Zyggurat - Sphere to Sphere (Old Technology) [Experimental Electronic Music]

*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's June 7th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***

Considering Birmingham is the UK’s second city, and despite its notable musical history, it doesn’t quite have the modern musical cachet of some of the country’s smaller urban centres like Manchester or Bristol, and I’m pretty sure it was never known for experimental music, which makes discovering Peter Grimshaw aka Zyggurat recently even more exciting. I guess experimental electronic musician best sums him up, although to me he sounds more jazz than Juno.

The sounds of low-cost church bells open proceedings, possibly from that curious, warmly lit place of worship on the cover. Zyggurat, for his part, eases us in with an ambient intro that paves the way nicely for long-time collaborator, drummer Nathan Jones, to skitter alongside Grimshaw’s patiently building synth work as he probes stylistic boundaries for weakness. Despite the easy, bass-anchored start to “Ram Ba’s Shep Hut” he finally finds his opening, and driven by Jones’ genre-fluid percussion, he’s off. The album then weaves its way through cosmic valleys, free-flows through low-lit kosmische glens and explores modular tunnel complexes adorned with wall paintings from alien civilisations who wisely abandoned this doomed planet, until “A Door Opens”, and the duo open their eyes again and, somewhat surprised, take in their studio surroundings once more. It’s a wild, seriously plugged-in and percussive trip, and Birmingham now has a worthy experimental electronic chapter to its reggae and rock history.

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