Igloo Magazine :: OBA :: OBA (Schwarz Neon Licht)

An instant soundtrack to your inner movie, or your outer one

Power up the hi-fi and get your favorite seventies era Sci-Fi laserdisc movie cued up on your vintage home entertainment system, turn the volume down on the film, and turn up the volume on OBA to let them provide the soundtrack. Turning the TV down and the stereo up is something old headz used to do. Out pattern making tendencies will find parallels with the visuals on the tube and the sounds from the music matching up in eerie ways. Look how far this took the acid addled minds of people who did this with the Wizard of Oz and the Dark Side of the Moon!

OBA has provided an instant soundtrack to your inner movie, or your outer one.

The project got started when three friends from three different continents found themselves in the same place and made a recording session, as musical friends are wont to do. The frequency wizard Amir Khay Nir from the USA, had met up with Orri Dror from Iceland, and Benjamin Esterlis in Israel.

All of these fellows are multi-instrumentalists, making this an outing in overdubs after the initial recordings. But it is so freaking solid you think it was all happening live, and that’s the beauty of the recorded medium. It can make a live band out of a trio who live in far flung corners of the world. When I hear this music, I can see them playing, even it was completed after the initial sessions, and even if I don’t know what any of them look like.

Synth’s swoon around drums, guitar and bass from the opening tones in an energetic weave. Not long after opening on “Ptaltalim” it starts to sound like a blurred VHS tape with bad tracking, but just for a second. The edited imperfection makes you awake to the perfection of the music, all moving into an action packed, almost aggressive soundscape of tight knit interlinking rhythms.

What stands out:

Intertwined souls: The chords and melodies played here make you know that you are listening to a group of people who are at ease musically syncing to each other despite the normal distances that separate them on the globe. We hear how the bass and guitar dialogues in pleasure with percolating synth, and whispers of flute as they paint the air and space and space with sound in a mood of sonic freedom.

Emotional narrative: Though there is no voice and there are no lyrics in this entirely instrumental album, it moves naturally along an arc of action, reverie, intimation, and release across seven songs. It’s a soundtrack, but you make up the movie in your head.

Chromatic resonance: From the melancholic power of “Luna Gal” to the electro-baroque impressionism of “Ketem” and progressive passages reminiscent of long time favorites such as Klaus Schulze, the album progresses like a well-structured musical short story (it’s a short and concise album) even as it permutates along the lines of something out of the studio of Gottfried Michael Koenig.

Calculated chaos: All the notes are in the right place, and though there are a lot of notes, it’s not about showing off virtuosity. The skill of the players is in service to each composition. It’s a sincere work paying homage to classic forms, showing those forms are just as exciting when made anew.

A touch of acid: Psychedelic inspiration is prominent throughout this work which invites dark room, eyes closed, introspective listening for out of body time. New listens reveal new textures, emotion and the craftsmanship that goes with attention to detail.

OBA is available on Schwarz Neon Licht. [Bandcamp]