strange mountain

strange mountain ~ levitation mist (illuminated paths, 2014)

"hailing From Jakarta, Indonesia, ambient all-star Strange Mountain (Marcel Thee) is famous for reprocessing music through analog reel to reel tape. cover was drawn by the always-amazing Timothy Henry"

listen ~ buy 

strange mountain

 strange mountain ~ forgiveness (ginjoha tapes, 2014)

soundtrack for a future passed, remembered and forgotten.

 recorded and performed : Marcel Thee 

style: ambient, new age

 Strange Mountain is Marcel Thee (Sajama Cut, Roman Catholic Skulls) from Jakarta, Indonesia

"lush and expansive dreamscapesin. deed as the title would indicate, this selection of tracks offers the beauty one might expect in an ambient release, but tempered with a very measured sense of reservation and thoughtful contemplation. the kind of emotional peace hard won at the ultimate realization of letting go. perhaps I'm seeing to literally into these tracks. at their surface these are enjoyed easily as meditation music, but I think there is more here. not just the act and appreciation of meditation but the rewards of a life spent focused on mindfulness and acceptance. broad wavering lines of synth, softly incorporated found sound. purity." guide me little tape

como no podía ser menos, la cinta más bonita y zen de Strange Mountain tenía que ser en Ginjoha Tapes. no importa lo vaga que esté últimamente, hay discos que bien merecen al menos cuatro líneas. discos que quieres compartir y que la gente conozca. discos elegantes y emotivos que no defraudan, que sólo viendo la portada (y no hablemos ya del sello) sabes que te van a gustar, no en vano tiene canciones como 'creatures of the sun', 'at day's end' o 'windows facing glasgow'. después de ellas, ya no puedo dejar de proclamar mi amor infinito a Strange Mountain. es el ambient más puro. es el ambient de las comparaciones con Iasos y Buchikamashi, también con Laaraji y la melancolía de Former Selves.

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sawi lieu

 sawi lieu ~ pasaraya (constellation tasu, 2013)

"A time bomb torches the phantasmagorical. It is a night ride above the swirling sweet hillsides. The trick and a transport. A distant laugh, not a thrill left to be." constellation tasu

"The album title refers to one of Jakarta’s earliest major shopping centers. Located in South Jakarta, Pasaraya was Sawi Lieu’s hub ~ the place where the now 20-something spent hours playing Rp 500-per-game arcades. The blips and 8-bit noises in those games embedded themselves into Sawi’s soul. "I want to pay a tribute to those nostalgic memories of playing those 'ding dongs'. The songs are heavily electronic because I wanted it to sound like those arcade games’ scores. I just hope that when people listen to these songs, they again feel the joy they had when they were playing arcade games as kids. Yeah, that would be really good." jakarta globe

en el anterior disco de Sawi Lieu siempre me detenía en la preciosa 'crystal vibration' y ahora son 'familiar landscape' y 'unforseeable photosynthesis' las dos canciones que de verdad me han robado el corazón. en 'pasaraya' Sawi parece haber apostado definitivamente por el camino de la electrónica, de los beeps and boops y blips and skips y un sinfín de soniquetes cual tormenta sónica, un homenaje a la infancia y a los juegos clásicos Arcade (pac-man!). colorismo desbordante, con ventanucos. desde Jakarta, como Duck Dive.

foto: theo gosselin / artwork: sawi lieu

listen/buy ~ buy the tape