An intriguing mix of samples, instruments, vocals, intricate glitchy edits, synth washes and glimpses of basses that would not be out of place in a heavy dubstep night in a dingy underground club somewhere.
Cirrus Sapiens by Skytree (aka Evan Snyder) is the result of 2-years work with collaborations from several guest producers, instrumentalists and vocalists. It’s an intriguing mix of samples, instruments, vocals, intricate glitchy edits, synth washes and glimpses of basses that would not be out of place in a heavy dubstep night in a dingy underground club somewhere. That’s not to say the album is a hard hitting filthy bass intense drum programming kind of vibe, far from it. There are samples of streams, birdsong and other natural sounds peppered throughout that you might find in a meditation aid or on the sort of compilations with titles like “Total Relaxation” or “Chilled Vibes for Body and Soul”. It’s a fine line to walk, but Skytree pulls it off with psychedelic aplomb.
There is certainly a hint of the new age spiritual in places, with tinkling synth lines and big spacey washes, but when you mix that with intricate glitches and programming, the aforementioned bass work and things like the sound of an apple being bitten into (I think that’s what it is anyway) and countless other obscure and odd field recordings, well, one simply has to respect that.
The limited edition CD of this independently released album from Skytree comes with stickers and a 4-panel digipack with artwork by Hayley Carloni. Stickers—always a big pull. Call me old fashioned, but there is something much more satisfying about holding a physical object in your hands that contains the music you just bought then downloading a digital file, or streaming sounds from the ether, not even owning it but buying the right to play it from someone else’s library. It’s more of a financial risk for the independent releaser, and takes more time and effort, but ultimately gives a much better end product.
Cirrus Sapiens is available on Bandcamp.
