Kikagaku Moyo: Kumoyo Island

“Dancing Blue” is likely one of the funkiest jams Kikagaku Moyo have laid to tape, layering a chicken-scratch wah-wah riff over handclaps and chanted vocals. In contrast to different songs on the album, it maintains a constant temper throughout its six minutes, making for a pleasant distinction with the extra complexly structured patchworks. “Cardboard Pile,” then again, fades in with a heavy, Boredoms-style groove that sounds prefer it’s already been constructing for a number of minutes, then abandons it utterly. The music’s second half cycles by means of Tuareg-like guitar riffs and regal blasts of brass impressed by the funk music that Kikagaku Moyo encountered throughout their journey to Lisbon to file Masana Temples. The horns are a pure addition to the band’s wanderlusting sound, and will present thrilling hip-hop pattern fodder within the fingers of an adventurous beatmaker.

“Meu Mar” continues to blur the boundaries between cultures. Initially written by Brazil’s Erasmos Carlos, the music’s Portuguese lyrics have been first translated into English, then to Japanese. It doesn’t matter what language the band sings in, “Gomugomu” is a psychedelic pop surprise, shifting between key adjustments because it bobs down a lazy river of warbling riffs and wailing guitar harmonies. Different quick songs like “Daydream Soda” and “Area of Tiger Lilies” really feel extra like interludes than correct compositions, however they supply a welcome respite from the livid riffage. “Maison Silk Highway” sails the album to a blissful ambient conclusion, with heavenly piano chords and curlicues of sitar that circle again to the sound of the band’s 2013 debut.

Kikagaku Moyo’s title interprets to “Geometric Patterns.” This got here to founding member Go Kurosawa throughout an all-night jam session when he was so drained that he started seeing grids of shapes when he closed his eyes. It sounds psychedelic, nevertheless it’s additionally one thing of a misnomer by way of the band’s unstructured strategy, which entails by no means taking greater than two takes for any given music. “Even when somebody makes a mistake, that’s the actual us and errors can generally flip into actually fascinating peculiarities,” Kurosawa has mentioned. As one of the persistently thrilling representatives of a worldwide psych group, Kikagaku Moyo proceed to make unpredictable selections, even on an album that didn’t have to be greater than a celebratory victory lap. Kumoyo Island is the apex of their journey, introducing new musical territories whereas surveying simply how far they’ve traveled.