Crystal Mooncone – Listening Beam Five
First of all, let’s just get this out of the way: I really love the name of this band! Crystal Mooncone sounds like a name Stevie Nicks could have given her cat back in 1976 while Fleetwood Mac was recording Rumors up in the fence post-hippie environs of Marin County, California. But, she couldn’t do that, because she was too busy snorting cocaine in the hot tub and fighting with Lindsey Buckingham. Oh, well! Instead of a feline Crystal Mooncone, we eventually got a human one three decades later, which probably turned out for the best. I mean, hell, we got Listening Beam Five out of the deal, which contains “Fossil Tears,” and that’s all that matters!
Indeed, that very track opens the album in a most spectacularly subdued manner with eight minutes and twenty one seconds of ultra pleasant instrumental ambience (courtesy of vibes, maracas, whistle, recorder, piano and accordion) and layered crackly drones, forming a freaking gorgeous aural afghan of epic proportions. And it’s all downhill from there. But, that’s not a bad thing. Hey, going down hills is fun! “Los Senderos de Mitras” mines a vaguely similar territory as its predecessor, but turns much darker, while in “Homage,” an echo-y flute leads a Fender Rhodes and an accordion on a queasy tame goose chase.
Next up, “Imaginary Azimuths” offers up some lyrical piano lines with free percussive clatter in the background, while “Leeward Side” presents a droning flute with an array of high-pitched pinging and synced-up singing. In “Perth Airport,” the drone is supplied by singers, accompanied by accordion and more percussion clatter, while droning strings form distant clouds in “Rocky’s Landscape” that ebb and swell with melodic keyboards. Most interestingly, a Kenny G sound-alike appears at some point, piping away on a flute like there are an infinite amount of tomorrows. Near the end of the disc, we enter the “Light Tunnel,” in which a bunch of digital insects form a raspy drone that segues into a gathering of deep, reverb-soaked vocals that, in turn, build up a super sparse atmosphere that is perfect for hanging out in the hot tub with Stevie Nicks and petting her non-existent cat. According to the label’s one sheet, this music falls within the neo new age category. I can see that. And fine neo new age it is!
Label: Innova Catalog Number: Innova 973 Format: CD Packaging: Digi-Pak Tracks: 8 Total Time: 53:51 Country: United States Released: 2017 More: Bandcamp, Innova
Text ©2017 Arcane Candy
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