Basement Seance (Digital)

Dirty Art Club calls upon spirits in Basement Seance, conjuring otherworldly energies into instrumental hallucinations. Inspiration has been sourced across decades and genres - from prog rock and 70’s soul to hip-hop smartly blended with rhythmic density. Idyllic soundscapes reflect the beauty of nature, yet allude to the supernatural; In this 23 track odyssey DAC reminds us that amidst warmth and soulful comfort, the things we fear most always exist in our shadow.

Basement Seance calls to the cerebral with notions of chant and the out-of-body. Inverted strings of ‘Native’s Blood’ swell atop a persistent, creeping rhythm. Tamborines clang along as if marching against their will to a hypnotic refrain.‘Painkillers’ builds upon a solid base of freeform rock, unraveling and progressing into a wash of psychedelic tones and shapes, the sounds of hushed specters whispering from other recorded worlds. Tracks like ‘Ultraviolet Chandelier’ emerge out of the crypt, with haunting choral flairs keeping their distance from a glassy piano line. Once the instrumentation grabs hold, a hand from beyond pulls that security from beneath our feet.

‘Fires’ embraces hard drums, warding off the unappeased with an A-class rhythmic offering. It slides and crackles, a sober piano dotted with flute work reflecting the apparitions of ghostly vocals. All does not feel well on this sonic journey, but as only Dirty Art Club can manage, amidst the fear exists a sense of comfort. ‘Planet Xanax’ takes fear of the unknown away from the grave and into the skies, warbles oscillating at frequencies more akin to radio waves. Bright oscillations shining above solid bass, threads of echoes and otherworldly synth beaming the listener not below the depths, but into the stars. Could that fear of the unknown be just as alluring?

Originally released on Bandcamp, Paxico Records is pleased to bring its translation back onto vinyl. Basement Seance takes on all the best elements of progressive rock and spiritual american soul, blending them together into an aural maze built from hip hop’s bones. Getting lost and not knowing if the pleasures to the ears are of saint or sin. Spiritual atmospheres orbiting between lush and devious. Deep, dark and warm tones abound throughout this 23 track cinematic. Light some candles for this one.

- Don Lowrie-Morris II