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Sendelica — Cromlech Chronicles II
(Fruits de Mer strange fish ten, 2018, LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2018-01-15

Cromlech Chronicles II Cover art

If you have been following our coverage of Sendelica over the years, you will no doubt be familiar with their space rock / krautrock / psychedelic output. Their latest release on Fruits de Mer is a full length LP containing two side long tracks, “Ripples of the Megaliths” and “Even Though My Mouth Is Silent.” But the music is unlike anything that I have previously heard from Sendelica. Instead of their signature krautrock and Neu! jams, they took a different approach and produced a mystical shamanistic trip. Both pieces are slowly evolving improvisations on a wide variety of instruments including Tibetan singing bowls, shaman drums, sansula, ting sha, mbira, wood blocks, Chinese gongs, shruti boxes, cello, as well as percussion, guitars, and electronics. The compositional / improvisational process is similar to classical Indian music. Each musician and instrument is paying attention to the others, seamlessly and slowly entering and leaving the piece, pretty much the same as listening to the Brooklyn Raga Massive play Terry Riley’s In C. “Ripples of the Megaliths” is quite a descriptive song title as the music gently laps your senses while slowly morphing. “Even Though My Mouth Is Silent” goes a bit further, resembling Popol Vuh and their sound track to Nosferatu. This piece is eerie with what sounds like throat singing, and near the end a female voice enters reciting the track title. What I find really fascinating is the Jules Verne / Victorian artwork. You can spend a lot of time looking at it and conjuring up your own narrative for the album. What a great way to start the new year!

Filed under: New releases, 2018 releases

Related artist(s): Sendelica, Colin Consterdine

 

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