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Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., "In 0 to ‚àû"
After a few releases that have left me cold, I was beginning to lose heart with the many variants of Acid Mothers Temple as they failed to replicate their capabilities as a live band in the studio. This sequel to 2001’s awesome In C album piqued my interest when it was first announced and I am very pleased to report that it represents a return to form for the collective. Despite the titular connection with In C, this album is a completely different kettle of fish; four pieces each blasting off in totally different directions like rockets trying to cover as much of the universe as possible.
 
 
There is a quote attributed to Terry Riley from when he witnessed Acid Mothers Temple performing "In C" at a concert put on in tribute to him and roughly paraphrasing (for I have lost track of the source): "I don’t know what that is they’re playing but it’s not "In C"!" The tone of the quote was not angry or annoyed; Riley seemed genuinely bemused by the interpretation of the piece. With In 0 to ∞, the Acid Mothers Temple completely drop any pretences of performing Riley’s seminal piece and instead surge forward on their own cosmic journey, taking Riley’s influence rather than his instructions on board.
While their previous album which explored Riley’s masterpiece stands as one of Acid Mothers Temple’s defining moments on record, this album does not attempt to capture the same breathtaking approach to hewing blocks of sound as they did on In C. Ironically, despite the range implied by the album’s title, In 0 to ∞ sees Kawabata Makoto and his gang focus their music into a series of laser beams that will travel further in one direction than they have previously journeyed. "In 0" opens the album in typical Acid Mothers Temple style: spacey Hawkwind-esque synthesisers and a slow build up to a pummelling guitar-centric rhythm. It is nothing new as far as Acid Mothers Temple songs go but it is one of the better examples of their music to make it to an album in recent years.
It is with "In A" where things kick off; a thick drone creating a platform for the group to springboard from. The vocals are what make this piece, both Makoto and Tsuyama Atsushi providing amazing chants, throat singing and harmonies. Yet, what makes this special for long-term Acid Mothers Temple fans is the return of Cotton Casino who sounds like her singing is being picked up on intergalactic radio signals from an unknown part of the galaxy. Her haunting voice combined with the static drone is simple but powerful in its execution. Unfortunately it ends too suddenly after a measly 18 minutes, I could happily feast my ears on it for hours.
"In Z" sees the group abandoning anything that sounds remotely musical; what sounds more like an old dial-up modem (but mellower) hiccups and babbles before an odd and slightly annoying guitar loop appears. Over a while, the concrète nature of the piece brings a musicality reminiscent of Luc Ferrari’s Les Arhythmiques; an unlikely rhythmical chaos coming together to make a strangely hypnotic whole. In the final piece, "In ∞," the group return to the free rock jamming they are renowned for. After the two previous pieces, they sound rejuvenated in their assault. A frenetic and explosive saxophone performance care of Atsushi adds an entire new edge to the band’s playing. The piece softens as it goes on before sounding like something The Flaming Lips would do if they could get away with it.
As someone who has been a little disappointed with a sizable portion of Acid Mothers Temple’s studio output over the last couple of years, In 0 to ∞ is a refreshing return to form (or more accurately, has more successfully captured the band’s electric live sound). A more cynical mind might suggest that this is due to Casino’s presence on the album but as she only appears on one track, that argument is dead in the water. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of a new golden age of Acid Mothers Temple albums as it is ample proof that there is plenty of fire left in them.
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