Anton Glebov is a fourth world wanderer who has been releasing music as Mårble for a few years now. He tends toward delirious tapestries comprised of field recordings, heady world music, far-out jazz, and the more esoteric strains of 90s ambient techno and house, a style that hit its high point earlier this year with Diego (on Not Not Fun). And now, Anton inaugurates Nummer’s new Natural Selections imprint with the spellbinding Elixir of Immortality. At over 50 minutes in length and including contributions from Slavik Ipatov on woodwinds and Mikhail Gavrilov on synths and guitar, this feels like the most realized and expansive Mårble outing yet…a feverish journey through rainforest rhythms, otherworldly flute and sax, exotic breakbeats, kosmische synthesizers, and layers and layers of morphing spectral ambiance.
Mårble - Elixir of Immortality (Natural Selections, 2018)
In “Golden Bells,” shimmering pads sound as if some colossal machine is sucking all of the air of out existence and then slowly releasing it back…over and over and over. Textures like futuristic windchimes intertwine with skipping static fx, everything swirling together into a vortex of breathtaking cosmic atmosphere. As a meditative flute joins the spiritual flow and percolating arps fade into and out of the polychromatic mist, a massive bass sequence is introduced, all grooving subaqueous synth funk that begs for a loved up rhythm but must suffice with minimalist cymbal patterns instead. Metallic sequences swathed in reverb fade in as well, forming a sort of robotic space music as they intertwine with the strange disjointed arps and periodic blasts of rhythmic static. But eventually it all fades away as those huge walls of breathing vocal synthesis are reintroduced, bringing with them the flute and its dreamtime dance. This drone epic is followed by the surprising rhythmic force of “4.19,” wherein atonal rainforest hand drums and shadowy drones are joined by a huge angular breakbeat. It’s IDM classicism as blasted into the center of the sun…futuristic and alien, but with its toes still dipping into ravey waters. At some point the beats are filtered out of focus, leaving behind an epic section of magical Don Cherry mysticism, with tribal forest percussion and spritely wood flutes dancing. And once that addictive break smashes back in, its backdrop of haunted synth smears is now colored over top by woodwind psychedelia.
Our first taste of saxophone comes in “Archipelago” as skronking astral plane explorations sit above ceremonial drum work, expressive flute trills, and the sounds of extra-terrestrial cave liquids dripping from every surface. It brings to mind those wild Art Ensemble of Chicago albums on BYG Actuel and Mårble’s own “Para la Olimpiada”, with ritualistic saxophone fire surrounded by a panorama of exotic percussion. But “Archipelago” is a much freer trip overall, especially towards the end where blistering passages of jazz drum fury are stuffed between African leaning minimalism, percussion mimicking jungle frogs, and those delirious flutes flying into outerspace. “Schwarzenegger’s Cry” sees murky beats dropping into glowing pools of neon…echo smeared…reverbed into indistinction. Beautiful noir sax lines float freely alongside 50s sci-fi fx and pitched down vocal samples, while a shadow of a rhythm forms from stuttering bass drums and machine claps. It’s cinematic and vaguely sinister, like walking city streets late at night and deep within a bad trip, floating on air as amorphous forces and bodies of energy circle all around, with the heartbreaking saxophone streaks as the only guide back to earthly realms. And even these soon fly away into a dark and burning sky with moaning, wailing fury, accompanied by kick, claps, and the disturbing drip-drops of incandescent alien substances.
The B-side begins in the sunshine of “Tahiti.” A bright and balearic glide develops from hazy keyboard tones and island rhythms, with more pitch shifted voice samples drifting on the oceanic currents. Thumping bass notes work their way into a breezy walk alongside hypnotic shakers and clicks, though the waters become occasionally choppy as the rhythms take on an anxious energy and modulated flutes fly freely into the clouds. And then out of nowhere, Anton disrupts the trip entirely with several extreme tempo shifts across the whole mix…first speeding things up, then slowing them down for a leaned out and druggy coda. “Aquarium” is also soaked in daylight, with anthemic synth pads ascending into the realms of 90s ambient glory. But rather than drop into a massive beat, we shift instead into a tropical sway, with harsh cymbals keeping time while captivating and strange fx send the seaside guitars bouncing ear to ear. This lysergic backdrop supports vibrant six-string exotica, seeing soft tremolo picking surfing on waves of sunshine over the skittering hypno-rhythms. Elsewhere on the B-side sits “Vyāsa” and its Boards of Canada style collage work, with morphing analog fx that are as disturbing as they are wondrous. A subdued rhythm rises from the depths as ghostly chimes dance intoxicatingly, forming a sort of barely there funk flow out of scattering bass guitar notes. And overhead, orchestras smothered in broadcast static drift chaotically and unidentifiable percussion accents are refracted through interstellar fx.
“Seaside” is less peaceful than its name implies, with ominous bass clouds underlying a futuristic downtempo jazz beat and breathy, romantic, and seductive saxophone streaks referencing the slow motion horror jazz of Bohren & der Club of Gore. Dubwise echoes are adrift in the background ether and too loud tambourines flash into the mix to disturb the flow until once again, Anton drops a surprising and slamming beat, letting the rhythms and sax work together for a captivating ending. If this song recalls the seaside, it must be after the sun has gone down, with the terrifying yet beautiful image of billowing and flashing thunderheads on the horizon. Our swim in the Elixir of Immortaility ends at “Hanging Gardens,” featuring a hallucinatory rhythm of sumptuous percussive bass notes and rolling hand drums. Flutey effects sounding like outer-dimensional birds and noisey synths cascade through the mix, occasionally taking over and washing the percussion out completely. These moments leave us adrift on some river of fantasy, the sounds of never before discovered fauna intermixing with a beatific ambiance emanating from the water itself. But eventually the body moving bass flow returns, now under layers of dub fx and accompanied by shakers and hand drums as everything builds back to a playful forest dance.
(images from my personal copy)
