Mystical Sun - Energy Mind Consciousness (EMC)
J. Jury | London | 10/13/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"STYLE
Deeply chilled electronic downtempo. Mystical sun really takes the pace down here - the music is quite minimal compared to much current chillout - almost ambient for much of the journey, very ambient for some parts. Smooth oceanic swells and pads, ethereal washes of tone and spacey expanses form atmospheric soundscapes upon which are laid out some attractively understated melodic synth lines and tranquil sitar phrases. Environmental sounds mix with the synthetics - forest sounds, storm rumbles. The beats when present drift along with idle indifference, sleepy, far off affairs that set the arrangements gently nodding with rhythm. The album darkens considerably in the latter half becoming tenebrous and brooding such as on the track Dark Energy, where moody, almost atonal drones, swirl across a throbbing bass like the welling up of night. The following Expansions sinks perhaps even deeper into gloom - an intense beatless ambient zone that is suggestive of an abyssal space. Subsequent to this loss of light and tangible form the final track Sanctuarium restores the warmth with a dreamy piece of relaxation music - drifting sitar motifs and falling strums over luminous waves and lustrous drones - willingly we float into etermity.
MOOD
EMC has a restless calm to it - a prowling downbeat cool that suggests huge reserves of hidden strength. Although deeply chilled and at times, almost ethereal, there is a muscular quality to the music. There is also a significant ongoing shadow that lends a certain mystique; the artist expained to us that "Expansions was mixed during a full moon eclipse and I think that added to the mystery around it. The eclipse happened in August of 07 in very early hours of the morning around 3:00 AM". So the absence of light mentioned above is pretty much factual, "as when the song was made, the moon was gone. It was a very magical time. I had full view of the moon while mixing. It just happened to be in the studio window at the right time..."
ARTWORK
Energy Mind Consciousness comes in a slick card wallet with a fold over flap that keeps the disc safe. The prime image is of a checkered plane falling away into an imaginary vortex - the blacks and purples of the pattern illuminated by a bright burst of light emanating from within. No text at all on the front - just the picture. On the back the surface is plain black with a simple tracklist, decorative titles and glyphs. Here too are website details for the artist and label. Opening up we find another image similar to the front cover only closer and flipped horizontally - this fills the left hand panel whilst the right holds thanks and credits plus a larger sun glyph. Nice package - so much more individual and pleasant to hold than a jewel case.
OVERALL
Energy Mind Consciousness arrives as the third full length album from Mystical sun on top of a huge list of compilation appearances. The album is released via the eclectic Cyberset Records who also released the previous Deeperworlds. Here Mystical Sun wind down much further than before with what is probably the strongest CD from the project to date, certainly this disc refines the artist's unique sound taking it in a direction that avoids following the crowd of the genre. The label promotes the release saying "EMC is a post electronic, post ambient and post millennial magnum opus of transcendent soundscapes". If the success of this recording matches earlier heights, Mystical Sun's reputation will be most firmly established - over two million track downloads surrounding the debut Primordial Atmospheres and album of the year status for Deeperworlds.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM
This album strays a little further into ambient chill than many albums in the genre - if you enjoy spacey synths and very unhurried downtempo beats with a leaning toward the dark side - then this is one to try.
"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
