Rating: 8/10
By Kieran Webber
The Tokyo based band has gifted us with another beautiful body of work that transcends through the realm sitar lead psychedlia, psych rock and elements of prog rock. As expected from Kikagaku Moyo they take you on a journey that traverses through a wide range of sounds, bouncing delicately off one another. Previous releases have been a real musical adventure and their latest release ‘Masana Temples’ is another chapter in this bands exciting career.
The album opens up with ‘Entrance’, a sitar lead track with subtle percussion, the steady calm quickly escalates into a barrage of tranquil yet chaotic sitar strikes. Following this is the 7 minute behemoth ‘Dripping Sun’ which dances through a variety of sounds, it opens with pulsing synths that disperse into a wailing guitar, this is beautifully complimented by soft vocals. In typical Kikagaku Moyo form this sense of peace quickly disperses into a flurry of heavy riffs and solos. The build up serves as a welcome reminder that Kikagaku Moyo are not only masters of tranquility but can comfortably turn explosive in a moments notice.
It is this atmosphere of uncertainty that they sound at their best, the pulsing, driving psychedlia that flurries off on tangents. Songs such as ‘Nana’, ‘Fluffy Kosmisch’ and ‘Gatherings’ exemplify this perfectly.
However, not every track on the album carries such a level of unpredictability. As tracks such as ‘Nazo Nazo’ trundle along with soulful ease. It’s simple structure of pleasant guitar playing and mantra like vocals, this is also present in ‘Majapose’ and the stunning closing track ‘Blanket songs’, which boasts the bands ability to write songs with real warmth.
As a band Kikagaku Moyo have very much crafted an identifiable sound that is automatically linked to them. Their latest release ‘Masana Temples’ is everything you’d expect of them, a collection of beautiful music that delves into many musical realms.
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