With their prolific output and regular commitment to quality, Fabio Orsi and Valerio Cosi are close to becoming legendary masters of transcendental sound. This collaboration finds the two working out some rather ecstatically inclined drift and drone. Each side of this unmarked cassette takes a different approach to the idea of a chemically induced ascension while furthering some of the ideas the two have worked out in their individual work.

One Side

Faint voices find their way through dense radio static, transmitting unintelligible news broadcasts across the airwaves. The broadcast and static soon succumb to two beautiful tones, one shifting the other constant, revealing a celestial light behind the voices. As the light gains in intensity otherworldly voices and a gentle piano melody enter the mix taking the listener further up into the heavens. At this point Orsi and Cosi reach a heavenly realm that teeters a little too close for comfort to the new age edge. Thankfully they manage to rein things back in by giving hints of the material world with some dark undertones and acoustic guitar, letting you gently float back to the safety and discomfort of your place of origin.


The Other Side

This side takes a more full on drone approach, compared to the bliss of the first side. The transcendental vibes continue, but in a much more visceral manner. The initial sounds referentially veer between Tony Conrad and Campbell Neil, but when the drums kick in the whole thing turns into a full on tour de force of ecstatic kraut inflected drone al la Tony Conrad and Faust. Essentially this is some heady shit that pushes things further into a pure psychedelic haze than Conrad and Faust bring it, as disjointed voices pan across the aural spectrum.

On this side we have the real peak of the lysergic experience, the loops and drones create a shimmering, shifting vortex that the drums lead you through. Meanwhile voices appear and disappear like the Cheshire cat, giving hints that could be helpful or misleading. Coming down from here is hard, but when you?ve reached the end you?re not really sure whether it happened or not. 8/10 -- Cory Card (12 February, 2008)