i've casually been a fan of Gregg Kowalsky since i first heard his "tape chants" release on Kranky Records. and it's grown on me more and more with time. however this release from his new group with Marielle Jakobsons, Date Palms really blows the lid of things. "Of Psalms" consists of 5 'psalms' created through a beautiful mix of acoustic and electric effects and instruments. think of it as a mix of raga, drone, spacemen 3, and even some dub.
i could throw around musical references all day for this album: Alice Coltrane, Terry Riley, Tony Conrad, Sun Araw, Cluster, Pandit Pran Nath, Earth, etc etc but that really can't do it full justice.
the simple yet repetitive bass lines really hold the whole thing together. each 'psalm' has a slightly different bass line but each is reminiscent of the other. each track holds its own ground, but also serves to create a unified entirety. few drone/raga albums have this much low end to beef up the sound, intensity and rhythm. no percussion is around at all, yet there is a flow and pulse thanks to the low end. add to this multiple layers of gorgeous synths, eastern-tinged strings/harps etc, and subdued feedbacking guitars. i could go on and on but this LP must be heard to fully grasp.
this album is easily one of my favorites of 2010 and was released by the incredible Root Strata label, who have really outdone themselves lately. all their releases are highly recommended. and the Root Strata blog (simply called Root Blog) is full of incredible music, videos and links galore...has turned me on to some incredible stuff.
listen to it here
like what you hear? buy it here.
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