Review - Visitor by Alocasia Gardens
I admit I have only a small frame of reference for drone and minimalist electronic music. Yet, I like to listen and I like to be immersed in this stuff. Live, it is a meditative and visceral experience, hypnotic and compelling. I will focus here on “Visitor” described as the “first full-length album” from Alocasia Garden. Do check out “The Lake”, “Fragments of Spring” and “Intimacy in Isolation” available to buy via bandcamp.
Alocasia Garden’s “Visitor” deals in sonic experimentation, noise manipulation and deep cinematic soundscapes. It contains industrial harshness counterbalanced with soft and delicate textures (like distant air strikes and far off beckoning sirens) and hints of sci-fi otherworldliness.
This set of four recordings pairs nicely with the first book of JG Ballard’s short stories I am currently reading. Both rely on the thrust of an initial idea or mood that develops enough detail to create whole, unique and compelling universes. It’s not “easy listening”, but it is easy to listen to. I won’t dissect each track, I listened to the album as a whole and each track is like an integral chapter. Underneath drone, hum, buzz, distortion and dissonance there are repetitive themes, melodies almost. Although I used the word “industrial”, there is a definite delicate and sensitive touch to this work, subtle changes and mutations keep up momentum. Even “Abrasions” is not abrasive. You enter a beautifully engineered sonic environment and travel through its streets, buildings and open spaces. It is a trip of buffeted turbulence that segues into soaring smooth thermals. This is your captain speaking, there is no captain. I’ve really enjoyed the ride.
