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Frore & Shane Morris — Ochre
(Spotted Peccary no#, 2023, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2023-12-19

Ochre Cover art

Ochre: Any of various earths containing silica and alumina and ferric oxide; used as a pigment in the reddish-brown petroglyphs in ancient caves. The fourth Spotted Peccary collaboration between Frore (Paul Caspar) and Shane Morris plots the modern sounds of synthesizer textures and electronics against the ancient sounds of hand drums and other percussives into a powerful ethno-ambient musical stew. Indeed, the feeling conveyed on many of the album’s six tracks wraps around the listener like a warm blanket on a dark starry night at the mouth of the aforementioned cave, offering an open mystical revelation that follows one deeper and further down the seemingly endless spiral. The set opens slowly with “From Spark to Flame,” where a soft didgeridoo-like drone meets frame drum and a variety of other percussives along an endless march toward the piece’s conclusion, changing all the time as it moves forward; some of the percussion is clearly electronic based, but it all works well within the song’s free context. “Into the Dust” is similar in many ways, though perhaps more openly stark and percussive, with the swirling ambient synths and electronics occupying a background role over the piece’s near-twelve minutes. Synths float and careen through a mystic wonderland on ”Formations,” where drums and percussives are nearly nonexistent. Over its sprawling thirteen minute diration, the album’s title track moves gently like drifting starlight for a full four minutes before the drums appear out of the shadows, with flutes joining the procession in time. The soft appearance of “Hidden Meaning” with wooden tuned percussion and bells amid gently sweeping synth textures is unique among the numbers in this set, and frankly it’s one that I never tire of. Closing the set is “Waiting for Eternity,” another synth-dominated epic with deep subsonic washes guiding the way forward. For whatever reason, Spotted Peccary chose to release this one digitally only, so look for it at the Bandcamp page below. A magical sonic experience from beginning to end.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Shane Morris, Frore (Paul Casper)

More info
http://frore-shanemorris.bandcamp.com/album/ochre

 

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