Sparkling Wide Pressure‘s latest release MANIFESTATION OF MAGI out on Kimberly Dawn Recordings continues Adam Baugh’s prolific marathon of the net’s ambient zones. As with his previous releases, MANIFESTATION OF MAGI invites the listener to open themselves to a guided meditation that soothes through a collage of abrasive textures and droning tones. One of its standout tracks Magical Feminine begins as a voice disjointedly describing different color palettes and contorting in pitch while a breeze of pan flutes hovers with an acoustic guitar thrum in the background. Midway into the song, all of these parts halt for the soft throb of a synth to enter the mix. The synth throb grows in turbulence, first saturating the recording medium and then eviscerating it in violent bursts. The effect is as tactile as it is musical; a synesthetic chakra-massage that radiates out from your inner ear. The steel wool purr of the synth then gives birth to a third movement, a cooing lullaby chant and more idle guitar strumming, gently rinsing our ears clean after working them into a lather. Magical Feminine is representative of the rest the album both in its singular meditative focus and its insistence on constantly shifting sound palettes. Time flows differently in the stream of a Sparkling Wide Pressure release. His records mark an opportunity for respite from the calcification of mundane life; a time to realign yourself with the present moment outside of the tick of the clock or the calendar of events. If you think I sound like some woolly-headed, new age cultist, I can’t say I blame you, but just you try devoting your full attention and life force to ebb and flow of his many tapes and experience my testament firsthand. According to Tiny Mix Tapes, his newest cassette Dream of Windows will be released early July on Tranquility Tapes.
Buy MANIFESTATION OF MAGI here.