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Cassette
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FTR 397CS
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"After recording three studio albums (two of which -- 2019's The Whole of Each Eye (FTR 498LP) and 2022's Map of Dawn (FTR 669LP) -- we were honored to co-release with Cardinal Fuzz), this amazing Portland OR sextet decided to try something different. An experiment. They packed a vanload of gear and headed out to a rural house in Central Oregon with an 8-track recorder. Besides their standard array of axes, they also brought various 'little instruments' as well as acoustic strings and percussives of various stripes, then spent three full days jamming from very early to very late. There was a lot improvisation, instrument swapping and musical hijinkery quite different from their standard approach. This resulted in a dozen tapes filled with all sorts of ideas and sounds, and the band started fiddling with them as soon as they got home. The High Desert Sessions is the result. The music is arranged into two side-long suites, which ramble around some very weird stylistic junctures, ranging from dusty slide guitar segments to loud roars of rock aktion, dissonant blares of jazzoid skronk and dreamy smears of shimmering sunshine avant-pop. There are also a few winks of the massive drum/guitar dualism for which Abronia is known. But most of this tape explores previously unvisited sonic regions. The High Desert Sessions' first side offers a relatively unhurried flow, the flip has more squirrely segmentation, but it's all cool as hell. And heard as a whole, it may augur some new points-of-interest that Abronia might be visiting in the future. Or not. Because that is nature of experimentation. But it's very hep to have this aural peek into their ongoing process. Especially because it all sounds great. Can't wait for the next album!" --Byron Coley, 2023
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LP
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FTR 669LP
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"For their great third LP, this Portland, OR sextet heads deep into the scalding sun of what feels like the Sonoran Desert. There is an edge to the fried guitar and the ever more massive drumming that evokes a parched ritual of psychedelic worship. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact initial rehearsals took place outdoors, during which time the Pacific Northwest was on fire (both in the forests and on the streets). When you know this fact, you can begin to appreciate the smoke as a compositional component. Abronia's line-up has not changed since 2019's The Whole of Each Eye (FTR 498LP, 2019), but their sound keeps evolving in terms of both depth and connection. The percussion achieves a true otherness here. Both Shaver's Big Drum, and the additions of pedal steel player Rick Pedrosa, create a central pulse that's impossible to resist. The bass and guitars, slither through the haze, raising up for massive strikes at times, just laying back and waiting at others. Different instrumental slices of this album might remind you of anyone from the Gun Club to Savage Republic to Amon Düül II. But Keelin Mayer's vocals are more of a presence this time as well. Occasionally, there's a way her voice combines with the coiling Eastern-tinged string parts and lazy propulsion that reminds of Grace Slick's pre-Airplaneband, the Great Society. But she is just as likely to conjure up visions of Scream-era Siouxsee, surrounded by gauzy clouds of guitar. Still, the collective brunt of Map of Dawn is bracingly original. It doesn't really sound like anyone else. Abronia have developed a nuanced and totally addictive approach to creating song forms. I'm just hoping I'll get a chance to see them live sometime soon. Music this good should be a fully immersive experience." --Byron Coley, 2022
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LP
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FTR 498LP
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"Massively ripped sophomore LP by this Portland OR psych sextet. Half of the line-up has shifted in the two years since their great debut album, but the same berserk stack of musical elements remains on the table. A lot of bands who fly the psych banner these days have a minimalist view of the music, and choose a sort of post-shoegaze lassitude to present their 'vision.' This can be astoundingly great, of course, but it also fails to address the central gobble-crazed nature of true psychedelia. Many of history's greatest psych outfits were hewn from bizarre hybrids of disparate parts. Frankenstein monsters in search of sacred ecstasy. One gets the same vibe off of Abronia. Totally unexpected bits pop up amidst their rhapsodic jamming, conjuring shards of memory as disparate as Relf-era Renaissance, Joseph Byrd's United States of America, and even (at least in spots) real early Siouxsee. These are just a few examples of how wide Abronia cast their net. Their instrumental brunt moves from neo-prog to folk rock to thunderheads cast in the same mold as the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's (I shit you not!). Taken together, these freakishly disparate elements mange to create a gorgeous and simmering whole. If you aren't tripping to Abronia now, I suggest a change of lifestyle." --Byron Coley, 2019
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LP
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WW 021LP
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"Debut LP by Portland Oregon sextet! One can find evidence of a pretty broad array of musical touchstones on Abronia's Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands: Morricone Spaghetti Western soundtracks, spiritual free jazz, Tuareg guitar bands of the Sahara, drone metal, 70's Krautrock, Ethiopiques, Glenn Branca, outlaw country, various tribal music, 60's psychedelia, and maybe even a little 80's goth. Recorded onto 2" tape by Jason Powers (Grails, Moon Duo etc.) at the venerable Type Foundry Recording Studio, this album is a document of the first five completed compositions by the six piece. Replacing your standard drum set with an early 70's 30" marching drum, which proves to be a proper centerpiece for the guitars, lap steel and saxophone to create mesmerizing and sometimes cacophonous soundscapes. Everyone gathered around the drum and played together, with minimal overdubbing. It's a snapshot of a band coming right out of the gate with a powerful, realized vision, that in actuality was a long time coming for this group of veteran players."
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