[releases] afe085lcd
dronæment: ezoterick muzick

Track List:

1.  Morning  7:27

2.  Ezoterick Muzick I  5:56

3.  Ganga  6:56

4.  Ezoterick Muzick II  8:30

5.  Trip to Surja  5:44

6.  Yamuna  9:29

7.  Mathura  12:02

8.  Ezoterick Muzick III  12:50

Description:

Dronæment is active since 1997 and is the main musical project of Marcus Obst who lives in the South area of what once was East Germany.

After a few amazing tape albums he joined the Drone Records serie with the "Wassermond" 7", which was based on a collaboration with Jim De Jong, followed soon by a split LP with The Infant Cycle (Jim De Jong again....).

Since then he released some marvellous albums on Dachstuhl, Nauze [Muzick], Mystery Sea, Le Cri De La Harpe and Field Muzik. Everyone with an even small interest in Drone / Experimental music should immediately put their hands on them.

After the wonderful "Yr" (released with the help of our friends at Blade Records) and "Allein... Unter Menschen" (a remastered CD-R version of one of his early tapes), this is the third Dronæment album released by Afe. Needless to say that we're very proud about this.

"Ezoterick Muzick" was inspired by repeated listenings of indian traditional music and is a successful attempt at creating meditative / relaxing ambient music.

The disc opens with "Morning", a track with a droney background mainly topped with bells and birds sound. Treated samples of indian strings instruments fade in and out along with voices and assorted discreet noises.

"Ezoterick Muzick I", first part of a trilogy, consists of a minimal but very effective repetitive tone which is quite mind-altering. With its reveberting droning, "Ganga" is a classic Dronæment track, almost undisturbed in its flooding, with the only added flavours of a few voice samples and percussions.

"Ezoterick Muzick II", starts right from where part I ended, adding a simple percussive pattern and effects to the basic floating tone. Coming at half of the album, "Trip to Surja" is built on a rhythmic pattern programmed on an old drum-machine. Its pulsating beats and oscillating synth lines have a shiny mood, just like looking at the sun keeping your eyes closed.

Beginning with field-recordings of birds, bells and water sounds backed by a synthesizer, "Yamuna" is another Dronæment classic. A sitar and other various samples / ambiences also appear along the road.

With its twelve minutes, "Mathura" is the longest track of the album, showcasing more field-recordings and samples in a consolidated way. "Ezotherick Muzick III" apparently closes the disc with pulsating synth sounds but there's still time for an unexpected surprise...

"Dronæment approach the genre constructing a tonal framework, fused with occasional field recordings, at times sounding like an early Zoviet France, or more recent material by Z'EV..."
Aural Pressure [more]

"Dronæment va annoverato senz'altro tra i dronemaster degli ultimi anni. "Ezoterick Muzick" ne è conferma, nel suo tentativo di ricreare un'ambient music quieta e meditativa a partire da lunghi ascolti ed incursioni nella musica tradizionale Indiana."
Blow Up [more]

"Dronæment is a "brand name" which in my estimation always stands for thoughtful ambient albums usually offered for retail in highly original and well-designed packaging."Ezoterick Musick" is no disappointment on either count... The downright jaunty "Trip to Surja" gains its unique sound from having been programmed into a superannuated drum machine, while "Yamuna" is repose itself after a long journey on foot, at a monestary by a riverside, the air filled with the sound of bells and whirring prayer-wheels. One of his best."
Sonomu [more]

"As the titles already suggest, Obst has gone to India for inspiration, even though the album is kind of enough of sparing us with yet more sampled sitar songs. At its core lies an implicit desire to break free from the rules and assembly-line mentality of the post-industrial society. It is this dream and its unfettered realisation that connects all those different Dronaement works. It is also what makes "Ezoterick Muzick" a more than worthy newcomer in his discography."
Tokafi [more]

""Ezoterick Muzick" is similar to Storey's experiments with ethnic sounds and loops (late Zoviet France / early Rapoon) and the mind expanding synthlines have a deep connection with Tangerine Dream's and Popol Vuh's first works, and maybe this album is even a tribute to some Kosmische masterpieces inspired by South-Asian culture (or hippy heritage...) like "Lord Krishna Von Goloka" by Cosmic Courriers feat. Sergius Golowin or the even more obscure "Crawling to Lhasa" by Kalacakra. For the cosmic travellers all over the world."
Chain D.L.K. [more]