Above All Dreams is Abul Mogard's beautifully absorbing new solo record for Ecstatic - his first since the Circular Forms and his popular Works [2016] compilation.
Counting six original pieces in its 66-minute wingspan, there's no mistaking that Above All Dreams is the most expansive solo release by Mogard to date. And taking into account the sets' intangible divinity and cinematic quality - the result of no less than three years diligent work - it is arguably elevated to the level of his master opus; presenting an essentially single malt modular distillation of Mogard's most intoxicating strain of hauntology.
Consistent with Mogard’s music since the sought-after VCO tapes c. 2012-2013, the allure of Above All Dreams lies in his ability to evoke and render feelings which are perhaps purposefully avoided in more academic echelons of drone music. Rather than a purist expression of physics thru maths and geometry, Mogard more complexly voices his soul, improvising on modular synth for hours, days, months and years in the same way a more conventional "band" develops group intuition.
While hands-on, the intuitive evolution of process locates a newfound freedom in his music that implies a recognition of the metaphysical or post-physical, while Mogard explicitly points to influence from the Brazilian music of Tom Zé, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Chico Buarque, whose approach to shape and density, or perceptions of light and delicacy, also go some way to explaining the ephemeral intangibility of Above All Dreams.
The results are thus best considered as the ephemera of non-verbal communications. From the gaseous bloom of "Quiet Dreams" to the opiated depth of "Where Not Even" to the starlit "Upon The Smallish Circulation," and thru the B-side’s keeling, 16 mins+ panoramas of "Above All Dreams" and "The Roof Falls," the power of Abul Mogard's dreams above all transcends sound, feeling and physics in a truly remarkable and intangible way that evades words or concrete notation. It's just incredibly special and poignant in a way that has resonated with a lot of listeners, and will continue to do so as long as people have ears and feelings.
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