Jake Meginsky’s Seven Psychotropic Sinewave Palindromes begins with a slow, pulsing 808 kick drum and noise mix that moves exponentially into bpm chaos creating a blast of sound that begins the aural journey the the next 20 some minutes of music will take you on. It may be obvious, but do yourself a favor and put away the cheapo earbuds before queuing this up. The wide ranging deep, varied and warm sounds dance around the stereo field like synapses firing off in your brain. If that sounds pleasant it’s because it is, but like other Psychotropic substances there’s not only pleasure to be unearthed but also a depth of meaning in a shifting of perspective. A Northampton native, Meginsky uses his experience as a percussionist to design rich polyrhythmic textures with seemingly simple sounds to provide a welcomely altered experience. The music, without a hint of tedium, is at times meditative and at others mildly disquieting.
NNA Tapes out of Burlington, the excellent label the piece was released on, describes it as, “somewhere between musique concrete, techno, noise, footwork, IDM, and contemporary electronic music,” which taken out of context is vague enough to give you almost no idea of what it actually sounds like. Searching for a place to comfortably compartmentalize this piece is essentially worthless anyway. It stands contently on its own as a vibrant experience that does what electronic music is able to do when it’s at its best- flip convention on its head and take you into foreign territory. Meginsky doesn’t unwittingly push you into it as some do, he acts more as a guide and lets you search out your own path while never being further than a shout away to signal you to the next section of uncharted territory. Seeing Meginsky perform in May at the aptly titled HeadExplode.gif electronic music fest put on by the folks here at the Hassle and Open Loop may have been my personal highlight of the immensely stacked night. If you missed it don’t worry, he’ll be in Cambridge in July (7/19) at Industry Lab. Give this tape a listen then right after mark your calendars, your ears will celebrate your attendance.
