Sometime ago I wrote about Ensync… this was the second release in the “Synesthetic Alchemy” series by 213 Records from Metz, France. The first release was by A Casa… which is equally interesting as the Ensync record…
The A Casa album is a psychedelic record with on the A-side music with a sort of indie feeling and mood… a drum computer with a steady but light rhythm and on top of this playful sounds and dreamy vocals… a sort of stretch version of Kim Ki O maybe… the B-side is less friendly so to speak… the piece starts with a high pitched tone… which keeps going on quite long and gets more intense along the way… and more annoying (in a good way!)… this evolves into a dark and ritual sounding soundscape with noises and screams… a rather occult listening experience for sure… you can listen to the A-side here…
Out most recently in this series is the Gouffre album… a band from the hometown of the label… like A Casa the A and B sides differ… but not as strongly… on the A-side you get a band sounding like The Velvet Underground with John Cale on cello instead of on violin playing totally on dope and freaked out… imagine this and you might get an idea where Gouffre is coming from… whatever way you like to describe the music on this record the result is absolute amazing stuff… ritualistic and occult sounding but never dull or cliché… this could also fit for music while watching “Carnivale”…
The B-side is a band maybe more related to Sonic Youth as The Velvet Underground… but a Sonic Youth armed with cello instead of electric guitars and sounding a bit more archaic maybe… it also calls to mind France with its hurdy gurdy and drums… they produce the same psychedelic drone-like noise… here you can listen to the A-side…
This “Synesthetic Alchemy” series has become one of my favourite labels/series to follow… and a fourth release is coming soon… I cannot wait for that one… It is all simply excellent stuff until now!
In case you are curious I have a few copies of the Gouffre for sale in the webshop… and I think I have also some Ensync copies left…
A little while ago the self-titled by EnSync album found its way to me and my turntable… I had listened a bit on internet and was very curious for the album… I can never really enjoy listening music online… I only use internet to “check” if it is worth getting a certain vinyl, cd or tape… anyway… what I heard triggered me… and now the album is here on vinyl and after I played it several times I can only recommend all who are into some wicked ambient soundscapes with tribal, ritual and occult touches to get a copy.