Papir Meets Electric Moon

The Papermoon Sessions

Written by: BV on 19/01/2014 23:31:01

There are constant hit-makers and then there are constant trip-makers. Or, at least this seems to be the fundamental difference between what makes a band popular in straightforward music and psychedelic rock music, respectively. When it comes down to it, I’d wager that both Electric Moon and Papir fall into the latter category – both due to their lack of ‘hits’ but also due to their immense skill for creating highly cerebral, almost ethereal pieces of music that transcend what one would perhaps expect of instrumental music. “The Papermoon Sessions” is not a split-album, let me just clear that up immediately. Rather, it is a collaborative piece created by Electric Moon, a monolith of the instrumental psych genre, coupled with a rising, soon-to-be monolithic act of the slightly familiar, yet altogether different kraut/prog-inspired escapades of Papir.

As such, album opener “Farewell Mr. Space Echo” bears both the marks of Papir as well as Electric Moon’s signature jams. Yet, somehow, it all fuses together to become an entirely different being. As the project was originally devised as a tribute to the late Ralph A. Rjeily, renowned promoter and sound engineer throughout the heavy psych scene, one could also argue that there are traces of melancholy and grief to be heard in the fundamental roots of these jams. The tribute however, stands most clearly in the title of the aforementioned “Farewell Mr. Space Echo” – relating directly to Rjeily’s fondness of the Roland Space Echo, from what I understand.

Naturally, the starting points or sparks of these jam sessions are therefore ripe with an underlying sense of sadness that, fortunately however, does not intrude on the vibe in any noteworthy manner. Instead, Electric Moon and Papir serve up some rather lengthy, groovy space-rock jams ripe with liquid visions of a surrealistic alternate dimension – or at least that’s the vibe I consistently got from listening to this album in a darkened room.

Rightfully so, “The Circle”, which is by far the longest of the three jams on this album, takes on a sort of overwhelming, hypnotic presence that fully justifies its runtime of nearly 22 minutes. The entrancing drum-work and the playful guitars that eventually lead into a cataclysmic melting pot of acidic, fuzzy and echo-drenched solos are magnificently enthralling and completely on par with many of the two individual projects’ releases. However, seeing as this concoction of Electric Moon and Papir musicians is also fairly new and seeing as the releases is also based on a completely live-recorded jam session, there are obvious kinks along the way that make for a less smooth listening experience than, say, Papir’s acclaimed 2013 album “III”. Still, as a new project – and an improvised one at that, I can definitely say that Papir Meets Electric Moon is something worth listening to if you’re into that lengthy, hypnotic sort of jam thing. I, for one, will be doing everything in my power to check out their collaborative efforts at this year’s edition of Roadburn.

7

Download: The Circle, Farewell Mr. Space Echo
For the fans of: Papir, Electric Moon, Föllakzoid, The Cosmic Dead
Listen: Papir’s Facebook, Electric Moon’s Facebook

Release date 25.10.2013
Sulatron Records

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