Ø+yn & Rapa Nui - Eco Paradigma (FCR031)

Crystal-covered Feathered Coyote. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)

Friday is for heads, and this dense, psych nug from Feathered Coyote will saturate your receptors with glistening crystals to help power you through the weekend. Over the past year or so, Ø+yn has become one of my favorite contemporary psych acts. Following an excellent collaboration with Uton on Eiderdown, this effort with Rapa Nui - recorded during Ø+yn's tour of Lima - snakes through the crystal-covered corridors of the labyrinthine head before emerging in the fuzzy light. These two psych heavyweights complement the other nicely. Eco Paradigma can be described as intense, sonorous, and entrancing. Rapa Nui's free jazz intertwines smoothly with the psych of Ø+yn to give Eco Paradigma a tortuous, ritualistic quality. Through the various peaks and valleys, it's an unpredictable sonic journey. Along with the stellar musicianship, the tempos utilized magnify the visceral effect of the music. Ominous and swirling with intent, the listener can feel the wind of fate grace their shoulders right from the start. Cavernous tones from the tuba encompass the sax, didgeridoo and  percussion. Enigmatic guitar and relentless drums contribute to the psych frenzy. Fuzzed guitar billows and sax lightly wails among swirling voices. The end of side A is majestic, sounding like a mix of free jazz, psych and 60's fusion. Resonant strings and percussion commence the flipside. Shortly, sax protrudes and spirals around awareness - a lovely start to side B. Plodding tones are circumscribed by fuzzy strings. At the apex, the guitar gleams and resonates on edge. Propulsive rhythms and spiraling feedback give way to various percussion, acute tones and drone from the didgeridoo.        

Ø+yn and Rapa Nui give me Blue Dreams - highly recommended. Eco Paradigma should set your head up nicely for the vibes which follow, a split between Ø+yn and Montibus Communitas. Produced in a limited edition, the lovely artwork by Arturo Quispe, of Rapa Nui, matches the hazy vibe perfectly. Eco Paradigma may be purchased directly from Feathered Coyote.

peace and love, friends :)

Bird People / Hering und seine sieben Sachen - Drone Harvest Tour Tape (FCR25)

three things that never let me down (no order): the apothecary; Bird People; and Hering und seine sieben Sachen. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)

Drone Harvest Tour Tape is the sound of two friends burning a path through the cosmos with a combination of ritual zoners and celestial, abstract soundscapes. The cassette is comprised of tracks by Ulrich Rois (Bird People, Feathered Coyote Records) and Daniel Voigt (Hering und seine sieben Sachen, Sicsic Tapes). Recorded in July of 2013, Drone Harvest Tour Tape was created to channel the spirits of the tour, which occurred from August 30 to September 9. Once your head is enlightened by the varied experimental psych of Bird People, Hering und seine sieben Sachen programs the spacecraft to a dimension yet explored.

Undulating waves place one in a trichome trance. Ethereal vibrations flutter in the haze, as Bird People's side commences. One drifts in concord with the mesmerizing energy that moves dreamily. A few minutes in, a solemn drone abuts vacillating currents. Bird People guides the listener through some deep zones in this track. Later, electronics twinkle near prodigious constellations. The next track exemplifies the reason that I fill my head with Bird People tapes whenever possible. Sustained piano notes permeate the listener with ease. Trembling with awesome energy, yet pure as the morning light, it ripples faithfully through the soul. I like to bring in the day with these vibrations. The second track is a minimal masterpiece that is ubiquitous in the heart and head. It's at this moment in the recording that I usually utter, "These Bird People tapes are among the best I've listened to all year." Each tape presents a new sonic experience, once which is vibrant, and glistens in the stereo field - visceral and intimate. The Sloow tape, though it has yet to be reviewed here is something to which I meditate. Side A of that tape, Water Buffalo, has few peers in this realm. Track two drifts into the third, 'Motel Oblivion'. Locked in, we float on a carpet compromised of cosmic drone and tranquil vibrations - Miles in the Sky!

Hering und seine sieben Sachen's side begins with the appropriately titled, 'Lights at Distance'. Spacey and ominous oscillations and foreboding drone swirl. Solemn in sections, it evolves with a lovely synth section occasionally intersected by disintegrating currents. Later, the track is fleshed out by more layers of resonant electronics - lovely! Towards the end, it displays a dynamic character. The second track contains an enigmatic sequence of notes that rumbles, beeps, and buzzes frenetically. Shortly, the components merge into a stream of luminous energy. Near the end, random signals bounce effervescently. In the last track, sparse figures are scattered below as the aerial tramway glides over the empty city corridors. It begins with a loop and fluctuations that move randomly. Soon, layers of synth float pleasantly, as the fluctuations become more vigorous until tapering towards the end of the track.

This review refers to the cassette on Feathered Coyote Records, which also appears in the latest Siscic batch. Home-dubbed in an edition of 50 blue tapes, the excellent artwork is credited to Ronnie Oliveras. Drone Harvest Tour Tape may be purchased directly from Feathered Coyote. The Sicsic version of 50 black tapes may be purchased directly from the Sicsic site.
    

peace and love, friends :)

Pandelindio - Fuego Y Soma (FCR19)

purple power - let it flower in your mind.  peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)

The field recordings coincide with the initial appearance of light.  Vibrations from the water slowly bring the lethargic body into focus.  As the sun crosses the horizon, the drone peaks in the mind.  Its radiant energy pervades the stained glass portal and refracts in a myriad of directions.  Pandelindio create ritualistic zoners that produce endless symmetrical ripples in the tranquil pond birthed by awareness.  As the tape commences, box tambura, violin, percussion, incantations and other sounds coalesce to breathe life into the still, somnolent body.  A self-described solo and collective project from Argentina - Fuego Y Soma on Feathered Coyote by Pandelindio is comprised of founder Federico Fossati and Pablo Picco, from Ø+yn.  A unique, engaging release, Federico and Pablo utilize a wonderful array of instruments and sounds - with strong Indian and Middle-Eastern influences - including box tambura, didgeridoo, violin, shehnai, bansuri, harmonium, chanting and field recordings.  As the first track animates your soul, the second track - full of mystical beauty - begets intoxicating, intricate patterns that elevate the body from malaise.  Combined with the wind instruments and bansuri, it provides a wonderful contrast to the first track.  The flipside presents an excellent jam comprised of harmonium drone, chanting, bansuri, didgeridoo, and other sounds.

  Lately, I cannot fathom waking to the day without these otherworldly transmissions.  More so, the stellar drones on Fuego Y Soma complete the cycle at dusk - the lucid, flowering breath spiraling to the zenith.  Feathered Coyote is an exemplar.  The latest batch is awesome, and it also boasts an excellent tape by Eric Arn.  For me, this tape along with the Jake Blanchard release are two of the year's best.  Released in a limited edition, Pandelindio is also responsible for the beautiful photography and design .  This release is highly recommended and it may be purchased directly from Feathered Coyote.

peace and love, friends :)