Day Of First Orange - Afternoon Ragas

Synth ambient. Densely layered bubbly synth. Kind of the Emeralds crossed with Philip Glass. Which makes sense, because this is apparently the same guy who was behind the Emeralds back in the day! (Mark McGuire) This is wonderful stuff--long tracks building to sublime vistas. Though technically ambient, it has some great synth hooks which a person can hang onto.

From the album description: “Afternoon Ragas consists of four pieces of soft, watery, colorful synthesizer & percussion splashing around the backyard in the bright sun. Regulates body temperature, mental age, and realigns colors for better visual acuity.”

Strongly recommended. Any, but especially 3, 4.

1) “Afternoon Raga” (9:58): Really bubbly. Like sparkling water, I guess. Some more structure starts to emerge at around the 3 minute mark beneath the chaos. Gets more of an Indian flavor.
2) “First Orange Raga” (11:14): Bright watery synth. More sedate, which is kind of nice, actually. Heavily electronically altered birdsong.
3) “Day Raga” (7:15): Very quick and light. Gradually pulls together into a loose, beautiful melody.
4) “Sunshine Raga” (25:49): More structure in the beginning. Kind of an arpeggiated squelchy noise. Then just a high-energy little galaxy of noise, not much structure for a long time. Gradually builds in density and focus to a triumphant ending. This is just baller stuff.

-- Mr Tumnus