Spiritual Emergency… When it strikes, hide under the nearest table like so
Review: Guardian Alien – Spiritual Emergency
Published on February 3rd, 2014 | Jonny Abrams
Greg Fox is one far out dude – at least as much can be gleaned from the video and soundtrack to 2012’s “See the World Given to a One Love Entity” – so it’s no surprise to report that Spiritual Emergency is similarly bewildering and brilliant, an onslaught of rushing psychedelia.
Percussionally it’s astonishing, and we know ‘percussionally’ isn’t a word but listening to this imbues a sense of “anything goes”. **** it, let’s throw caution to the wind and have another cup of coffee, too.
Once senses far stronger stuff than mere coffee at play on Spiritual Emergency: vocals – or are they samples? – are drenched with effects and chatter/murmur in and out to really quite hypnotic effect. All the while, that otherworldly percussion section rumbles stickily on.
Hey, stickily doesn’t get a squiggly red line under it. Neither does squiggly.
The closing, title track has some guy talking about Sufism and “spontaneous [spiritual] experiences” over the top of it, immersing us into a twenty-minute parallel universe carnival comprising at any given point of anything from frothing bleeps, buzzing drones, earth-encompassing psychedelic guitar jams, enraptured harmonies, jarring noise, crazed screaming…
…you know, whatever, man. Like, say, Lightning Bolt, Guardian Alien are absolutely staggering if you’ve got the stomach for it. If you’ve got the stomach for Spiritual Emergency, by gum you’ll develop an appetite for it.
A blistering start to the year for Thrill Jockey, our joint label of 2013 along with Ample Play.
Spiritual Emergency is out now on Thrill Jockey.
You can buy Spiritual Emergency on iTunes and on Amazon.
Rocksucker says: Four and a Half Quails out of Five!
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
