LP 2 by The VHS Alchemist

Interstellar Space Techno

On their last LP (Drag Show In The Back) Michigan’s The VHS Alchemist went minimal and slinky to snake between ambient and chillout. It was a drum lesson record that conveyed more space than time. On LP 2 the artist has moved away from midnight’s peace and into the chaos of the festival. Not that you could easily call this festival music. It has much in common with Free Jazz in presentation, but is hardcore Techno in sound. This strange melding of disparate elements throws the listener for a loop. Things just constantly randomly pop up. It’s the audio equivalent of standing in the back of a festival and hearing 5 different artists play at once. The VHS Alchemist chooses all upbeat sounds but they are splayed out in front of you in a way that breeds slight discomfort.
The lack of name and track titles is true to its’ jazzy roots. The idea that something must be labeled is thrown out the window. It’s fluid mechanics work wonders over this blender of sound. It’s not designed to be easy, pinned down, or even danceable. The cosmic ideal of chaos is the only thing that reigns. One moment you’re in a place that sounds like Drum&Bass Korn, and the next Chopped and Screwed Daft Punk. The artist doesn’t want you to just throw this on and zone out. It’s unfit for parties or clubs despite its dance music pedigree. Like Free Jazz, LP 2 takes more stock in sitting and thinking. In deconstructing whether or not that polyrhythm is really there, or if it’s just shifting into an unrelated beat. The idea that even IDM must be structured in a listenable way is incomparable with the music of the late John Coltrane. In his final album he let go of structure and any listener friend chops, to trade them in for how it felt and didn’t stop. The sound vibrated in and out of focus at random times and it’s in LP 2’s blood. There’s no pain or human element that helps you understand. It’s not meant to be listened to or understood. It’s a cliff of sound you’ll never scale.
Not only that’s but the artist clearly pushed themself into a new direction. Abandoning the Ambient they previously utilized so well, in favor of exploring ideals beyond common music. The instruments and gear all remain the same though, and in some way this is the distorted sister record to their first. It’s an evolution not forward, but outward. This is Hyperpop for the Villalobos crowd. It’s strange hearing sound from one record appear on another so often, but structurally you’d never confuse the two. We’re proud of The VHS Alchemist for pushing their sonics into an entirely new and chaotic direction. Collective Ego Death is excited for you to hear LP 2 in all it’s Free Jazz glory. Good luck dancing.

Collective Ego Death is a label dedicated to finding and preserving lost classics and releasing divergent artist's work.

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