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Best of 2023

Ariel Kalma

French Archives Vol. III 1964-1989 (4LP Box)

Label: Black Sweat Records

Format: 4 LP Box

Genre: Electronic

In stock

Instant download included with the purchase.
€69.90
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An absolutely astounding accomplishment, Black Sweat's 4 LP Box set of previously unreleased material by Ariel Kalma - French Archives Vol. III - is a mind-melting immersion into the composer and saxophonist's radical experiments and stunning ambient harmonics made between 1974 and 1985. Venturing far beyond the territories for which he is most well-known, the collection takes great strides to accurately framing ambient and New Age musics as rightful extensions of the avant-garde, and is easily one of the most exciting listens of the year so far.

The visionary French musician stays true, in this third compendium too, to his path of planetary asceticism. A new treasure chest of secrets reveals to us the same spirituality of total experimentation, by balancing the universe and the inner soul. In Taste The Fullness Of Life Ariel Kalma builds his symphonic pillars toward the cosmos, eternal architectures that always smell of Indian fragrances. The music always communicates a state of full grace, spreading balms of bliss. An unprecedented whispered narrating voice, evident especially in Spiritual Chanson D'Esprit, is embellished with textures of harmonic bells, tropical flutes, spacey harmoniums and drones of mystical light. In the recordings of Going Inward, also made on the occasion of a Tantric workshop, Kalma oscillates between tribal electronic dances, metalic almost industrial rhythms, but then always falls back in a comfort zone made of desert carpets of synths and baths of sound (gong/bells). Harmonica Galactica crowns interestellar dreams with unscrupulous drum-machine gears and pulsing saxes, superb use of VCS3 with arabesque and Schulzian overtones, and suave touches of fingerpicking guitar with freak vibes typical of psych-folk.

The life and work of Ariel Kalma is a remarkable journey in sound - an emblem of the singular thinking that makes great art. Kalma was born in Paris, beginning to play the saxophone during his early years. His musical career was kickstarted with tours and collaborations with Salvatore Adamo and Baden Powell, but before long he began to venture out on his own, creating experimental tape pieces, and instrumental works. During 1974 he traveled to India, studying the country’s classical traditions, a journey which equally served as the foundation for his developing interests in meditation, drone, and minimalist music.

 

Details
Cat. number: BS078
Year: 2023