This self-titled album is the work of one Steven R. Smith, a Californian who has been recording since the mid-nineties and has previously explored East European and psychedelic sounds as Hala Strana and Ulaan Khol, respectively.
Ulaan Markhor is a pretty straightforward proposition—a man, a guitar, a load of effects and volcanic percussion exploding up the middle. Although heady and easy to get lost in, most of the tracks are pop-song brief. Always leave them wanting more—bendy, treated guitar riffs that immediately hook you in, strongly reminiscent of the seminal album Diamond Head by Phil Manzanera.
But instead of an all-star cast of seventies English art rockers, this self-titled album is the work of one Steven R. Smith, a Californian who has been recording since the mid-nineties and has previously explored East European and psychedelic sounds as Hala Strana and Ulaan Khol, respectively.
Its oblique title references to the Exodus from Egypt—including “Pharoahs,” “Slipped God,” “Plague of Farewells,” and the closing, celebratory “Dancing”—seem to make up an undertext of the pure-hearted struggle for freedom. With its stripped-down, built-up structure, Ulaan Markhor definitely feels liberating.
Ulaan Markhor is available on Soft Abuse. [Release page]
