Sun Araw-"The Phynx" CDR (2008) Edition of 155

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Sun Araw is the solo project of one Cameron Stallones, who is also a member of the Long Beach quintet, Magic Lantern. For those not in the know, Magic Lantern are riding the crest on the current wave of Californian psychedelic space-explorers. Sun Araw, on the other hand, is a more meandering beast, dwelling in a foggy delta and attacking only when the time is right.

The opener, Fog Wheels, is a 15 minute slow, shamanic tromp through that foggy delta, accompanied by chimes, vocals reverbed out of distinction, and the continuous drone of keyboards and guitars, eventually all of which ends in up in a cycling whorl of phased out drone that ends abruptly. Second track, Harken Sunshine, starts off as an overdriven blues riff before settling into a twangy hop-a-long via the warped vision of Spacemen 3/Loop, and is easily the most formal track on the disc. Hive Burner is the beast finally rearing it's ugly head. Ominous bass plucking coupled with random, searing guitar assaults inevitably pick up speed in the last few minutes, paralyzing the listener into sheer fear. The Phynx, the final 15+ minute jam is a slight continuation of the terror but with a nice, buzz-drone comedown. Fans of the buzzed-out side of The Goslings will definitely find themselves at home here. The Phynx is one of my favorite releases so far this year and a serious contender for the top 10. Also, if anyone is innarested, I actually have a few copies for sale. Not Not Fun is officially out of copies. Good news though, NNF will be issuing a full length on vinyl later this year.


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