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High Aura'd/Blood Bright Star

cover imageTwo different artists who both work within the realms of psychedelic tinged minimalism share this split single that in a genre sense are very different from one another, but thematically and conceptually make an excellent pairing and compliment each other quite well.

Anti-Matter Records

John Kolodij's High Aura'd supplies "Remain in Light," and while any specific references to the Talking Heads slipped right past me, the conceptual flow of the song matches the title well.Initially a wall of shifting rain like noises, it slowly enters the sunlight with a melodic tone to it, offset by a bit of looping, textural like static.However, extended sun exposure can damage, and as the piece wears on it concludes in a noisy, swirling vortex of what sounds like guitar noise and destruction.

On the flip side, Blood Bright Star, a relatively new solo project by Reuben Sawyer, goes right into a more straight forward krautrock sound.Heavy, tremolo laden guitar echoes and slithers about while propelled by a rock solid motorik rhythm on "Golden Blood, Part II."Even with these pieces put together, the result has a sort of blues swagger that gives it a unique edge and sound.

Both halves of this single clearly work in the realms of minimalism, but taking notably different approaches.Kolodij’s contribution does this via instrumentation, doing significant work with a sparse collection of tools, while Sawyer uses it as a compositional framework, building upon the signifiers of blues and rock to create a repetitive, but constantly evolving song.