Mind Over Mirrors High & Upon [Aguirre; 2012] by J Arthur Bloom Rating: As I walked through the rain this weekend listening to Mind Over Mirrors’ High & Upon , hood pulled up over my immodestly large German headphones, I kept thinking of that bizarre Line">Firing Line interview where Allen Ginsburg starts singing Hare Krishnas to William F. Buckley. Sure, Bloom, they both play harmoniums (harmonia?). Some connection. It’s true — on the surface, they have very little in common. Jaime Fennelly doesn’t sing either. But the first track, “I’m Willing to Stagger,” lurches into its trebly opening with something like the assertiveness of poems like “Howl,” and the whole thing is shot through with pseudo-mystical overtones that feel more retro than the late rediscoveries of sacred geometry, tarot, pyramids, and whatnot. The pacific regionalism of “Wichita Vortex Sutra” is there somewhere in “Harmattan Morning,” the shorter track by 11 minutes. The whole album has a gorgeously warm sound, thanks to Fennelly’s other instrument — tape delay — but the effect is especially nice here, with countermelodies following one another in and out of intelligibility. The obscurity suggests the piece’s title, named after an easterly wind that brings dust and haze to West Africa, but it applies just as well to the place Fennelly first conceived the Mind Over Mirrors project: the Salish Sea of Washington State, land of heavy sky and perpetual deluge. Dust, rain, tape delay — they deny clarity, but they also pervade. Fennelly is “all about saturated sound,” according to the project’s Bandcamp. It would be tough for any single musician to achieve the kind of saturation he does with any other combination of instruments. Seriously, the compositions are fine and all, but the coolest part is the timbres; the harmonium’s thick overtones shimmering with tape delay, thick chords in “Mountain Convalescence” rising in volume from an accompaniment to a screen for the melody to an all-consuming wall of sound. His work with Peeesseye is excellent, but there’s a monastic quality to this solo work I really appreciate. And parts of the album — especially that lovely second track — sound like a Takoma Records tribute on keys, equally indebted to Fahey’s brand of ...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Although Sacramento's finest punk rap outfit may no longer be penned garishly into this year's Field Day  billing (all Death Grips dates are off as they conclude their second Epic LP of 2012 ), it regardless remains one of the forthcoming estival season's finest. Having proffered our subjective highlights on this month's I'll Be Your Mirror , here be our Fest Bests for Field Day, June 2nd... Blanck Mass Who: Benjamin John Power, the one of two Fuck Buttons seamsters now threading the glitchy, swelling glories of  Tarot Sport  into this swell solo project by the moniker ...

May is here and when you're in Myrtle Beach that means only one thing: Bike Week is Back! It's been a tumultous spring and the dates of this year's rallies have been a thing of much dispute locally, with some organizers from the Harley-Davidson rally wanting to move their rally closer to Memorial Day weekend and the county threatening to not issue vendor permits before giving in in the end. The "official" rally dates for the Cruisin' The Coast Spring Rally are now May 14-20, with many businesses also hosting events the previous weekend. On the other ...

Hearing an older compilation for the first time can be a funny thing. Funny because sometimes you'll hear one and they'll a band on there who did go on to bigger things and there will be  bands that didn't make it as well. I wish the known band on this 1982 Ebony records compilation was at the end so I could go through the other acts and have a big unveiling of that act at the end. However that can't be done so easily since the known band opens this album. That band is Mercyful Fate ...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

The monogram PvD means different things to different people. Depending on which dance music circles you hail from, Paul van Dyk is either a superstar, a trance DJ, or some German guy that was popular when your big brother or sister snuck out to raves. His career as a top international DJ has spanned nearly [...]

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...

Tarot Chords lay before you to conjure more than what we currently have. They tell of a future unlike our own. A future we're in dire need of. The tale of renaissance and the cold rediscovery of the creative spirit. Witch house, drag, ghost drone, dark wave, dark snyth,...