Imagine music created with the spirit of Miles Davis the experimenter, with Zappa-esque instinct and ethics, and infused with kraut cosmicity. It cannot help but result in something absolutely hallucinated, dreamlike. Music out of time, deeply indebted to the past yet personal, bringing to the ears something unquestionably original today. The album was released in 2007, and it is the debut of these English musicians, the Heliocentrics.

The stylistic variety is incredibly well blended. Jazz (the acid kind) encounters funky (the old-school kind), tainted by ecstatic trip-hop and vintage electronics. Short samples contain the only voices among the many (23) tracks, as the entire album is instrumental, which gives it an even more "insubstantial" character. After several tracks, the music seems to dissolve, continuing to pulse and transforming into pure rhythm (what truly distinguishes the compositions is precisely the rhythm), sustained by booming basses, obsessive percussion, and smoky wind instruments. Psychedelic, ethnic, avant-garde, exotic. Yes, damnably psychedelic. Cinematic music that sends you on a journey towards a vanishing point (an idea well-rendered by the cover). Everything is in constant motion, undefined, indeterminate. An àpeiron made into music.

It is impossible not to mention Ash Ra Tempel, 35007, and Massive Attack (among many), who seem to evaporate between instrumental hip-hop, disfigured jazz, and everything already mentioned. There truly is everything here, and despite that, the music always remains organic, surprising. To be handled with care. Cosmic trip.

Tracklist and Videos

01   Intro (00:39)

02   Distant Star (05:01)

03   Flight 583 (00:13)

04   Once Upon a Time (02:43)

05   Beyond Repair (00:55)

06   Sirius B (05:09)

07   [untitled] (02:41)

08   They Are Among Us, Part 1 (00:39)

09   The Zero Hour (04:19)

10   Joyride (05:11)

11   The American Empire (03:19)

12   Before I Die (03:37)

13   Intermission (01:35)

14   Age of the Sun (04:13)

15   They Are Among Us, Part 2 (00:34)

16   Winter Song (04:55)

17   A World of Masks (04:33)

18   Sounds of the East (01:32)

19   Somewhere Out There (01:25)

20   Second Chance (K2's Prayer) (05:26)

21   Return Journey (00:20)

22   Sirius A (03:29)

23   Falling to Earth (05:26)

24   Outro (00:36)

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