Reviews 379: Remember Ecstatic Duo
I am excited to dive again into the sonic world of Aural Canyon, and my focus this time around is on the Palo Santo tape recently released by Remember Ecstatic Duo. The project is comprised of Kristine Reaume and Michael Sharp, the former a highly skilled flautist and botanical healer, the latter a far-ranging explorer of experimental and aggressive music who, in his solo work, delves deep into kosmische, space rock, acid folk, and drone. As well, both members are great friends of mine, and as much as I dislike using this blog for any sort of self promotionāpreferring instead to foreground all the amazing art that inspires and sustains meāI see no way around mentioning Sungod, a psychedelic sound collective whose central core is comprised of Reaume, Sharp, and myself (along with a gifted multi-instrumentalist named Nick Lombard). Across Sungodās existence, we have touched on new age music, spiritual ambient, minimalism, and strains of Berlin School from the late 70s and early 80s, and itās from these same wells that Remember Ecstatic Duo draw their inspiration. However, their work is not some mere extension or side project of Sungod, and is instead a fully formed and separate entity that, in addition to the aforementioned aesthetic influences, draws on a deep sense of connection between Reaume and Sharp, stemming from their marriage, and from their parenting of a wondrous child. Indeed, as Sharp himself puts it, ā[Palo Santo]Ā represents a journey through how our love has blossomed, and how our focus on each other has enhanced and grown with our family.ā What results then is a mesmeric collection of meditative sound sourced from two interconnected spirits, wherein Sharpās polysynths generate droning dreamscapes, sequential starscapes, breathing blankets of metallic shimmer, and infinite expanses of underwater incantation while Reaumeās flutes dazzle and dance through tape echo oceans and cosmic corridors of reverberation...sometimes executing melodic progressions of romantic wonderment and magical fantasy, other times devolving into pure atmospheric experimentation.Ā Ā
Remember Ecstatic Duo - Palo Santo (Aural Canyon, 2021)
The album opens with āEstuaryā and its primordial invocation of resonance and feedback. Glimmers and shimmers move in the distance and through the layers of pure harmonic motion, Reaumeās flute entersā¦like an emerging dawn teasing out tendrils of sunlight. Spiritual note cascades decay from infinite mountain tops and a synth sequence percolates in slow motion through the background, with a vibe less kosmische, and more so oriented towards the mystical minimalism of Terry Riley, Don Cherry and Bitchin Bajas. Reaume continues flowing and glowing overhead, her long billowing blows producing celestial sound threads that wrap around each other, while her pauses leave space for otherworldly pads and sequencer patterns to merge in totality. As everything continues to melt through banks of reverb and delay, further sequential structures enter the stereo field, producing blinding displays of solar vibration that grow increasingly intense and subsuming. At some point, the minimalist bass sequences slowly disappear in a sea of echo as the flute transforms into gaseous ether, and eventually, all that remains are insectoid sparkles moving at hyerspeed through a sea of tonal drone. āBlindfoldsā flows seamlessly out of āEstuaryā and sees synthesizer drones taking on a metallic edgeā¦these cold and spectral mirages that move around the periphery. Slow motions oscillations zoom back and forth, looping cycles are disturbed by delay pedal manipulations, and searing screams of fuzz intertwine with abstracted layers of woodwind experimentation, with the whole thing cutting the difference between early Pelt and later Natural Snow Buildings. Resonances grow in strength and sub bass clouds bloom then decay, causing the soul to vibrate at mysterious frequencies. And as disturbing currents of sound spiral towards an unseen center, filtered fogs of feedback hover in place while changing constantly in pitch and timbre.
The A-side concludes with āStratospheric Clouds,ā wherein phaser-blasted chord drones swim around the spectrum. A gentle and child-like sequence enters alongside trilling flute melodies, with a vibe evoking a meditative meadow, over which the titular clouds drift and dance. Reaumeās flute hooks are so peaceful and joyous as they ride a naĆÆve kosmische bounce through wavering cascades of galactic keyboard magic, and in the distance, electronics evoke dripping crystal liquids. Further saw-wave sequential harmonizations join in and Reaume continues her sprightly springtide dance high above, the result a synthesizer and woodwind soundbath perfect for scoring listless days spent in flower fieldsā¦lying on your back, eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun and the vibrant energy of the natural world all around. At some point, the sequences begin drifting away, leaving space for melancholic chords to decay through echo, with sounds progressively disturbed by garbled fluids. As well, the flute grows ever more abstract as the layers of delay and reverb increase in presence, resulting in granular wavefronts sourced from breath and sibilance. āLachrymoseā opens side B with squarewave tones decaying through a feathery bed of echo as they generate vibes of ocean floor entrancement. Decaying notes pool together into slowly moving vortices of cerulean sound and Reaumeās flute blows low and far away, sometimes blending completely with Sharpās aqueous atmospherics, while at other times spreading outwards into flows of melodic melancholy. The mix progressively thickens while growing more intense, and multiple flute layers seem to emerge from nowhere as they blow over and around each other, creating waves of harmonic dissonance in the process. A strange sequencer bounce is discernible beneath it allāconstructed from subearthen rumbles and tectonic fluttersāand as Reaume continues letting lose fantasy incantations beneath melting streaks of galactic glass and laser-light feedback arcs, her playing is dark, warm, and slightly overblown.
A baked Berlin school sequence seeps into the stereo field in closing track āThe Permeable Nature of Things,ā and blurred chimes float towards the heavens, carrying with them airy wisps of woodwind. Reaumeās wondrous melodies paint the air in understated hues, with attack and presence sanded away to leave a warming cloud of new age tonality. D50 bell tones join the futuristic fairy dance as it gather strength, and twinkles of starlight add further motion and magic to the mix. Another sequence soon fades ināboth accenting the foundational synth pattern and giving the track a sense of propulsive motionāand what results is a classic kosmische starscape in the late 70s moldā¦the kind of thing youād hear in the early days of Innovative Communication and specifically, on the first few albums from Software. Arpeggiated patterns race around each otherā¦their effect like seafloor gems sparkling in the ocean-filtered sunlightā¦and a gradual give and take between flute and keys emerges, with the flute at times taking lead and spiraling towards sky, while other times backing into an muted purr as chiming tones dance with reckless abandon. Another woodwind soon enters the scene, so that in one ear flows high-pitched fairy melodies sourced by a standard flute, and in the other, sensual drone breaths provided by an alto. A semblance of percussions works into the stereo field, with tambourines jangling side-to-side and tom and snare hits ricocheting off the walls of the mixā¦the merging of primitive kraut rhythmics and dazzling sequential constructions calling to mind mid-70s Klaus Schulze. The mix seems to wash out periodically, with elements drifting from each other in time until the rhythmic pulse is lost entirely. And once drums and sequences fade away entirely, what remains is a glorious expanse of aerophone enchantment, wherein Reaume blurs the line between organic and electronic as her intertwining and heavily effected alto and standard flute melodies morph into synthesizer-esque soundtrails. Eventually, a looping keyboard phrase fades in to re-establish a barely-there flow, and as the track comes to a close, the duoās immersive fantasy landscape is washed out by blooming feedback resonances and wisps of phaser.
(images from my personal copy)
