Icanus - Long Gone Leisures
A new solo project by David López Saludes (Barrera, Soma) on the Polish label Antenna Non Grata. A limited cassette release, how many?... I cannot tell though. A nice looking transparent tape, with a very greenish looking cover-artwork. Showcasing some wild vegetation of some sort.
There are also some detailed written words about this project as well, here goes :
Incanus is David López Salude’s (Soma, Barrera, Asylum Symphonies, etc.) Experimental/Noise/Drone project born in 2021 in the Mutan Monkey Lab in Barcelona. The project found its origins in an improvised recording session with gear that the artist never used before.
Incanus serves as the counterpart of Soma focusing on 100% improvised sets without further edition or mastering, but treating personal themes and thoughts in a more contemplative way and avoiding aggressiveness, unlike Soma.
And so it seems. Already the first track El Cant De La Tempesta (The Song of the Storm) starts with some vintage analog drone sounds. Much closer to the electronic sounds of early Tangerine Dream than the Rita! Cosmic surreal sounds set the mood, while additional high-pitched squeaks puncture the density of the soundscape. Sounds like the making of a lifeform, or could be used as a soundtrack for something similar. If you already have heard Asylym Symphonies, then there are similar vintage sounds that can be recognized here. Just has more of a Berlin-School vibe, than an industrial one. Very adventurous and inspiring sort of journey through the body kind of soundscape, almost 30 minutes long! Very intense and long experience, but well worth it if you give the track some patience.
We flip the cassette and continue on the B-side with the second track called Eolo (Aeolus). See Greek mythology, the island kingdom of Aeolus, ruler of the winds. Very kind of windy-themed conception here! More of an ANW-inspired moment in the beginning, with similar analog vintage sounds in the background. There is also a very high-pitched sound in there as well, which works as a kind of ear opener if you ask me. Fans of early power electronics (and proto) might approve of this, kind of takes me back to early minimal Whitehouse and NON. Not hard and noisy, but very chilled-out psychedelic noise.
The third and last track on the album Timor Surgers, is a lot more of a mystery track than the former two tracks. Heavily distorted bass drones with the sound of multi-layered strings (of some sort) being heavily manipulated, through various reverbed sound effects. Interesting looped orchestral sounds here as well give the track a nifty ritualistic and esoteric feeling. Sudden eruptions of high-pitched harsh noise wake the listener up from a pleasant slumber, and then it ends while the monotonous soundscape rolls on. Really love the combination of noise acoustic strings and looped orchestral sounds. Working like pure sound alchemy.
A windy-themed esoteric concept called Long Gone Leisures does create a couple of questions. And the answers can be found within the recordings. Regarding the greenish wild growth of vegetation on the cover artwork, I am not sure. But, you are still having one heck of an album. All are made on the spot, 100% improvised through not-used equipment. Good evidence that David knows what he is doing, both subconsciously and consciously as well! Heavy chill-out noise for fans of early kraut-rock and industrial!
Bandcamp (label):