Back directly from Germany comes the #zot2017 showcase after a forced absence due to unavoidable commitments.

Rodinia - Ex Anima (Now-Again Records, September 08, 2017)

This album from the German experimental jazz ensemble led by Jan Weissenfeldt is truly beautiful, taking an original approach to the kraut-rock sounds of the seventies while aligning itself with the great lessons of pioneers like Cluster, Harmonia, Popol Vuh, and Tangerine Dream, and simultaneously giving a refreshing twist to these typically "vintage" sounds by situating them in a more modern sonic context. Bursting with overdubs and synthetic suggestions, the album opens with ambient jazz fusion sessions that evoke ecstatic and meditative atmospheres, before further expanding into true compositions and minimal avant-garde experiments, such as the seven-minute "Dark Echoes" or "Makinfaba," dominated by the sound of brass and hypnotic repetitions, and the closing track "Dhrone Zuruck!", filled with drone suggestions and dub reverberations, alongside the echo of pulsating bass. There are also more typically kraut-rock compositions with tracks like "Neusi" or the spacey sound of "Dork Times," which perhaps somewhat diverge from the rest of the context, not so much due to cultural references and geographical boundaries, but rather because of the groove and timing of the compositions that are, let's say, somewhat out of sync with the others. Nevertheless, an interesting project worth keeping an eye on.