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sweet as Sugarm. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)
The speakers exude ominous hiss - a harbinger for sure. Within seconds, bursts of preternatural energy, static encrusted loops and discordant noise arrive. Arcs of luminous vibrations begin to undulate in the presence of aggressive percussive machinations. The introduction on side A, "Anti-Life Equation", primes the listener for an incredible listening experience. Sugarm's latest release on Hausu Mountain, Pure Racket, is more than an amalgam of various genres and styles; part noise, rock, ambient, kosmische, and psychedelia, trepidation will ooze from the speakers in one moment only to be replace by an influx of warm tones in the next. With Pure Racket in the cassette player, the bowl is literally runneth over. Just like Miles', McLaughlin, and the gang once said about their music: "call it anything." Sonic surprises are ubiquitous - maybe a route not anticipated or an element which one did not expect; the idyllic american primitive acoustic guitar that resonates among field recordings in "No Place, No Thing" is an example. Beyond the aforementioned, Pure Racket's two sides are discernibly different.
Sugarm does not provide the listener a minute to acquiesce, as we jettison the strident feedback and vacillating noise of the the first track, arriving in a misty environs of the "Second Pig". Hazy, ritualistic vibrations, characteristic of early Popol Vuh, are jolted by writhing static textures - gorgeous juxtaposition. Urgency palpably hovers. It comes on dreamy, and then turns psychedelic. Decomposed tones fray as they meet the air. Finally, tension is released in the form of warped reverberations. "Casual Town" is my kind of place - no doubt a dispensary on the corner! Soporific drums mix with distorted waves of synth. Things turn even more surreal as the tempo increases. A welter of noise and static-laced samples are circumscribed by a beat that teeters uncontrollably- awesome track! "Police State (of Mind)" coats it with kief and caught me off guard with a combination of spacey and psychedelic noise. Lost in the City's - the penultimate track on side A - use of poignant synth and static noise that echos and frays at the periphery has a visceral, haunting effect. If you were on edge for side A, then the flipside should take care of your head -warm drone, field recordings, gorgeous melodies and more are present. Indica permeates the sinews that comprise these jams. Blurry tones twinkle amid noise of field recordings at the start of "Strange Rules". Shortly, the sky is illuminated with dreamy, yet effervescent, fireworks. As it descends a few levels, warm drone combines adeptly with synth that surges. Meandering warmth endows the atmosphere with serenity, and faint vocals swirl delicately among field recordings in "Hog Farm." Hypnotic synth billows in an opaque environment as indecipherable vocals ripple in the next to last track, " I Met Berserk." Sugarm brings it home in style with benevolent synth and lively low ends.
One only locates Pure Racket upon inquiring about the top shelf strains on offer. Sugarm's latest on Hausu Mountain is highly recommended. Often I spin this tape for hours at a time. Pro-dubbed and produced in a limited edition of 100 chrome cassettes with gray shells that feature purple imprints, Pure Racket may be purchased directly from Hausu Mountain.
peace and love, friends :)
