The Answer Is In The Beat

Samantha Glass: Rising Movements tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2012) and Mysteries From The Palomino Skyliner LP (Not Not Fun, 2012)

February 24, 2013 at 3:40 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

2 new releases from Beau Devereaux’s excellent Samantha Glass project. The tape on Constellation Tatsu sort of reminds me of a more kosmische version of Black Moth Super Rainbow, combining their sort of hazy, playfully evil take on psychedelia with more Cluster-like textures. The first movement is the most upbeat and poppy, with the others being a bit more contemplative. The fourth movement has some crunchy bass guitar riffs anchoring a serene synth/drum machine journey, and the 9-minute final movement has quickly ticking drum machine beats, bright synths, and cloudy vocals. A really interesting balance between poppy psychedelic elements and more cosmic, exploratory synth-based ones.

The LP on Not Not Fun is his first vinyl release, and it actually sounds more hazy and lo-fi than the tape. Even the packaging is really DIY, it doesn’t come in a full sleeve, just a silk-screened fold-over cover with a photocopied insert featuring a melting skeleton face, a cosmic triangle, an eye in the sky, and a message from the palomino skyliner telling you to imagine and explore a world within in order to experience a gripping ride home. Musically, it’s definitely a lot closer to the psychedelic rock side than the cosmic Krautrock side, although it still has thin drum machine beats, which tend to be more slow, trippy groove-based patterns than fast skittery ones. “Seasonal Seduction 1” uses dub chords to add an extra layer of trippiness. The second site has another multi-movement suite, “Return To The Sky”, although like Rising Movements, it also works well as individual pieces. Overall, if I had to chose between the two, I’d say I might prefer the tape to the LP, it seems like more of a unified statement and I think I like its particular style a little bit more, but they’re both great, unique takes on lo-fi electronic psychedelic rock.