Corum

***"No stranger to pan-global soup, GRANT CORUM of Portland’s out-there psychedelic community MILLION BRAZILIANS has, on his own Psychic Sounds imprint, no shortage of solo back-catalogue too. Coastal Vudutronic Voyage is his latest trip and it’s a wild one undertaken on behalf of the Moon Glyph label. Positioning itself between electronic bliss and the organic melt of traditional instrumentation, it’s an album that bridges cultures, millennia and worlds in a single bound. Alternating, for example, between the dark alleyways of a shadowy souk town and the verdant claustrophobia of the tropics, 'Jurassic Byways' runs bird-song into ritualistic hand-drums, snaking synths into melodic chimes that have an unexpected life of their own. Forging new paths into the retro-future, however, 'Neptune Egg Capsule Tide Riders' wreaks havoc at the other end of the scale with a chaotic skitter of percussion, braying keys and a whole electrical storm’s worth of misfiring neurons. Fragrant, twinkling hinterland dubs prove soothing tonic, the three-part and 21-minute suite 'Grand Vudu Staircase: i. Dark Paradise Lookout / ii. Coastal Mutations Cruise / iii. Sea Beast Channel (featuring Tropical Biome Harpies)' resonating first with threatening fly-drone amid the humidity of the deep jungle. Choral throat-drones later invoke serious higher-plane Om meditation dappled by New Age pipes in the silken, watery mix. Stronger medicine still comes in the form of 'Giant Clam Tango in the Conch Roost' and 'Aquatic Medusae Racing Arena'—woozy, drifting cocktails straight from the shaman’s top shelf. Left alone then to ponder life, 'Lava Tube Exploration: Phosphorescent Worm Callers' invites more questions than it gives answers, doomy incarceration within the walls of a blackened echo chamber, a solitary bat fluttering around the rafters. Those dropping their first tab may find it all a little too much to handle while seasoned heads may needle in on its hidden messages in a heartbeat.”—Gannon, [sic] Magazine