaced out bebop groove sees cymbal taps, swells, and chime strands supporting spells of jazz piano.

Santilli - Tidal (Growing Bin Records)
While on the subject of Angophora, in what is possibly the most sympathetic union of label and artist possible, Max Santilli joined with Growing Bin for the enchanting musical motions of Tidal. Full bodied chordstrokes and meandering leads lilt over shaker rhythms, ringing bells of multiple colorations, and smeared ambient swells as my mind drifts to early James Blackshaw, and entrancing melodic atmospheres evoke waves crashing gently to shore while ghostly guitar webs and solar ebow solos unfurl over a finger-popping hand drum flow. Noa bells drift in a droning wind and fevered pads mutate over cymbal taps and raga-esque world percussions…the melodic progressions mystical and mystifying even as they proceed far in the distance…and kalimbas sparkle over a subdued seance, wherein serene swells and shimmering chimes accompany shadowy acoustic guitar arpeggios and a dazzling display of percussive string harmonics while further rhythms from the raga-cosmos guide the soul towards hypnosis. Snake-tail shakers, twinkling metals, and acid folk guitars birth a drift of hippie balearica overlaid by sighing swell atmospherics, with an incredible climax of Espers-esque ebow psychedelia proceeding within energized expanses of tribal hand drumming. Pastoral guitar ballads evoke windswept flower fields and the lazy motions of clouds against a bright blue sky, and silvery slide leads drips liquid tones of Americana while waves of static crash around bowed string drones…all before romantic acoustic guitar progressions melt the heart with daydream themes of longing and loss. Environments are awash in quivering metal droneclouds, reverberating bells, cymbals taps, and rainbow chime strands, with whispers of acoustic, electric, and hand drum coalescing into a softly urgent hippie drum and folk guitar sway. Shaker patterns, bongo beats, and syncopated kalimba strikes dance together as ethereal wisps of light fade in and out focus, and towards the end, washes of angel ambiance surround stuttering sub kicks, barely there dub flourishes, jangling chimes, and avian song…the effect like floating at peace on the surface of some infinite sea, with only the occasional flights of birds anchoring the spirit to shore. 

Alex Albrecht - Campfire Stories (Analogue Attic Recordings)
Having ascended to the organic chill-out and ambient jazz heavens with Tidal River, the members of Albrecht La’Brooy decided to forge individualized paths in 2021, as both Alex Albrecht and Sean La’Brooy released gorgeous long players last year through Analogue Attic Recordings. Albrecht’s Campfire Stories arrived first, and the album opens as oceanic piano reveries are blown over by winds suffused with all manner of psychoactive sample detritus. Textures of jazz emerge from rustling ambiance—though the rhythms and melodies are deconstructed into a dopamine dub flow—as bebop basslines loop, horns reduce to purring breath, and ascendent piano runs radiate angelic ether. A meditative ritual of pastoral electric guitar from Carla Oliver proceeds over granular swells of light and mist, while baby birds greet the rising sun, and in a special A-side climax, Sean La’Brooy helps add synthesizer to a spiritual soundbath of world music rhythms, exotica bass, and new age ambiance, with echoing metal cascades ringing triumphantly over placid piano incantations and effervescent dub fx. The result is a heavenly headspace of dreamworld balearica, from which emerges a stunning passage of lofi jazz drumming, sun-soaked fusion guitar (from Oliver Paterson), and seaspray synth, with a vibe cutting the difference between Tortoise and Coyote. Shimmering ocean hazes open side B, with moody dub bass pulses supporting a jazz-soaked trip hop groove accented by delay-soaked pianos and aqueous melodic motions…the vibe evoking noir nights and rainsoaked streets. Clicks pan over balmy ethereal ambiance and drums drift through passages of organic dub techno while liquid basslines move beneath the echo flutes of Adam Halliwell…the result like some lost Paul Horn track given a Chain Reaction-style rerub. Ziggy Zeitgeist adds mesmerizing webs of polyrhythm to stretches of ambient tribal house, wherein subaquatic chord syncopations float on currents of subsonic bass funk while diva breaths morph into angelic haze, and the otherworldly fx and electronic atmospheres of Thomas Gray accent warbling birdsong, smoldering keystrokes, and hovering space fluids as a dusty acid jazz jam emerges, with cool-as-can-be bass stabs riding clusters of bebop-meets-DnB rhythm. And Gray’s mysterious ambient layers continue into the final track…a meditative spell of reverberating piano, alien synthesis, and hypnagogic narration from Allysha Joy.

Sean La’Brooy - Out Moving Windows (Analogue Attic Recordings)
As for Sean La’Brooy, the artist released Out Moving Windows towards the end of 2021, and like Albrecht’s Campfire Stories, the music inherits a sense atmospheric magic from parent group Albrecht La’Brooy, while also diverging off into distinct territories. Moonhazes, field recordings, and twinkles of metal swirl as broken beats are accented by filtering hi-hat fx, liquid dub basslines, echoing claps, with Fernando Ferrarone’s trumpet leading the resulting ambient acid jazz meditation. Pulsing rave chords merge with muted sequencing, new age squarewaves ride a distant bassline drift, and kalimbas mimic water drops while later, expressive hand drum ceremonials and octave bass motions background echoing idiophonics, rustling cymbal and shaker riddims, subliminal trombone textures (from Kalia Vandever), and dreamspace synth patterns like a futuristic balafon glowing…with dubwise echo manipulations kissing the edges of the mix. Sunrise swells and a soft cacophony of chitter and scrape surround trip hop basslines, tabla taps, and panning cymbals as jazz pianos radiate a midnight aura over claps, snaps, and deep house drum patterns…the whole thing hitting like an outtake from DJ Sprinkles’ Midtown 120 Blues. Percussive droplets swim side to side, sequences snake in the undergrowth, pianos and IDM electronics blur together, and urgent four-four kick and shaker patterns anchor dusty vocal samples from the school of Joe Claussell, with synthetic string orchestrations wafting like clouds.Elsewhere on the B-side, the babble of both children and dogs peaks through pearlescent pad layers and reversing blip rainfalls while Oliver Paterson intermittently lets loose blissed out and lightly fuzzed guitar solos. Then to close out the album, opener “Splash” is presented with a reworked arrangement by Phil Stroud, and here, much of the track is reduced to layers of cosmic breath and angel whisper, with dub bass, jazz drumming, and trumpet flowing in and out of the mix according to a delirious dream logic.

Copyright Linda Fox - The Last Human Memory (Doom Chakra Tapes Worldwide)
Another very strong  contender for my favorite album of 2021 is The Last Human Memory by Copyright Linda Fox. A perfect merging of 90s rave, balearic, and chill-out nostalgia with atmospheres of sad downer pop, the result proceeds like a near seamless and often post-apocalyptic narrative, and begins as flutes, tribal drums, new age pads, and subliminal samples give way to slinky rave bass and tambo-led breaks. Trance tracers filter outwards as anthemic diva choruses alternate with sleepy-eyed verse…these soul hooks awash in a KLF-style magic and vaguely dystopian raps landing as smooth as silk, with both being backgrounded by gonzo fuzz riffs and lysergic leads. Growling acid basslines and sluggish jazz breaks sit behind sickly sweet verse and springtide strings, and funky wah wah motions transition towards sax-led choruses led by blissed out masculine & feminine harmonization…with the presence of soft seaside guitar soloing eventually coloring the haze. Soundsystem sub bass slides over tropical synth accents, and desperate lyricisms proceed through balearic strings and dubby Chariots of Fire-style pianos awash in vibes of hope and light…all before a fuzz solo rips apart the sky. Elsewhere on the A-side, reggae-soaked layers of ambient jungle rhythmics background sunset-gazing lyrical dystopias; serene saxophonics, booty-shaking basslines and dark DnB drum patterns are swam across by whispered cyber spells, mystical Flamenco guitar accents, and delirium soaked horn leads; and androids speak as one over a new age ritual for the dawn, wherein granular echo-sax is rendered in hues of pastel with floating pads and field recordings suffuse the air. Over on side B, metalloid voices from dimensions unknown and Orb-ian samples lead to a passage of tribal rave, with joyous snippets of chanted vocal exotica and delaying braindance drums working together while slip-sliding subsonic liquids and sadboy indie vocals trade-off with echoing organ accents and world music pan pipe circulations…until a climactic sax solo soars towards the sun. Old timey country twang beams in through layers of aqueous space vapor and mysterious voices implore you to open your mind over GY!BE-esque railroad drone before giving way to Memphis bass-meets-college indie bliss, with masculine and feminine vocals trading off in sleepy-eyed wonderment…the hooks and occasional detours into slide guitar folk tropicalia landing like Aporia, though otherwise everything is soaked in layers of beguiling horrorcore arcana. Soft and soulful hooks emerge…the effect like gazing at a rising dawn after a terrifying night…and eventually, sadboy soul raps and harmonizing Beach Boys hooks ride a popping breakbeat and slapbass bounce, with cosmic angels singing in the background and spells of short yet incredible solo sax intercutting the flow. Then to end, multi-tracked and softly whispered poetics float on skittering hats and dubby bass waves, and as another sun-soaked reggae-meets-jungle drum mash up emerges, the vibe grows ever more tropical and euphoric even as the layered lyrics devolve into a total bummer. But then, all of a sudden, a completely spine-tingling diva hook emerges…perhaps the single catchiest musical moment of 2021…this passage of anthemic megapop and soul sonic vocal power that soars around soul-affirming saxophone serenades…before the track ends in a vaporous dreamworld of cinematic ambiance. 

Roman85 - The House You Live In, The House You Look At (Doom Chakra Tapes Worldwide)
Speaking of Doom Chakra, I was completely blown away by Roman85’s The House You Live In, The House You Look At, which imaginatively combines vibes of braindance revivalism, junglist drum science, and blasted balearica. Lullaby dream sequences of subaqueous brass filter into focus over comforting basslines of alien acid and infectious blasts of effected jungle rhythm while nostalgic pop hooks flutter through vaporous bodies of string synth, and tropical dreamhouse piano patterns dazzle over balearic breakbeat cut-ups and bulbous blasts of DnB sub-bass, with futuristic 303 lines bubbling through lyrical vocoder mysteries as the entire mix filters in and out of focus. Swaying bits of lofi guitar exotica transition towards galactic bass music, with thunderous sub bass growling beneath seasick synthesis, heady bursts of jungle rhythm cutting up the air, and dramatic descents into worlds of dark orchestral drama featuring body floating bass tones and mind-bending presentations of rhythmic madness. Echoing water drops birth a shadowy expanse of acid jazz, wherein smoldering doom electronics reverse over skipping rhythms and enigmatic voices, and which soon heads towards landscapes of night club euphoria, as jacking basslines lead a four-to-the-floor house rhythm, with melting melodic melancholias drifting overhead, and a completely dramatic breakbeat emergence that sees hardcore vocal cut-ups and jamming layers of cut-up rhythmic magic guiding the uptempo body beat stomp. Following this, we drop down into a slow syrupy horror core crawl, as bass heavy beats move through skittering echo layers and moody mists of shadow, and then, angular basslines ring out prophecies of doom over strange vocal loops. Soft sequences of muted brass swim through oceans of static as reversing layers of voice birth a dazzling display of pan-pipe synthesis, which soon intermingles with plucked chamber strings as obscuring bodies of buzz and static disturb the flow…like some new age dreamscape of oceanic mesmerism disturbed by industrial machines. Kick drums march beneath quivering brass bass and conversational samples echo towards infinity as placid pads drift in and out of tune, and progressively the rhythms grow ever more martial even as they seemingly vaporize, with militaristic snare taps fading into an abyss of filtering pads and drifting kick drum, only to re-emerge…now imbued with a startling physicality. The B-side opens with sci-fi samples and chill-out chordscapes floating over a slow and delirious broken beat rhythm and pounding pulses of sub bass warmth, as extra-terrestrial sequences filter towards a neon sky…resulting in a pitch-perfect paradise of IDM romance, one that grows increasingly powerful as it progresses, especially during moments when operatic choirs sing arcane arias over the panoramic braindance progressions. Deep dark kick drums thud behind funereal currents of sickly synthesis while madcap dub echo modulations land like bouncing marbles beneath harmonious blasts of spectral distortion, and tribal machine toms beat in manic ritual over tin can snares and growls of filter bass while sonar pings delay softly…the whole thing setting the stage for a breathtaking mash-up of jungle rhythm and child-like IDM dream ambiance, as cold choral pads and chiming melodies of faded VHS nostalgia drift like rainclouds over an ever-shifting landscape of surgical rhythmic sorcery and droning subsonic sorrow. Next, whispers of mystical eastern melody blur over a profound display of dark jungle drum and bass mesmerism, enchanting piano melodies are chopped and morphed into swells of liquid light, and pounding passages of moody new wave synth bass and cinematic ivory sadness obscure filtering DnB drum patterns as cymbals splash beneath choral keyboard currents and glowstick chime melodies, while swells of cinematic warmth birthed from the depths of some cosmic ocean overwhelm the heart. And finally at the end, marimbas bounce in tropical mirth over a joyous breakbeat display, as the track repurposes jungle rhythms and acid bass for a wistful adventure of seaside romance and gliding pop balearica, led by subdued melodies of daydream nostalgia, and including a gorgeous climax of sunset saxophone sensuality.

UNKNOWN ME - BISHINTAI (Not Not Fun)
In 2021, longstanding Not Not Fun collective UNKNOWN ME released what is perhaps their most substantial work yet in BISHINTAI…a serene suite of cyborg sauna sonics, futurist ambient, and alien environmental sound design proceeding across 12 beguiling tracks. We enter a world of crazed glitch and bleep, followed by anodyne android voices stating the albums desired purpose of mind and body connection. Percussive patterns pop alongside smearing sequences, with further loops creating a polyrhythmic flow beneath blurred wood flute synthetics and blooming bodies of sparkle…like virtual windchimes blowing in a discontinuous breeze, with malfunctions occasionally morphing the tones beyond recognition. Whirling vortices of underwater ambiance surround coral cavern drips and echoing laser strikes while mermaid choirs blow glowing clouds of mesmeric mist across the spectrum, through which a pitch-shifting pixie voices intones the mantra: ”gaze on your palm”—and in a collaboration with foodman, multiple marimbas beat mysterious patterns in counterpoint over reversing deep house chord structures, noir night guitar slides, looping vocalizations, and dubwise delay bursts of panpipe, rimshot, and bell…with an effect not unlike Tortoise’s “Four-Day Interval.“ Next appears Jim O’Rourke in an expanse of spectral static whoosh, tickling tones, plucked orchestral abstractions, and cold urban ambiance, with alien themes appearing, then morphing into tape echo glitch amidst insectoid dub electronics and sickly smears of feedback. And closing the A-side is an environment of granular tropicalia, as the steel-pans and pianica of MC.sirafu play mystical ocean spells over slow motion drum whispers and overlapping swells of glowing synthesizer seafog. On the B-side, further android incantations and cascades of futuristic bleep pull the listener back into the experience, and then, a serpentine sequence of kosmische acid magic swims through filtering oscillations and micro-bubbling fx clouds, with a vibe evoking some technoid chase scene proceeding in slow motion through a sea of effervescence. Temple bell patterns and somnambulant drum rituals anchor amorphous conglomerations of vibrating crystal and delirium drone as cyborgs affirm the beauty of the growing mind-body connection, and over tick tocking sequences, twinkling gemstone arpeggiations, and pulses of post-modern dub static, Lisa Nakagawa delivers a sacred expanse of choral wonderment…her voice first washing over the mix like the methodical motions of ocean waves, then developing into a sprightly dance of expressive pop exotica. Nearing the end, joyous sequencing from the school of Panda Bear sits beneath galactic synth strands and vaporous vocal fx until a glorious rhythm of pure balearic magic emerges…a equatorial dance of hand claps, hand drums, and myriad colorations of mallet instrument and idiophone, with dopamine hazes of Beach Boy vocal intoxication smearing into a tropical mist as the spirit is swept away towards paradises of peace, love, and light. Finally, the androids return to speak their closing thoughts…the preceding bleep and glitch cascades now smoothed into a gentle squarewave lullaby while mystifying musings serve as a debrief from the preceding adventure. And rather than guide the participants back to earthy realms, the track continues ascending towards spheres of cosmic transcendence, and unmoors the soul completely into a droning miasma of deep space esoterica. 

Masahiro Takahashi - Flowering Tree, Distant Moon (Not Not Fun)
Masahiro Takahashi released an exceptional work of environmental ambiance and new age minimalism called Flowering Tree,Distant Moon on Not Not Fun, and the result is a peaceful paean to the works of legends such as Yoshi Ojimo, Inoyama Land, Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Yutaka Hirose. Wooden tines thud as seascape synth hazes fade into view, with a soft backing of hand drum and tambourine. Seasick motions of lullaby melody and angel voice swoosh beneath morphing chimes, with dramatic bursts of sunburst sound dropping into the mix. Music box melodies melt through bodies of choral shadow, crystalline sequences race through prismatic patterns of rainbow wonderment while gentle filter manipulations cause showers of ethereal sparkle, and glimmering tones of glass pool together into a slow motion berceuse helped along by marimba dreamscapes, with everything drifting through strangely comforting approximations of alien atmosphere. Broken bells clatter through lofi cloudforms while morphing pads mesmerize the mind behind a dance of echoing tones and blurring bodies of beauteous sound, and elsewhere, ecclesiastical organ and mallet meditations give way to plinking piano placidity, before returning to a landscape of smoldering slow motion church hymn overlaid by sorrowful theremin serenades, and by heavenly LFO manipulations. As for the B-side, sonar sequences lilt lazily beneath bodies of burning organ ambiance and dissonant dreamtones of woodwind and brass…the effect like pitched down post-rock…and cacophonous strands of chime and gong waver in breezes of morphing electronic mutation while primitive synthesizers cut the difference between liquid drip and abstracted bleep. Tapped metals resonate in cavernous temple spaces and progressively morph into rainfalls of reverberation and fluid fractal glitch while flutey pads and synthetic strings generate deep ocean environments…the soul floating unmoored through worlds of oceanic bliss and abstracted minimalism, with an effect not unlike Visible Cloaks. Mirages of feedback shimmer over gemstone synth plucks, soulful chords of deep house origin, and increasingly maddening layers of twinkling star sonics while later, kosmische clouds of Leslie speaker spiral through a spiritual abyss before dropping into cold expanses of scratch, scrape, and prayer bowl resonance, only then to rebirth into a meditative mist of vibraphone and acid tracer synth.

Iguana Moonlight - Jaguar (Not Not Fun)
Last year, Iguana Moonlight made a second appearance on Not Not Fun with the fourth world future grooves of Jaguar,which found Ilya Ryazantcev using synths, field recordings, and world rhythms to conjure mystifying tales centered on a shamanic shapeshifting and spiritual transformation. Squelching synths and finger popping hand drum cascades lead slow and low tribal flows through layers of birdsong, with all manner of rattle and scrape coloring the journey. Big bottomed basslines snake over bongos while mirage electronics flow in reverse before setting towards steel drum chord colorations…the whole thing like some sweat-soaked conga line moving through humid jungle growth. Lullaby chimes smear into sequences that ease the mind as perfumes from mysterious flowers induce psychedelic visions, with the body given motion by reverberated squarewave stabs and warbling bodies of liquid and mist…the effect like floating down some extra-terrestrial approximation of the Amazon, taking in visions and sounds at once familiar, yet completely strange. Tubular rave bass dances solo over layers of ringing idiophonics and whispered hand drum patterns while monkeys call through quivering layers of string synth…all before a gonzo breakdown into technoid sequencing and tripping webs of clustering synth lead madness…and later, in a mystifying stretch of ambient jam hypnosis, wavering wah wah melodics and burning waves of futuristic soul synth descend over a funk-infused bassline groove. Finally, at the end, amidst birdsong and water, minimalist sequences and emotional pulses of bass create a delirious dream drift while haunted howls and squiggles of synthesis blend into a feverish haze.

Coconut Dealers - Coconut Dealers (Not Not Fun)
Back in 2011, a mysterious oceanographer delivered a cache of environmental research recordings to sonic collagist and synthesist Konstantin Shkolniko, who then reconfigured the recordings into multi-faceted adventures of equatorial dream energy and islander fantasy…these immersive cascades of synthesizer, idiophone, nature sound, tribal rhythm, and hypnotic hiss that transport the spirit to faraway landscapes of saturated seaside nostalgia and ritualistic rainforest magic, with a vibe landing somewhere between Wave Temples and X.Y.R. Field recorded hiss surrounds idiophone cycles that seem to emanate from ancient forest temples…as if ghostly bodies are playing futuristic marimbas in surroundings of cracked stone and overgrown vine. Swimming bass synthetics underly balafon bounce and the mythical Papaya Waterfall generates clouds of spectral mist while haunted hazes hover in the distance; faint squawks from birds of paradise peak through layers of running water while vibraphones meditate in a state of peace…as if a warm sea wind is guiding the languid motions of windchimes, underneath which flows a glowing cloud of cosmic resonance; and tribal taps, tropical flutters, and technoid sub bass stoke evocations of exotica rhythm while seafoam squelch leads quiver over popping bubbles and phaser waves. Steel pan lullabies are sanded down into a bass heavy slow burn that guides the body through solar shimmers and wood flute mirages, and soundbath studies of deep ocean resonance swirl slowly beneath a canopy of crashing waves before giving over to mellotronic flute whispers and idiophonic sonar pings…the vibe like some indigenous-indebted expanse of sonic spirituality proceeding in a subaqueous environment. Cold woodblock and rimshot patters flow through corridors of galactic static while amorphous pads generate layers of soft headtrip psychedelia, and dub chords pan over primordial pools of bubbling liquid while buried jazz fusion textures of crystalline key and squarewave solo swoon join together in esoteric communion. Watery marimbas beat out textures of extra-terrestrial forest magic beneath layers of angel ambiance, new age dream drone, and avian song while bending tape manipulations disturb the drift. Pearlescent pads invoke visages of heaven over evolving structures of psychoactive birdsong while dripping crystal liquids occasionally descend, echoing flute melodies burn into obscuring resonance while pools of earthen mud slowly simmer beneath insect chirp and dopamine dream delays, and zany mallet motions gallop over smeared spells of alien jazz synth and the ever caressing atmospheres of singing birds, while once again, extreme artifacts of wow and flutter disturb the relaxing flow of equatorial energy. And as the first tape ends, mystical metals collide, clouds of distortion breath in the distance, and blurring bodies of psychotropic flute transform into obscuring gas while primitive laser electronics accent layers of rustle and scrape. Over on the second tape, finger popping drum melodies and floating steel pans warble and waver over lapping water and wave crash while salt-suffused pad breezes blow across the spectrum. Subtle reed flourishes give way to polyrhythmic hand drums patterns buried beneath shadow while ascending and descending chime strains smear into indistinction, oceanic mirages are built from deep house chord formations as tribal tongue drum sequences flit like butterflies, and frozen ska strokes land over seaside samples and spiritual dreamtone meditations. Quivering chords, tropical drums, and washing phaser wavefronts create an ambient dub dreamscape leaning towards the more vaporous and vacuous ends of the Chain Reaction catalog, music box melodics and lilting lullaby loops circle around each other in a delirium dance of slow motion wonderment, and flutey synths songs of Native American new age flutter over somnambulant synths and lofi layers of desert caravan percussion, which slowly transform into subaquatic bubble sequences. And in a surprise B-side climax, dreary storms of mist roll over crunching basslines and a postpunk drum throb, before everything fades back towards trippy tropical webs of serene steel pan, whalesong drone, and temple mallet resonance.   

Badge Époque Ensemble - Future, Past & Present (Telephone Explosion Records)
One of my absolute favorite discoveries over the last few years is Badge Époque Ensemble, and though there have been quite a few opportunities to write about the music of this most psychedelic of prog funk and soul jam collectives, I have regrettably never made that happen. So in this sense, last year’s release of Future, Past & Present on Telephone Explosion is something of a gift, as the album mostly focuses on instrumental edits and versions of every vocal cut appearing across the groups various albums—Badge Époque Ensemble, Nature, Man & Woman, andSelf Help—resulting in a sort of greatest hits compilation in miniature which allows for the opportunity to write about some of my favorite tracks from across the group’s short yet explosive career. The wah-smothered clavinets of the instrumental edit of “Undressed in Solitude” waver over layers of lazy river soul and acid-laced fairy funk, with further wah wah enhancements of fuzz guitar moving in prog rock syncopation with pot-soaked basslines, until fantasy flutes drop the track down into smoldering psychedelic slow jam replete with melancholic acid guitar heroics…the vibe somehow reminding me of Matador-era Dead Meadow. Then, in the instrumental edit of “Zealous Child,” bombastic prog progressions and sun-gazing slides drop into whispering spells of tapped cymbal, ghostly keys, and Sabbath bass…all before launching into anthemic explosions of crunching riffs, frogsong clavinet, swinging psych jazz drums, and soaring flute, which alternately cut towards tight expanses of Rhodes-led KPM breakbeat magic not unlike the Soundcarriers, or launch into completely insane stretches of dueling fuzz guitar and flute shred mayhem. The B-side is dedicated to instrumental versions of works from Self-Help, and after a zany prog introduction of glassy rhodes, schmaltzy sax, and tapped cymbal and snare, the instrumental take of “Sing a Silent Gospel” evolves into an immersive slow burn that—devoid of the vocals—takes on an enhanced feel of pastoral psychedelia—though there are all sorts of playful progressions and alien transitions into landscapes of syncopated Zappa-meets-Crimson weirdness, as well as flights into worlds of raining guitar and woodwind romance, and towards sky-searching expanses of 60s flower power rhythm, melting AOR guitar, and looping soul horn skronk. “Unity (It’s Up to You)” comes to live on low slung city funk breakbeat groove, as thumping basslines and layers of summery soul keyboard crunch support polychrome flute panoramas and jaw-dropping slow wah guitar climbs, with the flow progressively disturbed by angular prog transitions and a smokey passages of prismatic keyboard pulsation, over which dueling flutes and wailing wah guitars drip down fluids of flowery psychedelic soul. “Just Space for Light” pits purring AOR flutes over bongo beats and Americana Rhodes meditations, with a soft sunset drumbeat and sliding fretless bass romantics evoking lazy beachside days, though of course, there are drug-laced transitions into lofi funk tropicalia and desert jam exotica, as flutes introduce popping broken beat and hand drum grooves overlaid by distorted e-piano riffs and mutant bass…the whole thing setting the stage for snake charmer guitar solos, with the track eventually flitting back and forth between myriad moods of cinematic epicness, horizon-gazing soft rock, and blasted islander funk. And as an extra special treat, the album contains a new track in “Future, Past & Present”—a sort of spiritual sequel to my all-time favorite BÉE jam in “Nature, Man & Woman” built from forgotten stems and repurposed cutting room floor ephemera. Here, bongos beat beneath droning winds of delirium flute before dropping way down into soulful midnight prog funk, with langurous and liquid bass grooves guiding a “He Loved Him Madly”-style stoner drum jam, over which horns flow between baroque 60s pop and summery 70s soul, before trading off with a dripping sunset panorama of Floydian slide guitar.

Badge Epoch - Scroll (Telephone Explosion Records)
Later in the year, Scroll was released…a 90 minute headtrip haze of Badge Époque Ensemble-related oddities which saw Max Turnbull handing over years worth of sketches and musical journaling to Andrew Zuckerman, who then further fractured the sounds into ever freakier forms, while adding all manner of subliminal samples and strange synthesizer soundscapes to the madcap tapestry. Primitive string synths lock into a pitch-shifting delirium dance of pompous prog, which is suffused through by hand drums, laser fire, and liquid e-piano meditations, before dropping into a wild and woolly psych funk soul jam, wherein wah wah keys and saxophone screams soar over greasy basslines and broken beat drum heat…with the band working back and forth through stoner stomps and a marauding blaxploitation strut. Funk keys flow over mosquito buzz, sickly drones drift aside Buchla bleep, and proto-technoid rhythms race beneath mutating sub bass and layers of anthemic orchestral sorcery before everything devolves into an unidentifiable slop of radiophonic musique concrete. Cycling fuzz clavinets lead a power trio rhythm storm while elven flutes dart and dash. Abstracted collage cut-ups are built from all manner of glitch, sample, and synth, and quiet stretches of experimentation birth drunken big band shrieks before tight rhythms and thumping basslines lead to a stretch of flowery folk and filmic funk, one where bewitching keyboard harmonizations borrowed from Italo cinema give way to stretches of saxophonic exotica. Malfunctioning broadcast electronics mutate alongside crashes of clang and scrape while muted beats lurch through potsmoke, and gonzo drum fills alternately bash in tribal jazz ecstasy while glorious chordstrokes ride layers of buzzing frog drone through baroque key changes and insectoid squelch—or elsewhere smash and crash in ascendent patterns while pianos and overdubbed reeds climb towards a shining sky. Wah wahs ride triumphantly through clouds of horror film chaos, and textures of Laurel Canyon Americana and Middle Eastern desert exotica transition smoothly into a balearic beach sway, as popping rhythms and heavenly vibe cascades underly walking basslines and shimmering surf guitars…all before a climax of dueling fuzz fireworks, and an outro of forest flute fantasy. The C-side opens with the golden jangles of a Zeppelin-esque acid folk flow, which is eventually futurized by lullaby incantations from vocoded robots before dropping down into a strutting groove of Sabbath-ian stoner rock and Funkadelic mutant jamming…as lysergic drones filter and scream over a liquid lizard rhythm lurch, and as drug-blasted guitar solos rip open the sky…the overall effect hitting similar to The Heads. Garbled distortion clusters pan back and forth over burning filter drones and alien insect chitter while new age echo percolations and blankets of Bitchin Bajas-style flute minimalism contrast the darkness, and floating chords and flourishes jazz bass support dramatic detours into landscapes phaser flute romance, which then transition towards smokey spells of noir-soaked wah wah. Heavenly hymns are ring modulated into a DMT lullaby lofi jams of squelching synth bass, blasted drum, and evaporating string synth score scenes of sunset sexuality as sensual solos scream overhead; and elsewhere, seemingly every single instrument is buried under fuzz as breakbeats pop and crack through filmic melodic themes and dueling leads awash in vibes of flower power psych pop sunshine. Classical chamber music beams in from some unknown dimension, the voices of children are manipulated alongside other samples into disturbing stretches of avant-garde abstraction, prepared pianos decay over delirium drones, and a walk through the forest is accompanied by harp plucks and singing squelch synths before whooshing static winds, snaketail shakers, and broken brass synths clear the scene. And to close, wavering liquid warbles obscure flute meditations before revealing themselves as a looping guitar elegy, which fades in and out of focus until buzzing pitch bends, aqueous glitches, and reversing loops generate a sinister synth bass and techno drum ceremonial.

Various Artists - Snippets Music presents Infinite State (Snippets Music)
I first came to Snippets Music and their compilations Perfect Trail andUndermind through the work of one of my favorite modern artists Bliss Inc., and since that fruitful discovery, the label has continued to blow me away by releasing two further volumes of rave sorcery pulled from the undergrounds of Russia and Europe. The first is Infinite State, which features a spellbinding display of trance, electro, breakbeat, acid, jungle, and progressive house… with almost everything sourced from artists I have never heard of, save for those artists who have now appeared across multiple Snippets tapes (such as Low Tape, Mounty, Marco Lazovic, Ksky, and Komartsov). The quality is uniformly excellent across the entire tape, but here I’ll just briefly mention a few personal highlights, foremost of which is Ellipse’s “1101,” a track that rides in on one of the most infectious breakbeats of the year—a simplistic yet deeply catchy pattern of kick, shaker, and snare—which grooves in support of acidic bass funk, swirling ethereal atmospheres, IDM dream textures, and a psychedelic sonar hook…resulting in a minimalistic bomb of gliding rave rhythmics and euphoria-soaked anthemics. As well, Tifra conjures deeper than deep prog on "Existentialism,” with a charging and bongo-accented beat banging the body alongside jacking sub basslines, psychotropic click cascades, and vintage squiggles of alien acid, over which flow liquid chord bursts, lysergic sibilance snippets, telephonic tracer melodies, and smearing loops of dark choral drone. As for some B-side highlights, DJ Lifegoals delivers IDM and Rephlex-esque revivalism with “Blue”, wherein futuristic breakbeat panoramas bash energetically beneath heavenly diva hazes, extra-terrestrial space sonics, and nostalgic chord patterns afloat in a calming dub dreamworld…with shards of sound periodically splattering into spectral glitch that threatens to obscure the mix. Elsewhere, on “Jump2This”, Futurereality combines big bottomed breaks, soundsystem sub bass, and layers of soul affirming synthesis into a melancholic flow of boom bap bliss, over which the artist layers junglist snare flourishes and hip hop vocal samples. And in “Feel Flight” by BRTS, immersive jungle rhythms, mutant subsonics, and distorted lines of psychoactive acid are layered into a jaw-dropping jam of breakbeat physicality and deep bass pressure, while up in the sky, LFO lasers fire across ecstasy-laced soul vocal samples and reversing deephouse chordscapes.

Various Artists - Snippets Music presents Reflection Lines (Snippets Music)
Later in the year, Snippets released Reflection Lines, which continued exploring the same sonic spheres as previous tapes, while also finding the label expanding its roster to include ever new and exciting talents. “Trancia” by Cosmic G & Laars lets breathing cosmic winds, extra-terrestrial acid tracers, alien ocean synth leads, and echoing dub chords surround banging bass stabs and an irresistible tabla-led breakbeat…with the track growing progressively more euphoric as it progresses…like some breakdance dream rave proceeding on the surface of an interstellar sea. Neporyadok’s “Jewel Box”—on the other hand—is a loved up prog house bomber imbued with futuristic textures from the Artificial Intelligence school, one that starts its life in braindance territory, then sees energized trance beats support melting UFO sonics, skittering chord patterns, squelching space liquids, and ascendent patterns of percussive tropicalia before climaxing towards sliding acid vocalizations and ambient expanses of insectoid breakbeat funk. Corbi concocts a sleazy slab of UR-indebted electro, which swings through a cosmos of percolating shadow sonics, mystifying blips melodics, sickly pad swells, old skool techno textures, and hip hop vocal hooks, and Ellipse delivers another pitch-perfect track of ambient breakbeat ecstasy that sees Lone-esque drum patterns ever-shifting and energetically evolving beneath birdsong, galactic filter sequences, and smooth lines of subsonic space funk. Komartsov’s "Shimmer Lights” starts its life in worlds of emotional garage physicality, but at certain moments, the skipping beats, pounding basslines, and disco-indebted synth chord structures transition towards ultra deep trance and techno mesmerism, with glowstick tracer patterns and whooshes of starscape magic dazzling the mind over a heads down and hands up body beat and acid bass stomp. And in Enfant’s “Frisson” a four-to-the-floor meets breakbeat groove hits with profound force as basslines bounce beneath melancholic cascades of balearic ambiance built from ethereal angel pads and islander marimba flourishes.

Bufiman / DALO / Philipp Otterbach - WAR1201 (WARNING)
2021 was a huge year for the label side of WARNING, and most notably, the Berlin-based rave collective made the jump from 7” to 12” with the release of WAR1201. The A-side is given over to Bufiman, who here is in peak form, as he delivers an absurdly imaginative and characteristically massive breakbeat energy groove. Kinetic drum patterns cut up the air while massive lines of booty-banging squelch bass guide alien vocal filtrations, and as things progress—with layer after layer of accenting percussion joining the broken beat funk jam alongside increasing textures of 90s rave—gentle cosmic sequences flutter through the clouds while melting currents of cinematic sound periodically rain down…the whole experience hitting like a transcendent climb towards heights unknown, and a total bodily surrender to an ecstatic trip of evolving rhythmic psychedelia. The flipside from DALO touches on the WARNING label’s love of bass-heavy and basement oriented electro, as pitched-down breakdance beats and growling layers of mutant sub-bass lead a triptastic glide through cosmic shadowlands, one overlaid by ghostly howls, mysterious voices, spine-tingling diva cut-ups, and a completely mindbending acid line climax. And as an extra special treat, Philipp Otterbach is here remixing DALO’s work…his take a low-slung freak jam of panning horror pads, blasted trap rhythms, mad scientist sample manipulations, and broken acid bass the periodically devolves in terrifying abstraction.

Phaser Boys / Chaos Milieu / DJ-Ungel feat. Jofr / Zonza Grind - WAR1202 (WARNING)
WARNING later released a second various artists 12” in 2021, and the vibe on WAR1202 pushes closer to the heyday of 90s rave, with sounds sourced from new artists, as well as from some of my absolute favorite practitioners of trippy dancefloor psychedelia. We start with the Phaser Boys, who set tubular filter basslines to a low slung hip hop pulse, which eventually transitions into a deeply sorcerous break, and then again into a chugging four-four acid stomp…the result a jacked out prog house slow jam overlaid by anthemic chord hooks, tambo-kissed broken beats, and melting layers of galactic pad magic. Next comes Chaos Milieu, who storms straight into the heart of dark acid dream magic, wherein cosmic lasers, liquid 303 manipulations, and slow Goan sequences slither over a big bottomed trance beat, one that is periodically interrupted by breakbeat cut-ups and hair-raising soul diva snippets. Sun Lounge mega-favorite DJ-Ungel begins the B-side in collaboration with Jofr, as a charging trance beat and a gurgling alien acid line sit beneath cracking snares and morphing vocal tracers…the energy only escalating from there…with futurist cascades of lysergic vocalization soaring over jacking siren synths and warehouse chord evocations as drums work between energized four to the floor groove, ambient void, and Florida coastal breakbeat funk…the vibe slightly unsettled and anxious as the track continuously rebirths into ever new forms. Then to close, Zonza Grind enchants the mind with a psychotropic array of cymbal, snare, and rimshot patterns while sinister acid line layers growl through galactic grease over a manic four four kick…resulting in a body banging expanse of physical trance minimalism that is given further motion by shadowspells of Middle Eastern melody. 

Leo Almunia - Minor Circle (Claremont 56)
I have only gotten to write about the music of Leonardo Ceccanti on a few occasions, and so it is with great pleasure that I present a writeup focused on his breathtaking solo debut Minor Circle, which finds the producer and solar guitar songsmith crafting an immersive aural journey that capitalizes on many of the shades and styles has been exploring over the last few years, both in his solo work, and with Gianluca Salvadori in Almunia. Rainfall and echo haze open while solo blues shred floats freely over chiming strands, and as folksy acoustic guitars shuffle into view, the whole thing morphs towards drumless disco ambiance, as fat bottomed basslines stomp beneath layered riffscapes and burning blasts of fuzz guitar heroism. Glimmering acoustic riffs waft wistfully over echoing filter sequences, slide guitars melt into a panorama of sunset coloration, and softened swaths of static filter back and forth while hand percussions and laid back trap kit accents give further shape to a paradise of pastoral groove, one where slanky southern rock basslines strut and slide while blazing blues solos rip across a cloud-speckled sky. Galactic sequences and starscape arps drop down into a slow and low disco dream dance, while serpentine guitar licks and cascading riffs add flecks of folk-infused wonderment and layers of lysergic sunshine, with the track made all the more magical by pitch-perfect transitions of Floydian feel…these epic riffs ringing out across the heavens that then give way to smokey syncopations and blasted distortion solos awash in classic rock bombast. Desert-drenched psych riffs move over a swooning exotica sway recalling expansive head trips from the likes of America and The Doors while heady lines of slippery bass funk background one of the coolest guitar solos I have ever heard… a grease smothered expanse of sleazy sensuality, sliding sexually and grinding down and dirty into clouds of refractive harmony…all before the track climaxes with sleepy-eyed psych solos and acid trip vocal hazes flowing through Leslie-speaker liquids. Kosmische colors unfurl through metronymic echo cycles and curlicues of interstellar blues, with vibes of Gottsching and Gilmore intermingling…the former’s cosmic guitar romantics eventually transitioning toward the Wall-esque space disco dreamscapes of the latter, as grooving futurist basslines, booty banging dance beats, and chill-inducing acoustic jangles support a jaw dropping display of cosmic blues mesmerism…the kind of guitar work the reaffirms everything magical about the instrument. Further sections of soft disco drum throb merge with vibes of porch jam blues while underlying dazzling passages of prismatic flower power riffing and acid folk web weaving, with ever evolving layers of acoustic fantasy guiding the spirit towards a climactic solo that lands like liquid light. Lone guitar sundowners are built from rapid folk fingerpicking and melting layers of space age blues, and feathery Italo bass pulsations chug in support of a sunny disco drums and double time hat shuffles in a glorious merging of Italo beach dance and spiritual Americana, replete with alien expanses of cinematic experimentation and a characteristic climax of soul-affirming guitar solo transcendence. Sleepy chords ride soothing echo waves in a soundbath of starlight, and emotive acoustic guitar colorations circle around a developing rhythm…a rustling and rustic jazz drum panorama from Andrea Pelosini that supports stargazing solo descents, Afro-folk dream textures, and palm-muting echo percolations. And in a heartbreaking ode to distance and loss, spiritual synthesizers background solar swells and sparkling chime strands while twilit solos and acoustic guitar riffs birth a breathtaking outro of balearic psychedelia…with Floydian evocations appearing again as swooning strings and funk-infused prog folk grooves support guitar solos of horizon-gazing serenity.

Under Allt - Mellanrum (Under Allt)
Continuing on with another master of seaside guitar, I’d next like to discuss Dan Lissvik’s new project Under Allt—a collaboration with Henric Claesson that continues developing and expanding the textures of of sunkissed disco and balearic euphoria he has been exploring in projects such as Studio and Atelje. Mellanrum opens with a slight samba beat sway while lackadaisical licks paint the air in sunset hues…the serpentine guitar patterns threading around each other over chunky bass warmth, and backings of mediterranean reed, cosmic synth, and tropical idiophone before everything reduces to a passage of interstellar and lofi prog rock dream drama. Spaghetti western leads ring out over desert exotica beats, jangling acoustics, and thumping bass while ascendent themes of shadowspell wonderment work over liquid funk riffs and alien layers of organ psychedelia, and in one of the most spectacular slices of balearic beat ecstasy all year, polyrhythmic webs of palm-muting echo percolations weave pacifying layers of White Island magic atop a syncopated sunset disco drum, bass, and shaker dance, while solar leads squiggle, slide, and shimmer in the light of a setting sun…the whole track evincing vibes of daydream nostalgia, and inducing remembrances of some island paradise now lost to time. Beatless stretches of beachside bliss open the B-side, as synths sing soft hymns of light and love beneath crystalline guitar romantics and a deep bassline sway, with the something about the track inducing dopamine dreams of 50s surf pop, only given that slow and hypnagogic Twin Peaks feel. Mysterious jams awash in South American psychedelia groove into the mystical night, with shaker led tropicalia breaks bopping slow and low aside big bottomed dubfunk basslines, heady wah wah wavers, and intertwining and ever-evolving layers of acid folk acoustic and electric guitar sun sorcery, with the track at some point backing down into a hypnotizing midtro stretch of bassline, acoustic riff, handclap, and liquid synth. Finally, at the end, sighing squelch synths, Hawaiian slide guitars, and evocative riff progressions sit over filtering breakbeats awash in vibes of slow funk and beachside dub, while throbbing basslines background an increasingly moving panorama of effected guitar and whispered synth majesty…the effect like gazing across placid wave crashes and sparkling sands at an immersive sundown ceremony.

Chari Chari - Luna de Lobos EP (Seeds and Ground)
After successfully relaunching his long dormant Chari Chari project in 2020 with the release of We Hear the Last Decades Dreaming, Kaoru Inoue spent much of 2021 releasing vinyl EPs centered on remixes, alternate versions, and bonus tracks related to the album, beginning with the Luna de Lobos EP. Kuniyuki’s version of the titular track begins in an angelic paradise of new age haze, ringing resonance, and delaying click as an intro of string symphonics, sparkling sonics, and glass-toned keys floats over developing rhythms of shaker and electronic jazz drum, which eventually join together with tribal toms to anchor a swooning sunset meditation built around cinematic chord progressions and golden glimmers of tremolo string…the polyrhythmic trapkit circulations and cascades of tapped metal growing in ritualistic magnificence and pounding intensity as trumpets soar over an ever-ascending climax of classical post-rock majesty. Next Inoue presents his own “Winter Solstice Version” of the track, which serves as a welcome come down from the awe-inspiring power of Kuniyuki’s version. Here psych folk acoustics weave webs of cinematic romance over tropical dub basslines, cabana jazz percussions, and melting layers of sunset string orchestration, with everything building towards an ocean-gazing climax of Methany magic wherein liquid synthesizer starscapes decay towards a cosmic horizon. Inoue presents a further version—his “Prophet’s Harmonic Drone Mix”—which sets fairytale acoustics over snaketail shakers, scattered hand drums, and arrays of shimmering bell, while aqueous swells arc over sonar pings, mermaid organs, and kinetic textures of underwater psychedelia…as if Sth. Notional’s “Yawn Yawn Yawn” has been given a deeply tripped out acid folk interpretation, and with a vibe akin to the collaborations of Pablo Color and Chee Shimizu. At the end of the EP sits “Luna de Ritmos”…a shadowy of expanse of skeletal house rhythms, wah wah whispers, echo guitar percolations, and drunken progressions of futuristic brass synth, which grows ever more ebullient and jacking over its length…the result a patient ceremony of temple groove and interstellar atmosphere that pulls the body ever towards the dancefloor.

Chari Chari - Tokyo Modernology (Seeds and Ground)
The second extended player of reconfigured ephemera from Chari Chari’s We Hear the Last Decades Dreaming is entitled Tokyo Modernology, and finds Mamazu and longtime Kaoru Inoue collaborator Chida remixing tracks from the album, alongside a few works from Inoue himself. Singing birds open Inoue’s “Vintage Drum Club Mix “ of “In Exotic Haze,” as polyrhythmic panoramas of deep house organ and synthetic marimba weave around each other over popping bebop snare accents and acid jazz kick patterns, with subsonic exotica basslines helping transition the track towards a hedonistic journey of humid rainforest groove…inclu

Sympathetic improviser, modal mystic, and experimental soundscaper Landon Caldwell unveiled a new project earlier this year in collaboration with Moon Glyph, which saw the artist remotely leading an amorphous collective called Flower Head Ensemble. The result was a stunning display of ambient jazz spirituality, built almost entirely from chance and guided by pure intuition. Indeed, to craft the three slabs of sonic delirium occupying Simultaneous Systems—as well as the two side-longs on the Companion Environ tape released recently on the artist’s own Medium Sound—Caldwell sent each of his collaborators morphing and minimal soundbaths, over which they added sax, drums, strings, synth, and mallet instruments completely independently of one another. With this cache of primordial sonic matter, Caldwell then sculpted and shaped extended pieces of ethereal beauty and esoteric magic…pieces that feel so complete, and move with such grace and purpose, that it is hard to believe the contributors weren’t all in the same room riding the vibe together. Sounds merge and combine effortlessly, with vibraphones gleaming, horns screaming, and drums moving mysteriously underneath, sometimes rustling through windswept whispers, other times exploding into chaotic free jazz cacophony. Organ drones, e-piano dreamspells, polyphonic pads, and alien Moog modulations swim around in drunken seas of ether, flowing back and forth between serenity and intensity, and through it all, string instruments pluck, saw, and sigh, with tones ever-obscured by blinding glimmers of feedback. The result is something akin to both free and spiritual jazz, but that also takes in psychedelic minimalism, drone-based ambient, and experimental post-rock, with an overall feel that—at least to my ears—wouldn’t be out of place in the catalogs of early Kranky and Constellation, VHF, and of course, the legendary ECM. 

Landon Caldwell & Flower Head Ensemble - Simultaneous Systems (Moon Glyph, 2021)
At the start of “Reaching Out,” bell tones and trap kit motions decay through cavernous spaces, while the echoing horns of Mac Blackout (alto sax), Tom Lageveen (alto sax), and Nick Yeck-Stauffer (trumpet) spin romantic fanfares before swelling into ecstatic walls of sound. Chimes twinkle within the droning miasma, and subtle themes begin taking shape, with horns blowing in unison, plucked strings riding phaserwaves, and keys letting loose smoldering blues incantations. Tambourine splashes and sleigh bell shimmers grow in strength as bowed instruments generate blinding sprays of feedback, and having disappeared for a stretch, the horns eventually reemerge, with trumpet and violin singing songs of elegiac Americana in a way reminiscent of Jackie-O Motherfucker and their free folk/jazz odyssey Fig. 5. Bass synths accent Thom Nguyen’s drums as they sputter in the shadows, with tapped rides radiating golden vapors, and rimshots interspersing with junkyard percussion. K. Dylan Edrich’s strings continue asserting themselves through layers of splattered rhythm and dissonant synthetics, and at certain moments, the vibe is akin to the mighty orchestrations of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, only as if playing a shambling drone paean to the spirits of sun and sky. Brass swells bleat and blear into shamanic fire…into a purifying light that descends over an unsettled sea of organ droning, with tones otherworldly in their abandonment of melody…like waves of rainbow light mutating and modulating through a ceremonial storm of improvisation. Something approaching a defined drum beat emerges, with cymbal sizzles holding a count and broken kick and snare patterns ever-evolving. Trumpet and alto blow cosmic mysteries across the spectrum as the vibe approaches abstracted noir…like viewing a sunset cityscape through a fever dream fog. The rhythms continue their active ascent as Nguyen rolls around the kit in a physical display of force, and all the while, phasing keyboard chords grow ever more distorted…as if threatening to pull the track towards the sinister. Yet the horn trio contrasts the darkness with purifying baths of sonic light and longform melodic mysteries that eventually fade to nothingness. And by the end, all that remains are boiling bodies of organ drone and cymbal taps that sparkle like diamonds.

“Life Underground” opens the B-side with chords reducing to a metalloid haze, and repetitions of noise that are at once harsh and soft. There is a vague air of melancholy underlying the introductory movements, and eventually, gemstone keys reflect the light of a creeping dawn. Liquid swells wash the mix clean and waves of deep droning blue cascade over the body while alien fluids drip all around, and as Edrich’s strings fight again through layers of blinding drone, wild winds whip up a roaring vortex of sound. Keys evoke childhood music box meditations, rapidly bowed strings flutter like insect wings, and subsuming midtone drones push towards feedback while horns swell in the distance…their majestic melodies and waves of warmth uplifting the heart. Viols morph into displays of solar light and Yeck-Stauffer alights on shrieking solo adventures…his slithering and slip sliding trumpet leads moving in and out focus amidst resonant bell tones and the monosynth buzz of Mark Tester’s Moog. A symphony seems to swoon in the background ether as pounding bass patterns emerge, eventually revealing themselves as a sub-oscillator seance, wherein pitch and frequency modulate according to some unknowable logic. All the while, horns harmonize high in the sky—though their tones are obscured by blasts of galactic detritus—and as a final swell of synthesized starlight beams down from the heavens, the track breaks apart in totality.

The transition between “Life Underground” and “Woven Realm” is essentially seamless, and from the scattered silences of the former emerge the skroning saxophonics of the latter, which soar and scream through echoing corridors, resulting in an extended soliloquy of free jazz fire music. Keys begin letting lose blankets of mysterious arcana in the background, with subdued percolations evoking a lullaby dance through a sea of shadows. Sickly organs swell into a growing body of cacophony that is interspersed by beams of psychotropic radiance, with tonal drones sliding up and down while string instruments mimic theremins. As things progress, another holy soundbath emerges, featuring blissful waves of dissonance, phasing rotations, and the enigmatic dances of bowed strings and blown brass. Cymbal taps grow into stormclouds of metallic haze while elsewhere, Nguyen bashes, smashes, and crashes with reckless abandon, seemingly utilizing every square inch of his kit. And anchored to this kinetic display of rhythmic mesmerism is a glowing cloud of sonic serenity, wherein horns, strings, and synths evoke some mystical ceremony…some ritual of astral ecstasy that builds and builds towards transcendence before flowing away into an outro of seasick keys, woven brass patterns, and twinkling mallet tones.

(images from my personal copy)

Having reviewed Morita Vargas’ 8 a few weeks ago, I’ll now turn my attention towards another standout release from Hidden Harmony Recordings, which is Maria Teriaeva’s Conservatory of Flowers. As her main tool, Teriaeva employs a Buchla 200e modular system, and throughout Conservatory of Flowers, she wrestles and wrangles some incredible tones from this singular synthesizer palette. Though the LP additionally features field recordings, bass flute, cello, trumpet, sax, guitar, and voice, you’d be forgiven for thinking there were mallet instruments and thumb pianos, timpanis and tubas, seed shakers and hand drums, and much else besides, for Teriaeva configures her sorcerous electronics into a polychromatic display of instrumental emulation. Which is not to say that the Buchla isn’t also used for purposes of angelic ambient, sci-fi strangeness, or dissonant drone, and indeed, the compositions here are as experimental as they are immediate, as Teriaeva and her collaborators weave together threads of avant-garde sound design into concise song structures that are at once madcap and dexterous, and that turn often and unexpectedly into far out sonic realms…with passages of futurist forest folk or deviant pop ecstasy plunging suddenly into shadowy abysses of strings and bass synthesis, only to then rush back towards the light. Taking in the full experience, my mind drifts to Kate NV, to Ryuichi Sakamoto, and to Yasuaki Shimizu, though there is a level of gleeful experimentation on display that also evokes the works of Museum of Modern Art, Georgia, and Michelle Mercure. But these are only vague signposts, and in truth, the sonic world of Conservatory of Flowers is utterly unique…a rhythmic and percussive paradise of organic instrumentations and exotic synthesizer colorations that only gets more compelling—and more strange—with each listen. And though the original tracks are great enough, the album also includes a gonzo remix of “Spritz” from Sapphire Slows, which stitches together chopped vocals, stuttering house beats, funk basslines, and mutating rave chords into an anxious expanse of alien club euphoria. 

Maria Teriaeva - Conservatory of Flowers (Hidden Harmony Recordings, 2020)
“The Jungle in June” opens the album with panning clicks evoking crystalline insect wings, flowing layers of underwater ambiance, and gemstones melting in place as they merge with shimmering clouds of ether. Kalimba and marimba tones sourced from Teriaeva’s Buchla join together with sub bass percolations that inhabit a zone between kick drum and bassline, and subtle pitch shifts send lysergic wavefronts through the air. As the deep sea ambiance recedes, it is replaced by gusts of granular wind, and all around, modular idiophones and hyperspeed panning effects dance together, with the mix minimal, spacious, and leaving plenty of room for a ceremonial beat to work the body. And at the end, pallid pads glow in oceanic hues while hovering in place, holding to no particular key until the whole mix disappears in a flash. Broken transmissions and twinkling metals introduce “Paris Texas,” with everything moving back and forth across the stereo field at varying speeds. Melodies attempt to form and subtle progressions are hinted at within the sparkling drone clouds; reverberating fx trail off through guttural breaths and demented echoes; and somewhere in the murk sits the bass flute of Sasha Elina, though it merges in totality with Teriaeva’s modular sound maze. What then develops is a world of polyrhythmic magic, with a multitude of sequences and woodwinds pinging left to right while accelerating in tempo. The sonic spectrum overflows with lightspeed pulsations and flourishes of minimalist magic, with machines hissing like snake tails and crazed idiophone patterns careening at random…like a drunken cloud of cicadas moving according to no particular logic. And at some point the mix seems to reduce slightly in intensity, which gives space to alien frog croaks and mysterious hints of voice.

Rainbow-hued squelches dance at the start of “SØS” and dissonant blasts of metalloid haze slowly resolve into a tuba-esque progression. Starshine sequences and electronics like malfunctioning bird calls enter the stereo field as the piece settles into a drunken waltz, one led by a two-note bassline that lands with Lynchian energy…think 50s pop slowed to a dopamine crawl. As the bass groove disperses, space is left for synthetic percussions to pop and sickly leads to buzz amidst wisps of galactic light, and after the track changes vibe once more, dramatic and Buchla-generated idiophone descents join ceremonial drums while outer-dimensional liquids wash all around. Shifting again, we return to seasick sequencing and that Twin Peaks-indebted bassline, which sets up a magical merging of the various pieces of the song…a madcap layering of waltzing 50s sci-fi mesmerism built from squelching synths and squarewave bass throbs, rainforest percussions and modular mallet melodies, and melting streaks of starshine…the result an abstract dance of alien balearica, which is not unlike the weirder works of artists such as Pharaohs, Stratus, and Shelter. Next comes “Spritz,” which starts with cello strings bowing in hypnotic ecstasy before the mix explodes, seeing Vasiliy Yanik’s saxophone and Nikita Shishkov’s trumpet snaking in celebration through the manic choir vocalizations of Vadik Korolev…the whole thing pulling my mind to the work of Yasuaki Shimizu. A sharp transition cuts the track down to splattered and heavily effected string clatter, pounding bass, and reverberating snap patterns as hints of the euphoric sound orgy preceding start building back in strength. Horns converse and bowed cellos generate sunrise colorations before devolving into a shimmering display of spectral metal, and eventually, the manic Shimizu-style avant pop dance returns in full strength. But just as quickly, the track breaks down again…back to the world of broken electro-string skitter, ritualized percussion, and expressive sax, trumpet, and string accents. The vocals build around with wondrous “AY-YA-YA” chants until the spectrum is overwhelmed by sheets of percussive detritus, and after devolving further towards masculine breathing and wheezing whooshes of neon static, Yana Chekina’s cello detunes wildly while scraping and crawling towards the sky.

In “How Are You Feeling?” percussive sequences tick through cut up samples sourced from the Russian Bird Conservation Union, with the whole thing sounding like a transmission from some broken satellite. Synthetic water drums pan across the spectrum while holding a hypnotizing body flow and strange melodies are carried by blinding currents of feedback and searing sonar blips. At once the vibe changes, seeing detuning waves of orchestral synthesis billow out from the center of the universe in a way that recalls the terrifying kosmische expanses of Klaus Schulze’s Irrlicht,or perhaps Tangerine Dream’s Zeit. Then, following this expanse of viscous darkness, we suddenly return to a jungle of peace and light, wherein birds resume singing amidst insect chatter while idiophones play lullabies to the rising sun. Sub bass currents move with propulsive energy and crazed comets streaks across the sky as the body swings back and forth in a state of mirth, though touches of melancholy softly kiss the melodic progressions. “A Sunlit Room” closes the first side with bowed strings and clattering clouds of madness that soon give way to an Afro-folk synth bounce, which is accented by fizzing bodies of liquid effervescence. Strange echo trails skitter down reverberating hallways and morphing blasts of air land throughout the spectrum as the main synth progression filters wildly and eventually, the songs seems to fall apart while simultaneously increasing in intensity, as Yana Chekina’s bowed cello strings underly layers of bouncing melodic mesmerism…a child-like hook that works itself deep into the brain and again evokes Yasuaki Shimizu, though Teriaeva’s concoction is altogether stranger than anything he might compose. Higher pitched electronics move with hesitation, percussive layers like the motions of nervous insects wash across the mix, and those Afro-kosmische synths again filter out of control while bouncing bleeps and bloops drop like globules of starlight. Then following a pause, there’s an explosion of bowed strings and bass electronics, which together execute an alien dream dance within a world of panning rhythmic skitter and anxious radar accents…all as white noise winds blow and liquids vaporize into polychrome ether.

The B-side opens with “Abstract” and its cavernous spaces suffused through by twinkling crystals and glimmering alloys. Percussive accents shift in pitch…their effect like liquids dripping into neon pools…and a shadowy hand drum rhythm builds up as the sparkling sound cascades lessen in magnitude, while also locking into the rhythmic flow. What emerges is something not unlike Vague Imaginaires’ “L'essor du roraima,” especially as we settle deeper into a slow and low tribal drum ritual overlaid by clouds of futurist magic, wherein polyrhythmic metals are structured into a brain-bending flow. Dissonant sirens emerge from the distance, wavering cascades of mutating light melt upon the mix, and a pounding bass drum holds down the beat through layers of feverish delirium before the track breaks apart, leaving sickly wavefronts of droning skree and currents of nacreous noise to merge into a malarial fog. Next comes “14’19” and its clockwork sequences, which morph through maddening fx that spread and pan the sounds into psychedelic zooms and spectral whooshes. The sequential patterns take on a rougher and noisier tone as pitch-bending sirens enter the stereo field, and eventually, everything settles into a harmonious wall of droning chords that periodically detunes…the effect creating waves of warbling wow’n’flutter that spread out towards infinity. Delay feedback manipulations generate industrial screams and dizzying whirlpools that surround the spirit, and as the piercing sirens tones pulse continuously in one ear, their decay trails are caught and reversed in the other. Billowing blankets of distorted synthesis bend towards dissonance before dispersing and eventually, the song changes in vibe, seeing mutating sequences bounce joyously back and further under heavy filtering and modulation…the motions and tones causing the mind and body to lose all sense of space-time. Pads awash in orchestral majesty hover in place before plunging down in pitch, and flubby brass arps emerge then cut away as we return to the introductory world of ticking sequences and searing siren screams.

A long stretch of silence leads to a secret track, which features FM bells decaying in the wrong direction alongside subtle clusters of industrial breath. Methodic bass patterns and the patient beat of a subaquatic drum are at odds with the anxious bodies of chaos swirling up above,..these howls of metallic noise and drone that merge into a discontinuous storm cloud, wherein  evocations of things heard before now modulate, distort, and flow backwards in time. As well, the end of the B-side also contains a special remix of “Spritz” by Sapphire Slows. Entitled “Spritz-Spritz,” the track begins with detuning sirens blasts and swelling vortices of vibration, while snaps hold down a sparse rhythm. Cyborg string plucks spread out into fractal structures, bulbous basslines move underneath the flow, and a kick drum adds a body-bobbing club energy as spacey sequences descend then disperse. Double-time cymbals flow in from silence and ricocheting dub flourishes wash side to side…the vibe low slung and delirious, especially as snares drop at the end of each measure. Rhythms pull away as psychotic rave chords pitch-shift and pulse overhead, and the vocals of Vadik Korolev are cut up and repurposed amidst popping percussive sequences. The kick drum returns—though now the beat stutters anxiously through abstracted fogs of snare—and eventually, a start/stop hypno-rhythm takes over, led by slinky funk basslines, ticking shaker tones, and conglomerations of oscillation that seem to bubble up from sub-earthen depths. Blistered leads burn across the mix as the vocals pull away, leaving behind a strange world of animalistic synthesis. And when the cut-up choral accents return, they pulse in tandem with the militant flow of detuning rave chords…the result another expanse of club delirium, though as before, the vibe is angular, off-kilter, and increasingly extra-terrestrial.

(images from my personal copy)