M GEDDES GENGRAS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Never heard of Zoroastrianism? Nothing to do with Zorro, this ancient religion is still practiced by a comparatively small number of people today, and has its roots on the Iranian plateau. Hugely overlooked in the modern world, not least given its incredible influence over may of the tropes we associate with recognisable creeds - heaven, hell, good, evil - here M Geddes Gengras and Psychic Reality pay homage to the history of what might be Western Asia's most mythologised and yet misunderstood nation, while also introducing modern sonic elements and effects.

The result is something that's unarguably original. Ambient work that is vivid and transportive, it's highly rhythmic stuff from start to finish, with tracks like 'The Incremental Spirit' taking that format to the nth degree, while the likes of 'Wilde Pastures' break with a more abstract idea of what these sounds can be.

Review: Last year saw Mexican label Umor Rex granted full access to the archives of M. Geddes Gengras for Collected Works Vol. 1: The Moog Years, a wonderful selection of recordings the prolific Los Angeles artist made between 2008 and 2011 using his Moog Rogue and MG-1 synthesizers. The arrival of this second edition finds Umor Rex charting the prolific Los Angeles artist's later experiments, all previously unheard, with modular synths. Entitled Collected Works Vol. 2: New Process Music, this eight track album documents a period of major aesthetic shift for Gengras between 2011-12 when he first started experimenting with purely modular compositions. Gengras completists will be all over this collection which veers wonderfully from moments of calm to all out modular chaos. Limited blue vinyl edition plus download codes!

Review: M. Geddes Gengras commands a prominent position in the Los Angeles experimental music scene, possessing the kind of detailed discography that will soon have fellow LA resident Eddie 'Secret Circuit' Ruscha worried. As well as a sizeable body of works covering numerous styles under his given name, Gengras has also served time in bands Sun Araw, LA Vampires and Akron/Family as well as operating under the Fantastic Ego and Personable pseudonyms. The producer's deep affinity for the limitations of hardware synthesis is explored on Collected Works Vol. 1 - The Moog Years which sees Mexican label Umor Rex collate material from a series of improvised recordings Gengras set to four track between 2008 and 2011. As the title suggests, these tracks were largely made using his Moog Rogue and MG-1 synthesizers, with some of them seeing limited cassette release at the time. All six tracks on the forthcoming Collected Works Vol. 1 - The Moog Years have been newly remastered by Gengras at his own mixing/mastering company Green Machine.

Review: The ever adventurous Rvng Intl. offer up a real treat here, as two L.A musicians were sent to Jamaica to work alongside The Congos in recreating the reggae legends classic Icon Give Thank LP. The end result is quite a delirious affair, as the purity of The Congos jars against the wobbly, jelly-like production values of their new-found collaborators. Piling on a dense amount of detail in each track, there is something rootsy at work in the middle of the dizzying vocals, synths and drum machine echoes which does the original material justice. It's sometimes an unsettling listen, but a fascinating one nonetheless.