CLOUDSOUND - INDIGO APPALACHIA
fluere 2017, edition of 20
"Reverie over outer space air space tween canopy slopes of mauve ambrosial gazes to ribbonious unfurls later spooled" - FLUERE
swedish imprint FLUERE specializing in "Micro Cosmic No Age Filmaic Holistic Head Space Music supporting the spirit alive in creating and listening" quietly let loose the latest missive from CLOUDSOUND, nearly three years since they released CLOUDSOUND's self titled debut (?) - what is most curious about FLUERE is their edition quantities - CLOUDSOUND's self titled was a run of 100 which is somehow still (barely) available from the label - then there are tapes limited to 50, or less, considerably less in some cases, and unfortunately INDIGO APPALACHIA is one of those cases
i can't speak to the intent or mentality - to my ears this is CLOUDSOUND's best yet, and i've been rather impressed with everything he has done, improving, fine-tuning with each new work - i would like this to be more available, which is to say i would like it to be available long enough for me to post a recommendation, but that did not happen - still, the download is only $3 or else freely streaming in its entirety so there is no good sense in not bringing it to the reader's attention as i believe it to be one of the best things i've heard this year thus far
i do believe this eclipses previous works, even STATIC SENSE [REC #131] out last year via PANTHEON, though it does step back a bit into a more playful spontaneity as more vibrantly displayed by early works - INDIGO settles into a nice middle ground - that wondrous zen like focus is still there but it is balanced with a more vivid uniqueness in that most of INDIGO probably couldn't be even approximately reproduced deliberately let alone verbatim
i consider "INDIGO APPALACHIA" to be a reinterpretation of "rural psychedelia" as manifested by FLYING SAUCER ATTACK and lofted in spirit by WINDY & CARL to a shimmering ENO-inspired realm -- welcome to CLOUDSOUND -- time seems to stand still, at times sounding like STARS OF THE LID stretched out like taffy then sprinkled with lush frippertronics guitar moves, other times like FSA's early innocent interludes as revitalized by INSTRUMENTALS 2015 with flashes of american primitive esque guitar recalling ROBIN ALLENDER or MARISA ANDERSON, finding CLOUDSOUND's sound further honed and matured while striking that superb balance of loosely preconceived motifs and textures as he embellishes these warm water ambient frameworks with elegant reverb drenched guitar improvisation and some endearing analog trickery that makes me think of APOLLO and EVENING STAR with touches of early amorphous BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW atmospherics deserving of placement alongside the best and brightest that SEAN MCCANN's RECITAL PROGRAM has to offer
don't let "sold out" get in the way of enjoying this masterpiece - like i said there's no way this doesn't go down as one of my favorites of 2017, cassette in hand or not - buy the digital deal, and grab CLOUDSOUND self titled while you're at it -while you can-
