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Chronotope Project — Kaleidoscope
(Spotted Peccary SPM-2809, 2026, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-03-30

Kaleidoscope Cover art

Many of the artists come to the Spotted Peccary label after launching their careers on some other label or via independent releases: Dean DeBenedictis, Rudy Adrian, Erik Wøllo, and the artist under review, Chronotope Project (a.k.a. Jeffrey Ericson Allen) — all of whom changed ships in the middle of the voyage. Allen is an Oregon based composer, cellist, and electronic music producer with a background in new acoustic, theatrical, classical and experimental sounds going back several decades, releasing his debut cassette in the mid-80s. While he started his work as Chronotope Project in 2012, he didn’t join Spotted Peccary until his 2015 release Dawn Treader, the five releases before it coming out on other labels or as private releases. His latest release, Kaleidoscope, is a curious (but nonetheless exceptional) set of remixes culled from those very early Chronotope releases, elements of film scores, and new material, intended to be something of a career retrospective, with each piece offering some insight into his creative evolution. Opener “Ariadne’s Thread (Remix)” goes back to his 1992 release Vanish into Blue, a gentle intertwining of flute, keyboards, and acoustic guitar courtesy of C. Forrest McDowell, a piece that sets the stage for all that follows. The follow-on track, “Medicine Wheel (Remix)” is culled from the same release, even more introspective, kaleidoscopic, and beautiful, clocking in at over nine minutes. Other noteworthy cuts include “Dance of the Raven Man,” with a sound that seemingly emerges from a dark sonic swamp, eventually overtaken by hand drums, wood flutes, and didgeridu. With “Spirit Walk” a slow cadence on hand drums introduces multiple layers of colorful synth textures, while “Geosynchronous (Remix)” (originally from Event Horizon) mixes glistening synth textures, deep bass pulses, and angelic choral effects for a unique immersive experience. “Longing” is a perfect piece to illustrate the pensive nature of the cello in an orchestral setting, apparently it was part of the score for a black-and-white film. “Erda (Raga of the Earth Remix)” and the set closer “Clear Bell Ringing in Empty Sky” both originated on 2012’s Solar Winds, the former a mystifying deep dive into the darkest corners of the spirit, the latter an elastic yet mesmerizing piece for cello and mysterious percussives, ending in near-symphonic territory. While a mixture of older remixed and miscellaneous material shouldn’t sound this good, it really does earn the label of masterpiece.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Chronotope Project (Jeffrey Ericson Allen)

More info
http://chronotope-project.bandcamp.com/album/kaleidoscope

 

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