#naphta

Over the course of his two LPs 7th Expedition (on Transatlantyk) and the newly released Naphta and The Shamans (on Astigmatic Records), Pawel “Naphta” Klimczak has revealed himself as a master of evocative and otherworldly moods. At its core, his music marries creative and naturalistic drum programming with far-out sampling and exploratory live instrumentation (both from Naphta himself and the many musicians he works with). But where 7th Expedition focused on esoteric jazz and cosmic Afro-vibrations, Naphta and The Shamans instead winds its way through exotic krautrock and desert psychedelia. The latter album also sees a much expanded crew of noise makers joining Naphta for his mystical jams…the titular Shamans descending from spiritual solar realms to support the sonic quest with their expert musicianship. And the pitch perfect cover art by Zbiok Czajkowksi is a nice touch, purposely evoking heavy metal fantasy with its city of clouds and sentient eye’d pyramids backgrounding some sort of interstellar demon-druid.

Naphta and The Shamans - Naphta and The Shamans (Astigmatic Records, 2018) “Dim Daybreak” comes to life with the kind of ritualistic ambiance found in those communal Amon Düül albums or even Sunburned Hand of the Man. Shakers, bells, and faraway toms accompany murky bass and guitar noodling, with streaks of tremolo picked acoustic running through the mist (perhaps from Vojto Monteur?). Jaq Merner’s emotional and floating vocals introduce a grooved out bass guitar and drum stomp, mixing organic stoned funk with captivating hand percussion from Michał Szczepaniec. The vocals grow increasingly desperate alongside wisps of guitar and celestial electronics, the whole thing coming together like some long lost cut from Can’s “Ethnological Forgery” series. “Endurance” is the first of three pieces on the A-side to feature additional production from Marcin Mrówka and erupts immediately into swaying groove intoxication, with deep kick and hand drums from Kasia Konachowicz alongside guitars baked in the desert sun. Slow motion chords and bending leads sit atop the vaguely tropical drum flow, with pillowy bass guitar tones like a psychedelic cloud helping the jam lock in. As the song progresses, the bass line opens up and starts an exploratory walk while hypno-shakers and jazz house cymbals join the rhythm, forming a solid basis for heady guitar riffs that cycle through the mind and mystical leads that sparkle like light on moving water. There are even several false endings…everything drifting away like vapor only to slam back into the mesmerizing acid rock, each return more far-out than the last.

The other two cuts featuring Marcin Mrówka are “Thom’s Beach” and “Crystal Lizard,” the first of which sees electro-toms cycling ear-to-ear over rattling tambourines, bells, and atonal guitar scratches. A thudding four-four joins the panoramic tom cascade and the guitars work their way towards something resembling a riff, albeit with plenty of atonal jazz detours. Eventually it all comes together for a skittering uptempo fusion jam intercut with sunshine guitar interludes…moments of brilliant African leaning folk in between the jaunty and dissonant grooves. “Crystal Lizard” on the other hand, evokes early Tortoise as a nice textured bassline supports Doug McCombs-style spaghetti western/surf rock/Afro leads and a dusty shuffling rhythm. There are also loungier sections with Jeff Parker-style jazz chords and twinkling idiophone melodics…mellow and smooth, and at some point it all breaks down into shambling free rock before building back up towards a sky seeking jam out. The remaining A-side cut is “Jungle of Doom,” which drops us right into a psychedelic ceremony, first with galactic echo noise and ritualistic percussion, then with shakers and kick keeping time underneath thunderous overdriven prog bass (think Jannick Top). The guitars move between shimmering riff cycles and delicate harmonics, imbuing things with a touch of blissed out solar glory and as the bass guitar grows ever meaner, anthemic claps cast sunshine spells and desert rock leads soar towards the celestial sphere.

A highlight of the whole show comes deep in the B-side with “Explorer’s Judgement.” A storming drum and bass guitar groove is smothered in murky fog, eventually rising to the light alongside sweltering heatwave synths (Jan Stulin?) that waver and glow before fading into mist. Grzegorz Staniek’s performance on live kit here is jaw dropping, locking in with some more Magmoid basslines and moving deftly between gliding booty music and epic and portentous tom-tom fills. Flutey tones hover in the air, ghostly and otherworldly, and accompany wailing guitar solos over the funked out sci-fi jam before a spellbinding rhythm section work out ends things, with Kuba Kutera’s surf riffs dotting the horizon like lysergic rainbows. Side opener “Frozen Paths” is similarly epic, but in a different way. Here harmonious guitar arpeggiations ride over a slow motion four-four beat lead by panning toms and jazzy snare work. But the rhythm quickly morphs into some sort of future jazz breakbeat and is overlaid by bright guitar notes and sparkling harmonics drifting with cut-up synth fx. Sometimes the drums move back towards the understated four to the floor ritualism, but regardless of the beat flow, the sunset hued guitars never relent in their beautiful chordscapes. And as the song progresses, we lock into a particularly spectacular post-rock climax featuring waves and waves of guitar bliss before fading away on a downbeat jazz funk outro…the rhythms taking on a body moving swing while cool e-pianos drop twilight riffs.

“Stalking Knights” is like some sort of uptempo shake charmer bass music, with earth shaking subsonic squalls and a deliriously propulsive yet off-kilter groove. Faraway eastern melodies played on glorious string synths fly through the air while echo riffs percolate and Paweł Stachowiak’s distorto-bass rains down from a burning sky. And at some point, things chill out as the guitars weave soft webs amidst the ceremonial drum humidity, with pads passing through like warm currents of air. “Firelink Shrine” is one of two cuts here featuring Bartosz Kruczyński and is another slice of swaying post-rock romance. Strangely effected guitar sound like harps and hold down a barely-there progression over cinematic and galloping drums. There are moments where classic progsynth leads rise through the shambling drum maelstrom, while dubwise echoes float alongside Michał Szczepaniec’s percussion. We even get rattling tribal interludes led by metallic shakers and atonal clacks, and in general the whole mix is a hyperactive adventure that refuses to sit still. Finally, we come to gorgeous closer “Pale Dusk”, featuring Bartosz again on synthesizer. Dreamtime ambiance swirls and synthetic static sounds like rainsticks, while wandering bass guitar and subaqueous drones work their way towards glistening oceanic wonder. Bubbling arps reveal themselves and bathe the mix in shades of aquamarine, sitting alongside another deeply moving vocal performance from Jaq. And as melancholic organs join the underwater atmospherics, we find ourselves surrounded by a perfect sundown incantation.