#singū

Growing Bin’s dominance of 2018 continues with the expansive and exploratory ambient jazz of Singū. The duo of Kiyofumi and Keita (KETA RA) Sadanaga make post-rock as Simon Reynolds originally meant the term, using guitar, drums, and electronics to build awe-inspiring maelstroms of experimental cosmic sound, every bit as mysterious and portentous as the far-out entity on the LP’s cover. They are as comfortable referencing the psychoactive guitar sprawl of mid-80s Sonic Youth as they are the interstellar journeys of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell, and Joseph Jarman and Famoudou Don Moye, with a strong spiritual connection as well to kosmische musik and those blissed out early days of Kranky Records…think Magnog, Amp, Doldrums, and Roy Montgomery. 

Singū - Siki (Growing Bin Records, 2018) “Aurora gate” comes to life as Kiyofumi’s loose jazz drumming is surrounded by balmy synthesizers. These immersive layers of sound take on vocal drone overtones and KETA RA’s dissonant guitar notes begin to rain down, eventually working their way towards triumphant and freely flowing chords. All the while, the drums become progressively wilder, crashing, thrashing, and moving back and forth from all out squall to physical whisper. The guitars and hazy synth atmospheres intertwine in captivating ways, sometimes aligning in powerful harmony, other times working against each other in a turbulent conversation. And slow motion dream sequencing enters at some point, like faded streaks of audio starlight fighting through the post-jazz ambiance while the narcotic drum work builds towards something resembling a fixed beat, everything locking in for climactic cosmic romanticism before ending on unsettling start-stops and moments of dark prog fusion with dramatic swings swelling. Then comes the short and sweet “Bop2be,” with bebop rhythms gliding towards the heart of the sun, all intoxicating cymbal play and pulsating kick drum backed by massive sub bass tones. Glistening piano runs flow through the mix, like cascading waterfalls of ivory, moving into and out of cruising leads and gorgeous tapestries of spiritual ambiance.

Our next explosive space music epic comes with “Nabegu.” A miasma of metallic clatter and alien droning backs the liquid LSD bass of Yuhei Watanabe, while cerebral oscillations and snare, cymbals, and stuttering kick emerge from the feverish fog. Strange echo effects float overhead…some sort of outer-dimensional liquid thats glows and swirls around an increasingly active and harsh drum performance led by overblown and fried cymbal work. The primitive laser oscillations grow in strength, constantly threatening to overtake the mix with brilliant sheets of white light and eventually the murky layers of electronics, drums, and Yuhei’s prog bass come together for some semblance of a jam, one built around a repeating bassline with occasional pysch-groove filigree and a smashing beat that sounds as if it could fall apart at any moment. And up in the sky, sci-fi squiggles approximate free jazz fireworks exploding into a stratosphere on fire, while the sounds of the cosmos beam in via gaseous synths. For the next track “Fazarai,” electronics sound like windchimes covered in stardust and an aquatic percolating synth pattern pushes things out to sea. The drums crash like waves with smashing cymbals and concentrated bass drum bursts while flutey tones waft through the air like a mirage. KETA RA’s guitars swell in joyous layers of sound and the drums and starlight electronics build and build towards a violent storm, constantly increasing the contrast with the new age atmospheres growing ever more meditative and dreamy.

The weirdest and most challenging cut here is “828”, built initially around plucked bass tones in drunk timeshifting loops. Outerspace demons chatter alongside bright flashes of industrial rattling and static while underneath, atonal riffs echo to the edge of the galaxy, everything floating on some sort of dark ether that works its way into the mind and induces states of unsettling delirium. Unidentifiable sounds slide up and down some alien scale over the far-out bass flow and electronics sounding like seabirds in an otherworldly jungle drop in as shambolic electronic percussion wanders its way towards nonexistence. By the end, everything has devolved into pure abstraction, the drum pulse almost gone, leaving just psychedelic electronics sounding like coyotes sent through broken interstellar broadcast equipment. The closing piece “44” has as its foundation a repeatedly rising wash of synthesizer that sounds like the breath of the universe. We get our most straightforward drum groove yet here as Kiyofumi locks into a vibrant post-rock swing (though still with plenty of wild jazz flare). Celestial vibraphones and/or e-pianos spread through mix…euphoric, beautiful, transportive...eventually joined by echoing speech that drifts atop the soporific beatscape. The whole piece is a cycling meditation that picks up steam as it progresses, the drums still swinging but with a flashy propulsion, the ascendent synthesizer layers ever-present with their new age mesmerism, and glassy keys blurring into lustrous arcs of gentle noise.