Bird People – Water Buffalo

Bird People
Water Buffalo
Sloow Tapes, 2013

On this tape Bird People continues to shake listener's perception by ritualized drones, this time referring to the hindustani classical music. There is ragas of different kind: day and night, morning and afternoon, but each of these has its own canon. Lord Yama – definitely nocturnal raga. This is 100% moon music, directed inside itself. Surely, there is no hindu rules in this music, musicians are just copying the principle of raga – relatively static drone on the background and fluent improvisational music of strings and flute at top of it. Improvisation here plays lead role and this transforms music to the dialog between listener and feelings and wishes, that are trying to get outside the musician's mind. While mesmerized by total meditativity consciousness follows patterned diversity of sounds, archaic phantoms are flowing from one subconscious to another, creating the flux of blurry images. However, another situation can be possible – things aren't flowing and the subconscious in all of us is one (that brings to mind old pal Jung).

Second and third compositions aren't so eastern, but still falling upon listener as streams of archetypes, inducing something like deep sleeping in which every detail stands out with sharp clarity against the background. Focus is moving infinitely and to linger on any one thing means death. Only continuous movement and transformation gives possibility of life to this music. It never ends in some sense, because only musicians hands may become tired, but music can't disappear. It seeks the paths, breaking out at every opportunity. Fewer restrictions means more natural self-expression in this case, and surely it leads us closer to the primal states of mind, which at some point everyone experienced. In slumber, in trips, in dreams about another life or in emergency situations. Soberness of mind is a fiction invented by public opinion, which in itself – a fiction. The mind and perception should always be in motion, otherwise occurs sphacelation, crystallization, dogmatism. Droning improvisation and noise therapy named Water Buffalo reminds everyone that besides three dimensions of space, we have the infinite dimensions of consciousness.

label page
listen / download at bandcamp