album review – The Upside Down World

“No Winners In The Blues” by Wes Tirey pulls from Americana, blues, folk, and influences from dark, morose string masters like David Berman and Neil Young and even Robert Fripp’s Fripptronics style of guitar playing. A musky, storied and groggled voice tells tales over an exceptionally well played and emotional bed of acoustic guitars. “Something’s in the water, whole world’s upside down, good lord, good lord” as a line, I think sums up well the complexities of themes present on this album, but this is open ended, country./folk music with themes wide enough to get lost in for ones self. Blending both relatable and abstract themes throughout the album, this is perfect winter music for a lonsesome exploration of the self.

“This is honest music for those moments when the night towers over the desert, as the dawn gathers faintly at the horizon: raw blues from the hands of a true master of his craft, now given fresh life with a new edition.”

Dark, weathered strings and undulating, tired but ever present and beautiful voice share stories of loss, grief, confusion and other emotions all too relatable for a world that’s supposed to offer peace and well being. Heavy strings with minimal background electronics create thick and wethered patina for the voice to perfectly cast a fishing line of hope out into a dark and depressed world, even if for a minute. Beautiful, simple music. Highly recommended. Comes out via Full Spectrum Records

Welcome back, and we have a brand new release to share with our avid new readers. First of several reviews we’ll be publishing in February of artists releasing their first albums in 2023. First up is INDIA SKY with “Somewhere Over The Mystic Moon”, a refreshing blend of nuanced electronics, dance, soul and ethereal soundscapes which transported us to spaces of exploration, trust, contemplation and rebirth.

India Sky’s first musical endeavor is due out February 5th. “Somewhere Over The Mystic Moon” dances through musical spaces and emotions like a time machine transporting you somewhere you only dreamed of living in, thriving in. “Somewhere Over The Mystic Moon” takes us there. The album begins with “Dark Symphony” and “Begin Again” – two vocal heavy, ethereal, morose, orchestral feeling pieces, warm and fuzzy sonic textures, singing strings, nuanced vocal hymns and dancing electronic pulses set the time, space, and tone perfectly for “Breakdown” – one of the highest energy tracks from start to finish on the album, and yet it fits in the mix perfectly, something about the third song on an album can be special, I don’t know what it is, but “Breakdown” taps into it. And for a full confession, after the album played through, I ran through “Breakdown” at least three more times on repeat while editing this review, something that never happens. That track hooked me! And it’s not the only one, many of the tracks on “S O T M M” tap into this sort of sonic nostalgia that only certain albums can tap into, and it’s beautiful and comforting in a way. Maybe it’s a drum sound, or a synth line, or maybe it’s just a space created by the artist for us to contemplate in, have we been here before?

Big synthesizers, funky 90’s Prince inspired drums and percussion glide off of Sky’s hauntingly beautiful voice for a vocal performance which is big, intentional and shows off an articulate and refreshing balance of technical and ability and raw emotion, both on “Breakdown” and throughout the album. “Breakdown” carries the album forward into more experimental ambient sections, such as the short but equally interesting “The Moon” which pulls sonic reflections from later classic “Translinear Light” era Alice Coltrane, Wendy Carlos, and contemporaries SPELLLING alike, while crafting sonic worlds yet to be heard or lived.

Photo: Avé-Ameenah Long

“Somewhere Over The Mystic Moon” seamlessly creates sonic spaces for us to enter and exit in nonlinear fashions. The dense, esoteric and warm electronic spaces throughout, seem to connect with the earth, the sky, and universes unexplored. SKY has created a sonic world where we don’t want to leave, and you shouldn’t either. India Sky makes big, powerful, emotional music and we’re here for it. Highly recommended. “Somewhere Over The Mystic Moon”is out Feb5, 2023 on Ratskin Records. You can preorder on Cassette tape, CD, and digital downloads here.