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PARALL 024CD
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Parallax Sounds are excited to announce their first release from Japanese psychedelic collective Acid Mothers Temple. Active since the late 1970s, founding member Makoto Kawabata has directed the Acid Mothers Temple project and its various offshoots for over 15 years, championing an inimitable brand of sonic exploration at once visionary yet steadfast in its refusal to conform to the occasional mundanity of the present, taking in a diverse array of audible and aesthetic influences including Berlin School Krautrock, earlier German elektronische musik, British progressive rock -- particularly its Canterbury contingent -- as well as Japan's own hallucinatory pioneers such as Brast Burn, Taj Mahal Travellers and Les Rallizes Dénudés. Now under their Cosmic Inferno guise, Doobie Wonderland sees them utilizing these influences to their full extent while continuing to expand, finding new inspiration in such genres as psychedelic soul, funk and disco. This new approach is perhaps evidenced by a shift in line-up; in addition to core members Makoto Kawabata, Higashi Hiroshi, Tabata Mitsuri and Shimura Koji, this collection of material, recorded over the space of five years, features the final appearance from drummer/vocalist Pika (formerly of psychedelic punk duo Afrirampo) and marks the arrival of Opera, who also performs with Kochi-based hardcore group Reveal. Pika's spell with the band marked not only a new sound but a sensibility that extended to a live setting, giving rise to a new sonic and performative method, manifesting in a joyous, often ecstatic character that stands in contrast with the doom-laden arrangements heard on albums such as Starless and Bible Black Sabbath and Ominous from the Cosmic Inferno. This sensibility lives on following her departure, resulting in a refreshingly primitive style that can be heard both live and recorded. A must for converts, and a welcome addition to any progressive rock, psychedelia or even jazz fusion collection, this is a trip not to be missed.
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PARALL 022CD
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Cathexis: Motion Picture Soundtrack is the fourth widely-available album by ex-Benbecula Records head boy, Christ. aka Chris H.. The soundtrack was made in close collaboration with award-winning Swedish film-maker and video jingle animator for Japanese Space Shower TV -- Stefan Larsson, as a perfect counterpoint and counterpart to his up-coming digital movie release Cathexis. The film depicts an esoteric group of people, known as AUJIK, and their interactions with nature and technology, both of which are viewed by AUJIK as having spiritual qualities. The AUJIK create and interact with artefacts consisting of unique and multifaceted Artificial Intelligences, transcending emotional inputs to the artefacts' artificial limbic systems, revealing various aspects of the artefacts' minds. This symbiosis of refined and primitive nature leads the AUJIK people to a higher awareness of the self. Christ. is first and foremost a musician. Multi-instrumentalist Chris H. has a solid musical pedigree and an impressive back-catalog on the sadly-defunct Benbecula Records, and a handful of releases and remixes elsewhere. Christ. has created his soundscapes forging a unique path of musical beauty that escapes derivation. Christ.'s music is often likened to that of fellow Scottish electronic group Boards Of Canada. In fact, Chris H was an early participant in the nebulous Hexagon Sun collective from which BoC emerged and was a collaborator with the group until approximately 1995, appearing on the Twoism album, reissued by Warp in 2002.
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PARALL 021CD
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2011 release. Hailing from Denmark, Syntaks aka Jakob Skøtt and Anna Celilia's previous releases with record labels like Benbecula, Darla, Ghostly International, and Morr Music have all been great pieces of musical works in themselves and so are the musical projects they been involved in with, such as the likes of Jonas Munk of Manual, etc. This latest offering on Parallax Sounds Records is perhaps the broadest ranging Syntaks album to date. It is a massive effort in terms of both style and length, cultivated over a range of a few years. Nachtblende is the fully-realized scope of two Danish lover's vision -- a vision far removed from the minimalist design and grey skies of Scandinavia. On the masculine side you got your wall of feedback guitars, swirling arpreggios and dead-pan, dusty beats -- all rising, crackling and disappearing into the hemisphere. But what brings the creative counter-spark is the muted piano, haunted acoustic guitar-picking and wordless soprano sighs of Anna Cecilia. If making picturesque or cinematic music seems like a concept of the past, Nachtblende is an attempt to rewrite history on its own terms. Forging a gap between overdriven circuitry and minimalist ambient repetition, Nachtblende moves through the past 30 years of music on its own unique path. Drawing on the milestones of Brian Eno and Steve Reich, as well as the Bibio/Takoma-styled folk guitar-playing, the ambient textures of Syntaks doesn't stop there -- film composers Ennio Morricone, Popol Vuh and John Carpenter flutters through the sonic architecture of the album as well. And then there's the full scope of multi-layered psychedelic pop and Kraut-rock as well as the muffled shoegaze-esque cacophony of sounds, so expect similarities to artists like Boards Of Canada, Cocteau Twins, M83, My Bloody Valentine, Seefeel, Slowdive, Ulrich Schnauss, etc. In the end, everything is forged together in a phat, inseparable synthesized mix that is as delicate and fragile as it is dense and ear-shattering. The seemless mix of the turbulence on the surface and the pressure from the bottom is what makes Syntaks an uninhibited display of vibrant emotions, conjured by its creators' inner lives.
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PARALL 020CD
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2011 release. Brian Ellis is a multi-instrumentalist from San Diego, California. He has released several albums in the last few years under multiple monikers and is perhaps better known as a lead guitarist for the progressive rock group, Astra. By playing guitar, bass, drums, various synthesizers and keyboards, saxophone, trumpet, sitar, xylophone, kalimba, etc., Brian creates the illusion of a large live band jamming all together. After releasing two albums in 2007 for the now-defunct Scottish electronic label, Benbecula Records, Brian found himself straying away from the programmed/sequenced elements and wanted to make an album where all the instruments were played live. The album was completed in early 2008 and was set to be the follow-up to The Silver Creature (BEN 042CD). Unfortunately, Benbecula decided to close its doors at this time and the album was shelved. Quipu takes Brian Ellis' jazz/fusion/funk sound from his previous solo works to the next level. The opening track "Birth" sets a deep atmosphere of delayed trumpets and saxophones with a slow beat and funky bass before exploding into an odd-timing heavy fusion workout harkening back to the days of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Later tracks like "Psaw" (featuring David Hurley of Astra on drums) take on much more of a free-jazz sound similar to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew era, full of dissonance and surprising elements. The final track "Walomendem" is a 14-minute progressive rock epic hailing as a tribute to the great French band Magma. Stunning artwork by Jessica Planter & Sean Painter.
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