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Vapour Theories, "Joint Chiefs"
Brothers John and Michael Gibbons of Bardo Pond take an exquisite and enjoyable side trip into harmonious interstellar regions with this low-key study of vibrations. With stripped down instrumentation, they drift into shimmering passages of temporal displacement.
"Apostacy" starts with an acoustic guitar in each channel, accompanied by hand drums and rattles. After a brief pause halfway through, the direction of the song changes into something a little more strident. Before long, a mind-shifting sax enters, altering the mood into soothing transcendence. In the background toil drums with heavy reverb that accent the piece but never dominate. "Blood Sacrafice (for JD)" starts and ends with the only vocals to be found on the album, a sampled voice that describes the Big Bang as the original force of the universe. Rapid hand drums and electronic drones comprise this song and while it’s not a terrible detour, it’s the least satisfying track.
Amplified guitar notes hang in space on "The Medicine of the Third Order," as a quietly churning noise hovers in the background, adding a nebulous presence that’s a balm of sorts. Of the four songs on the album, "Deliquium" is the monster, taking up half of the total running length. It features two acoustic guitars again, but this time the tempo is more relaxed and lackadaisical. The brothers repeat a gentle musical phrase with minor variations, and the effect is relaxing and peaceful, suitable for blissful meditation. Only in the last minute do the strums grow more insistent, as if trying to send out pulses that will linger on in outer space well after the song’s over.
It’s a satisfying album equally at home in the dark or in daylight, and one that illuminates the promises offered by distant horizons.
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