Meditative Visions

The guys from Barn Owl are seemingly always working on something.  Just recently John Porras released Black Mesa (review imminent), and Evan Caminiti will soon be gifting us with Night Dust.  Important Records have tied us over with the heavenly droning enchantment that is Portraits.

This vinyl has been sitting, neglected, in my record bin now since its release in January (could it have be that long?!).  Portraits was actually tracked more than two years ago in winter of 2009 by members and former members of Root Strata, Terentel, Higuma, Date Palms, and Barn Owl - and utilizes a fine array of musical instruments.  I've finally set aside some music meditation time to give her a spin, and now I'm kicking myself in the ass for not getting to this sooner.  Portraits is an amazingly energizing record with a depth of introspective atmosphere.  At start our ears perk at the initial sitar (or perhaps tambura) drone, augmented by occasional sweet, ghost-like chimes.  Soon following, layers of instrumentation from electronic oscillator to bass clarinet form a collective movement which is eventually peaked by smooth ringing gong hits.  Side B opens with an earthy multi-voice chant, leads us carefully to a place of inner presence, and ends in a waking and reverberating subterranean rumble.  Though it does feature some electronics, all are analog effects and real tape loops, providing a very warm and lively sound.

The packaging is a textured screen printed chunk of thick cardboard folded in half, which houses a quality vinyl disc.  At $15 and limited to 500 copies, I highly recommend Portraits for those into atmospheric drone and to those seeking meditation music.