Chaos in Premonition

Chaos in Premonition – Spotted Peccary Music SPM-9065

This is the second of three albums by Desensitized. For context and to allow me to not have to repeat the two biographies and selected discographies, as well as a discussion of the music itself, please refer to this Brainvoyager review (October 7th, 2020) of the first album, Hemispherica Portalis, which was released on Friday, September 25th, of 2020.

1. About the album Chaos in Premonition

Poetry, and perhaps music too, never needs to explain itself. Can it explain itself? Why should it explain itself!? It just is. Music has many historic traditions, but the art of listening can begin in the world where you are right now. New sounds are being invented, and clocks are ticking, and I merely opine, as one does from time to time. Here are nine tracks, the spirit here is restless and explores or amplifies (distorts?) a wide and changing range of strange clues. The story is layered and complex too. What I find are strange sounds to listen to and that is what I like most.

You might say that “odd things to listen to” describes a whole musical genre, but this project is different, it is the strange one in a population of many random contrarians and individualists. The pursuit of music is often playful and imaginative, daring and expositional. This is time spent listening carefully because it is interesting and I want to hear it all, or I might miss something.

What the heck is this sound? (I want more) It is not for exercising to, but it does work as a complex background, in an abstract way. Time is flowing differently sometimes. It is maybe something like experimental jazz or rock or playtime or dance or some time to just quietly sit and listen. There is plenty to listen to. Electronics with harps and flutes and bells and all manner of percussion. Cool sounds. Something to try to focus on as you wait for the daylight.

On the other hand…

…it does also work as a slow acting soporific, and as a satisfying form of sonic wallpaper. What I hear is a celebration of the individual and a creed of nonconformism, exercising every freedom of choice, giving limitless value to individual dignity, personal love, and creative effort. Perhaps this music is about examining the individual’s knowledge and perception of reality, as well as the individual’s relationship to society, the universe, and God, I am crazy about this, so I am unreliable and hopelessly prejudiced on this matter. What I love are elemental collages exercising granular control of the content, that gets me every time. I want to wonder, is this some kind of a science-fiction thing? Is there a philosophical connection between surrealism in art and existentialism? What would that sound like?

2. The tracks

The first track leaves sonic artifacts in an atmosphere of stereo emotions, “Ionic Realms” [Victronomy Plubonius] (4:52) presents two combined musical narratives, wordless stories, or amazing ideas; there is a juxtaposition of a complex duality on several levels. The landscape is regal, a slow circle reveals castles and huts. The wanderer is represented by a malfunctioning time machine that brings melting realism.

With bowed metallic shimmers and a harp, eventually the ticking of the clocks, “Abundant Time [Stemiostratamos]” (4:46) delivers mystery and relentless maddening ticking sometimes too close. Using the subconscious as a source of creativity and searching for an underlying epistemological view, perhaps pause to ponder abundant time, the harp is lit by breezes, across a glowing night sky, slowly haunted by ticking from more than one timepiece, mechanical fog fading in and past and out visiting several times. What is constant is the glowing night sky.

I hear a gong rumbling slowly in a distant cave, “Chaos In Premonition [Firestimo Mutato]” (8:54), a melody sparkles then flitters and in places new elements emerge, joyful and fast moving at times, flying in a sunny sky over fields of wildflowers. We might be inches off of the ground or we might be arcing high across the horizon, gentle so gentle, an atmosphere of constant change suspended and contrasting, flutes changing into fire, stimulating dancing cave worms glow red, but are not actually on fire.

There are distant night bugs…

…somewhere out there, “Deep Chasm [Subliminostrum]” (10:40), down in the delicate darkness with lots of layered granular textures suggesting an atmosphere of gloom, caves and tunnels, a cathedral deep below very deep, sounding slowly in the darkness, ultimately creating an atmosphere of peace in gloom.

Now I think that there is a new part of a story here and it is frightening at times, there is a ghost choir very far away and rattles waddle, dry seeds shaking, rattles crunch while dry plant-based chimes ring and ghostly smallish bells tinkle. “Mutations Of The Highest Order [MOTHO]” (8:47) fosters an atmosphere of silence with mild imperfections, metal ringing, signaling? I hear hand percussion rolling slowly in dream time, step by step steady jogging in the wilderness. For a moment a gigantic moth with wings the size of a football field struggles to right itself. I heard it clearly.

We are on a strange journey, right now we are in a very big old magic castle, there is a flute and there are hands keeping a marching beat, following the transverse wind melodics perfectly. “Logic Of Expression [Praetoreum]” (5:39) cultivates a simple continuous hand made beat or pulse, gathering the willing from all quarters, hands walking in a line. Yes, it is spooky here.

“Immortals And Their Graves [Sacriligonus]” (7:38) with a flute driven dramatic flourish, whispers deep in the wood chant in fragments, day or night it does not matter, an atmosphere of danger with shadows. The cemetery location is always a constant refuge for the living, where the dead rest, nobody goes there; except for wood spirits, sometimes we remember that we all go below the surface of the Earth.

“Crevices In Dark Places [Anexplicora]” (7:12) with…

…night sounds in the wilderness and crickets crunching, I hear a drone melody on an organ that eventually emerges from a dark and gentle and delicate slow moving something. Something is taking form, yes, that is a ghost – I think so. A noisy crack in a distressed void, the atmosphere is all about night bugs. Some other parts of this track are darker with very scary horror music in miniature places, a crepuscular chorus and a haunted tableaux come to life.

For the closing track, “Sleep Of Innocence [Embulata]” (4:52) followers will find the great release, the gentle flow upwards. Does the dream have a false sense of confidence? Never ask, just accept the gentle release, gentle clouds with voices singing lullaby tones floating in a night rainbow sky, and hidden layers of caliginous kaleidoscopic shadow spirits. It just is strange to listen to.

3. Epilogue

Existentialism was a form of philosophical inquiry that explored the problem of human pataphysics. Psychic automatism in its pure state is surrealism, dictated by transformative thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern, quipped Breton, back in the day. I personally do not believe that the difference between surrealism and existentialism is that surrealism is an artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the… the juxtaposition of opposites on several levels. Surrealism could have been a celebration of the individual and a creed of nonconformism. What could that sound like?

Some say the existentialists also extolled the individual, and such values as individual dignity, personal love, expressing creativity and exercising freedoms of choice, all that could have been of paramount importance. How are surrealism and existentialism similar? The explanation of poetry, like music, is universal and eternal, never finding the end.

4. Where to buy the album Chaos in Premonition?

You can buy the album Chaos in Premonition at the store of Spotted Peccary Music and Bandcamp.

Written by Robin James, October 19th, 2022