The last week has been a bit strange. Odd encounters, chance meetings, an apathetic atmosphere. Twas to be expected after such a great weekend. Outdoor sorts talk of a natural high... they rarely mention the natural low.
Last Sunday i went to Maximum Arousal at the Toff in Town to see DJ Olive play an ambient set. Olive was right to suggest that his delicate tapestries of sparse, melancholic spaces, populated by rich and luscious drones may induce sleep. Some audience members lay down on the floor, to allow the gentle waves to wash over them - as we sat there in the darkness, most eyes closed, i thought a tiny flower pierced the flesh and found it blooming on the forehead. Sequences of audible light slowly spiraled outward as digital fireflies - as insectoid beings powering their flight with liquid screens upon their backs. So was the aggregate of images in this quantum of perception. Each arrangement of colour wriggling hence from the cocoon, pushing upward, fluttering upon the air, sizzling and smoluldering, becoming vapour, sinking on the screen. The set was deeply engaging, deeply relaxing - a sedative without sedating. The dreamy disassocia of a ketaminous sea - a tide letting the floor closer, now further away. At a moment somebody coughed, and i thought my foot had met the sand. My eyes flickered open and all the sky and the stars rushed in - then i was back below the water - now closer, now further away.
When it was over i looked at my friends and said that was great. We were all smiling and amazed by the beauty of an artist who understands the value of restraint. There were two other acts, but i shall not discuss them here.
Since then it has been a week of strange errors - nothing "bad" has happened... but the optimism that accompanies the first promises of Spring has passed (so soon), and now we oscillate between cold night and the heady warmth of jasmine and cherry blossoms. People go crazy at this time of year - Winter is finally over and we all put on shorts and get excited because Summer is coming. Spring promises beaches and beers, surfing and psychedelia, parties and playmates. Yet summer rarely delivers. Did we all have one really amazing summer? Do we fall under the delusion that the warmer weather shall come baring the same idyllic memories, again and again, floating over the ocean, wreathed in ecstasy, pulsing with irresistible music? Or do we somehow collapse all the moments of wonder from all our summers in to one big super amazing summer and momentarily imagine they were all like that and that there is no reason the next one won't be? How did one little moment, when we fell in love and kissed the sun and danced till we fell over and over and over, expand into a season?
Other pessimists have expressed their wariness about Spring and her promises... so perhaps this year we will be pleasantly surprised. We can only hope.
To get in the mood, i've been listening to the Boredoms a lot. They were a huge presence in my summer of 2000/2001, and have sort of always been in my head ever since. I met EYE once, at a Sonic Geometry party (nostalgic sigh). He offered to take me to Disneyland when i went to Japan the following year - "Mickey Mouse is very psychedelic."
Which may have had some influece on the recording i've posted this time around. Alex rang me while in the park - i went to his place and we set up a bunch of junk around the microphone. Listening to it now, it sounds like Statler and Waldorf (from the Muppet Show) took some acid and went on a string animated rampage - the chef desperately trying to slow the carnage by throwing utensils into the fray... of course, that only accounts for a few moments in the piece. A lot of the time it is just a sparse arrangement of weird percussion, chimes, a recorder and some voice. It was a lot of fun, as usual. I hope you enjoy it.
Regards,
Ben
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