NOMMO OGO - Across Time and Space

Nommo Ogo

Title : Across Time and Space

Release Date : 10/15/09

Cat: RLR14

Genre: Electronic, Post Industrial, Electro-Acoustic

Cast: Eyebrain, DJynx, Chains, Higerous

Purchase digital version of CD here now before the official release date

Emerging from the Alaskan psychedelic noise scene in 1996, Nommo Ogo's underground esteem has largely derived from their fans' appreciation of their unique, methodical investigation into the transformative possibilities of sound. As a recording entity and a cult live act they focus on the psychic effects of sonic manipulation, conjuring up extra-ordinary dimensions of inner experience. Utilizing hardware sequencers, analog and older digital synthesizers, and electro-acoustic processing, their forces meld to invoke a seething vortex of mutant rhythm and sound. A highly regarded live experience, they maintain their long-held tradition of sonic rites performed in remote outdoor locations. Active in organizing and performing at the annual Autonomous Mutant Festival for over a decade, they also regularly host events under the moniker Katabatik soundsystems hosting bands ranging from Troum to Wolves in the Throne Room. Their recorded output expands upon these live transmissions, opening up immersive sonic geometries to the listener.

Nommo Ogo's musical process is a rarity in this present age of isolated laptop musicians. Live, they resemble an electronic band, all of the members surrounded by their own tower of hardware – mixers, sequencers, synthesizers, drum machines. It brings one's mind back to a brief, glorious blip in our electronic music history where the rules had not yet been set in stone and artists still actually played together, interconnected by webs of daisy chained voltage signals. Taking inspiration from early Industrial, Krautrock, et al., the recordings are sculpted from elements generated through a live process, retaining aspects of improvisation whilst flirting with more structured composition. These recordings represent the coalescence of the material, frozen in time and containing the mutant seeds of Nommo Ogo's organic growth. A process that goes completely against the current doctrine of "top down" computer-central production, wherein the PC is both the sketchbook and the final canvas. Nommo Ogo's "bottom-up" approach is based upon their years of playing electronic instruments and allows them to continually hew and refine their sounds and evolve them into the final result. They defy and stand apart from the current trends in electronic music, but cannot be reduced to retro-fetishism or empty posturing.

Across Time and Space is the band's current document, in the works since 2003 and spanning several thousand miles and five years in its creation. Many strange moods and sensations are evoked by the labyrinthine compositions on this album: gnostic sorrow, alien delight, human psychosis, cosmic terror. This is music that transcends the limitations of time and space. There are few musical references or guideposts here; hints of classic electronic and psychedelic ambient are intimated, only to resolve in unexpected and surrealistic shifts of sonic and musical texture. Multi-dimensional artwork by close collaborator Kelly Porter extends this twisting adventure to the visual realm.

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