Sodium Tale - Occultations 2CD-R

In some perverse alternate reality (or AI hellscape?) there would be a way of building a dream team of musicians to play in improv combos together. But such thought experiments are null and void in my case with the debut release of Sodium Tail, the Sydney trio of Anthony Guerra (Love Chants, Taste), Moss Hopkins (Warm Currency, Vincent Over The Sink, Naked On The Vague), and Peter Blamey (Your Intestines, Hard Hat), three Sydney musicians I would pick on my Avant Garde Fantasy League simulator if it existed.

Here they do what it says on the package. An occultation is the phenomenon when one object passes between two others to block the view of the other, such as a solar eclipse. Playing combos of synth, amp, and lyre, each instrument takes the stage of being the occulter and the occultee, crossing over each other in a densely layered field of sound. Ominous drones and scrapes give way to static and sprinkling plucks and tones, electronic gurgling, hints of melody or slow moving chord progressions. While this is a collective effort where the boundaries between instruments can blur (especially when they are ‘occultees’), to my ear, there are distinct sonic-marks that I associate with each musician, from the close-mic’d scratching of Hopkins to the immersive and crystal clear mixes of Guerra’s solo releases to the musicality of found sound sources in Blamey’s work.

Hopefully not too many trips around the sun til another release! –Mitch

"The recordings on this, their first release, come from late in that early stage, with each player digging deep into their own processes and materials, drifting and shattering their way into a group sound experience that is equally open and intense, like sleepwalking on ice." –Chocolate Monk