Sciama - Celetal Form - Samurai Music - SMDELP20 - 2x12" Coloured Vinyl LP [Printed Sleeve] - Drum & Bass - German Import

SMDELP20 - Sciama - Celetal Form

Printed sleeve, coloured vinyl.

Mining the rich seam between transcendental escapism and crushing physical pressure, Sciama delivers his first album for Samurai Music. Exploring an energetic pitch between half-time and full-tilt 170, the London-based producer sculpts brooding soundscapes of sheer peaks and deep pits, driven by unrelenting but light-footed forward motion and an imposing strain of sound design.

As Sciama, Michael Watters has been marking out his exacting sound since 2019 with an assured run of albums on ASC's Auxiliary label. His second EP for Samurai, the Wave Interaction 12" released earlier this year, pointed to his current area of focus, inspired by the teachings of electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram. Contemplating the relationship between precise electronic frequencies and human perception, Celetal Form now delivers the full findings of his exploration. Oram coined the term 'celetal' in her 1972 book An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics, trying to sum up a connection between the celestial and electrical.

From there on in, the intensity ramps up from one heavyweight stepper to the next. There is agile, brittle top-end percussion at work on the likes of 'Induced Resonance', while 'Rational Echoes' and 'Scanning Waveband' deal in urgency and techno-coded tension. A half-time roll guides the huge kick drum undulations of 'No Panacea', and 'Celetal Emergence' opens up into more spacious surroundings to let the subtle microtonal inflections of the synth tones set a curious mood. The two 'Intermodulation' tracks bring Watters' exacting approach into sharp focus, pushing the drums back and foregrounding alien frequencies that coalesce into unfamiliar yet strangely uplifting forms.

Side A
A1. Induced Resonance
A2. Scanning Waveband

Side B
B1. Rational Echoes
B2. Modes of Thought

Side C
C1. Intermodulation II
C2. Celetal Emergence

Side D
D1. Aspect of Reality
D2. No Panacea