Reviews 404: Nathan Dawidowicz
One of the newest releases on Hell Yeah Recordings is also one of the most out there and triptastic works the label has dropped in while, and comes from a captivating artistic visionary named Nathan Dawidowicz. Dawidowicz first released a set of interstellar and idiosyncratic mind-morphers titled Sanctuary of Ideas on Lustpoderosa in 2023, which drew in part on their upbringing in a strict Jewish orthodox setting playing piano at religious ceremonies, as well as their father’s experiences as a DJ in Milan during the 80s and 90s. Added to this was Dawidowicz own experiences of artistic and cultural awakening, both informed by pursuing a fashion degree—an endeavor that brought them back to Milan from their childhood growing up in Jerusalem—and eventually by exploring the worlds of sound art, DJ work, and dance production, which inspired a move to Berlin. These experiences all contribute to the extended trio of ultra-cosmic and phantasmagoric brain-benders on Sanctuary of Ideas, which immerse the astral self in hallucinogenic landscapes of downtempo spiritualism, jazz-infused chillout mysticism, and acid-laced kosmische, with mouth harps buzzing, and every sound seeming to beam and bend through some otherworldly solar sonic prism.
The final track in particular on Sanctuary of Ideas—the epic length “Capricorn Rising Over Jerusalemite Templem,” which took Dawidowicz half a year of work to complete—made a big splash amongst balearic and cosmic DJs, with big names such as Calm and David Holmes playing the track out to great effect. This brought the track and the work of Dawidowicz to the attention of Hell Yeah Recordings, eventually leading to the production of a second release from the artist under the title FLUFF. Just like Sanctuary of Ideas, FLUFF is comprised of three extended excursions of psychedelic and stellar-sonic shamanism, wherein strangely evocative worlds of unimaginable sensual stimulation are created by cascades of mystical desert string instruments, polymorphic synthesizer structures that bend, ooze, and oscillate like liquid laser light, and techno tribal drum patterns from some alien future dimension. And similar to the artist and producer's first release, some of the most surprising and arresting moments on FLUFF come when vocals make a sudden appearance…these cyborg-ian scriptures spoken in druidic intonations, as ancestral spirits casts vocoders spells towards a dark and mystical sky. As well, I must mention the brain-breaking artwork of LíO Press head Alicia Carrera, which is a sort of mutant merging of melting funhouse mirror surfaces, impossible geologic structures, mutant organic textures, and shimmering DMT visualizations.
Nathan Dawidowicz - FLUFF (Hell Yeah Recordings, 2026) “Skeptic Afro Jr.” opens the show, and begins with swirling sounds from the void and Saharan string buzz under phaser, which overlay desert caravan drum rolls. Everything transmutes under psychoactivating fx layers as sequencers filter and pulsate, and somewhere in the mix, low down bass patterns bring a feeling of tribal acid. Higher tonal circulations of organ-esque minimalism see the release and decay times varying widely while dub echoes refract into prismatic displays of mirage-like light, and out of this miasma of psychedelic ambiance, a ritualistic groove emerges. Here, big buzzing bass synths mimic some droning indigenous string instrument…or some acidified and galactic sized mouth harp…and rhythms are led by smacked snares and cavernous bass drums that lock into a downbeat dream flow. Outer-dimensional modulations seemingly morph every sound as cymbals flash across the sky, and in a jaw-dropping climax, these massively mesmeric chord themes begin ascending over the mix…the progressions moving through anthemic, majestic, and mysterious melodies of deep ancestral magic, which are backgrounded by futurist android accents. It becomes so symphonic, enigmatic, and epic in scope as the rhythms continue a slow de-volution into cyborg dub drug madness, with those themes of soaring and extra-terrestrial Afro-alien glory ever climbing towards a sky oversaturated with neon color bursts. All around, the stereo field is suffused with freely flowing hand drum taps and myriad layers of robo-cosmic detritus, while thrummed folk strings track the soaring synth and organ chord themes…adding a further touch of exotic warmth and fantasy enchantment, and taking my mind to a similar zone inhabited by Burning Off Impurities-era Grails.
The second track on the A-side is “Scintilla” and features the vocals of Hannah Schraven. Interstellar drones flow out from some hidden temple while haunted breaths from shadow beings sit overheard. Clicks, clops, and rolling percussive surfaces create a backdrop as phase-shifting energy drones evolve into three-dimensional layerings of evolving stellar synthesis, and tribal drums emerge over smoke-shrouded layers of kosmische aura-scaping. Radiant threads of Bitchin Baja-esque fusion soloing waft up from the cosmic slop, until all of the sudden, the track is taken to an extremely balearic climate, where a hypno-halluncinatory flow of sunbaked chillout drums guides anodyne robo-voices in a celestial and ceremonial chant. From here develops a head-nodding, body moving, and slow-chugging tribal flow of reverberant space soloing and deep dubbed out island grooving, which sounds as if it exists on some faraway planetoid…the vibe all low down and funked out with a supremely stoned energy, and devolving at times into mutant mantras of freaked out frogsong synthesis and crazed acid fx. Towards the end, there is a subtle moment where heat-blasted organs enter…like some fever vision of mythical Arabian fantasy...and a shamanistic voice breathes fire while pounding pulses of square wave bass beat against the chest.
The B-side is completely occupied by “Deep Fluff” and its underwater phaser environments and insectoid clicks, which set the stage for layers of mystical string buzz and washed out rustles and rumbles. Wah wah whispers create atmospheres of hippie psychedelia and daydreams of lava lamp colorations, with bonged out basslines generating a further sense of heady and groovy motion…the vibe almost like a forgotten late 60s or early 70s krautrock gem discovered anew (my mind especially goes to early Amon Düül II). Further layers of fantasy haze build around it all as the ethnological phaser strings push outwards and the bass and drums mutate through currents of mind-melting crunch and hum, with hovering drones and smoked out tones swimming all through the background ether. At some point the feeling of the track takes on an altogether more technoid flavor with a big sci-fi bass sequence snaking its way into the stereo field, which mesmerically merges the sonics of the future with those of the past. This sequence progressively takes over, and is joined by further futuristic electronic layers that move in even more maddening patterns...almost giving evocations of the wild and blistered keyboard sounds of Sun Ra as everything pitch shifts wildly and slides fluidly around the scales in a way that suggests an extra-terrestrial sense of musicality. All the while, the background is carried by tribal jazz drums and sitar-esque string decays that occasionally move in conjunction with the off-world keyboard incantations, and there are moments where the rhythms pull back in hesitation, while at other times they come crashing down like mountains of thunder…this ebb and flow creating washing waves of respite and drama that continuously alternate. The melodic moods bring to mind Arabian desert caravans traveling across mythical desert dunes, and druids and djinn casting ritualistic spells against backdrops of blowing sandstorms and darkly ominous skies. And thus it continues until suddenly, everything spirals out into washed out wah wah distortion and fading sonic smoke, with a voice speaking amidst harmonizing vocoder spirits…as if the aforementioned djinn are casting secretive spells of unknowable origin while basslines pulse and sand-blasted folk strings move forwards and backwards in time….their spiritual strums and soul-stirring solo runs immersing in textural layers of burning buzzing vibration. The harrowing voices of singing nature spirits bring a sort of kinship with the early works of Six Organs of Admittance and Ilyas Ahmed perhaps—but its all way more out there with how wild Leo Börger's singing is—like the previously mentioned artists have been infected by a cyborg spirit from some distant star system.
(images from my personal copy)
