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Amid a slowly oscillating windswell and growing electronic musical emergence, Wim Away features the chipper banter between a man and woman which sems to be derived from some 1940's romantic comedy. Cute and interesting, but not necessarily something one would want to listen to repeatedly. Similarly, Ra's Beach consists mainly of interview clips from an English Sun Ra documentary (over a backdrop of ocean waves), and again, the result, while oddly entertaining and well-produced, just seems to be a bit much, sample-wise.
The Mischief Of Poltergeists, though, sticks to sweetly spooky music... organ notes cascade like streamers within a shimmering atmosphere of lightness.
The liner notes inform us that Hypersleep I (19:52) documents Ripley (yes, Sigourney Weaver of the Alien films)'s fantasies during her years of cryogenic sleep; thankfully, sound samples from the movies aren't used (but that could've opened up some fun possibilities (and more likely, lawsuits), too). Instead, various spacey textures are presented... electronic drones, rhythmic pulses, faint musical tinklings, synth arpeggios, and light applications of sounds like birds, rain and random clunks. And it's not the mish-mash the previous sentence may have implied; spanned over its nearly 20-minute length, everything unfolds in a truly dream-like pace and manner. Then, it's conversation time again as Open Up The Door (1:41) continues that cinerama-style dialogue, this time drenched in reverb and maudlin strings.
An Oriental-ish overtone seeps through Soothing Absorvious (Version 3) as cyclical notes swirl and are eventually accompanied (then temporarily replaced) by light e-beats and metallic pattering. It's just a really nice little tune... Admittedly pretentious of title, The Fractured Caverns Of The Snow Wolf lead the listener through various phases, accompanied by faint murmers, ghostly piano, hazy electronics and eventually, jammin' drumbeats. Lush orchestral effects give way to bleepier keyboarding, then confident drumming, in Domini Lost (Version 2). Beats stir a small synth cyclone in a pretty, though quite percussive, passage.
More comedy film samples are found In The Sea Of Japan, but basically only in the intro. The rest of the track features dense synth-organ waves, a monsoon wind and clattery ryhtmic effects. Male movie whispers and female film laughter and chatter fill the canvas of Watercolour Bride with echoes which fade...
Busy little patterns are consumed by a thick and ominous cloud during Hypersleep 5: Castle Creation, and reduced to rapidly echoing clunks and clinks in a continuing storm. Glassy and electric at the same time, mechanical bells seem to bleep in a tinkling rainfall, and that pulsing storm center resumes. Further fantastic stirrings occur in this turbulent zone, until a lulling blanket of organ chords covers all... or temporarily, at least. From the recurring storm, a final echoey repetition... "This coffee made me think how good whiskey would taste."
I admire the devil-may-care abandon to merriment, from Shawn Holley's chosen musical persona, to the kooky samples, to the clever/silly liner notes (which are expanded even further at the Sir Isaacc Neutron website. Check there for a clearer example of the festivities.) And, hey, the music's not bad either (largely analog synth-based sounds).
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