#intercut with crashing ocean waves

[queenslimon]

I'm rereading Red Dragon and it's always fascinating to see how Bryan Fuller and team took tidbits from the book and repurposed them for the show. like...

Will Graham: canonically sweaty boy

[islandshort]

shorts

Island Story

Man wakes up on an island following a plane crash. He tries to leave on a boat but is somehow returned back to where he started. He sees smoke and decides to follow it. Goes through the jungle in search of the smoke’s origin. He gets distracted and follows the wrong path. He finds a large man with a cloak. They speak until he gets too touchy. Turns out he is a giant spider. The pilot kills it, then goes back to his journey finds a tribe but then passes out. They heal him and call him a hero. But little do they know he is now becoming a spider.

My original theme does not work anymore. So I will try to form a new one.

·         Wake up on island, following plane crash

·         Upside down POV of a jungle

·         Protagonist hanging upside down from parachute caught in tree

·         Cut parachute and falls on his face

·         observes light and runs out of the jungle

·         Yells hoping someone would respond.

·         Looks over at broken plane

·         Grabs rock to sharpen a propeller

·         Uses propeller to cut down tree

·         Boat building montage

·         Grabs various foods

·         Goes out to sea.

·         Looks like time has passed.

·         Boat hits land

·         Kisses land

·         Looks up and sees his airplane

·         Leaves off screen and comes right back

·         Try’s this a few times until he gets pissed and throws a rock into the ocean

·         The rock fly’s back and hits him in the eye

·         Is knocked to the ground

·         Sees smoke as he clambers to his feet

·         Searches jungle for origin

·         Montage walking through funky scenarios (i.e. 4 footed monkey, furry snakes)

·         Enormous insect silently stalks pilot, only to be engulfed by a giant frog

·         A woman’s silhouette appears in the distance, beckoning to him

·         Deviates from nearby smoke trail to follow woman.

·         Pursues her into dimly lit, decrepit ruins

·         Woman’s figure is hoisted into the air, disappearing into the darkness

·         A large, cloaked figure approaches from behind

·         The pilot is visibly disturbed

·         The ominous figure explains that he too is a pilot, and claims to know a method of escape

·         He is met with hostility after attempting to drape an arm over the pilot’s shoulder

·         The pilot swings his torch at him

·         On the brink of rage, the cloaked man demands to be followed

·         the pilot swings at him again, removing his mask

·         The man is revealed to be a large spider

·         The pilot, clearly shocked, turns to flee

·         After being cut off, the pilot lashes out in desperation

·         the spider injures the pilot

·         Upon slaying the monster, he returns to following the smoke

·         he stumbles upon a small village built from wrecked ships and planes

·         Primitive people approach, wielding spears constructed from part of a wrecked plane

·         He tries to tell them he is not a threat but promptly passes out

·         Wakes up with bandages

·         Tribe shows him around

·         See a mural showing there would be a prophesy where a man from the sky would kill the spider

·         They make him their new leader

·         Everyone loves him

·         He walks into a room

·         Takes a peek at his wounds

·         He is growing spider legs.

·         Decides to hide it.

·         Goes back out and people cheer for him

NSA Story

A lonely NSA Agent is spying on a woman who he has fallen in love with. He decides to formulate his own “meet cute” like in a romantic comedy. He tries to make himself seem like her perfect type, knowing everything about her. Eventually she finds out and hates him. he decides the best thing to do is find her true perfect match and get them to meet (maybe on a dating app or something? Or somehow to talk to each other)

 ·         A raggedy man sits at his desk, smiling vacantly at his computer screen

·         The monitor shows a woman going about her everyday life

·         The man’s face turns to a sneer as his view is obstructed by another man’s belly

·         The belly man asks what’s up with this girl.

·         Man says It’s nothing

·         Belly man’s face comes into frame and asks if she’s making pipe bombs or something?

·         Man hurriedly says no. claiming to be looking through random people

·         Belly man says okay and leaves

·         The Raggedy man goes back to smiling dumbly at his computer, as the woman talks to her mother about buying bread

·         As if struck by inspiration, Raggedy man leaps from his desk and rushes out the door

·         Cut to girl at grocery store, staring into empty shelves in the bread isle

·         Raggedy man careens a shopping cart, filled to the brim with bread, into her cart

·         She stares dubiously at his cart and questions his amount of bread.

·         He says its for a party he’s throwing. Its byob

·         She jokingly asks if she’s invited

·         He says no. its not HIS party…it’s a work thing.

·         He offers her a loaf of bread, before asking for her phone number

·         Montage of them going on dates, intercut with sequences of open windows curating her history of likes/dislikes (favorite restaurants, flowers, etc.)

·         this goes on for a bit until they finally go to his place

·         he leaves her in his living room so he can bring her favorite wine.

·         She glances over to see what could be her living room on his open computer screen

·         She goes over there and minimizes a window revealing her house.

·         Raggedy Man dances into the room, holding two glasses of red wine, only to discover she’s not there

·         Looks over at the computer and sees her room on the screen.

·         he hears the door chain trying to open.

·         Runs over to her

·         She yells for him to stay back, brandishing a can of pepper spray.

·         The man frantically tries to explain that its part of his job, pleading with her to not tell anyone

·         She sprays him and runs away in a panic

·         The man writhes on the ground, tears streaming down his face

·         Fade out

·         Cut back to him at work, eyes swollen and red

·         View webcam footage of girl putting tape on her webcam

·         Disheartened he exits and scrolls through other pages of people.

·         Finally resting on a man, seemingly perfect for his lost love

·         Enacts a plan to set them up together

·         He sighs and dejectedly begins scrolling through a list of known terrorists 

A sunflower and a mushroom are visited by their land lord and must pay the rent. They go through various odd jobs to make the money. They barely make it to the exact amount they need before being told the new rent is due soon.

Gerald and Sonny pay the rent

·         Sonny the sunflower wakes up to knocking.

·         House (upside down pot) lifts up

·         Giant hand picks him up

·         It is his landlord telling him his rent is 3 months over due.

·         He has to pay the rent by the end of the day or he is homeless

·         Also Threatens to pull his petals one by one

·         So he frantically paces back and forth

·         Gerald (a mushroom boy) comes out of his attic.

·         Sonny freaks out and wonders how he got in

·         He tells him there’s a hole in his roof

·         No time to question this

·         Sonny says that if he has been staying there, he has to help him make money for the rent

·         Gerald says he knows a guy

·         Cut to employment office

·         They ask if they can get a few odd jobs to help them make rent

·         Employment office guy,a snail, reaches off the top of the screen and pull down a book, caught on some sticky substance

·         They look through it and then get to work

·         Quick montage of odd jobs

·         Car wash – clean a car, angry bird comes out his house to yell at them.

·         Sponge bath – cleaning gross lumpy creature

·         Accountant – just using a calculator

·         Bank robber – enter bank with ski mask and gun, leave casually with a couple bucks and a lady waves good bye

·         Trade jobs with employment office guy and give him a better high paying job

·         Etc.

·         Cut to them tired and just barely making the amount of money they need

·         Landlord comes in and takes the money then tells them the next rent is going to be due in a day

·         Exhausted they both pass out

Rent Theme – Prioritizing

The theme for this short is prioritizing. This is something everyone can relate to, being proactive and making sure you get everything done on time.  This is a simple idea, but we all can find ourselves slacking sometimes. Our characters have not been paying the rent and must now work twice as hard to get it paid on time. This short is mainly meant to be comedic and will have room for everyone to contribute to gags.

Rent Log-line - A sunflower and a mushroom are long time over due on their rent and must work many odd jobs to pay it on time.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Edo Avant Garde

Watched Edo Avant Garde, a fascinating documentary about the innovative byobu (folding screen) art produced during Japan's period of extreme cultural isolation under the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate—with a particular emphasis on how its proto-impressionistic style would eventually influence Western modernism in the twentieth century.

The film is, of course, quite informative and educational, but it is first and foremost a sensual experience. Director Linda Hoaglund utilizes a variety of cinematic techniques in order to immerse the viewer in the featured Sumi ink and watercolor landscapes. For example, she frequently intercuts between recorded images of nature—birds, flowers, trees, rivers, et cetera—and their painted equivalents, juxtaposing objective reality with abstract representation. The movie’s sound design is equally impressive; such auditory delights as the fluttering of a crane’s wings, the whisper of a gentle breeze through grass, and the thunderous crash of ocean waves lend the otherwise static visuals a sense of weight, energy, and movement.

Thus, much like Sotatsu, Okyo, and Shohaku, Edo Avant Garde doesn’t settle for merely depicting its subjects; it transforms them, recontextualizes them, captures their innate "spirit" and elevates it to the level of the divine. It is, in short, absolutely sublime.

[kartiavelino]

How ‘9-1-1’ creates wild crashes, earthquakes and rescues

9-1-1 | Monday, 9 p.m., Fox Ryan Murphy’s “9-1-1” traffics in disasters massive and small. Python chokeholds and elevator rescues are commonplace for its forged of first responders. The present kicked off the brand new season with a simulated 7.1 earthquake that recalled 1970s Irwin Allen catastrophe movies reminiscent of “The Poseidon Journey,” “The Towering Inferno” and sure, “Earthquake.” In contrast to these movies, “9-1-1” is a weekly collection using a whole lot of technical-support personnel underneath the supervision of government producer Tim Minear to create buckling freeways or a bizarre aircraft crash right into a lake. For the sport forged, headed by Angela Bassett and Peter Krause, it means engaged on itemizing corridors and flooring rigged to break down. However the elevated episode order from 10 in Season 1 to 18 for Season 2 is definitely worth the occasional aches and pains. While you’re in successful, you don’t argue with success. Minear works intently with producer Jeff Dickerson. He oversees the postproduction for “9-1-1,” coordinating with the visual-effects studio FuseFX. They spoke to The Submit from the Fox lot in Century Metropolis, Calif. What planning went into producing an earthquake in LA?Minear: We got here up with the story based mostly on an precise lodge in a foreign country. We’d seen the rescue footage, with rescue employees sliding on the flooring. We needed to discover a location to shoot in a sensible restaurant and foyer. We shot on the W Lodge on Hollywood Boulevard. These items that we wished to destroy we re-created on a soundstage we used final yr to break down a flooring. We constructed a lodge suite on an enormous metal gimbal — or teeter-totter — at Fox. The actors had been on a set that tilted at a 30-degree angle. The actors had been making an attempt to stroll up these staircases and we acquired the consequences of gravity on their performances.Dickerson: The aircraft crash in Season 1 was our excessive bar for large emergencies. The earthquake was the right strategy to high that. With FuseFX, we wished to tug off one thing that regarded prefer it was out of a movie. Take the W Lodge and see how we may shoot it in such a manner that we may tilt it at a 45-degree angle. How many results had been CGI?Minear: The outside scenes the place the actors are staring up [at the hotel] are CGI. However Angela Bassett standing on a bit of freeway is a sensible impact. Sensible results are actual results that you just do as you’re taking pictures. So we introduced in our personal rubble. How in regards to the current episode the place rescue employees climbed down sheer cliffs on the Pacific Ocean to rescue a hiker? Does the forged get particular coaching for these scenes?Minear: Now we have skilled stunt supervisors and paramedics. Now we have a former fireplace battalion chief who’s a advisor. The actors love doing these scenes; it’s a few of their favourite stuff.Dickerson: We had actual actors in harnesses. What we needed to do in postproduction was go body by body and take away any Hollywood security tools. These sweeping pictures had been performed by a drone. Which Season 1 particular impact was a favourite with followers?Minear: I’d say the scene within the pilot the place a child acquired flushed down the bathroom. That child is a doll. It was kind of a puppet intercut with scenes with an actual child. Do you’ve gotten one thing particular deliberate for the final episode in November earlier than your winter break?Minear: We’re going out on a vacation episode that dramatizes what a busy and totally different time of the yr Christmas is for first responders — it’s one thing of a cliffhanger. Is there any particular impact you’ll do over?Dickerson: We’re perfectionists, however with a TV timetable, it’s simply not potential. [embedded content] And right here’s what else to observe this week: Will & Grace | Thursday, 9 p.m., NBC Will (Eric McCormack) discovers that Noah (David Schwimmer) has a toddler. Karen (Megan Mullally) fires Jack (Sean Hayes) from the play she’s producing, changing him with Jon Cryer. Riverdale | Wednesday, Eight p.m., The CW When Betty (Lili Reinhart) confronts Alice (Mädchen Amick) in regards to the recreation Griffins and Gargoyles, Alice comes clear about how she performed it together with her pals within the early ’90s, and how a thriller has been plaguing them ever since. “Riverdale” co-stars (from left) Ashleigh Murray, Madelaine Petsch and Camila Mendes.Dean Buscher/The CW Superstore | Thursday, Eight p.m., NBC Amy (America Ferrera) faces a nightmare day on the field retailer when she learns she doesn’t have maternity go away. In the meantime, Jonah (Ben Feldman) and Garrett (Colton Dunn) tackle hiring the brand new seasonal assist. Murphy Brown | Thursday, 9:30 p.m., CBS The “Murphy within the Morning” workforce joins Jim Dial (Charles Kimbrough) at a lifetime achievement award gala in his honor, hosted by Katie Couric and attended by Murphy’s secretary (Bette Midler), who has a shocking connection to Murphy (Candice Bergen). Additionally, Murphy discovers a kindred spirit in gala attendee Choose Nate Campbell (John Larroquette). Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown and Bette Midler as Caprice CaputowitzCBS All-American | Wednesday, 9 p.m., The CW Whereas driving the exhilarating wave of a three-game successful streak, Spencer (Daniel Ezra) turns into seduced by the Beverly Hills good life, resulting in an surprising journey with Asher (Cody Christian). In the meantime, Coop (Bre-Z) can be being seduced by the gang life and all of the perks it affords her. Ray Donovan | Sunday, 9 p.m., Showtime Ray (Liev Schreiber) isn’t performed cleansing up the fallout from his Hudson River leap. Individuals are asking questions, and there’s a witness who may rock his world. Throughout the nation, Mickey’s (Jon Voight) coronary heart assault behind bars forces Ray to confront what could possibly be his father’s closing days. Liev Schreiber as Ray DonovanJeff Neumann/SHOWTIME The Cool Children | Friday, 8:30 p.m., Fox Hank (David Alan Grier) and Margaret (Vicki Lawrence) lose a contest and don’t take house the prize: a brand new flat-screen TV. So, they determine to steal it, breaking into Allison’s (Artemis Pebdani) workplace after locking her and Sid (Leslie Jordan) within the sauna. Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/11/02/how-9-1-1-creates-wild-crashes-earthquakes-and-rescues/ The post How ‘9-1-1’ creates wild crashes, earthquakes and rescues appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2018/11/how-9-1-1-creates-wild-crashes-earthquakes-and-rescues.html

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 228: A Man Called Adam

One of the biggest surprises last year came with the seventh volume of Emotional Rescue’s Schleißen series, as balearic pop and rare groove legends A Man Called Adam presented a delirious collage called “Sketches (2011 - 2017).” This was the first new music from the group in years and was also one of the most cerebral, challenging, and modern pieces in their adventurous back catalog, showing that despite the passage of time and years of absence, Sally Rogers and Steve Jones were just as tuned into the “now” as ever. And it turns out, this appearance signaled an exciting period of new activity for A Man Called Adam, one culminating in the release of Farmarama, their first full length album since 1999’s Duende. Issued on the duo’s longstanding and newly resurrected other imprint, Farmarama surveys and revisits some of the most infectious and loved up sounds of their career, with beats morphing fluidly between chill-out breaks, disco stomps, and house bangers while the air is colored with romantic melodies, psychedelic fx, and tropical atmospheres sourced from Steve’s arsenal of mobile electronics. There are vibrant layers of live percussion, bass, keys, and horns provided by a close group of friends and Sally is at the top of her game, moving effortlessly between cooing whispers, sensual breaths, lounge jazz serenades, and soulful diva enchantments. And the album’s energy is so joyous and freewheeling…like a collective of beatniks, hippies, and flower children reveling in the vocabulary of acid house, with side-journeys through sunshine reggae, space-age pop, tropical exotica, balearic soul, post-classical forest folk, cosmic kraut funk, radiophonic weirdness, and so much else besides.

A Man Called Adam - Farmarama (other, 2019) “Mountains and Waterfalls” cuts right into a warm disco stomp, with rolling hand percussion and obscured claps and snares. Slightly drunken pianos are hypnotically looped and infinite webs of polyrhythmic cymbal shimmer suffuse the air while gentle blasts of space synthesis wrap around fusion e-pianos. Sally is joyous and care-free…as if dancing through a sunshine meadow and Fergus Quill’s fat-bottomed basslines slip and slide through solar funk grooves. At some point everything fades out, leaving sexual croons and layers of starshine electronics for a floating expanse of ambient soul. Then comes a dazzling display of soprano and baritone sax magic with James Taylor dropping intertwining melodies of lounge jazz smoothness that occasionally work into free jazz fire and all throughout the track there are moments where the beats start smashing and crashing…as if threatening to explode into some peak-time jam. Then towards the end, such a moment finally arrives with a heady passage of backwards sucking and compressed filter disco magic, where flanging basslines underly clipped pianos, scatting horns, chittering vocal fx, and gorgeous refrains. In “Ou Pas,” electronic marbles roll through crystal tunnels as kick drums march and anxious percussive energies suffuse the air. Twilit vibraphone snippets evoke Milt Jackson, fragile pianos bang away, exotic organ melodies weave colorful patterns, and synthbass squelches move through lands of dark enchantment while Sally delivers expressive French vocalisms. And the whole thing is intercut by cinematic transitions where forest fairy woodwinds fly above droning sitars and tanpuras...the effect like the cinematic noir exotica and pop psychedelia of Broadcast.

The title track is balearica of the highest order and evokes for me the José Padilla-curated Café del Mar compilations and React’s Real Ibiza series (which is of course no surprise, as A Man Called Adam appear on many of those releases). Filtered hammock house beats roll beneath an open sky panorama of seagulls and clouds and melodic hand drum patterns sit within a sea-spray haze of shakers, shells, and cymbals. Celestial layers of ambiance fade in alongside tropical chord progressions and jacking synthbass lines and the vocals are ecstatic, soulful, and often multi-tracked…creating fluttering harmonizations and dreamy conversations while chime strands flow through the background ether. There is so much snare and clap action firing softly between the sizzling cymbal layers and chugging basslines and near the end, majestic horns uplift the spirit while acoustic guitars wander through lands of pastoral jazz folk...the whole thing aligning nicely with the work of Tortoise. “Top of the Lake” sits at the opposite end of the B-side and is one of A Man Called Adam’s most mysterious compositions. Crystalline pianos move above backwards flowing melodies while shadow energies and forest mysticisms are evoked by operatic vocal streaks. Romantic and vaguely flamenco-inflected guitars play melodies of medieval enchantment, only smothered beneath a thick and heavy sonic fog…as if the tantalizing songs of fauns and wood nymphs are heard through a veil of darkness. As the amorphous drones and smeared electronic continue cycling, occasional snippets of piano or acoustic guitar break free from the storm…these brief flashes of mystic light that drawn you further into the ancient woodland.

Between “Farmarama” and “Top of the Lake” sits “Higher Powers,” which loops kaleidoscopic e-pianos over dusty house percussion layers, spellbinding hand drum cascades from Josh Ketch, stuttering kick beats, and harsh hi-hats working between clipped closed hits and open sizzles. Adventurous fusion pianos drifts around Sally’s cut-up “your heartache” refrains and interstellar synth vapors and squiggling psychedelics pan side-to-side as the track revels in the darker sides of French touch. Then comes a rather dramatic transition featuring skittering snares and filtering cymbals flying through resonant phasers, all while Sally alights on romantic voice adventures with lyrics imploring surrender to nature’s higher powers. From here on out, we flit back and forth between zoned out filter house workouts and colorful passages of cinematic synth-pop while the vocals swoon and croon over post-classical swells and angular transitions. There are extended sections dominated by weird sonic fractals and phaser experimentations that also see snares moving through alien motions and Sally’s soft serenade is increasingly surrounded by desperate chants, wails, and pinging tones. At some point it all breaks down into a ritualistic yet funky hand-drum passage that is soon kissed over by dark acid lines that bend and slide through a jungle of hallucinations. And as the beats return, Steve and Sally pile on cosmic delay bubbles, pitch-morphing snare rolls, rainforest drum energies, and breathy voice fx.

The epic length “Michael” loops strange percussive textures, pulsing synths, and stuttering drums into a chill-out breakbeat while marimbas, vibraphones, and kalimbas are trailed by rainbow tracers. Sally flits and scats between dream logic verses and structured choruses that again evoke Ibizan sunsets and beachside parties, especially as aching orchestrations move through the sky. James Taylor appears again with cooler-than-cool lounge jazz sax solos while fluid funkbass pulsations and proggy bass guitar wiggles hold down the groove. There’s a moment where it all spreads and spaces out, with cut-up bass solos, cosmic synth detritus, and wailing saxophones merging and as the paradise breaks fade back in alongside island breeze marimba patterns, Sally delivers one her most captivating performances of the album…her voice growing increasingly desperate and untethered to any melody or rhythm as she repeats “I still believe there is a deeper love.” The song progressively vaporizes around her…like a lone angel floating within a cloud of aquamarine and as the smooth downbeat rhythms return, cinematic orchestrations wrap around Afro-folk idiophones that occasionally alight on hallucinatory runs up and down the scale. And sometimes, it sounds like several different drum beats rush into the mix, creating a delirious rhythmic energy surrounded by wavering psychedelics and lyrical soul raps replete with sage life advice.

We head towards an equatorial dub dreamworld in “Tic-Toc,” starting with sub-bass currents, sunshine basslines, and electro-percussions panning and echoing. Flutey synths and sun-blasted organs create hazy melodic clouds as e-pianos smear out and float towards an infinite horizon and the vocals are so amazing here...swooning and playful, conversational and sassy…with all sorts of child-like backing harmonies and intertwining layers. I’m reminded of moments from Gang Gang Dance’s Eye Contact, especially as tropically-tinged pan-pipe futurisms snake through a seaside jungle of sound. It’s joyous reggae perfection skanking through a balearic dreamscape and the beats never quite come together, creating instead a shambolic dub stomp while chanting voice samples and cut-up guitar runs dance together. Fergus Quill’s basslines are supremely melodic and soaked in positivity as they slide around and the mix is periodically subsumed by psychoactive delay, reverb, and phaser waves. African folk guitar spells and jazzy six-string solos support Sally’s hypnotic conversations, oceanic melodies, and stoned sing-song progressions and as tambourines jangle alongside crystal strands blowing in the breeze, candy-colored synth solos and heatwave organs rush into and out of the stereo field. But as bright as it all is, the lyrics seem heavy and personal while also overflowing with a powerful feminist energy.

The song suite that introduces the D-side is truly spectacular and is already one of my favorite compositions of the year (maybe of all time?). We start deep within Daphne Oram’s Radiophonic workshop as “Spots of Time” constructs a collage of interstellar transmissions, industrial metal tones, advanced computations, fractal tape loops, garbled voices, and disjointed cymbal taps. A radiant and wavering synth arp then introduces “Ladies of Electronica,” soon joined by mellifluous post-rock basslines that would feel right at home on Mogai’s Young Team. Sally sings a gorgeous paean to the titular ladies of electronic: Daphne Oram, Pauline Oliveros (and Pauline Anna Strom perhaps?), Delia Derbyshire, Laurie Spiegel, Wendy Carlos, and Suzanne Ciani while chiming synths and solar guitar melodics bring to mind Michael Rother and Vini Reilly. I’ve always felt there was spiritual kinship between Stereolab and A Man Called Adam and it has never been so apparent as here, especially as bubblegum harmonizations work in round over sections of outerspace psychedelia featuring cut-up drone cascades, blasting drum fx, instructional voice samples, and delirious echowaves. Eventually a smoldering and ultra-tight breakbeat builds in strength alongside cushiony sub-bass pulses as we transition into “Sally’s Ladies Rerub,” which is a spaced out krautfunk jam of the highest order. It’s the kind of thing you might hear from Can, This Heat, or even The Heliocentrics, all minimal and heady, with vaporous synths splashing though rainbow tidepools. And after an extended zoner groove out, Sally re-emerges and delivers once more her dreamily effected tribute to the pioneering women of sonic experimentation.

Though “Paul Valery at the Disco” name checks the poet and philosopher Paul Valery, it has its sights firmly set on early 1970s Berlin and the collective of artists based around Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser’s Cosmic Couriers imprint. Indeed, the beginning of the track sees a star-maiden calling across a cosmic void…her coos, whispers, and intergalactic incantations flying over a hypnotizing display of primitive synthesis and insectoid buzzing chaos. It evokes some of my favorite music of all time: Walter Wegmüller’s Tarot, Ash Ra Tempel’s Join Inn, and the work of the Cosmic Jokers, especially those moments where Rosi Müller or Gille Lettmann would add seducitve voice hypnotics to the collective’s far-out electronic dreamscapes. Whether or not it was intentional, the track nails the early kosmische vibe better than almost anything I have ever heard…like instant time travel to Germany during the advent of LSD and synthesized electronics. But eventually, Sally and Steve drop us into the dirtiest and most sexually charged groove of the album…a loved up and sensual beat stomping through a land of compressors and filters while ravey synths boil, wriggle, and writhe. Funky choirs and radiant divas implore you to “come on and lose yourself” while octave basslines bring Hi-NRG dancefloor heat and though we’ve now entered a land of dark disco enchantment and sweaty club motions, the track never quite looses that 70s krautrock edge as chunky and drugged out streaks of Klaus Schulze-ian synthesis wash over the mind.

(images from my personal copy)

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 245: Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano

I owe much of my interest in modern Japanese music to the duo of Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile, otherwise known as Visible Cloaks. Valve / Valve Revisted introduced me to dip in the pool, who have since become a beloved favorite, and the far-out sounds and forward thinking production techniques of Japan have long informed the duo’s approach. As well, Spencer Doran spent years diving into the country’s environmental, new age, fourth-world, and future-pop landscapes and issued a couple of essential mixes for Root Strata in this direction, with his work eventually leading to the breathtaking Kankyō Ongaku collection on Light in the Attic…all of which have had a massive impact on my own musical journey. So it’s entirely fitting, if not fated, that Visible Cloaks’ first contribution to RVNG Intl.’s longstanding FRKWYS series sees Doran and Carlile joining together with Satsuki Shibano and Yoshio Ojima, two masters of innovative sound design and visual art that were highly influential on Japan’s cultural landscape during the 80s and 90s and whose work continues to resonate today: Shibano through her immersive piano dreamscapes inspired by Satie and Debussy and Ojima via his explorations of computerized composition and in scoring artistic and public spaces such as Wacoal’s famous Spiral building. And like all FRKWYS pairings, it completes a circle of influence and inspiration, with elder artists stirring the creativity of younger generations, whose novel approaches then inform and are folded back into the work of the original source…a sort of eternal conversation between past and present about the sonic landscapes of the future.

In the write up for serenitatem, RVNG discuss the group’s interests in aleatoric music, the British avant grade, pre-classical composition, and Lovely Music, Ltd, as well as Ojima’s and Satsuki’s groundbreaking work with the St. Giga radio installation…a free-form and continuously broadcasted collage of field recordings, poetry, and audio experimentation that looms large over the approach and vision of serenitatem. As for the process, Doran and Carlile recorded sketches while on tour and sent them to Ojima, who added his own sounds and edits before returning the recordings to the duo. So it continued for months, with the trio trading ideas and building on each others’ manipulations until a studio session in Tokyo brought all four musicians together, allowing them to further enhance their preliminary experiments and create new compositions on the spot. And the results are truly beguiling…a spellbinding coalescence of futuristic sonic exploration and deeply human emotion that features cloudforms of orchestral gas shattering into crystalline vapor; funereal organs playing ancient hymns to the sun; tropical new age textures surrounded by spectral space foam; mermaid choirs singing through overtone resonances; and marbles vibrating within tunnels of morphing glass. And though the sensibilities of Visible Cloaks and Ojima are almost entirely indistinguishable, the artistic identity of Shibano is uniquely discernible, with her effected voice and majestic piano themes standing out amidst the rainbow energy fields and fractal orchestrations while also feeding generative MIDI software, in turn creating new and ever-evolving paths of exploration.

Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano - FRKWYS Vol. 15: serenitatem (RVNG Intl., 2019) In “Toi,” liquids drip over aquatic swells while gong drone overtones hover in place before rapidly vaporizing. Vocals awash in a haze of euphoria flow into the mix on layers of aquamarine synthesis, ringing feedback tones weave pastoral melodies, and disjointed piano chords splash through crystalline tide pools while swirling noise clouds move chaotically before being sucked out of existence. The mix is repeatedly intercut by globules of bouncing glass that wash the stereo field clean and after a false ending and a fade to silence, oceanic orchestrations diffuse into the mix with swelling string reveries and long glorious bow strokes calling out to the dawn. Sometimes breathy choirs join in with these etheric chamber incantations while liquiying metals flow throughout the spectrum. And as the track ends, mystical electronics create starry-eyed sound swirls and decaying bodies of spectral mist. “Anata” follows with a shimmering world of tonal mesmerism where voices and machines blur together…like mermaid choirs coalescing with the droning hum of an industrial machine. Bleary-eyed orchestrations intermingle with textures of brass as Shibano delivers a strangely effected spoken work performance, with her voice morphing and modulating discontinuously while fracturing across the spectrum. Then, as futuristic whispers transmute into bleeping static amidst insectoid oscillations, a heavenly streak of soprano calls out from the void.

The MIDI-generated idiophone melodies of “You” are sourced from the words of “Anata” using Intermorphics’s Wotja software and the result is a paradise of gleaming gamelan starlight. Shibano’s piano merges perfectly with the vibraphone dream weavings while heartbeat pulses, blasts of white noise, and plucked string tones fade in from shadowy depths. Amorphous pad hazes swell in strength then dissolve into ether as siren pulses generate machine rhythms at odds with the free form idiophone tapestries. Feminine whispers pan wildly while throbbing bass currents flow in from all directions and there’s a strange moment where the mallet instruments recede, leaving the soul afloat in a delirious landscape of morphing sonic magic. “Atelier” revels in microtonal vibrations, industrial droning, and layers of humid resonance, which all eventually set the stage for a gorgeous melody played out on synthesized woodwinds. The mind is enchanted by longform oboe and bassoon lullabies while the background is painted over by glimmering wavefronts and smoldering vibrations that never rise above a spiritual hum. Tibetan bowls sing over tapped gongs while the lonely ping of a vibratube calls out periodically and deep within the spectral fog, timpani drums can be heard pounding away. The meditative woodwind spells eventually feature several layers intertwining, while chittering lizard fx and slithering psychedelics contrast the beatific mood. And if you listen closely, you can hear Shibano alighting on free jazz cloudbursts and atonal fantasias deep within the radiant miasma.

“Lapis Lazuli” sees mirage drone atmospherics suffused with flute and birdsong tones while waves of some nacreous and opalescent fluid crash against an unfamiliar shore. Shibano moves through the wavering landscape with further spoken spells which are this time bare and unaffected…just pure and expressive vocalisms surround by skittering static washes, glowing ghost melodies, and universal string vibrations divorced from any source of attack. At some point, electrified gemstones start raining down upon the mix…these crystalline structures of every possible color bouncing and vibrating in ways that defy logic, which are perhaps sourced by an electric piano...only one obscured by infinite layers of sonic manipulation. As the song progresses, Shibano’s voice becomes increasingly shrouded in robotic strangeness, eventually leaving humanity behind altogether in favor of cyborg sizzle and free flowing android poetry. Chime tones are stretched and smeared into a feedback haze above the soft pitter-patter of dripping water, heatwave vapors wash across the mix, and chaotic bell alarm oscillations seem to spin at the speed of light before swelling into solar flare sound spirals. All the while, the landscape is increasingly colored by the calls of alien jungle fauna as the flowing water takes on the appearance of a mystical stream surrounded by dense layers of extra-terrestrial vegetation.

The beads of bouncing glass from “Toi” return in “Stratum”, here splattering over ring-modulated steel-drum tones. It’s a tropical lullaby accented by towering piano chords and swirled around by angelic choral hazes and rainbow fog refractions. Starshine modulations cut through the air as the island melodies recede, leaving behind an expanse of new age celestial shimmer. Then comes one of the most breathtaking and hard to describe sonic effects I have ever heard, generated by using Shibano’s piano improvisation to source reactive idiophone and voice cascades in Ableton. Imagine a choir of angels and the bars of a marimba as if transformed into a field of colorful flowers, such that each time an oceanic piano chord cluster or radiant ivory lead drops, it’s like a cyclonic wind disturbs the field, causing the individual flowers to sway drunkenly out of phase. But eventually, the harmonious drone currents and pastoral sonic breezes cause the marimbas and voices to lock together into a loose rhythm….as if all the flowers of the field are flowing in unison beneath a bright shining sun. And going further, Shibano’s spontaneous melodies are discernible amidst the synthetic mallet and dreamworld voice motions, leading to an ever-evolving and deeply moving interplay between improvised human beauty and aleatoric computer magic.

Though most of the album explores cutting edge spaces and forward thinking sonic languages, Doran, Carlile, Shibano, and Ojima reserve the final track on each side for immersive excursions into the musics of the distant past. The A-side houses “S’amours ne fait par sa grace adoucir (Ballade 1),” originally written in the 12th century by the ars nova poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut. Ecclesiastical organs reach across centuries with polyphonic wonderment, first flying solo, then joined by bell tones and chiming vibrations of medieval metal. And at some point, the organ fades away and is replaced by effervescent fluids and wispy string synthesis…like a chamber orchestra playing through gentle distortions of space and time. Closing the album is “Canzona per sonare no. 4” by famed sacred music composer and organist Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612). Sonar tones revolve in long arcs before giving way to spacious stretches of silence while morphing bass pulsations underly Shibano’s baroque piano incantations. It’s a repeated refrain…childlike, naive, beautiful…backed by swelling pads, dreamworld atmospheres, and subtle hints of choral majesty. All the while, shards of ivory are caught up in fractal webs and reflected across the spectrum as overlapping feedback currents generate calming seascape motions that float the soul away.

(images from my personal copy)

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 201: Il Guardiano del Faro

Several weeks ago I covered Choice Works 1982 - 1985, Time Capsule’s loving, informative, and visually gorgeous Yuji Toriyama retrospective. But Yuji wasn’t the first balearic hero of years past to get this special treatment, as Time Capsule had a few months prior released a deluxe reissue of Il Guardiano del Faro’s Oasis. This cinematic epic was crafted by Federico Monti Arduini and a few friends in 1978 from his seaside paradise of Porto Santo Stefano, and sees Poly and Mini-moogs, string synths, e-pianos, drum machines, echo boxes, and tape recorders uniting for a radiant waltz through mirage-shrouded desert dreamworlds. There are ambient disco burners, swooning Italian film orchestrations, proto-new age and post-classical expanses, exotic jazz fusion adventures, and moody Morricone/Alessandroni-style spaghetti western guitar meditations, all working together to achieve Federico’s goal of helping the listener understand that “inside, they are vulnerable and emotional but stubbornly alive.” Of course, the liner notes are detailed and captivating, tracing Federico’s development from a child piano prodigy through to his early flirtations with and subsequent abandonment of classical music and onto his later professional triumphs and successes as a solo artist. And his transformative meeting with Robert Moog is given special focus, with the essay contextualizing Federico’s pioneering use of Moog synthesizers in Italy and explaining how they allowed him to abandon restrictive and traditional forms of musical expression in favor of wide-eyed experimentation and intuitive solo exploration. 

Il Guardiano del Faro - Oasis (Time Capsule, 2018) “Sinfonia al sole che nasce” is an enchanting lullaby for the birth of the sun, with golden drops of Rhodes piano moving through vibrato waves alongside crystal healing tones. We then transition into aching solo synth-strings…angelic and gleaming, hymn-like and heavenly…until a sunrise piano arp enters and weaves feathery strands of light while futuristic harpsichords skip on sunbeams. All the while, contrabasses and cellos join in as the song works itself into gentle climax of aquatic new age bubbles and pastoral strings that float the soul. Tulio De Piscopo joins Federico for “Miss Springtime (…Mia),” which begins in a humid noir groove. Smoke shrouded Rhodes pianos hover above electro and acoustic cymbals that splash through twilight atmospheres and Tulio subverts his characteristic funk power with a sunset drum stroll along an idyllic stream. Smooth fusion basslines walk up and down the scale and swooning theremin-sounding synths trail the piano melodies, bringing vibes of (The) Ventures in Space as well as Haruomi Hosono’s “Tropical Trilogy” as we find ourselves in a surfy sci-fi waltz on an exo-planetary moon beach. There’s a passage of mediterranean mesmerism where seaside reed melodies evoke romantic gondola rides and classic Italian cinema…the swooning balearica presaging the work of Bonnie & Klein by decades. Elsewhere, tom fills and overlapping string dreamscapes break down into funk jam-outs that feature fragile pianos tearing it up alongside fried fusion leads that approximate interstellar saxophones…everything scatting on galactic currents as waves of synthesized solar light purify the mind.

Tulio appears again for “Non una corda al cuore,” which recalls the melodic sunbirth themes from the opening track on wavering Moog fluids that dance and harmonize in the air. Skittering electro-cymbals move beneath vaporous string orchestrations and paradise bass walks until Tulio crashes in with a pounding and regal beat…the soft echoes and reverbs in the mix giving his massive fills a three-dimension quality. Ethereal brass sections play solar spells overhead as the multi-tracked melodies begin ascending ever higher through realms of rainbow luminescence and Federico continues overloading the mix with aching layers of Moog and lustrous piano squiggles while sometimes allowing searing solos to break free from the euphoric haze, their jaw-dropping leads of slow motion majesty wrapping around the towering beats in a way that looks ahead to the earth-shaking power of early 2000s post-rock. Waves of harmonic wonder and sun-soaked melody unite to carry the spirit to impossible heights…the heavenly power bringing tears and stealing breath from the lungs. And Federico is not content to just blow you away with white light power, rather, he insists on completely obliterating the mind and body, leaving nothing behind but pure alchemical essence, which then floats freely upon the plodding drum smashes as everything else is wrapped around by starshine symphonies and hyperreal colorclouds.

“Lady Moon” is one of my favorite discoveries of recent memory…a gorgeous and heart-breaking meditation for the dust-caked western guitar of Johnny Farina. Federico joins in with subdued e-piano mysticisms and ghost organs swell in the background while cold winds blow over expansive desert vistas. A blood red sun descends below the horizon as immersive washes of synthesized light ascend, at times recalling Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine,” only as if transmuted to faraway lands where cacti reign and lizard and snakes crawl across sun-baked expanses of cracked sand. Johnny’s moody guitar continues holding down a ghost town shuffle while also being nearly overwhelmed by sweltering waves of arid synthesis and overhead, buzzards circle as they await the demise of some tormented soul wandering in desolation. A glowing web of synthesized string beauty initiates “La ragazza che amava il mare e il vento” while soft psychedelic slides and etheric light trails diffuse through swirling phaser clouds. It’s a blissed out ambient utopia of cosmic drama and sea-worn beauty…the title roughly translating to “the girl who loved the wind and sea”…and as the song progresses into a new age fantasia, you can almost feel her deep longing for the salty gales and crashing waves of an ocean of dreams.

Tulio appears one last time in “Disco Divina,” his stoned and spaced out disco groove supported by deep bubbling basslines while hypnotizing washes of cymbal swelling radiance overtake the mix. Outer-dimensional harpsichords bang away and dance through the night with sprightly space leads, while wailing vocal synths evoke a sort of angel opera. Massive tom smashes fly through the air as synths pan and move like intelligent liquids and all the while, the string orchestrations grow increasingly massive and eventually consume the mix with Arabic incantations. As it all comes together, we find ourselves in a faraway mystical land…some sort of camelback adventure on an alien planet where vibed out e-piano fusion solos glide on soul sweeping strings that emanate from the rocks of a mysterious desert palace. We then head further into an Arabic fever dream with “Oasis.” Swinging electro-drums and mystical string melodies waft over wobbling tuba synths that dance through exotic patterns. Splashing toms work around hissing cymbal cascades while the pianos and synths lock together for dueling snake charmer leads…everything eventually giving way to insectoid noises swarming around synth leads that fry the brain. During a jaw-dropping climax, paradise strings grow to epic levels of cosmic wonder…their dreamy exotica and immersive psychedelia evoking Omar Khorshid, only swapping his surf guitars for majestic synthesized symphonies. It’s the sonic equivalent of a sandstorm building in a blood red sky, its gusting winds washing over extra-terrestrial temples while alien druids cast spells against the violent torrents of nature.

“Immenso mare, immenso amore” provides a welcome come down from the ecstatic adventurism of “Oasis” as it allows us to float gently on a swinging Roland TR-77 shuffle. Tropical hand drums and hissing cymbals glide on aquamarine currents while humid tropical nightscapes are evoked by the gorgeous string synth weavings. Sometimes heatwave blasts of wavering magic flow over the body while at other times aching violins and violas sway together in the moonlight alongside golden piano chords that seem to swim through pools of polychromatic light. The vibrant euphoria continues building as brain-piercing feedback synths solo alongside the sad songs of an interstellar seabird flying alone through a world of dreams. And the melodies are so suffused with warmth and blinding spiritual light as everything moves together for a paradisiacal slow dance upon sea-foam clouds, climaxing with an absolutely maddening synth solo that contrasts the pastoral ambiance and gliding beauty beneath it with atonal liquid fire and mind melting runs up and down the scale, all wild skronking clusters of electronic chaos and fusion explosiveness raining down upon a heart-melting submarine drift.

In “Zenith,” Federico’s amorphous string movements float upon skittering electro-drum propulsion. Imagine fast motion beat hypnotics comprised of tribal toms, wood blocks, and static metal blasts that all fly together on comet tails, resulting in the kind of tripped out machine drum magic associated with 70s krautrock or lofi 90s space rock. Everything in the mix is smothered in echoes and hazy reverb and those scorching harpsichords appear once more to solo over it all…moving through thick puddles of phaser liquids that cling to the futurist tones as they climb towards the heavens. There are haunted space whistles that flow like strands of interstellar gas…as if Alessandro Alessandroni was blasted through a galactic vortex and then allowed to let loose his cinematic western melodies from deep within a dense cloud of pink and blue. And through it all, primordial string orchestrations evoke Kubrick’s “The Dawn of Man” while being intercut with mysterious detective film atmospherics. The “Finale” of Oasis  sees a return to the melodies and dream spells of opener “Sinfonia al sole che nasce,” this time with nacreous strands of Rhodes piano floating alone while creating gaseous bass bubbles and meditative vibration waves that shimmer and swirl…giving life and movement to Federico’s daydream melodies for an ethereal coda.

(images from my personal copy)

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 188: Italo Funk

Italo Funk is a new compilation from Soul Clap Records presenting ten loved up and grooved out productions from an insane list of modern Italian artists. On the label’s Bandcamp, there’s an excellent write-up from compilation contributor Lele Sacchi that details the lineage of Italian dance music from its roots in American R&B and funk all the way through to 90s Italo-house. Within this vibrant yet underground house scene, a whole new generation of producers and musicians emerged, taking cues from their forbears while also pushing out into new and adventurous sonic territories and this 90s generation is where Soul Clap focuses their attention. But rather than presenting archival tracks and historical productions, the label instead asked the artists for new compositions and because of this, the compilation provides a welcome view into some of the far-out places the Italo sound has travelled in the intervening decades. And of course the music is pure fire, with a foundation of muscular disco rhythms colored over by an eclectic display of exotic shades and styles. There are many artists here that are old favorites, such as cosmic/balearic master DJ Rocca, vintage disco edit and boogie wizards Tiger & Woods, Dreamhouse Tropicana and sometimes Is it Balearic? contributor Deep88, and the Pastaboys-related Memoryman, Funk Rimini, and Capofortuna. But luckily, there are also a wealth of new (to me) artists such as Boot & Tax, LowHeads, Lele Sacchi, and Jolly Mare, each of which provides a whole new sonic universe to explore.

Soul Clap Records Presents: Italo Funk (Soul Clap Records, 2019) The most atmospheric cut comes first with “Macinare” by Boot & Tax. Sparkling cymbal taps cruise celestial waves of ambiance and blasted screams of static arc across the stereo field as enveloping bass pulsations are built from softly thudding kicks and subsonic currents. A wobbling jazz bassline walks through the mix and cut-up tom fills and wooden polyrhythms grow increasingly anxious while mystical horns blow muted sonic shadows and zany audial liquids slide across the mind. The song grows urgent once martial snare rolls and crashing cymbals start intercuting the flashing tom fills and as paranoid hi-hat patterns enter, everything comes together for a feverish hypno-groove where synths like alien woodwinds solo towards the sky…like spiritual jazz beamed in from another dimension. Capofortuna follows with “MA NU” and its low down synthbass hypnotics. Turntable scratches and bubbling voices samples join sampled crowd chatter while lofi cymbal and snare patterns glide through the air. When the disco kick enters, the filter opens on the bassline, revealing squelching synthfunk fire that supports the cruising double time hats. Cosmic pads stab out then flow in reverse while echo morphing, while vocal samples trail LSD tracers and psychedelic tones roll through the background ether. The slamming groove is also intercut by wild percussive transitions where tropical drum panoramas are overlaid by laser synths echoing eternally. And near the middle, we bust into a jammed out breakbeat that pushes the groove euphoria to a maximum while bending pads waver in place.

Tiger & Woods’ “Machete” sees snares splashing through puddles of gated reverb static while chugging electro-funk basslines sit beneath skipping clicks. Wiggling synth riffs scat alongside shuffling hi-hat patterns and tranced out snare rolls bring in drunken dreamhouse piano ascents, with several layers of ivory climbing together towards the sun. During hypnotizing drop-outs, the kick marches alone beneath French-touch filter clouds as the rest of the rhythms work back to full strength and sometimes the bass drums are sent through heavy high pass fx while island bongos drift in on a warm breeze, the groove growing airy and tropical while gliding on sunbeams. As when we smash cut back to the charged up disco fire, wonky resonant synth leads now converse with the radiant piano riffs. DJ Rocca compresses and crushes the drums of “Do U Lu Me,” while hi-hats and tambourines are mutated into blasts of white noise. An incredible vocal sample repeats the song’s title under spectral filtering until it is ripped into fractal shards…as if pools of neon fluid are dripping in all directions. All the while, a supremely psychedelic bassline sounding like a mutant clavinet growls down low and moves through the mix with hypnotic purpose. Vibraphones sitting under dubwise delay fx drop paradise melodies while flashes of horror movie atmospherics swirl beneath and sometimes the mix drops down to just the magical psych-basslines and panning hand percussion webs. And at some point, as the “do u luv me” vocal loop dances in the air, the rest of the drums slowly build back, eventually climaxing with a vibed out solo section of strange alien synth fx moving in ways that defy logic.

“My Brother” by Memoryman starts as marauding sub-bass currents work their way over some four-to-the-floor beat maximalism for an extended section of hard hitting club fire that is periodically brightened by nacreous synth vapors and organic woodblocks. Heady vocal samples diffuse through the mix while glowing house pads hover in place and off-time snare hits vibe out under layers of reverb. A charging tribal transition leads to a passage of pure propulsion, where birds flutter through layers of sonic mist and ghostly space synths descend and as the drums are reduced to just cymbals and snare and as the subaqueous bassline pulls away, gaseous electronics float alongside exotic synth trails through a wonderland of shadows. But eventually the swinging bass sorcery returns and the song rides high on a perfect paradise groove. Funk Rimini’s “Don’t Smoke” is deeply entrancing, as psychoactive voice samples and mind-bending ambient textures float over dusty percussion loops. Robotic disco beats emerge while alien bell tones float through the psychedelic clouds and a squelched and supremely fat MJ-style bassline drops acidic sunshine riffs. Ethereal pads diffuse into the mix before fading out and aquatic guitar loops riff towards the sunset while swimming through phaser clouds.  During a spellbinding section where the drums pull away, druggy voices chatter across the spectrum and fogbanks of colorful synthesis spring into and out of existence. Then, a glorious Rhodes performance brings the groove back home with its chilled and supremely soulful solo adventures.

LowHeads bring vibes of exotic sunshine with “Tsubasa,” as cymbals and hand drums pulse through a jungle of light. Robotic birdcalls pan ear to ear alongside liquid percussion textures and the kick drum pulls away almost as soon as it enters, allowing hypnotic organ riffs to work over the mind while hazy claps ring out. Electro-percolations underly massive bass stabs once the kick returns and we then find ourselves locked into some ecstatic ritual deep within a forest of groove. Hallucinatory drum fx pan around like the mating calls of extra-terrestrial fauna and at some point the kick drum again recedes, leaving behind a polychromatic world of synthetic nature sounds. As the fusion-tinged disco groove returns, ecstatic flutes fly through the humid air and attempt to converse with alien birds while beneath it all, thudding square wave bass sequences slide up and down the scale. Deep88 follows with a journey into the night, as “SP1200” revels in romantic deep house vibrations. City leveling kicks, panoramic claps, and thudding tom-toms nod out beneath balmy pads that hover like a twilight mist as harsh open hats keep the energetic groove gliding through space. Cosmic woodwinds rain down alongside interstellar mirage electronics…like glassy tones stretched into some sort of sinuous ether. It’s hard to overstate how massive the drums are, with the analog Roland tones dancing through subtle yet vibrant percussive patterns and overall, the song is mostly content to float endlessly on waves of dark fantasy, letting the hyper-active claps, cymbals, and snares control the drama while the soul swims through a cosmic ocean of sparkling synthesis.

A cerebral voice sample is cut-up and delayed in Lele Sacchi’s “Proud” while tropical bongos work over the mix. The bass drum pulls away as slapback shrouded snare and cymbal breaks jam out beneath euphoric rave stabs and once the kick returns, we find ourselves in a mediterranean paradise of gliding disco romanticism. Rapturous pianos rain down peace and harmony while flutes dart around like sunlight reflecting off water and it is impossible to resist the body moving rhythms and surrounding wonderland of soulful Italo melodics. The euphoric rave synths and ambient breakbeats return during a zoned out midtro and once we drop back into the paradise disco flow, it’s like sunshine raining down, blue waves crashing to shore, and bodies moving mesmerically as sea-foam tones and island dream atmospheres fall from the clouds. Jolly Mare’s “Dribbling” features a solitary splatter-kick marching through a new age wonderworld of arpeggiated electronics and feedback squiggles. Ebullient sequences fly over the uptempo kraut-disco stomp with springy tones of metal and glass while hyno-shakers pull the mind further into the groove. Oscillations move like clouds of cosmic dust, hand drums roll through infinite echo-chains, filtered conversations drift all through the spectrum, and evil twanging basslines emerge, eventually embellished by deep space squelches. Sometimes the song reduces to just kick drum, kaleidoscopic hand drum webs, and sinister bass riffs, as shakers evoke rattlesnakes and mystical desert vistas. Other times, everything cuts away, leaving the low slung basslines and psychedelic metal and glass sequences to intertwine with intergalactic broadcasts, radar transmissions, and disorienting alien liquids.

(images provided by Shine PR)