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 | Ambient Temple of Imagination: Planetary House Nation (Mindspore Records - 1997) Planetary House Nation is a gathering (literally!) of various ambient-minded musicians. Its destination is perhaps best expressed in the liner notes... "the realm of unrehearsed, abstract, spontaneous experimentation, electronic mass communion, explorations of uncharted terrtitory..." |
| Call it Ambient Improv. It's an immersive, psychedelic (again, literally, it seems) freeform exploration for the '90s and on. Richard Sun, with musicians Seofon, E.A.R., Thermal, Stephen Kent and others, have created a 72-minute-plus cosmic celebration, the individual tracks fused together into one protoplasmic whole. Distant voices, bells, windy synths and numerous other sounds slowly begin to coalesce into a sonic cloud, then a flanged, robotic voice monotonously speaks into the vortex. In Finite Self begins thusly, eventually picking up a fairly lively tribal beat and a buzzing, barking didge. For over 15-1/2 minutes it shifts and morphs hypnotically. The hallucinogenic murk flows directly into the next track, That Galaxy Called Humanity, in which the beat changes somewhat, while the background elements continue their primordial oozing. Fragmented robot vocals slip almost imperceptibly by, as do other sporadic electronics; all the while, the drums beat on. Another segue, and we're into Beltane 93 which is marked by a quieter (though still active) atmosphere, and an absence of percussion. At 5 minutes, it's also the shortest "track"; in fact, it's the only one under 10 minutes. Beats reappear, signaling the convergence with the next phase, Ancestors and its persistently chugging rhythm. Fragmented crys shift through the choppy soundwaves, until everything hushes, though there's still plenty of movement in the mist. Yet another subtle shift; a quieting new presence looms; it is Plan E.T. Airy House Nation with its own phantom voices, percussive patterns, electric shimmerings and wild cries into the night, plus many now-familiar effects. The track all but dissipates, leaving a hazy void, through which we enter the into final phase... Black/White-Rainbow/Clear is a dense wash of synth, samples and eventual rhythmic patterns. Things build, the beat becomes more poundingly insistent, the background electronics ripple wildly, sonic walls begin to melt, everything slows and quietens, oozing now, evaporating and fading away.
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| Whether your mind is altered by the subliminally encoded psychoactive stimulants, (or you're compelled to provide your own), Planetary House Nation is definitely a One Thumb Up sonic transcendance. Tune in, turn on... "and please, remember to Freak with dignity". |  |
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