News / / 14.11.13

A SAGITTARIUN

DREAM RITUAL (ELASTIC DREAMS)

14/20

So, this is what A Sagittariun has been working towards. The series of assured and varied EPs issued through the Elastic Dreams label were, in hindsight, a statement of intent designed to prepare listeners for Dream Ritual, the project’s debut album. Every element of their universe, from the name to the artwork and the choice of remixers, drips with confident psychedelia. It’s refreshing to see something come to fruition with such total conviction, and though the person behind the mask wishes to remain anonymous, it’s clearly the work of someone with a deep involvement in electronic music. Being this far down the rabbit-hole works both ways though. The record occasionally dips too close to pastiche, and the 4×4 moments seem oddly out of place. But for the most part it’s a satisfying mediation on (to paraphrase Peverelist) the ‘immersive and psychedelic medium of electronic music’. The influence of 90s IDM is evident, from the Shed-at-his-most-pensive opener Sundial to the claggy electro of Network Restoration, but it manifests itself as an archaeological tool, digging up the often-maligned genre and shooting it over our heads and into the stars. It’s true that we know the real identity of A Sagittariun, but we’d rather we didn’t. Music like this is best attributed to a celestial body of unknown quantity and left to float free.

– – – – – – – – – –

Words: Steve Dores

CONNECT TO CRACK