Amoeba >> Might look like we're drowning

I can't believe it's still California Month, tremor #64:

Amoeba - "Ignoring Gravity"

(Lektronic Soundscapes, 1997 / Release Entertainment, 1999; recorded in 1994 or '95)

Here is a beautifully creepy ditty by the Robert Rich-led duo Amoeba, from their sophomore album Watchful.  It's obviously ultra-indebted to Brian Eno in more ways than one.

How is this not one of the most-discussed/adored songs of the last few decades?  The guitar is just impeccably recorded, like the sun is playing it up in the sky in a dream or something.  The overall production values are just spectacular, as you'd expect from an audio perfectionist like R. Rich.  I got this CD in the early '00s, but seem to have misplaced it.  I'm almost positive I didn't sell it or anything, but I'm also not sure if I have the original version on Lektronic Soundscapes or the reissue on Release.  For now I can't regale you with much more info on the band / album, but this song should pique you enough to go do some research and want to dwell in their biodome of sound.  Their second and final album, Pivot, is worth hearing, but I have not heard their debut EP, Eye Catching.

I'm rushing through these posts tonight, trying to get in under the 11 PM ET deadline for the end of November, so the quality is not as amazing as you've come to expect.  Sorry?  Nah.  I'm mad that I ran out of time to post a bunch of pics of myself as a kid in San Fran, though.

Planets with similar climates: Bark Psychosis - "The Loom" (1993), Brian Eno - "By This River" (1977), Sting - "Fragile" (1987), Peter Gabriel - "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" (1985).

Steve Roach & Robert Rich >> Touch that space

I can't believe it's still California Month, tremor #60:

Steve Roach & Robert Rich - "Touch"

(Hearts Of Space Records, 1992)

Two of the main dudes of '80s ambient music got together for a crazy party, threw all the rules of ambient music out the window, let it all hang out, etc., and this is what we got.  Well, they didn't really throw all the rules out the window, and there was probably no throwing involved... maybe some tea, some fondue, and some Trivial Pursuit.  In any case, this track, the last one on the album, is particularly weightless and beautiful, so distant and ephemeral that it's barely even there.  I love the delicate guitar plucking.  The other tracks on it are more in a tribal, New Age-y (read: yoga-friendly) vein.

I bought this CD, Soma, several years ago but have only listened to it twice.  I found out on Wikipedia that while Rich was a kid growing up in the desert, he was a big fan of cacti and succulents, just like I am today.  The title of this post is the name of a tremendous rock song by Magic Dirt, which I found in about a nanosecond by simply typing "touch" into my iTunes' search field, and as soon as I saw said song title pop up, I smiled, knowing that Fortuna's wheel had spun my way.  I will be posting that song someday.

Speaking of touching space, this Mark Sanchez flinch has been cracking me up for three weeks straight:

Planets with similar climates: Biosphere - "Poa Alpina" (1997), Tangerine Dream - "Sequent C'" (1973), Brian Eno - "1/2" (1978).