Khôra & Mas Aya - Primordial Mind (Marionette) [Psychedelic]

*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's May 22nd Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***

In today’s AI accelerated music deluge you need all the filters you can to stay afloat and unearth the good stuff. Well curated record labels, despite becoming less necessary for artists, are still an avid music fan’s best friend. I’ve been a fan of Marionette since their monochrome inception twelve years back, and have discovered a load of, at the very least curious, and often amazing releases through them. Following them on Bandcamp is probably the way to go - you won’t regret it, it’s how I found this one.

Both artists are Toronto based: Mas Aya is the moniker of Brandon Miguel Valdivia, a Nicaraguan-Canadian composer, producer, and musician, and Khôra the pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist, producer, and writer Matthew Ramolo. On a cursory listen to their back catalogues, both have a predilection for blending outernational instrumentation, Eastern vibes and THC saturated electronica, and unsurprisingly they’ve turned up a collaborative treat.

Khôra

 Mas Aya

This new album is a genre-melting tapestry, and as vivid an album as you’ll hear in a while. There’s a lot to unpick, especially for the attentive, preferably headphone clad listener, and is one of those rare albums that will keep surprising you. Polyrhythms abound - hand played, shaken and stirred, all interweaving to variously hypnotic, and imagination stirring ends. Wrapped around the “trans-ethnic”, Fourth World ritualism is just the sort of mind altering electroacoustic atmospheres to help us break free of capitalism’s shackles, and create the future we deserve. The soundscapes are dense and deviant, but pure in their message - tune in, turn on and drop out.

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Playlist Companion

Find the duo in the Slow Psychedelic Playlist.