EXPO 70 - KINETIC TONES
oaken palace 2015, edition of 500
"Expo ’70 returns with a brand-new studio album, showcasing his trademark organic guitar drones that propel the listener ever deeper (or higher?) into other states of consciousness. Kinetic Tones was recorded all to analog reel-to-reel with no over-dubs, which gives the whole album an even more personal and intimate feel. The album spans over four tracks that range from minimalist Drone over spooky Psychedelia to harmonic and beautiful soundscapes... Expo ’70 dedicates his release to the critically endangered Flores hawk-eagle. Due to ongoing habitat loss within its small range across the Indonesian forests of Flores, Lombok, and Sumbawa, capture for the cage bird trade, and persecution due to its habit of taking chickens, the Flores hawk-eagle is evaluated as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that less than 100 pairs remain." - OAKEN PALACE
2009-10 was an inspired creative peak for JUSTIN WRIGHT aka EXPO 70 - he released more than 20 titles in those two years, which is about as many as he has released since, which is quite the slowdown relatively speaking, though still managing about 5 albums a year - except this year - by some measure this is the first proper EXPO title in over a year (the first on wax since 2013) with the singles/ep compilation SOLAR DRIFTING out on SONIC MEDITATIONS and PSI LAB's very own LIVE AT GUESTROOM being the only EXPO releases year to date - there was also SORCERER OF SOUND (REC #62) which was released as J.G. WRIGHT, but measurable differences aside, him not releasing it as EXPO is enough for me to not count it as such, but i digress -- moreover, since EXPO's power trio metamorphosis circa 2012 there hasn't been much solo EXPO (my personal fav) come down the pike - then this comes along
KINETIC TONES is a triumphant return to that golden age of solo EXPO 70, the first non archival studio full length of its kind since 2012's BEGUILED ENTROPY via esteemed BLACKEST RAINBOW, harking back even further on the opening track to 2006's seminal CENTER OF THE EARTH with a huge monochromatic drone, with decidedly less doom in the mix this time around, instead incorporating a more organic and mystic tone recalling SIX ORGANS for a while before WRIGHT's signature cosmic synth soars briefly before fading into a far out guitar wizard meditation like a nyquil dosed ASH RA TEMPEL TANGERINE DREAM team, from there it drifts even further into heavily zoned ZEIT territory before emerging with another incredible improvisational guitar piece, a 13min grand finale of reverb drenched solo guitar progressions set against a drool worthy psychedelic drone loop, pure bliss like only EXPO could ever possibly deliver - an incredible album, WRIGHT's best solo work since 2009's AWAKENING, one of his absolute best titles straight up, a major mile marker in the EXPO 70 catalog for sure
http://www.oakenpalace.com/product/expo-70-kinetic-tones/
