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|| DECRyPTED presents...
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|. :| _artist......: Raz Ohara
: || _album.......: Moksha
: |: _year........: 2014
. | _genre.......: Ambient
. | _style.......: Downtempo
: _label.......: Albumlabel
. _cat.nr......: alb 001
_source......: CDDA
_codec.......: MP3 LAME 3.98.4 VBR -V0
_quality.....: avg. 234kbps 44,1kHz
_tracks......: 07
_size........: 72,88 MB
_length......: 43:44
_proof.......: Yes [x] / No [ ]
_url.........: www.discogs.com/release/5724145
_tracklist...:
01. Sungaze 07:49
02. Little People 03:40
03. True Love Will Find You In The End 05:53
04. Two Young Mates 04:56
05. Beija - Flor 08:31
06. Moksha 05:13
07. Light 07:42
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43:44 min
_description.: There are quite a few Raz Ohara stories that have been
making the rounds, but the best one is perhaps the one
about how he landed his first record deal: When his
debut album Realtime Voyeur was released back in 1999,
Raz was merely 24 years old and he'd only just arrived
in Berlin. Here's what happened: One day, Raz just
walked into Kitty-Yo's label office and dropped off a
CD with some demo tracks. Since he'd run out of demos,
his original plan was to return to the office later
that day to pick it up again - but when he returned, he
found the label bosses totally in awe and struck by his
music, and thus a deal was made. It's the kind of story
that only gets better each time it's retold...
Ever since, Raz Ohara has continually honed his
production skills and refined his organic, dub-infused
trademark sound, and yet the album he's about to drop
easily marks a milestone in his career. It's a career
that has repeatedly seen changes in direction, that has
crossed over into techno and pop terrain, and that now
sees him revisiting all the different styles, lessons
and approaches of the past 15 years and rolling them
into one massive oeuvre: Moksha.
Accordingly, his latest full-length is jam-packed with
intricate cross-references and wild cross-pollinations,
while he's making sure the vibe remains just right from
beginning to end. A term like "dub" might be in the
right ballpark, but you can also hear soul music on
Moksha, at least hints of soul, subtle hints. It's
actually the kind of slow-moving, static-laden soul
that can only evaporate from the infinite echo chambers
of Ohara's (dub) lab.
Each track's different, a world of its own. Extremely
dense and yet transparently arranged, the soundscapes
on Moksha are vast, roomy, and yet they remain somewhat
mysterious around the edges. As if he was some kind of
magician, it's music that touches upon so many things
at once, seemingly diverging, until it all converges
back into a "whole" that makes perfect sense. Strictly
speaking, it does make sense, but hardly at first
listen: Raz repeatedly makes sure the tracks' ragged
and tripping arrangements remain abstract just long
enough to confuse the listener, until everything
finally falls into place. Examples abound: Most beats
and percussion elements seem to exist merely for
themselves, usually dropping in when you least expect
them - making the resulting groove patterns (and groove
it does) even more miraculous and amazing. Elsewhere,
warm layers of sound or frozen melodies appear out of
nowhere, linger and grow for a while, then die down
again. It all seems to form and flow at random, with
tracks spilling over into the next, intertwining and
flowing onwards: As a listener, you soon have to
surrender and drown in these pulsating soundscapes,
which Ohara wrote and produced single-handedly.
Usually, he'd start with actual instruments and
recorded bits and pieces, which he then reworked and
sampled, thus blurring the lines between acoustic and
electronic to a degree where it's impossible to tell
which is which. The first beat that's actually pretty
straightforward (and funky) serves as the foundation of
the only cover song on this album: "True Love Will Find
You In The End" by Daniel Johnston. Whereas most of his
own beats are assembled from acoustic elements, this is
the only track that sees him relying on a drum
computer. Even more surprising: When he utters that
promise of love in all its harmonious beauty, it sounds
so honest, so heartfelt, you have to believe his every
word. Quite a touching moment indeed. "Two Young
Mates," in comparison, with its soft walls of guitar,
channels post-grunge bands like Ride or Lush - or even
Pluramon. It's amazing to see this wall of sound grow
over a steady beat, while Ohara actually shouts the
lyrics instead of singing them: As if he was standing
on a massive cliff overlooking the ocean, trying to get
his message across to anyone who might be out there,
behind the horizon. At the same time, it's another
example of a song that's far from outspoken, taking
shape more like a hazy echo of itself... Up next he
presents a rather abstract collage of clarinet, African
percussions, and synthesizer sounds in shreds -
forming, once again, some kind of dub music.
If you've ever found yourself lost in a limestone cave,
here's your soundtrack to that kind of adventure. In
fact, each of these tracks has a cave-like feel to it,
opening new spheres, which Ohara then fills with
acoustic guitar bits and his voice, all the more
compelling in its frailty. What's more, just when
you're about to settle into this cave, feeling ready
for contemplation and general wistfulness, he adds a
beat that's borderline disco: Hard to believe, but the
resulting track is both soft and heart-warming.
Moksha is the first release on Album Label, a new
imprint under the Shitkatapult roof. Starting a new
label in a hectic, fast-moving musical landscape like
this, is indeed a bold statement, especially since
Album Label's mission is to do exactly what labels have
done in the past: build strong relationships with
artists and offer continued support over a long period
of time. Certainly an anachronistic move, when everyone
else is after quick bucks and selling individual
tracks. This rather old-school approach also implies
that any release by Album Label takes time to make -
and to take in as well: That said, Moksha by Raz Ohara
is a perfect starting point, because it's a cave of
forking paths that change direction every time you
reenter.
2014.09.02
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|| DECRyPTED . 2011 - 2014 |. plur hush.ai
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