second album by jean-emmanual krieger, aka baikonour, that continues along his well defined path of beautifully fulfilled spaced out kraut-rock grooves.
three years ago, ireallylovemusic was smitten with the excellence that was the debut, for the lonely hearts of the cosmo, meaning that the arrival of this album was met with a lot of expectation.
to be honest, little has changed in the last three years, as the same reference points are still very apparent in the stylings.
personally though, i wouldn’t want it any other way, as the mix of electronics and organic instruments is warm and welcoming.
the music ranges from calming gorgeousness, brian eno styled ambience, fly tiger, through to riffed up layered groove heavy krautrock, but throughout the albums 40 minutes, subtle twists in the production keep the album far from the snoozeathon that such a description could imply.
one aspect that has been altered is the use of guitars.
clearly jean-emmanual has been listening to shoegazing (nu era or classic) and the use of the pedal effects.
there are even times when you begin to wonder if kevin shields has been on the phone providing a few pointers such is the layered up magnificence.
admittedly the album is one of two halves.
the first 20 minutes are basically a warm exercise in which sonics are delicate and quiet, then halfway through the 8 minute centrepiece, ya ama piooo! the intensity is ramped up, the groove is laid down, and things begin to become a lot more vibrant and enticing.
from this point on, the album has a lot more colour and drama (basically more guitars and a groove especially during album highlight summer grass/winter worm), meaning that the listener is left on a high when things come to a close with look…wa!
headphone listening highly recommended.