PHANTOMS VS. FIRE “Superbloom II” C45 (Mystic Timbre)

Blending cosmic new-age (think Constance Demby’s “Novus Magnificat”, but more minimalism-ized)  ambiance with dark baroque/dungeon synth textures (see: Fief or Chaucerian Myth), Phantoms Vs. Fire are in a dedicated limbo all their own, and it’s beyond otherworldly.

Through bowed/pizzicato strings, field recordings, modular wizardry, & an ever looming sense of getting lost in a sundowning woodland, “Superbloom II” will spin magical self-eating tales around the consciousness of anyone who dare lend a closed-eyed open-ear. I cannot recommend this intake enough!

Cranking out some truly hallucinatory stuff here, Austin’s MYSTIC TIMBRE imprint is progressively rock-fucking-solid, and pretty much their entire catalog is drool-worthy, so…study time, folx!

https://phantomsvsfire.bandcamp.com/album/superbloom-ii

and/or

https://mystictimbre.bandcamp.com/

—Jacob An Kittenplan

SEIKAI “IV” C51 (Mystic Timbre)

Seikai’s output has been nothinug short of in-your-face dynamic in its quest for banging out red hot takes on New Age, Dungeon Synth, & EZ Listenin’ tropes, collaging all three of their emotional aesthetics into a disorienting stew of visuals-inducing trance. 

There are scads of synthesizers & mixing-board commandings, for daze, sure, but there’s also fucking melodica leads, slide guitar-as-texture, and that blissfully cheesy/Euglossinian guitar lick that…just…somehow…fits, against all odds. All of this vacillating between baroque-stilted and jazz-jammy, edge-of-seat and couch-buried. 

Personally, listening to this, I can’t NOT imagine all the drama and down-time that might be felt, were two bounty-hunter-wizards to track one another for days in the Everglades, trapped within the walls of an ever-circling hurricane-eye. Fan-fucking-tastic!

https://seikai.bandcamp.com/

and/or

https://mystictimbre.bandcamp.com/

—Jacob An Kittenplan

SEIKAI “III: Sunrise & Sunset” C58 (Mystic Timbre)

Between bygone scaffolds of stilted, dungeon-synthy tones* & riffy arpeggiations twinkles and slithers an ancient, astral ceremony of Space Hearts harkening and sentimental dirt dwellers rapt in celebratory toil. &yet still, between these glorious forces, a slew of surprisingly fitting modern novelties punctuates the scape, rendering our sky-map at once ostentatiously Sci-Fi and deeply sentimental. 

Seikai’s “III: Sunrise & Sunset” is an all enveloping quest of mystical proportions and sound potions that’s pretty much guaranteed to transport the listener far, far away from their internal state, obscuring Earthly mood, speed, and time, in bewildering combinations.

Austin, TX’s MYSTIC TIMBRE imprint has one hell of a good thing going here, folx. Get in on this!

https://mystictimbre.bandcamp.com/

and/or

https://seikai.bandcamp.com/album/iii-sunrise-sunset

—Jacob An Kittenplan

There is no time like the preset, right?

JRPG “Solipsis” C58 (Mystic Timbre)

Melding seriously intense, star-gazing New Age presets, 80s smooth-jazz-gone-funk riffage, and vaporwavey beats/mixing aesthetics, JRPG (Austin, TX) serve up unapologetic, high-octane elevator muzak for the righteously cheesy & nostalgic. 

On their debut release, “Solipsis" is full to the brim with myriad strong moods a-splattered all over the neon ampitheater, no nook or cranny safe from the oozings, so vibrant and thick, of their fluidly grooving themes. 

Consistently toeing the line between chill and upbeat, JRPG manages the sonic equivalent of a muted Hawaiian shirt with glow in the dark pineapples and scented chili peppers in fractal swirls. It’s pretty goddamn great. Listen to at max reasonable volume with headphones and get tripped out!

https://mystictimbre.bandcamp.com/

and/or

https://japaneseroleplayinggame.bandcamp.com/album/solipsis

—Jacob An Kittenplan