Iasos - Elixir (Rotifer Cassettes)

Walking through the blazing 100-degree Tempe, Arizona heat the line between New Age and classic Electronic music blurs for me. It’s so hot outside that the music whirring from my Walkman is the only thing providing me with any sort of comfort. Elixir by the band “Iasos” is a pretty legendary under water synth journey from 1983 that was reissued by the good people over at Rotifer Cassettes this year.

I could really go to great lengths to describe every teeny tiny little nuance that went into making this piece of music but lets just say it is one of my the most forgotten epic, aquatic, synthesizer experiences ever made. The sequencing and voices are all on point and you can hear the bottlenose dolphins swimming amongst the ruins of Atlantis. It reminds me of the work of Dean Evenson or Ray Lynch almost immediately. It’s really nice ride driven by subtle tones and simple celestial swells of sound. However, most of this release sounds big, it’s a gateway to another realm. So get wet and take a drink of the godliest sonic Elixir there is.

The tape is really beautiful and pro dubbed on some high quality chrome guys. There is imprinting and it just looks silky and nice over all pick it up! It will help save you from melting on those over bearing global warming summer days!

Buy and Listen HERE

IASOS "Inter-Dimensional Music" c54(Rotifer Cassettes))

I thought it might be appropriate to say a few words on Iasos, now that New Age music is cool for the very first time ever. Born in Greece in 1947, but raised in the United States and a resident of California since the late 60s, Iasos is often described as the first "New Age" musician. His 1975 album "Inter-Dimensional Music" has seen a lot of renewed interest, with a vinyl reissue on Baltimore's Hearted Hand last year and a cassette reissue on Rotifer now in it's second pressing of 200 copies. I highly recommend you check it out if you are an un-ironic appreciator of dreamy synthscapes. There are parts of the album that I would genuinely describe as tropical, with Iasos emulating the sounds of a rainforest on his synthesizer.

R. Buckminster Fuller (in a letter to Iasos)

"I find your inter-dimensional music needing new words to describe it. I feel as though I were entering a new world - a new and very profoundly beautiful world."

Alan Watts, Metaphysical Philosopher

"Iasos is doing the classical music of the New Age."