Reviews 008: Cosmic Handshakes / Mytron & Ofofo / Morrison Kincannon
Some real fire on review here, starting with the jazzy Detroit house, cosmic jazz, and universal new age textures of Cosmic Handshakes’ In the Mist. Then its Mytron & Ofofo’s Topography, a magical and eclectic journey through exotic folk, afro grooves, and stunning krautrock. Finally there is Morrison Kincannon’s Beneath the Redwoods. Much has been written about the fascinating history and context of this release (here for example), so I’m just focusing on the music. And because the music is so overwhelmingly great, I spill a little more digital ink than usual.
Cosmic Handshakes - In the Mist (Going Good, 2018) Another transmission from Blair French, this time in tandem with Todd Modes. The A-side sits at some intersection of UR-style galactic funk, classic balearica, and cosmic jazz. Everything flows as a peace, with cracking jams emerging from strange interstellar radio garbage. “Chop House” hits very hard with a spiritual jazz groove and sax, always favoring balmy new age atmosphere over builds in intensity. “Walkabout” hits Sketches from an Island levels of jungle deepness, though with a Detroit edge to the housey rhythms. “In this Mist” rides on an off-kilter break, rhythmic synth knocks and far off new age echo guitar before evolving into an absorbing slice of future jazz. And “A Midnight Swim” finishes off the A-side with heavenly pads and shiny guitars morphing into a shimmering post rock. The B-side heads further onto the dance floor, with “No Heat” and “Alterations” hitting a harder edged jazzy Detroit house level, and the latter of which features some more tasteful sax. “Read the Ashes” is a monster afro groover with breathy distorted flute, until breaking down into a percussive orgy that mixes the synthetic with the real. “Encounter in the White Desert” ends things on a spacey yet restrained krautrock tip, with echo guitar, spacey synths, and propulsive rhythms evoking classic Ash Ra Tempel.
Mytron & Ofofo - Topography (Les Yeux Orange, 2018) Les Yeux Orange dropping some more heat with their most genre-spanning work yet. The A-side is incredible, starting with the dusty Spanish folk vibes and psychedelic pitch shifting vocals of “According to the Map”. A muted four-four evolves with shakers and jazzy snare hits, building to tambourines and claps, while a a flutey synth texture carries these cinematic and addicting melodies, creating a slo-mo island exotica with tons of filter work across the track. Its a captivating mix of an old world feel integrated with modern electronics. “Space Coordinator” is next, beginning on a stuttering drum machine beat and more of those pitch shifted cosmic vocalizations. A blazing Berlin school arp fades in morphing everything into hyper speed motorik madness. Cosmic fuzzed out electric piano soloing and jazzy piano chords give everything a scifi noir feel. Brilliant. The B-side starts with “Cumbala Hill Chalet”, more upbeat with a solid house rhythm and tons of hand percussion, dropping into a huge piano led afro groove with tropical synths. “Ancient Meteorological Engineering Methods” has more of that afro feel, this time at a disco gallup with cosmic and occasionally dissonant pads and weird whistles and pings. Things end on “Constant Spring” a ravey booty shaker with acid bass, hand percussion, and lysergic seagull sounding synths.
Morrison Kincannon - Beaneth the Redwoods (Spacetalk, 2018) Among the many styles of 60’s and 70’s folk and rock covered here, my favorite is the melancholic late 60s/early 70s acid folk. “As the River Flows On” is a good example and sits firmly in British prog-folk territory with its mournful vibe, light synth flourishes, and moody coda of bass pads, piano, acoustic,and cymbal washes. The title track is another highlight in this vein and is almost medieval in feel, especially with the deep cello accompaniment. Spacey echo guitars accent amazing minor vocal harmonies, all of it presaging the Eserps/Greg Weeks sound by decades. Another style they hit is this sort of bluesy proto-prog. “I’ll Be Ok Tomorrow” is stoned and heavy from the get go, its bonged out lurch accented by tasty 60s organ and super dynamic vocals, ranging from chilled to growling and intense. “To See One Eagle Fly” heads even further into heavy prog territory, starting on laser show synths and evolving through a strong 70s groove with phased out vocals, organ+leslie jamming with fuzzed out violin dancing through the mix. There is also “Destination”, which is a southern fried blues boogie, until all the sudden its drops into a pot-fumed downtempo march with planetarium synth ambiance.
The dominant sound here though is a pastoral Laurel Canyon folk-rock that is incredibly magical and nostalgic. I am reminded of warm summer days on Texas highways as my dad jammed all manner of 70s rock’n’roll in the truck. “Summer Days” hits this vibe almost to excess, starting as a near Floydian ballad and evolving into a pleasant hippie folk, singing of warm summers in Santa Cruz…“skateboards and surfing, diving for dimes”. There are soaring guitar leads and blistering solos amongst heavy-lidded ballads and songs of love, friendship, heartbreak, and hope. There is even a starry eyed hippie ballad with primitive drum machine (“I Will See You Again”) and a fiery solo guitar instrumental! “Dier nier nier niernt” is not so much American primitive as stomping blues with tons of moods and an incredible urgency across its psychedelic six minutes. The journey ends on “A Few Minutes of Peace”, a duet for phased acoustic guitar and 60’s psych vocals. Its a moment of stillness and atmosphere, spare and spacious, otherworldly and mystical.
(all images taken from my personal copies)
