The
idea behind this cassette seems to be focused on yoga or some such thing, as it
is four tracks (3 on Side A, the last on Side B) and each one is “Mantra I”, “Mantra
II”, etc. I don’t know a lot about
yoga- though I’ve always wanted to learn- but these seem like some pretty harsh
mantras to me, as they neither really soothe nor relax. In many ways, these could be considered to
be the sort of anti-mantra, if such a thing exists.
Side
A begins with electro distortion, which turns into some 8bit manipulation and
fax feedback. This isn’t necessarily
harsh so much as there is just a certain rhythm to it. I wouldn’t say it was something you could
dance to, and though the initial sound is one that could pierce the ears I
still feel that this isn’t that harsh until Side B. There
is also some industrial type static which tends to make me believe we are
living in some sort of void.
On
the flip side, we begin to contemplate the greater things in life, such as
air. What is air? You cannot see it, you cannot hear it, but it
is there. A vacuum is the absence of
air. There is no air outside of the
earth’s atmosphere. And it is with
these ideas that the distorted, scratchy space static begins to make sense and
stand explained in a world where it would otherwise be mistaken for nothing.
While
this is undoubtedly harsh noise at its roots, there is much harsher noise out
there and so this is still something that might upset the ears of some, yet isn’t
as in your face as other artists along that same line. Many artists seem to be on one side or the
other—breathing air or in orbit where you cannot breathe air. Bhagavad Dita seems to float in that fine
space between the two.
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