More great stuff from the always imaginative Sacred Phrases, this time from synthesizer wizard Daniel D. Smith, AKA “the facemelter.” When not cranking out awesome tapes, he runs Neon Blossom Records and Digital Acid. He also puts on Chicago’s Neon Marshmallow Festival, dedicated to “advanced audio, progressive electronics, new music media, and alternative club music.” All his stuff has great sci-fi spacey vibes, indicative of a childhood saturated with laser tag, strobe lights, and cracking open glowsticks to huff their innards. This release is hands-down one of his greatest.

FCC CLEAN

RIYL: Cruise Family, Megabats, Konntinent, Lunar Miasma, Tim Hecker

1. (3:41) Dark spiraling synth riffs peppered with great manipulations and scrambled textures.
2. (4:39) Dazzling, white-hot synthesizer manipulation
3. (2:17) More keyboard manipulation, this time in the form of deep resonating pillars of sound, radiant and resonating.
4. (4:20) Slow-building keyboard arpeggios. Nice sun-bleached vibes.
5. (15:24) “Mayan Forest.” A perfect name for a perfect track: thudding bongo riffs resonating deep into the jungle, laying down a lulling background while Smith experiments with a variety of breathtaking electronic effects—trickling, swaying, and scurrying electronic jams all swimming in and out of the darkness.