Solid Waste has dissolved into the ether. (And yes, I know how weird
that sounds.) The trio – Nate Bethel, Josh Kahl, and Mario Martinez – once stormed
the St. Louis ambient/New Age scene, landing righteously and appropriately on
St. Louis ambient/New Age institution Distant Bloom after a couple of other
remarkable tapes elsewhere. City in the
Cosmos is posthumous – we will no longer be graced with the presence of
Solid Waste. (Again, that sounds weird, sorry.) But fortunately, as it happens
with all things wonderful that leave us too soon, we are at least able to enjoy
one last morsel of Solid Waste (sorry …) before the coming of that long, dark
night.
Distant Bloom has it right – the label mentions 1970s German kosmische,
1980s Japanese environmental music, and 1980s-1990s American New Age when
discussing Solid Waste. And that’s no lie – anybody mentions any one of those things in my presence and I
usually start slobbering Pavlovially. So when I say City of the Cosmos hits all those beats, just know that I basically
fainted from sheer joy while I listened. The trio zones out with synthesizers
much of the time, but they’re not afraid to knock you out with distinct
rhythms, such as the on the surprisingly upfront “Friends of the Earth” (there’s
that Japanese environmental music in play!). Even “Deep Forest Portal” has the
hint of a pulse, but it’s mostly the synthesizer arpeggios that carry the day.
And they carry you into deep trances, all the time, spectral sci-fi goodness
washing over you and leaving you floating in pristine stasis.
Isn’t that why we all came here in the first place?
This last little bit of Solid Waste is a perfect career capper, and has
me glancing at my watch ready for the inevitable, welcome, and glorious
reunion.
https://distantbloom.bandcamp.com/
--Ryan
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