Midsummer's eve, the night is thick with moisture. The celebrations are mostly over, the rain washed them away. I'm outside to record a nightingale, a bird that produces beautiful melodies with its song, traveling from Africa to the northern hemispheres. I return to my garden shed, put myself into bed, take on my headphones and push play. To my surprise I am now in the jungle, rain is gently wrapping down on the forest, I hear exotic birds sing and I can vaguely make out a nightingale. What a peculiar coincidence. Tribal drums kick in and I now realize that it is music that I am about to listen to. This is my first impression and what sets the mood for Master Margherita’s Hippies with gadgets.
I am taken from the rain forests to the subtle guitar strings of the Japanese Koto (T3) ending up in pure blissful electronica with La Sublime (T9) and For Aldo (T11) . Many artists fail in mixing different styles and genres but MM has managed to do this in a good way. Mostly it doesn't feel strange or inappropriate when the music crosses from more ethnic dub sound (like in T4) to more spacey and electronic. It is done in a very fluid way. Antaris (T5) is a wonderful track, slow and highly meditative, with a strong Eastern feel to it. At this point the album has brought me to a very nice mood but when La Mela (T6) hits, I feel disoriented and it disrupted my listening experience. This is a flaw that is easy to oversee though, since the intro, first half, second half and ending of the album are great. Fortunately I am quickly recovered and back on track with Zwi Musik (T7). Before moving along towards the finale, Super Dry (T8) is a catchy and quite amusing track that doesn't take itself too seriously, but still maintains a sense of mysticism and earnest. The album regains its pacing and direction and sweeps me in completely yet again. Now there are no more surprises. Just a mystical journey through downtempo remains. Then it finishes as it started, back to the forest, to nature. It took me in, carried me away, put me back and vanished, leaving the sensation of a psychedelic moment.
The album has a great mix of organic, electro and ethnic sounds. It's very slow overall, so it is great if you feel the need to relax and put yourself into a meditative mood after a hard days' work. Also throughout the whole album there are great moments, mark of great ambient music. Truly there is vast potential waiting underneath. Hopefully we will experience this to its full extent on the next album. And to me Moreno really captured something in La Sublime(T9), and I sincerely hope he will continue elaborating on this type of sound.
I come to think about the title Hippies with Gadgets. Because as far as I have understood the hippies were all about the worship of nature and the return to it, and this is just the feeling I got from the album. We (should I say it?) are no longer dysfunctional kids and junkies hanging on the beach, having sex orgies in the forest. The new generation of hippies has evolved and they are now artists, music producers, and just common people living everyday life. Respectable human beings as regarded from society, we are simply, hippies with gadgets. |
