During the next few weeks, I’ll be catching up on releases I could not get to in 2021. This one is really a gem that I’m surprised I didn’t get to earlier, but thanks to Jeff Gburek reminding me of it, I can happily present this release he did in collaboration with another one of the blog’s dear friends, George Christian.
The two tracks which go under the name The Charles Ives Observatory (Parts 1 and 2) bookend the centerpiece of the album, the 28-minute opus Magellanic Clouds. The CIO tracks have the feeling of classic-era electroacoustic music imbued with energy and, dare I say, a touch of humor, but also an element of something that would not have sat out of place in one of Pink Floyd’s early album period, when they were far more a psychedelic band and less a blues-rock project, whereas the centerpiece allows Gburek’s synthesizer and zither and George Christian’s organ to flow into each other, again, in a way that reminds me of really good psychedelic music circa 1968 to 1973.
Credit to Ulka Pind Records out of Bhopal, India, for publishing the music. I look forward to learning more about their catalog as time passes.
