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Reviews 240: JAB

Over the last few weeks, I have become increasingly entranced by Erg Herbe, an album of interior reflection, spiritual tranquility, and meditative beauty composed and performed by JAB, otherwise known as John Also Bennett. Bennett is a long-standing figure within the US’s avant-rock, noise, and synth-drone scenes and had a particularly strong showing in 2018 with the release of Forma’s Semblance and a few stunning collaborations with Christina Vantzou. But throughout his career, Bennett has shied away from solo releases, preferring instead to work in private while patiently establishing a unique sonic language, one whose goal is to “create nice, strange, and thoughtful music that reflects a genuine inner vision of self.” During spare moments throughout 2017 and 2018, Bennett distilled his years of study and sonic experimentation into Erg Herbe, a mystical journey released on Shelter Press and constructed from justly intoned FM synthesis, analog oscillator radiance, rainbow-hued Farfisa drones, and multi-layered woodwind exotics. I could float away on this music forever, letting my spirit be eternally immersed within JAB’s ethereal colorations and crystal healing soundbaths. And throughout the album, I am continually reminded of some of the music I love most, whether it’s the psychedelic minimalism of Bitchin Bajas, the fourth-world rainforest rituals of Ariel Kalma, the hallucinatory river treks of Finis Africæ, or the captivating environmental ambiance of Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satoshi Ashikawa, especially in Bennett’s use of space and in the way his synthesizers and flutes drift untethered like clouds in the sky or leaves on a stream.

JAB - Erg Herbe (Shelter Press, 2019) “Planner’s Beauty” sets the soul afloat on dark pools of ether while rainbow streaks swirl slowly beneath the surface. Oscillators and synthesizers create hovering drones and vocal mysticisms…like deep chants flowing forth from the center of the universe. The mind and body form a focal point for lapping waves of electronic magic while gaseous currents of filter-sweeping feedback arc through the air. And as soft resonances overlap and decay tails merge, they generate harmonies that are sometimes dissonant, other times rapturous. In “A Little Breeze,” slow motion vortices of feedback and oscillator buzz move through asymmetrical rotations and purposeful tape malfunctions…a sort of gentle and repeated skipping effect, with everything bending low then rushing upwards in pitch. Bennett’s flutes enter and paint meditative arabesques in the sky while reveling in breathy warmth and spacious stretches of silence. The peaceful woodwind flutters, short melodic bursts, and birdsong evocations splash across the spectrum and flow through sky-blue slapback layers while being continually surrounded by evolving layers of psychedelic mesmerism. And as we build towards a relaxed climax, Farfisa organs wash into the mix with heavenly chordscapes and aquaeous drone swells.

“Jacob’s House” comes to life on a bouncing springtide sequence, with airs of pastoral prog and kosmische intertwining. Glassy mirage shimmers and melting crystal fractals are generated by synthesizers and Bennett’s ecstatic flute refrains rush through sun-soaked minimalist patterns before blending into dreamy FM pianos and liquid oscillator descents. Underneath float alien steel drum dances, interlocking bubble motions, and Reich-ian mallet patterns sourced from microtonal electronics and occasionally, the woodwinds break free and trace pastel color spirals high in the sky. “Menu Music for Video Game” is a gorgeous synth soliloquy wherein Bennett conjures shadow spells and hazes of purple whose overlapping delay tails generate soft pulsations, resonant oscillations, and smeared our distortions. The song’s patient beauty and airs of sleep-induced hallucination align with the work of Stars of the Lid and Kyle Bobby Dunn, while also recalling Haruomi Hosono’s “BGM”…just emotionally pure and spiritually immersive music for closed eyelids and interior reflection. And as the title suggests, the sonics invoke 90s video game music, though I believe Bennett is reaching for something slightly deeper…a feeling known to certain generations of late nights, cathode ray TVs, and falling asleep to looping menu lullabies and ultraviolet light-baths as the mind dreams of fantasy kingdoms and cloudland adventures.

“Distant Patterns” opens with a mystical conversation of panning synth drones, with bass buzz in one ear and alien brass in the other. Colorburst swells move in and out of the mix while feathery sonics and LSD refractions work themselves into a shimmering body of feedback ecstacy. These melting tone washes and fever dream hazes form a prismatic rainbow soundworld through which Bennett weaves exotic threads of flute. Fast-motion runs blend into rainforest drones, polychromatic woodwind spirals settle into heavy-lidded ethereality, and psychoactive delay fx creating the feeling of overlapping universes sitting just out of phase, so that Bennett’s single flute sounds as if it possesses an extra-dimensional shadow. Oscillators waver and rotate though the mix with spiritual washes of light that move in wide arcs…all while melting threads of silver stretch out then vaporize. Towards the end, there is a subtle transition as the buzzing filter motions, resonant electro-weavings, and polysynth mutations take on darker shades. At the same time, Bennett’s flute seems to grow freer and more desperate before backing into long-form atmospherics…his methodical woodwind soundbaths merging seamlessly with the dreamworld raga layerings.

Though the preceding tracks were recorded at Bennett’s The Schoolhouse in New York, the final two pieces see him traveling to magically imbued locales within Europe. “Chanterai pour mon courage,” which was recorded in the French countryside at Les Mouilins de Paillard and based around a 13th century troubadour song, exudes a glowing aura of spiritual healing as subterranean bass oscillators chant an eternal om…their tones of universal strength wrapping together and creating gentle space-time phase vibrations. Over top, Bennet employs the conceptual technique of tracking two flute solos independently, then overlaying them to create soul-floating harmonizations and spontaneous melodic dances. The result is a mystical incantation for the rising sun, with chirping crickets and birdsong flutters floating deep within the solar sonic miasma and lilting woodwinds occasionally pushing past pastoral majesty into all out overblown euphoria. Closing track “Erg Herbe” was partially recorded in Germany, specifically inside a sculpture titled Tilapia by Katsuhito Nishikawa. Heatwave mirages and psychedelic loops are sourced from wailing and sliding woodwind desperations. Atonal drone layers create alien landscapes and banging chords sound like pianos floating underwater while piercing electro bell tones swim all around. And as the track progresses, oceanic waves wash in and subsume the mix for one final expanse of meditation and tranquility…one last realization of the infinitely expanding and gently rolling grass dunes evoked by the song’s (and the album’s) title.

(images from my personal copy)

🌒 JAB - Erg Herbe

John Also Bennett aime collaborer. Il en a même fait sa carrière. Présent sur un grand nombre de productions, aux genres variés, il participe à leurs conceptions ou alors en tant que simple musicien. Après six apparitions l’année dernière sur différents projets, il s’est enfin décidé à publier sa propre musique, seul sur son premier album Erg Herbe, constitué de pistes new age, ambient et drone. Des travaux tout en retenu réalisés à l’aide d’instruments classiques et de synthétiseurs, cet album nous évoque les disques de la vague minimaliste américaine ou encore la musique synthétique japonaise des années 80 qui redevient particulièrement à la mode en ce moment.

John Also Bennett likes to collaborate. He even made it his career. Present on a large number of productions, with varied genres, he participates in their conceptions or as a simple musician. After six appearances last year on different projects, he finally decided to publish his own music, alone on his first album Erg Herbe, consisting of new age, ambient and drone tracks. Work retained while using classical instruments and synthesizers, this album evokes the records of the minimalist American wave or the Japanese synthetic music of the 80s that becomes particularly fashionable at the moment.