(03.22.05)
The trouble with the word “chill” is the tendency to try to squeeze it
into a pun as a record title. Most are atrocious and the rest are, at
best, minor distractions to the work. Aleph Zero’s Natural Born
Chillers has, unfortunately, an allusion to Natural Born
Killers, Olive Stone’s ode to the media and the public’s
fascination with serial violence. For a record that is intended to
induce a sublime state of physical bonelessness, it’s a jarring
misstep.
That niggling detail aside, Natural Born Chillers does indeed
cause bonelessness, a liquidity of movement that is inspired by the
Oriental and Middle Eastern overtones flowing throughout its rich
sonic landscape. The ten artists on Natural Born Chillers have
a cohesive intent, a singular vision that allows for the ten tracks to
be seamlessly integrated into a single flowing experience. While each
track has its own indelible personality and influences, the overall
focus is so clearly defined that the record moves as a single unit.
And, frankly, that’s how I’ve been listening to it over the last few
days.
Sure, I can point out the downtempo lounge work of Cosmic Fools’ “Be
Yourself” (including their use of torch singer Natalie Chalfon), or
the delightfully rich and time-stretched melodies of opener Ishq’s
“Alaya,” or the water-tinged textures, vocal inserts, and sumptuous
dub echo of Zen Mechanics’ “A New Philosophy,” or the wooden flute and
vaguely Taiko drumming of Agalactica’s “Monochrome Rainbow Pixie”
(which, of course, in keeping with the blended philosophy of the
record also channels Middle Eastern desert rhythms and African vocal
histrionics). But singling out such efforts break the flow of
Natural Born Chillers, and such an insistence mars the vibe
this record gives off in waves.
Marked ALEPHZ01, Shulman’s In Search of a Meaningful Moment is
the fledgling label’s opening statement, a call to arms for truly
global chill music. The opening track “Inner Selves” spins itself
through Tuvan throat singers, Jamaican dub, and Continental
instrumental space-jazz (yes, you can hear a direct lineage back to
Peter Namlook’s FAX label circa mid-1990’s throughout this record).
“A Magnificent Void” expands into stellar spaces with heavenly synths
and glottal throat rhythms, world music shot into the vastness of
space.
“Consciousness Revoked” spins with a whirlwind of spattered notes, a
cascade of synthesizer tones that rise like effervescent bubbles up
from an artesian source. “Mushroom Therapy” takes itself onto the
dance floor with a swooping synth and a native chant over a
percolating trance rhythm, building a strobe lit room of GOA infusion.
Ancestral voices moan and lament during the lengthy closer,
“Instability,” as Schulman brings the pace down and chills us out with
a downtempo rendition of a Juno Reactor world beat transmission.
Shulman’s search for the meaningful moment takes the listener on a
global journey — from east to west, from beat to beatless. It’s a
search that may not have any end, but the journey– ah! the journey —
is the key. Recommended.
Natural Born Chillers and In Search of a Meaningful
Moment are out now on Aleph Zero.
