I half knew what to expect, but was also pleasantly surprised as some of the most unsettling aspects of their work are placed right in your field of view; challenging sounds and structures that don’t seem designed to please, rather, make you question things.
Challenging sounds and structures
Hot off the back of Vespertine, the sounds of Legiac (aka Roel Funcken and Cor Bolten) are back again and this time they are really extracting the ambience—or rather, illbience—and putting it at the fore. Excited to see another Legiac release in such a short time, and this time with Touched Music—100 colored vinyl with Touched Music and 100 with Phainomena via Clone—I was most eager to remove the colorful platter from the inevitably beautiful sleeve, adorned once again with the artwork of Roel Funcken.
I half knew what to expect, but was also pleasantly surprised as some of the most unsettling aspects of their work are placed right in your field of view; challenging sounds and structures that don’t seem designed to please, rather, make you question things.
From an expansive start through “Brugmansia” to the entrapment that is “Solanaceae,” there is dread, fear, concern, worry and anxiety—and not necessarily in that order. I have to say it, there’s an undertone and background noise of suffering through the whole thing. It’s so unsettling in places that it haunts me for the rest of the day. I love it.
Following on in the chemical theme, there’s also a heavy botanical naming convention going on here, and funnily it’s those pieces that I find myself playing more of on repeat listening. There’s nothing hostile about “Mimosa Hostilis”—just like its namesake, I’m sure it can be used for some sort of healing. Similarly, the title track has caught my attention, its wandering computational background tones making me feel like I’m exploring a place I really shouldn’t be in.
In places my blood pressure feels like it’s rising—maybe I should monitor myself. “Quichua” is a culprit here, but luckily there are tracks such as “Hyperbolic Geometry” to balance things out. For some reason I’m reminded of the Windows 95 startup sound and I’m getting a sense of nostalgia that I probably shouldn’t, but just adds to the fun anyway.
With eight of the tracks appearing on the vinyl release, and six more on the digital version, this is once again Legiac knocking it out of the park. I can’t wait to play this late at night for some unsuspecting victims.
Banisteriopsis Caapi is available on Touched Music / Phainimena. [Bandcamp | Clone]
