Never in Your Wildest Dreams
"You will enter the hypnotic state now, George."
The other week I read The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic science fiction novel from 1971, and let me tell you, reader, never have I tripped so hard… On a book?! It’s not even the finest example of Le Guin’s world-building ingenuity – in style, it’s actually closer to classic sci-fi novels in the vein of Philip K. Dick’s 60’s output (“The Man in the High Castle” in particular). But it does deal with dreams and alternative realities. As a result of reading it, I’d had the wildest dreams ever that whole week, one of which was a lucid dream of a dream inside a dream, inside a dream, inside a dream, with sleep paralysis as a jumping point between those dreams. This was next-level, even for a person who regularly has intense and vivid dreams. It’s convenient, then, that my soundtrack for these past couple of weeks has also been somewhat trippy.
Incidentally (and to a certain extent), Imaginary Softwoods’ new LP harks back precisely to the period when the aforementioned novel came out, its ambiance heavily steeped in synthesizer-based cosmic psychedelia. With The Notional Pastures of Imaginary Softwoods, the prolific John Elliott (of the late, lamented trio Emeralds) delivers one of his most cohesive, lush records so far. Equally playful and calming, the album ends on a high note – with highlights such as “Mr. Big Volume” and “Bronze Lamp” really hitting it home.
All Above, the gorgeous third album by Aimée Portioli aka Grand River, covers a somewhat similar ground – of course, in its own way. Portioli achieves a particularly warm brand of kosmische, balancing between acoustic and electronic music, between lavish ambient and trancey arpeggios. Out now on Editions Mego and dedicated to its late founder Peter Rehberg, All Above is an all-around delight.
Stroom TV is quickly growing into one of the most interesting labels of the moment (two of their releases were among my 2022 favorites) and their Valentine’s Day release makes for yet another interesting addition to the label’s catalog. Premier Caprice EP comes with a description that reads: “These tracks were recorded over the course of our 3 and half year relationship.” Nothing more, nothing less. Without any background information, you’d be forgiven to confuse Montreal’s Library L’Amour for an obscure 80’s minimal synth act whose long-lost classic just received an overdue reissue treatment. Thankfully, these four tracks have a lot more to offer than mere pastiche and, well, some of us can just never resist a good blend of dark mood, catchy melodies, and deadpan vocal delivery anyway.
Staying on the gloomy front, I feel like I’m getting a little spoiled when it comes to the HTRK universe. In the past five years, we got two full-lengths, a soundtrack, and a demos compilation from the duo, as well as several solo releases from Jonnine Standish. Standish’s latest record is perhaps her most accomplished yet – a short but delightful collection of minimalist, haunted folk songs, Maritz manages to build a comprehensive mood in less than twenty minutes. That, of course, only calls for repeated listening.
Speaking of outsider folk, here’s a little treat from Gothenburg’s Discreet Music. Där Ska Barnet Vara is the new album by Blod aka Gustaf Dicksson, and it features contributions from several colleagues from the scene including the Danish artist Astrid Øster Mortensen, whose excellent 2022 album Skærgårdslyd was released by the same label. Blod’s approach brings to mind a range of references as disparate as Daniel Johnston and cassette lo-fi indie, children’s music, traditional Swedish folk, and religious music. What it mostly sounds like is music to listen to in warm fuzzy sweaters.
Not pastoral enough for you? How about some mud-wizard-level dungeon synth? The genre that is commonly associated with pagan, medieval, and fantasy motives can often reek of conservatism, but it really doesn’t have to be that way. The Croatian artist Kmet (eng. “serf”) built his moniker and first release around the 16th-century peasant revolt against the feudal lords, while his latest single “Sloboda narodu” takes its name from the popular Yugoslav Partisan motto “Death to fascism, freedom to the people”. What can I say, it certainly does sound more optimistic than last year’s dramatic “Kuga” (“plague”) and “Porobljenje” (“enslavement”).