The first release on Giuseppe Ielasi's new imprint, Schoolmap. I was initially very interested in this release through hearing a sound sample on the Mimaroglu mailorder website, who coincidentally seems sold out of it at the moment, and immediately expected a long form, trance inducing set of tracks, or track, and a very good one at that. It turns out, that's merely the first track, the eleven-minute "elephant god." The remainder of the album jumps styles and techniques with each new track. Found sounds, invented instruments (courtesy of Max Eastley, no less), computer effects, and traditional instrumentation fill out the following tracks, which are very non-drone yet still have the sort of tight focus and direction one often looks to drone music for, yet as I've been hinting there are other musical experiments at work. Certainly not an easy album to pin down, but it's certainly not overly difficult and is very nice to listen to, actually very easy-listening in a certain sense. For someone well versed in twentieth century music of all kinds who also happen to be an avid fan of the experimental music of its last half, this might even be something of a pop album. I think it is for me. Jumping styles quickly from intricate drone lacings, to studied abstraction and melodic jazz flourishes, all effortlessly and quickly, Recchion on this record, which I should also note is my first of his solo outings, comes across to me as a music maker akin to a personality such as Raymond Scott, though less popularly minded.
