Magic Maple

Sensual, inviting, trippy electronica. Mostly instrumental plus vocal samples and bird sounds. Extremely tasty & playful mixture of timbral textures, surprising dynamics, and gaudy emotional colors. As a single continuous piece, as it is (despite the track markers), it can be a lot to digest on the first couple of go-rounds. A fascinating, fantastic ride. Not easy listening. Third solo album from Blevin Blectum (aka D84), born Bevin Kelley, previously in Blectum from Blechdom and now in Sagan. She lives in the East Bay and is married to Lesser (also in Sagan). I’ve marked sub-two-minute tracks as “short.” FCCs: none. Start with 2, 9, 13, 15.
http://blevin.lsr1.com/

1. Some tentative percussion, then a hypnotic, retro-feel with processed percussion and bird squawks. Becomes spacey and droney. Ends with a vocal sample and then an up/down glide.
==> 2. Plinky with a dark beat. Somewhat song-like. Gothtronic dance. Becomes quiet before transitioning into next track.
3. Starts quietly. As soon as you’re lulled, hectic percussion starts and then dubby, alien, heavily processed vox plus other odd sounds. Ends with quick snare roll.
4. Fast tempo. An alien bobsled ride that ends with a quick electrocution. Short (you may want to play with next track, which it blends into).
5. Begins abruptly (you may want to play with previous track). Multitracked wooden xylophones, a chorus of the dead, synthetic bagpipes, what more could you want? Short.
6. Begins abruptly. More zombie chorus (this time with a soloist) and synthetic bagpipes with submerged percussion. Very hypnotic.
7. Begins with halting, synthetic tuned drums and sampled tambourine. Insane stereo play. Gets quiet at end.
8. Starts with female vocal: “One day I’ll just....” Disquieting, busy, and repetitive. Percussion sounds like videogame shooting. Repeating vocal sample sounds like screamed “get back!” Becomes vertigo-inducing toward end.
==> 9. Bass-heavy, hypnotic, and watery with backwards percussion. Evolves into an alien dial tones study.
10. Starts with male vocal: “Watched him, and waited for him....” Short.
11. Begins with rising synthetic arpeggios and a male vocal sample. Some shards of melody. Busy. Short.
12. Pretty. Hyper-arpeggios and bubbling percussion. Very vertigo-inducing. Pitch rises, then some descending retro videogame sounds... and ends with a bird squawk.
==> 13. Great stereo effects and percussion changes. An underwater space adventure. Includes male vocal sample about tearing something apart with his bare hands.
14. Heavy bass, hints of melody. Short.
==> 15. Machine-gun percussion and cyborg pseudo-vocals. Almost danceable. Acquires a triumphant theme near midpoint. Loses beat and gets expansive near end. Ends with odd machine noises.
16. Starts with two minutes of silence. Then: bird squawk mash-up with low alien rumbling underneath.