Kohoutek

***With Akvoturo, Kohoutek is delving into a more experimental form of their brand of US psych/space jams, a loose concept album sonically examining the consequential role that water has played in nascent civilizations, starting from our ancestral habitats. The title is in Esperanto, in theory a language as universal to humanity as water is to its diet, as well as an homage to the label ESP which is a substantial inspiration on the Kohoutek ethos, informed by revolutionary free jazz and outsider psychedelia. This release consists of 4 tracks (2 on each side). Side A starts out with Pluvobaro, a combination of Eastern inspired components, including repetitive gamelan-esque marimba and other rhythmic work, with an insect-like drone. The side continues with Inundo, a more traditional sounding American psych jammer, which could sit nicely beside any of Clint Takeda’s (of Bardo Pond fame) projects, which member Scott Verrastro also plays in. Starting as a slow thudding jam, before taking up double-time, teetering on PSF inspired fuzz. Disfalo starts side B, sparse and loose, like rain drops falling on various ephemera in a scrap yard, while the hum of machinery drones and squeals in the background. And like on side A, the 2nd track here, Irigacio , returns to classic Kohoutek form, starting from a spacey/slide guitar based, mid-tempo head-nodding jam. It eventually builds into an ecstatic and faster single-note (almost surf) melodic guitar journey, before finally returning to the slow-head-nod tempo from the start of the song. The slow fade of the track helps bring everyone back to a state of relaxation, with deep breaths and glazed eyes.