Disquiet

An eight-minute slice of glacial melodicism sandwiched between two half-hour vacuum-packed decanters of space music, Souns‘ Scenarios for the Real Self is as expansive as it is ethereal. The relatively concise interlude, “Natreal” (MP3), is almost unbearably light ambience. On either side sit “Frozen Ocean” (MP3) and “Evolution of a Flower” (MP3). They’re something of a return to form for Kikaku, the releasing netlabel, resembling the earlier organic, formless work by its founder, Pocka, aka Brad Mitchell, who of late has been hosting more riff-driven, if still electronic, work. Scenarios for the Real Self, originally self-released by Souns, is the label’s 85th release. The online liner notes include some astral musicology about the structure of a flower and the C major scale. And before writing this off as a handful of laptop presets set on loop, check out the list of equipment it was recorded on: an old Atari computer, late 1980s equipment like an AKAI sampler and a Yamaha guitar effects unit, and the estimable Yamaha MD8 multi-track recorder. One track, “Frozen Ocean,” was “edited slightly in ACID Pro,” the digital music suite. The album’s title was apparently borrowed from alternate-spirituality figure Robert S. Ellwood. More info at kikapu.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum